PRESENT SIMPLE - to describe habits, unchanging situations, general truths, and fixed arrangements

1.     I write                                     1. we write

2.     you write                                2. you write

3.     he / she / it writes                    3. they write

Question: Do you write? Does he write?

Negative answer: I don’t (do not) write. He doesn’t (does not) write.


PRESENT CONTINUOUS - to talk something that is happening at the time of speaking, something
temporary (dočasné), or the immediate future (blízká budoucnost)

1.     I am writing                            1. we are writing

2.     you are writing                        2. you are writing

3.     he / she / it is writing               3. they are writing

Question: Are you writing? Is she writing?

Negative answer: I am not writing. She isn’t (is not) writing.


PAST SIMPLE - to talk about a completed action in a time before now

1.     I wrote                          1. we wrote

2.     you wrote                      2. you wrote

3.     he / she / it wrote           3. they wrote

Question: Did you write? Did she write?

Negative answer: I didn’t write. She didn’t write.


NOTE: I need to learn irregular verbs like “write”, but with regular verbs, it is just adding -ED

(I work – I worked)


PAST CONTINUOUS - to talk about something that was happening around a particular time in the past,
two actions happening at the same time

1.     I was writing                 1. we were writing

2.     you were writing            2. you were writing

3.     he was writing               3. they were writing

Question: Were you writing? Was she writing?

Negative answer: I wasn’t writing. She wasn’t writing.


FUTURE - WILL - a spontaneous decision, prediction, not sure

1.     I will write                     1. we will write

2.     you will write                2. you will write

3.     he / she / it will write      3. they will write

Question: Will you write?

Negative answer: I will not (won’t) write.


FUTURE - GOING TO - a plan, being certain

1.     I am going to write                           1. we are going to write

2.     you are going to write                       2. you are going to write

3.     he / she / it is going to write              3. the are going to write

Question: Are you going to write? Is she going to write?

Negative answer: I am not going to write. She isn’t (is not) going to write.


PRESENT PERFECT - to talk about things where there is a connection between the past and the present

1.     I have written a book               1. we have written a book

2.     you have written a book          2. you have written a book

3.     he has written a book              3. they have written a book

Question: Have you written any book?

Negative answer: I haven’t (have not) written any book.


PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS - to talk about things where there is a connection between the past and
the present, stressing that it is still going on

1.     I have been writing                  1. we have been writing

2.     you have been writing             2. you have been writing

3.     he has  been writing                 3. they have been writing

Question: How long have you been writing this book?

Negative answer: I haven’t (have not) been writing this book for a long time.