To speak and write correctly at work, you need the main tenses (temps). This chapter reviews the present and the past. (Les explications sont en anglais ; quelques mots-clés sont traduits entre parenthèses.)
| Tense | Form | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Present simple | I work / he works ; do you work? ; he does not (doesn't) work | Facts, habits, routines, timetables, states (like, know, want) | The office opens at 8.30. She usually checks her e-mails first. |
| Present continuous | am / is / are + verb-ing | Actions happening now ; temporary situations ; future arrangements | I'm writing a report at the moment. We're meeting the client on Friday. |
Signal words: always, usually, often, every day (simple) ; now, at the moment, today, this week (continuous).
| Tense | Form | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Past simple | verb-ed or irregular form (went, wrote, sent) ; did you…? ; didn't + verb | Finished actions at a known time in the past | We sent the invoice yesterday. He didn't attend the meeting. |
| Past continuous | was / were + verb-ing | An action in progress in the past, often interrupted | I was typing a letter when the phone rang. |
© TSC COMMERCE – OTHMAN ZT · Cours protégé, reproduction interdite
| Tense | Form | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Present perfect | have / has + past participle | Past action with a result now ; experience ; unfinished period (this year, since, for, yet, already, just) | I have already booked the hotel. Have you received our offer yet? |
| Present perfect continuous | have / has been + verb-ing | An action that started in the past and is still going on | She has been working here for five years. |
| Past perfect | had + past participle | An action before another past action | When I arrived, the meeting had already started. |
Past simple with a finished time (yesterday, last week, in 2023, ago) ; present perfect without a finished time (ever, never, yet, already, since, for). « I sent it yesterday » but « I have just sent it ».
| Base | Past | Past participle | Français |
|---|---|---|---|
| be | was / were | been | être |
| buy | bought | bought | acheter |
| give | gave | given | donner |
| go | went | gone | aller |
| make | made | made | faire, fabriquer |
| meet | met | met | rencontrer |
| pay | paid | paid | payer |
| send | sent | sent | envoyer |
| sell | sold | sold | vendre |
| take | took | taken | prendre |
| write | wrote | written | écrire |
© TSC COMMERCE – OTHMAN ZT · Cours protégé, reproduction interdite
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