TENSES

PRESENT TENSES
PRESENT SIMPLE
- be (am/is/are)
- verb (-s, -es)
- don’t/doesn’t + infinitive
Habitual actions (every day/ week/ month/ year; always, usually, often, sometimes, seldom,
rarely, never, in the morning/ afternoon/ evening, at night, on Mondays, etc.
-He usually plays football at the weekend.
Permanent situations/ General facts/ Laws of nature
-The Earth goes around the Sun.
Instruction
-You walk this way and turn left at the end of the road.
Schedule/ Timetable/ Programmes (future reference)
-The flight to Japan takes off at 9 a.m tomorrow.
PRESENT CONTINUOUS
- am/ is/ are + -ing
Actions happening at or around the moment of speaking (now, right now, at the moment,
at present)
-He is working at the moment.
Temporary situation/ actions (these days, nowadays, for the time being)
-My sister is studying at Nguyen Huu Cau high school.
Changing/ Developing situation
-It’s getting hotter and hotter.
-More and more people are using organic products.
Future arrangements (+ future adverbial reference)
- We are throwing a farewell party next Saturday evening.
BE GOING TO: intentions or planned actions
- She is going to take her driving test in a month.
- I know my clothes are dirty. I’m going to wash them tomorrow.
Repeated actions with always, constantly, continually to express annoyance or critism
- She is always complaining about her job.
PRESENT PERFECT
- have/ has + past participle
Actions beginning in the past and cotinuing up to the present moment
(before, ever, neverm up till now, so far, since, far)
- I have never been abroad.
- They have stopped playing football since 2020.
- We have known each other for 30 years.
Indefinite past actions or recently completed actions (just, recently, already, still, yet, once,
twice, three/ four/…times, several times)
-Have you had breakfast ? – Yes, I have
-He’s watched this movie a thousand times.
-They have just called me.
Emphasis on results (completion, achievement, or number/ amount,…)
-He has received three offers.
-We have learned all the lessons in this book.

PAST TENSES
PAST SIMPLE
- verb (past)
- was/ were
- didn’t + infinitive
Events, actions, or situations which happened at a definite time in the past and are now
finished (yesterday, ago, last, in)
-We saw him yesterday.
Actions occupied a period of time now terminated or occurred at a moment in a period of
time now terminated
-She worked in that bank for 4 years. (she doesn’t work there now)
Sequence of actions (then)
-He looked up, glanced at them without recognition, and went on his way.
Past habits
-He always smiled at me when he walked past me in the morning.
-When I was young, I used to go climbing once a month.
Further explanations:
Would: repeated actions and routines
-When I was a child, I would go to the cinema every Sunday.
Stative verbs are not used with would
-He used to live in Paris. (not would live)
Be used to/ Be accustomed to/ Be in the habit of: habitual actions
-Little children are used to going to bed early in the evening.
Get used to:
-I haven’t got used to living abroad yet.
PAST CONTINUOUS
- was/ were + V-ing
Temporary actions in progress in the past
-It was raining all night.
-At eight this morning, he was having breakfast.
Actions which were in progress when something else happened (when, as, just as, while)
-When I was leaving, the phone rang.
Actions in progress at the same time
-While I was reading, Jane was playing the piano.
Repeated actions with always, constantly, continually, to express annoyance or criticism
-When I worked here, I was always making mistakes.
Was going to: actions one intended to do but didn’t do
-He was going to buy a house but he lost all his money at the racetrack.
PAST PERFECT
- had + past participle
Past actions which occurred before another action or before a stated past time (when,
after, before, as soon as, by the time, already, ever, never…before)
-When we arrived at the party, Lucy had already gone home.
-I had completed my composition before the deadline.
PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS
- had + been + -ing
Action continuing over a period up to a specific time in the past
-When we found Mary, she had been walking in the forest for 2 hours.
Past action of certain duration which had visible results in the past
-He had been shouting so loudly that he had a sore throat.

FUTURE TENSES
FUTURE SIMPLE
- will + infinitive
Speaker’s predictions (without evidence), opinions about the future
With VERBS such as: assume, be/ feel sure, believe, doubt, expect, hope, suppose, think,
wonder, etc.
With ADVERBS such as: perhaps, possibly, probably, surely (tomorrow, tonight, next week,/
month/ year, in two/three days, the day after tomorrow, soon, etc.
-I’m sure he’ll come back soon.
-I suppose they’ll sell the house.
-Perhaps we’ll find hime at school.
-They’ll probably wait for you.
Hopes, promises, requests
-I hope they’ll be here tomorrow.
-I promise I’ll be on time.
-Will you help me with the dishes ?
Decisions taken at the moment of speaking
-I’m hungry. I’ll cook something to eat.
BE GOING TO: when there is evidence that something will definitely happen
-She’s going to have a baby.
-Those dark clouds mean it’s going to rain soon.
Suggestions, offers, or when asking for advice with Shall
-Shall we go home now ?
-What shall I wear ?
FUTURE CONTINUOUS
- will + be + V-ing
Actions that will be in progress in the near or distant future (at/ by this time)
-By this time tomorrow, I’ll be lying on the beach.
Planned actions or intentions (like present progressive)
-We’ll be spending the winter in Australia.
-We’re spending the winter in Australia.

RELATIVE CLAUSE
A. Defining relative clauses
 Subject Object Possessive
People who/ that who/ whom/ that whose
Things which/ that which/ that whose/ of which

(1) I have just seen the boys who / that broke my window yesterday.
(2) The road which / that leads to the city center is in bad condition.
(3) The secretary who / whom / that my father has just employed is very talented.
(4) The books which / that you gave me last week are very interesting.
(5) The woman whose daughter has just got married is distant relative of mine.
(6) Houses whose walls were made of wood were all destroyed by the storm.
* We should use THAT after:
- Superlative
Ex: She is the most beautiful woman that I have ever met.
- All, anything, everything, nothing, something
Ex: He is responsible for everything that happens in the office.
* Relative pronouns used as object can be omitted (-)
Ex: The books (which / that) you gave me last week are very interesting.
The secretary (who / whom / that) my father has just employed is very talented.
B. Non-defining relative clauses
* We use non-defining relative clauses after:
- Proper names (Mary, Peter, New York, ...)
- Possessive (My father, your book, Susan's brother, ...)
- This, that, these, those (this house, that woman, these girls, those chairs, ...)
- Unique things (the sun, the moon, the earth, ...)

Subject Object Possessive

People who who/ whom whose
Things which which whose/ of which

(1) That man, who has just lent me his umbrella, is very helpful.
(2) Our house, which was built 100 years ago, really needs reconstructing.
(3) Those girls, who / whom I teach English, all comes from HCM city.
(4) These classrooms, which were built last year, have not been used yet.
(5) Lan, whose father is an English teacher, cannot speak English.
(6) My room, whose window is very large, is very small.
(7) My room, the window of which is very large, is very small.
* We use comma(s) (,) to separate non-defining relative clause from main clause.
* We don't use THAT in non-defining relative clauses
* Relative pronouns used as objects cannot be omitted
* We can use WHICH to replace the whole previous clause
Ex: He passed his exam. This makes his parents very proud.
→ He passed his exam, which makes his parents very proud.
C. Prepositions + whom / which
Ex: She is the woman (who / whom / that) I told you about.
→ She is the woman about whom I told you.
Ex: The music (which / that) we listened to last night was really good.
→ The music to which we listened last night was really good.
D. Reducing relative clause

Relative clauses Reducing

... who is standing over there ... ... who is standing over there ...
Active
... who stands over there ... ... who standing over there ...
Passive ... which was given to him ... ... which was given to him ...
-This is the first meeting which is ... the first meeting to be held
First, second,
held by our organization. by ...
last, only,..,
-He is the only person who believes ... the only person to believe me.
superlative
me.
-I have a lot of homework that I have I have a lot homework to do.
Noun/pronoun
to do.
+ to infinitive
-Is there anything that I can eat ? -Is there anything to eat ?
-I want to meet the person who is -I want to meet the person who is
responsible for this. responsible for this.
-Hanoi, which is the capital of -Hanoi, which is the capital of
Others Vietnam, is the second largest city of Vietnam, is the second largest city
Vietnam. of Vietnam.
-The books which are about the -The books which are about the
history of the US are on the left. history of the US are on the left.
 GERUND INFINITIVE
TO INFINITIVE (động từ nguyên mẫu)
1. Chỉ mục đích và kết quả:
I learn English to communicate with foreigners.
2. Sau tính từ: S + adj + to inf
It’s harmful to smoke cigarettes.
3. Sau một số động từ nhất định:
Verb + to-infinitive
afford fail promise
agree/ disagree offer refuse
decide prefer want
expect pretend
Verb + O + to-infinitive
advise forbid prefer
allow/ permit force remind
ask help tell
encourage invite want
expect persuade warn
BARE INFINITIVE (động từ nguyên mẫu không to)
1. Đứng sau động từ tình thái (modal verbs) như: will, would, can, could, may, might,
must, should, ought to,…
2. Đứng sau các động từ: HAVE, LET, MAKE, HELP
*Cấu trúc Have sb do sth; Have sth V3
3. Đứng sau BUT, EXCEPT với nghĩa “ngoại trừ”
4. Đứng sau WOULD RATHER, HAD BETTER, HAD SOONER

GERUND (danh động từ)

1. Chủ ngữ: Smoking can damage your health.
2. Bổ ngữ cho động từ to be: My hobby is swimming.
3. Túc từ:
 Sau giới từ: I am interested in watching movies.
 Sau động từ: I enjoy watching movies.
admit hate can’t help
advise keep can’t bear
avoid mind can’t stand
dislike; like risk to be worth
enjoy spend to be busy
fancy suggest
 - It’s no use/ It’s no good/ There’s no point
- Would you mind
- To be used to (quen với)
- To be/ get accustomed to (dần quen với)
- To look forward to (trông mong)

TO INFINITIVE OR GERUND
1. Động từ có thể theo sau bởi infinitive hoặc gerund mà nghĩa không đổi
Begin, start, continue, love, prefer, hate,…
Ex: - She started to learn English when she was 5 years old.
Ex: - She started learning English when she was 5 years old.
2. Động từ được theo sau bởi infinitive hay gerund mà có nghĩa khác nhau
- Remember + infinitive: nhớ phải làm gì
Please remember to turn the lights off before you go to bed.
Remember + V-ing: nhớ đã làm gì trong quá khứ
I remember watching this movie last week.
- Forget + infinitive: quên làm gì
I forgot to buy the soap.
Forget + V-ing: quên điều gì đã xảy ra
She forgets closing the window. (She closed the window but now she doesn’t
remember it)
- Regret + infinitive: được dùng để thông báo một tin xấu (lấy làm tiếc …)
We regret to say that we are unable to help you.
Regret + V-ing: hối tiếc về một việc đã làm
I regret leaving school at 14.
- Stop + infinitive: ngưng làm việc gì để làm một việc khác
He stops (washing the dishes) to answer a phone call.
Stop + V-ing: ngừng hẳn một việc gì
He stop smoking because of his health.
- Try to do sth: cố gắng
If you don’t try to work hard, you will fail the exam.
Try doing sth: thử làm gì
Please, try calling her again.
- Need to do sth: cần phải làm gì (chủ động)
I need to buy a new bag.
Need + V-ing = Need to be + past participle (bị động)
- To see, hear, watch, feel, notice…+ bare infinitive: chỉ những sự việc, hành động
hoàn tất đã được chứng kiến hoặc nghe từ đầu đến cuối.
I once heard him play piano at the concert.
To see, hear, watch, feel, notice…+ V-ing: muốn nói cho ai chú ý vào những sự việc
hay hành động đang tiếp diễn.
I looked out of the window and saw Mary crossing the road.
- S + advise/ allow/ permit/ recommend + O + to Verb
S + advise/ allow/ permit/ recommend + V-ing
S + be allowed + to Verb