English Grammar: Mixed Tenses and Passive Voice

Vocabulary-style flashcards covering the rules, formation, signal words, and distinctions for five core English tenses (Present Simple, Present Progressive, Past Simple, Past Progressive, Present Perfect) and Passive Voice constructions.

Present Simple (Use)

A tense used to express regular actions, habits, general truths, and facts (e.g., "I play football every day.", "She works in a hospital.").

Present Simple (Formation)

Affirmative statements use I/you/we/they + base form, and he/she/it + verb with -s. Negations use don't or doesn't + base form. Questions use Do or Does + person + base form (e.g., "Do you play football?", "Does she work here?").

Present Simple (Signal Words)

Time words indicating regular occurrence or routine: always, usually, often, sometimes, never, every day, and once a week.

Present Progressive (Use)

A tense (also called Present Continuous) used for actions happening right now at the present moment or for temporary situations (e.g., "She is watching TV.").

Present Progressive (Formation)

Formed with am/is/are + verb-ing. Negation is formed with am/is/are + not + verb-ing. Questions are formed with Am/Is/Are + person + verb-ing?

Present Progressive (Signal Words)

Time words and attention markers indicating current actions: now, right now, at the moment, currently, Look!, and Listen!.

Past Simple (Use)

A tense used for completed actions that took place at a specific time in the past (e.g., "I watched a film yesterday.", "She went to London last year.").

Past Simple (Formation)

Formed by adding -ed to regular verbs (verb + -ed) or by using the 2nd verb form for irregular verbs (e.g., go -> went).

Past Simple (Negation and Question Rule)

Negations are formed with didn't + base form, and questions are formed with Did + person + base form. The base form of the verb must always follow did and didn't.

Past Simple (Signal Words)

Time expressions specifying completed past periods or points: yesterday, last week, last year, two days ago, and in 2020.

Past Progressive (Use)

A tense (also called Past Continuous) used for an action that was actively underway at a specific moment in the past, or a longer action that was interrupted by a shorter action.

Past Progressive (Formation)

Formed with was/were + verb-ing (I/he/she/it was; you/we/they were). Examples include "I was watching TV at 8 pm." and "They were playing football."

Past Progressive and Past Simple Combination

A sentence structure where the Past Progressive expresses the longer background action in progress and the Past Simple expresses the shorter interrupting action (e.g., "I was watching TV when my mum called.").

While vs. When

Conjunctions used with past tenses: "while" is frequently used for longer actions in progress, whereas "when" can introduce an interrupting action or a specific point in time depending on context.

Present Perfect (Use)

A tense used for past actions with a connection to the present, experiences where the exact point in time is not stated or unimportant, and actions continuing up to the present (e.g., "They have never eaten sushi.").

Present Perfect (Signal Words)

Key indicators including: already, just, yet, ever, never, since, for, and recently.

Since vs. For

Time prepositions used with Present Perfect: "since" marks a specific starting point in time (e.g., "since Monday"), whereas "for" specifies a duration of time (e.g., "for three years").

Present Perfect vs. Past Simple (Distinction)

Present Perfect focuses on the experience without naming a specific time ("I have visited London."), while Past Simple is used when the action occurred at a definite point in the past ("I visited London last year.").

Passive Voice (Core Function)

A grammatical voice that highlights what happens to the recipient or object of an action rather than who performs it (e.g., Active: "Someone cleans the room." -> Passive: "The room is cleaned.").

Passive Voice (Basic Rule)

The standard grammatical formula for passive sentences: a conjugated form of BE + 3rd verb form (Past Participle).

Present Simple Passive

Formed with am/is/are + 3rd verb form (Past Participle). Example: "English is spoken in many countries."

Present Progressive Passive

Formed with am/is/are + being + 3rd verb form (Past Participle). Example: "The house is being built."

Past Simple Passive

Formed with was/were + 3rd verb form (Past Participle). Example: "The window was broken."

Active to Passive Transformation (4 Steps)

1. Move the object of the active sentence to the subject position. 2. Insert the appropriate form of BE. 3. Change the main verb into its 3rd form (Past Participle). 4. Use "by" to state who performed the action (e.g., "The teacher explains the rules." -> "The rules are explained by the teacher.").

By-Agent in Passive Voice

A prepositional phrase using "by" to name the person or entity performing the action (e.g., "The book was written by the author."); it can be omitted if the agent is unknown or not important.