Simple Tenses

 

Simple Present Tense

This tense is used to show something that happens regularly or does not happen regularly. This also shows a habit. Commonly, this tense is used to answer the question: What do you do? Or in other words, what do you do for a living? Or simply,  what’s your job?

examples:

"I teach."

"She makes pizzas."

"I write blogs."

"He photographs."

These sentences follow this sentence pattern: 

                           Subject + Verb in Simple Present Form/Present Form

Simple Past Tense

This tense shows something that happened/finished in the past at a particular time. 

In this case, “adverbs of time” are usually used.

Adverbs of Time tell when an action happened, for how long, and how often.

Here are lists of adverbs that can be used to show time, general, or specific.

Adverbs that tell when

today, later, lately, soon, now, last year, last month, the other day, yesterday, tomorrow, tonight, this afternoon, this morning, tomorrow morning, at one ‘Oclock, five O’clock

Adverbs that tell how long

a night, all day, for a year, for a month, since 1997, since morning, since yesterday, for a week, for two days, for four years

Adverbs that tell how often

often, seldom, rarely, usually, frequently, always, never, occasionally, regularly, sometimes, once a week, twice a day, thrice every year, monthly, yearly, daily, hourly

Since the Simple Past Tense talks about a particular time, adverbs that tell when should be used.

examples:

 "Maddie went to the ice cream store yesterday."

"We went to New York last year."

"I took my medicine lately."

These sentences follow this sentence formula:

                             Subject + Verb in past participle + Adverb of Time

Simple Future Tense

This tense shows that something is going to happen or be done at a specific time in the future.

This follows the formula: 

                                  Subject + will + Verb in base form + Adverb of Time

examples:

"The team will play volleyball next weekend."

"She will buy a new bag tomorrow."

Question:

Is it really necessary to use an adverb of time?

NO, depending on the message to be relayed. If there is a need to state a specific time, an Adverb of time should be used. If there is no sure of the time, an adverb of time may not be used.

examples:

"Maddie ate pizza yesterday."

If it should be known to everyone that it was yesterday Maddie ate pizza, then the adverb of time "yesterday" should be included. But if only the fact that Maddie ate pizza should be known and not the specific time, then saying “Maddie ate pizza.” will do.

Additionally, if someone talked to already has an idea of when a certain action happens, happened, or will happen, there is no need to use Adverbs of Time.

See this sample conversation:

Friend 1: Hi! Will you attend the party tomorrow?

Friend 2: Yes, I will attend the party.

In Friend 2's response, “tomorrow” is not used, why? Because it is already obvious and understandable to the one talked to that the party will be tomorrow.

If an adverb of time is used, the conversation will sound like this.

Friend 1: Hi! Will you attend the party tomorrow?

Friend 2: Yes, I will attend the party tomorrow.

The response sounds redundant. It does not directly mean that it is grammatically wrong. But in English grammar, precision matters too.