Task 2: Grammar--Verb Tenses

Verb Tenses

I have some problems in verb tenses, especially in THE PERFECT TENSES & THE PROGRESSIVE TENSES.(Wish I will not make any verb tenses mistakes in this blog...)

What are the Perfect Tenses and the Progressive Perfect Tense? The Perfect Tenses give the idea that one thing happens before another time or event. The Pefect Progressive Tenses give the idea that one event is in progress immediately before, up to, untill anoter time or event. The tenses are used to express the duration of the event.

Then, I will analyze my mistakes in the grammar excercise in the appendix below.

1. I was studying for three hours when I finally quit. ( had been studying have been studying)

In this sentance, I use the Present Perfect Progressive, but the correct verb tenses should be the Past Perfect Progressive. I will list all the events in this sentence in progress: studying When? before I quit. Therefore, the verb tense in this sentence is Past Perfect Progressive Tense.

2. By 1890, he (19)had published (publish) his first book on Esperanto, ...
The correct tense of this sentence is the Past Perfect tense. Because his book had been published before 1890, and "1890" is in the past, so the tense is the Past Perfect. In general, when "by + a point of time" appears in a sentence, the tense of the sentence is usually the Perfect Tense. Another example in the exercise: ...by 2100, English (40) will have become (become) the first truly universal language.


Appendix(these words are not counted in portfolio task 2)

I am not sure about the sentence in this light purple colour. I think my answer(in black) is also correct. What do you think? Thanks for all comments.
Grammar Exercise retrieved form http://courses.nus.edu.sg/courseware/ITSELF/
SELF Worksheets for Verb Tenses
INTERMEDIATE LEVEL

1. Error Analysis. Each of the following sentences contains an error related to verb tense. Identify the errors by underlining them and correct them by putting the correct form in the brackets. (10 marks)
Example: I am thinking that English is impossible to learn. (think)

1. Before I studied English, I thought it was an easy language. ( my ans:had been thinking ans given:had thought)
2. Now I am knowing that it isn't easy. ( know )
3. My language has only a little slang. But I am studying English since April, and I only begin to learn some of the common slang words in English. ( have been studying)
4. I have been tried to learn more of these words every day. ( have been trying )
5. Last night, for example, I have studied from 9:00 Pm. to midnight. ( had been studying studied (or was studying))
6. I was studying for three hours when I finally quit. ( havehad been studying)
7. I had gone to my teacher last Monday and she was telling me to see her after class. ( went, told )
8. But when I went to her classroom after school, she already left. ( hashad already left )
9. It's now May 15; by the middle of June, I will be studying English for three months. ( will have been )
10. On June 23, I will be studying German. On June 30, I will be studying German for one week. ( will have been )

2. General Review. Fill in the blanks with appropriate forms of the verbs in parentheses. In some cases, more than one verb form may be appropriate. In these cases, you should be able to explain any differences in meaning that may occur. (30 marks)

Esperanto

The idea of a universal language (11) has intersted (interest) people since the time of Babel. In the 1870s, a Polish teenager named Luclwik Zamenhof (12) began (begin) to develop such a language. He (13) called (call) his new language Esperanto, which (14)means (mean) "hope." At that time, he (15)livedwas living (live) in a Polish town where Poles, Russians, Germans, and Jews all (16) spoke (speak) their own languages. Zamenhof (17) believed (believe) that language differences (18) were(or are)(be) the major cause of difficulties among different ethnic groups. By 1890, he (19)had published (publish) his first book on Esperanto, and within a short tiny, thousands of people (20) learnedwere learning (learn) this new language.

Esperanto (21) is (be) simple to learn and use. The grammar is based on 16 fundamental rules. There (22)are(be) no ex­ceptions and no irregularities. In addition, the accent or stress always (23) falls (fall) on the last syllable of a word, and every letter (24) has (have) one and only one sound.

At first, Esperanto (25) was (be) a great success. Within a few years, hundreds of thousands of people (26)spokewere speaking(speak) Esperanto. (in fact, people (27)have written (write) over ten thousand books in Esperanto since 1900.) However, after a few decades, interest in the language (28)declinedhas declined/has been declining(decline). Today, it is still popular among thousands of people, but few (29)think(think) that Esperanto (30)will become (become) a universal language.

This (31)does not mean(not mean), however, that there (32)will never be (be/never) a universal tongue. In fact, English (33)is likely(be/likely) to become just such a lan­guage. Unlike Esperanto, English (34)has(have) thousands of exceptions and irregularities. But it (35)also has(have/also) the greatest number of speakers, and this number (36) is rapidly growing(grow/rapidly). Today, there (37)are (be) close to a billion speakers of English. By the year 2010, well over a billion and a half people (38) will speak(speak) English. Some experts (39) predict(predict) that by 2100, English (40) will have become (become) the first truly universal language.