Revision sheet · night-before
Verbs, Helping Verbs, Modals and Tenses
Read top to bottom — it follows the order of the chapter. Tick each section off as you finish it.
1 · The tense chart
Learn this gridEvery tense question can be solved from it.
| Simple | Continuous | Perfect | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Present | V1 / V1+s | am/is/are + V-ing | has/have + V3 |
| Past | V2 | was/were + V-ing | had + V3 |
| Future | will + V1 | will be + V-ing | will have + V3 |
2 · Signal words
- every day, always, usually → simple present
- now, at the moment, Look! → present continuous
- already, just, yet, since, for → present perfect
- yesterday, last…, …ago → simple past
- while, at 6 pm yesterday → past continuous
- before, by the time (past) → past perfect
- tomorrow, next…, soon → simple future
3 · Helping verbs and agreement
| Subject | be now | be past | have | do |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | am | was | have | do |
| He / She / It | is | was | has | does |
| We / You / They | are | were | have | do |
4 · Modals
| Modal | Function |
|---|---|
| can / could | ability (present / past); request |
| may / might | permission, possibility, suggestion / weak possibility |
| must | compulsion |
| should / ought to | advice, duty / moral duty |
| need to | necessity |
| used to | past habit |
| will / shall / would | future / offer / polite request |
5 · Irregular verbs most often asked
go–went–gone · eat–ate–eaten · write–wrote–written · see–saw–seen · take–took–taken · give–gave–given · fly–flew–flown · drive–drove–driven · throw–threw–thrown · find–found–found · tell–told–told · feel–felt–felt · become–became–become · bring–brought–brought · think–thought–thought · put–put–put
6 · Conjunctions and quantifiers
- because (reason) · so (result) · but (contrast) · although (unexpected) · unless (if not) · or (choice)
- many/few + countable (many flowers) · much/little + uncountable (much water)
7 · 10 facts most likely to be asked
- Continuous = be + V-ing.
- Perfect = have/has/had + V3.
- Modal + V1 — no -s, -ing or -ed.
- He/She/It → is, was, has, does, V1+s.
- Past perfect = the earlier of two past actions.
- Present continuous for "now".
- Simple present for habits ("every Sunday").
- must = compulsion; should = advice; can = ability.
- used to = past habit; need to = necessity.
- many + countable; much + uncountable.
Common mistakes to avoid
Don't lose marks here
- "Did he went?" ✗ → "Did he go?" ✓ — after did, always V1.
- "She can sings" ✗ → "She can sing" ✓ — after a modal, always V1.
- "I have finished it yesterday" ✗ → "I finished it yesterday" ✓.
- "The children is playing" ✗ → "The children are playing" ✓ — children is plural.
- Using V2 in perfect tenses: "has wrote" ✗ → "has written" ✓.
- "There are much flowers" ✗ → "many flowers" ✓.
- Changing the subject or object when converting tense — only the verb group changes.