Marvin Menjívar - Profesor, escritor

 In my experience teaching English, simple present is a complex topic as well as most conjugations in English (if not all of them). I have taught to Spanish and French speakers whose languages require an ending or a suffix that is added which complexifies the task of conjugating. We would believe this would make learning English easier, but it's the opposite since people want to apply the same rules of their language to English. For the simple present, there are three most complex characteristics. The first one is adding -s at the end of the third person singular (he, she, it and all the nouns that can represent a single entity), the second one is the use of does/do for the negative and question forms, and finally not modifying the verb (not adding -s or -es) for the third person singular when confronted with the negative or question forms. These are some ideas to teach the simple present for an A1+ level 1. (Grammar) I ask students to organize these simple present sentences, so th...

PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS before, when, by the time, etc, since 2001, since Tuesday, for 10 hours/ days/ years. PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS We use the present perfect continuous to talk about an action or actions that started in the past and continued until recently or continues into the future. since, for, all week, for days, lately, recently, over the last few months. FUTURE PERFECT CONTINUOUS: By the time (2 clauses, first one using a present tense, second one using future perfect continuous), when, before the end of 2030, before the end of this decade/ century, etc.

PRESENT PERFECT: It is used to speak about events that finished or were accomplished in the past but whose consequences are still relevant in the present. already, yet, always, just, ever, never, so far, today, this week/month etc, how long, lately, recently, still (in negatives), etc. PAST PERFECT: It is used to speak about events that happened before another action in the past. before, after, already, just, for, since, till/ until, when, by the time, never, etc. FUTURE PERFECT: We use it to speak about a future event that will happen before another future event. by the end of this year, by the year 2040, in five years, ten years from now

PAST PERFECT: It is used to speak about events that happened before another action in the past. before, after, already, just, for, since, till/ until, when, by the time, never, etc. PRESENT PERFECT: It is used to speak about events that finished or were accomplished in the past but whose consequences are still relevant in the present. already, yet, always, just, ever, never, so far, today, this week/month etc, how long, lately, recently, still (in negatives), etc. FUTURE PERFECT: We use it to speak about a future event that will happen before another future event. by the end of this year, by the year 2040, in five years, ten years from now.