Tempi verbali (tenses) inglese

[Studente Anonimo]

Ciao, vorrei ripassare solo ed esclusivamente tutti i tempi verbali in inglese (mia unica lacuna).

Sto cercando una specie di tabella o PDF in cui sono descritti tutti i tempi verbali (tenses), con rispettive regole (quando usarli) ed esempi.
Sapreste consigliarmi qualcosa?

[ghira1]

"gio73":[quote="anonymous_f3d38a"]

I haven't seen a videogame in (at least) six years!

I am not as good as Ghira... But I would have written for
[/quote]

"for" and "in" both exist. Using Google I get 1.25 million hits for "haven't done it for years" and 591k for "haven't done it in years".
But with "hasn't" instead of "haven't", "in" is more popular. Curious.

If Swan says anything about this, I haven't managed to find it yet. Swan ("Practical English Usage") is generally
very useful for situations like this.

I think I'd spontanously say "for". My immediate reaction is that maybe "in" is informal and/or more likely to be used in speech than writing, but that could be nonsense.

Adding "site:bbc.co.uk" cuts the numbers of hits down to 4 for "for" and 1 for "in". Maybe the contraction is to blame?
Some people don't like contractions in formal writing. (This forum isn't formal.)

"not done it for years" gets 1 hit on the bbc vs 0 for "not done it in years".

One to watch/listen out for. Who uses "for" and "in"? When are they speaking or writing? I'll try to pay attention to this for a while.

[gio73]

"anonymous_f3d38a":

I haven't seen a videogame in (at least) six years!

I am not as good as Ghira... But I would have written for

By the way
Were you a good player?
Which were your favorite games?

I have never enjoyed videogames
I prefer TV series, puzzles, recreational math
I had done boxe for a few years but I stopped because of the pandemic.

Now I am rereading "una storia semplice" written by Leonardo Sciascia because it is been a century since he was born.

[Studente Anonimo]

"gio73":Hi @anonymous_f3d38a
Glad to hear of you again
I'd like to start a conversation where we can use tenses.
You know "practice makes perfect"
For instance we may talk about the habits we had in the past
I rode horses when I was a kid

I used to play videogames when I was a younger boy.
I haven't seen a videogame in (at least) six years!

[Studente Anonimo]

"ghira":

I don't think the differences between English and Italian tense usage are that vast.
The main ones are duration form, "When I am rich I will be happy" and "He said he would come", aren't they?
I suppose we can add the almost total non-existence of the present subjunctive, the existence of "I am being killed" type constructions and the use of passives instead of impersonal/reflexive verbs. "Bus tickets sell themselves here"... no.

Thank you for your corrections ghira, really!

[gio73]

Hi @anonymous_f3d38a
Glad to hear of you again
I'd like to start a conversation where we can use tenses.
You know "practice makes perfect"
For instance we may talk about the habits we had in the past
I rode horses when I was a kid

[ghira1]

"anonymous_f3d38a":Thanks for your answer guys.

I was looking for a table issued by an university or an academy which we can trust.
There are a lot of this tables online, made by students or ordinary people.

But if I have to study on it, if I have to consider it as an example... I would like that it come from an institution!

@ghira I will search for B.D.Graver's table of tenses

@gio73 I think that my problem is not linked to the "construction" of the verbs... it regards the rules which show when to use one kind of tense rather than another one!

You may very well have made some typos but in case anyone else is wondering or some of them are not typos:

maybe "answers"
"a university"
"these tables"
"study on it" doesn't sound right to me. (and neither does "study on books", for example)
"to consider it as an example" seems odd
"would like it to come" maybe?
"institution" doesn't seem like quite the right word.

There are some differences in tense usage between the UK and US. There may be other differences in e.g. Australia and New Zealand but I know nothing about that.

I don't think the differences between English and Italian tense usage are that vast.
The main ones are duration form, "When I am rich I will be happy" and "He said he would come", aren't they?
I suppose we can add the almost total non-existence of the present subjunctive, the existence of "I am being killed" type constructions and the use of passives instead of impersonal/reflexive verbs. "Bus tickets sell themselves here"... no.

[Studente Anonimo]

Thanks for your answer guys.

I was looking for a table issued by an university or an academy which we can trust.
There are a lot of this tables online, made by students or ordinary people.

But if I have to study on it, if I have to consider it as an example... I would like that it come from an institution!

@ghira I will search for B.D.Graver's table of tenses

@gio73 I think that my problem is not linked to the "construction" of the verbs... it regards the rules which show when to use one kind of tense rather than another one!

[ghira1]

And present subjunctive:

"I play" looks the same as the indicative so let's use:
He/she/it play

passive:

I be played

I'm not honestly sure if there are duration / continuous forms of these. It's clear how you would construct them, I suppose.

"I demand that it be played at once" I can believe. "I require that it have been played for 3 hours when I arrive" sounds very strange. "I require that it be being played as Agnes enters the church." seems almost possible. "I require that it have been being played for 3 hours as Agnes enters" is in principle the passive present subjunctive continuous duration form. But perhaps no-one has ever used it in all of history.

Check if B. D. Graver's table of tenses includes these. It does have "(modal) have been being (past participle)", so maybe these rather strange combinations are there too, possibly in brackets to show they are rare.

If you make a chart with indicative/subjunctive active/passive, duration/normal, continuous/normal, etc., then bonkers combinations like these will appear in it so it's clear what they would look like.

[ghira1]

"gio73":
Present can be
Simple: I play
Continuous: I am playing
Perfect: I have played
Perfect continuous: I have been playing

We can include passive present forms in this list, I think.

I am played
I am being played
I have been played
I have been being played

[gio73]

Hi @anonymous_f3d38a
Nice to meet you
Why don't we write in English in this section?
We might find out we have more than one flaw in English.

Anyway about tenses..

Look if this may be usefull

Present can be
Simple: I play
Continuous: I am playing
Perfect: I have played
Perfect continuous: I have been playing

Could you write past...?

[ghira1]

"anonymous_f3d38a":Ciao, vorrei ripassare solo ed esclusivamente tutti i tempi verbali in inglese (mia unica lacuna).

Sto cercando una specie di tabella o PDF in cui sono descritti tutti i tempi verbali (tenses), con rispettive regole (quando usarli) ed esempi.
Sapreste consigliarmi qualcosa?

Se una tabella non contiene i tempi verbali "(modale) have been being (participio passato)" non vale nulla. Ecco.

Sono usati molto raramente, ma esistono.