Esercizi di grammatica: testa il tuo livello di inglese
Una parte fondamentale nell’apprendimento di una nuova lingua è essere in grado di usare diversi tempi verbali. In inglese ne esistono 13, tutti utilizzati quotidianamente dai madrelingua. Forse potresti pensare che sono molti da imparare, ma non preoccuparti, a Wall Street English si studia un tempo verbale alla volta lungo l’intera durata del corso. Innanzitutto ascolterai l’uso del tempo verbale all’interno di un dialogo, in seguito, quando avrai compreso quando e come usarlo, sarà importante esercitarti ad utilizzarlo.
I tempi verbali sono suddivisi in tre gruppi: il presente, il passato e il futuro:
Il presente
Il Present Simple è usato per descrivere:
- fatti permanenti
- abitudini
- routine quotidiana
- opinioni
Il Present Simple si forma a partire dalla base dell’infinito.
Osserva i seguenti esempi per formare il verbo to work.
+
I work
You work
He/she/it works
We work
They work
–
I don’t work
You don’t work
He/she/it doesn’t work
We don’t work
They don’t work
?
Do I work?
Do you work?
Does he/she/it work?
Do we work?
Do they work?
Per esempio:
The sun rises in the east.
We do the shopping on Saturdays.
Do you often go out at the weekend?
I get up at 7am everyday
He loves Sushi.
They don’t like football.
Il Present Continuous è usato per descrivere:
- azioni in corso
- piani per il futuro
Il Present Continuous si forma con il verbo to be + gerundio (ing). Guarda gli esempi:
+
I’m working
You’re working
He/she/it’s working
We’re working
They’re working
–
I’m not working
You’re not working
He/she/it’s not working
We’re not working
They’re not working
?
Am I working?
Are you working?
Is he/she/it working?
Are we working?
Are they working?
Ad esempio:
Kim is studying.
It’s raining.
Are they waiting for the bus?
We’re meeting Paul at 2pm.
You’re going to the dentist tomorrow morning, aren’t you?
Il passato
Il Past Simple è usato per descrivere:
- un’azione che è cominciata e finita nel passato, solitamente in un momento specifico.
Il Past Simple dei verbi regolari è formato dalla forma base del verbo + ed. Guarda i seguenti esempi:
+
I worked
You worked
He/she/it worked
We worked
They worked
–
I didn’t work
You didn’t work
He/she/it didn’t work
We didn’t work
They didn’t work
?
Did I work?
Did you work?
Did he/she/it work?
Did we work?
Did they work?
Per esempio:
I cried at the cinema last week.
We lived in Indonesia from 1984 to 1996.
Did you enjoy the party last Tuesday?
They laughed at the joke.
Mozart died in 1791.
Si utilizza il Past Continuous per descrivere:
- un’azione in corso in un momento specifico nel passato
- un’azione in corso quando è avvenuta un’altra azione
Il Past Continuous è formato da was/were + gerundio (ing form). Osserva i seguenti esempi:
+
I was working
You were working
He/she/it was working
We were working
They were working
–
I wasn’t working
You weren’t working
He/she/it wasn’t working
We weren’t working
They weren’t working
?
Was I working?
Were you working?
Was he/she/it working?
Were we working?
Were they working?
Ecco alcuni esempi:
What were you doing at 8pm last night?
I was having dinner.
He was having a shower when the phone rang.
The staff were having a coffee when the boss came in.
Il Present Perfect si utilizza per descrivere:
- situazioni a lungo termine che hanno avuto inizio nel passato e continuano nel presente
- azioni terminate avvenute in un periodo di tempo non finito
- azioni terminate avvenute in un periodo di tempo indefinito
Il Present Perfect si forma con il verbo to have + il Past Participle. Guarda gli esempi:
+
I’ve worked
You’ve worked
He/she/it’s worked
We’ve worked
They’ve worked
–
I haven’t worked
You haven’t worked
He/she/it hasn’t worked
We haven’t worked
They haven’t worked
?
Have I worked?
Have you worked?
Has he/she/it worked?
Have we worked?
Have they worked?
Per esempio:
They’ve lived in Paris since 1996. (They moved to Paris in 1996 and still live there.)
He’s been the boss for twenty years.
She’s visited Shanghai twice this year.
We haven’t seen Camille today.
Have you finished your project yet?
I’ve been to Paris several times.
Il Present Perfect Continuous si usa per:
- un’azione temporanea cominciata in un preciso momento del passato e continua nel presente
- un’azione ricorrente che è iniziata nel passato e continua nel presente
- la durata di un’azione o le sue conseguenze
Il Present Perfect Continuous è formato dal verbo to have + been + gerundio (ing form). Osserva gli esempi:
+
I’ve been working
You’ve been working
He/she/it’s been working
We’ve been working
They’ve been working
–
I haven’t been working
You haven’t been working
He/she/it hasn’t been working
We haven’t been working
They haven’t been working
?
Have I been working?
Have you been working?
Has he/she/it been working?
Have we been working?
Have they been working?
Ad esempio:
You’ve been studying for three hours. You need a break!
He’s been phoning the office all day!
I’ve been waiting for 2 hours and I’m fed up! Where have you been?
They’ve been having problems with this road for years.
How long has this been going on?
Il Past Perfect è usato per descrivere:
- un’azione che è terminata prima di un’altra azione passata
Il Past Perfect si forma con had + il Past Participle. Ecco gli esempi:
+
I’d worked
You’d worked
He/she/it’d worked
We’d worked
They’d worked
–
I hadn’t worked
You hadn’t worked
He/she/it hadn’t worked
We hadn’t worked
They hadn’t worked
?
Had I worked?
Had you worked?
Had he/she/it worked?
Had we worked?
Had they worked?
Per esempio:
When we got home, Hassan had already gone to bed.
The film had just started when we turned on the television.
I didn’t have dinner with my friends because I’d already had dinner at home.
Had the meeting started when you arrived?
Il Past Perfect Continuous si usa per descrivere:
- un’azione continuata terminata prima di un’altra azione passata
Il Past Perfect Continuous si forma con had + been + gerundio (ing form). Guarda gli esempi:
+
I’d been working
You’d been working
He/she/it’d been working
We’d been working
They’d been working
–
I hadn’t been working
You hadn’t been working
He/she/it hadn’t been working
We hadn’t been working
They hadn’t been working
?
Had I been working?
Had you been working?
Had he/she/it been working?
Had we been working?
Had they been working?
Per esempio:
I’d been waiting for 40 minutes when the train finally came.
They’d been doing research for years when the found the answer.
She hadn’t been working long at the firm when they promoted her.
Had you been driving for long when you had a break?
Il futuro
Will è utilizzato per:
- previsioni
- promesse
- decisioni prese al momento della conversazione
Il futuro con will è formato da will + la forma base dell’infinito. Di seguito gli esempi:
+
I’ll work
You’ll work
He/she/it’ll work
We’ll work
They’ll work
–
I won’t work
You won’t work
He/she/it won’t work
We won’t work
They won’t work
?
Will I work?
Will you work?
Will he/she/it work?
Will we work?
Will they work?
Per esempio:
Hannah thinks there will be a lot of people at the concert.
I’ll phone you later.
They’ll be at the station now.
I’ll have a glass of water please.
We’ll see you soon.
Be going to è usata per descrivere:
- intenzioni
- previsioni basate su fatti attuali
Il futuro con be going to è formato dal verbo to be + going to + infinito. Osserva gli esempi:
+
I’m going to work
You’re going to work
He/she/it’s going to work
We’re going to work
They’re going to work
–
I’m not going to work
You’re not going to work
He/she/it’s going to work
We’re not going to work
They’re not going to work
?
Am I going to work?
Are you going to work?
Is he/she/it going to work?
Are we going to work?
Are they going to work?
Ecco alcuni esempi:
I am going to work tomorrow.
We’re going to have a pizza for dinner.
Are they going to make a decision today?
Look at those black clouds. It’s going to rain soon.
There’s going to be a big problem with plastic waste in the future.
Il Future Continuous si usa per indicare:
- un’azione che è in corso in un determinato momento nel futuro
- una richiesta di informazioni educata e formale
il Future Continuous è formato da will + be + gerundio (ing form). Guarda gli esempi:
+
I’ll be working
You’ll be working
He/she/it’ll be working
We’ll be working
They’ll be working
–
I won’t be working
You won’t be working
He/she/it won’t be working
We won’t be working
They won’t be working
?
Will I be working?
Will you be working?
Will he/she/it be working?
We’ll be working
Will they be working?
Ad esempio:
This time next week I’ll be lying on the beach!
Let’s meet at the station at 3pm. I’ll be standing outside the café.
She’ll still be sleeping at 11am on Sunday so don’t phone her until lunchtime.
Will you be staying at the hotel for dinner Sir?
Il Future Perfect si usa per indicare:
- un’azione completata nel futuro
Il Future Perfect è formata da will have + il Past Participle. Di seguito alcuni esempi:
+
I’ll have worked
You’ll have worked
He/she/it’ll have worked
We’ll have worked
They’ll have worked
–
I won’t have worked
You won’t have worked
He/she/it won’t have worked
We won’t have worked
They won’t have worked
?
Will I have worked?
Will you have worked?
Will he/she/it have worked?
Will we have worked?
Will they have worked?
Per esempio:
She’ll have finished the report by 5pm.
The kids will have already eaten by the time I get home.
I won’t have made my presentation by the end of today’s session.
Will you have arrived in the office by lunchtime?
Il Future Perfect Continuous è utilizzato per indicare:
- un’azione continuata terminata nel futuro
Il Future Perfect Continuous è formato da will have been + gerundio (ing form). Guarda i seguenti esempi:
+
I’ll have been working
You’ll have been working
He/she/it’ll have been working
We’ll have been working
They’ll have been working
–
I won’t have been working
You won’t have been working
He/she/it won’t have been working
We won’t have been working
They won’t have been working
?
Will I been working?
Will they have been working?
Will he/she/it have been working?
Will we have been working?
Will they have been working?
Per esempio:
We’ll have been working on this presentation for two weeks by Friday.
By the time dinner is ready, Mum will have been cooking for six hours!
She’ll have been studying for hours by the time we get home.
They won’t have been waiting long, don’t worry.
Ricorda che, per imparare ad usare i tempi verbali inglesi, dovrai studiarli gradualmente e soprattutto è necessario fare esercizio. Il metodo Wall Street English ti aiuterà a farlo: listen, learn and speak. Perché non cominciare subito?