10.1 Present and Past Tenses

10.1 Present and Past Tenses

Quick Answer: At A2 Key, use present simple for habits and facts (She works in a shop), present continuous for now/temporary actions (She is working now), and past simple for finished past events (She worked yesterday / She went home). Match time expressions to the tense, keep state verbs mostly in simple forms, and control was/were, did, and common irregulars in writing and open cloze.

Tense is the grammar engine of everyday English. Almost every A2 Key paper part rewards candidates who can choose present simple, present continuous, and past simple with confidence. You do not need advanced perfect or continuous stacks for this exam. You need clear, accurate elementary tense control that examiners can trust in emails, picture stories, short answers, and one-word grammar gaps.

Why Tenses Matter Across the Whole Exam

If your verbs jump randomly between present and past, readers and examiners lose the timeline. At A2, timeline clarity beats fancy vocabulary.

Present Simple: Form and Use

Form table

Spelling notes (A2 essentials)

• Add -s for he/she/it: play → plays, live → lives
• -es after -ch, -sh, -ss, -x, -o: watch → watches, go → goes
• Consonant + y → -ies: study → studies (but play → plays)

Main meanings at A2

1. Habits and routines: I get up at seven every day.
2. Facts and permanent situations: Water boils at 100°C. She lives in Madrid.
3. Timetables and scheduled events (simple future-like use): The train leaves at 9.15.
4. Likes, opinions, and states: He likes pizza. I think it’s good.

High-value time expressions for present simple

always, usually, often, sometimes, rarely, never, every day/week, on Mondays, in the morning, once a week

Exam link — Speaking: How often do you watch films? Answer with present simple + frequency: I usually watch a film on Saturday.

Exam link — Writing Part 6: If a content point is about a habit (say what you do at weekends), present simple is the natural choice.

Present Continuous: Form and Use

Form table

Spelling of -ing

• Drop final silent e: write → writing
• Double final consonant in short stressed patterns: swim → swimming, run → running
• Keep y: play → playing, study → studying

Main meanings at A2

1. Actions happening now: Please be quiet. The baby is sleeping.
2. Temporary situations around now: I am staying with my aunt this week.
3. Changing situations (light A2 use): The weather is getting colder.
4. Future arrangements (common in messages): We are meeting at 6 p.m. tomorrow.

High-value time expressions for present continuous

now, right now, at the moment, today, this week, this month, Look! / Listen!

Present simple vs continuous: the decision test

Contrast pairs to memorise

• She works in a hospital. (job = permanent) vs She is working tonight. (this evening only)
• I live in London. vs I am living with friends until July.
• He usually walks to school. vs He is walking today because the bus is late.

State Verbs vs Action Verbs

At A2, treat these state verbs as normally simple, not continuous:

Correct: I like this film. She wants a sandwich. He knows the answer.
Wrong at A2 target: I am liking this film. She is wanting a sandwich.

Careful with have:

• Possession → simple: I have two brothers.
• Activity phrase → continuous possible: I am having lunch now.

Careful with think:

• Opinion → simple: I think the blue bag is better.
• Mental activity now → continuous possible: Wait—I am thinking about the answer.

State-verb mistakes often appear when candidates overuse continuous because they “heard it sounds active.” For Key level, simple is safer with like/want/know/need.

Past Simple: Form and Use

Regular verbs

Add -ed (or -d if the verb already ends in e):

High-frequency irregulars (must-know A2 list)

Past simple auxiliaries

Critical error trap: after did/didn't, use the base form, not past:
✅ Did you go? ❌ Did you went?
✅ I didn't see it. ❌ I didn't saw it.

Meanings

Use past simple for finished actions and situations in the past:

• I visited my grandma yesterday.
• We lived in Rome in 2019.
• She bought a ticket last night.

Time expressions for past simple

yesterday, last night/week/month/year, … ago (two days ago), in 2020, when I was a child, this morning (if the morning is finished), on Monday (past Monday in context)

Was / Were Control

There is/are past: There was a problem. There were two buses. (expanded in 10.4)

Open cloze loves was/were gaps. Check subject number before you write the word.

Light Note on Used to (A2-relevant, not core)

You may meet used to + base for past habits that are not true now:

• I used to play tennis, but now I swim.

At A2 Key you are not expected to master full used to question/negative systems for high marks, but recognising the meaning helps Reading and Listening. For productive Writing Part 7, past simple is still the default storytelling tense: First she woke up. Then she had breakfast. Prefer I lived in Italy over forcing I used to live… unless you are sure of the form.

Error Traps Table

Exam Task Mini-Drills

Open cloze style

1. She ___ not work on Sundays. → does
2. They ___ watching a film at the moment. → are
3. ___ you see the email yesterday? → Did
4. I ___ tired after the long walk last night. → was

Writing Part 6

Prompt idea: apologise and say why you missed a meeting.
Strong: I am sorry I missed the meeting. I was ill yesterday.
(Present for the apology situation + past for the finished reason.)

Writing Part 7

Three pictures: wake up → bus → arrive late.
Strong spine: First, Maya woke up late. Then she ran to the bus. Finally, she arrived at school after nine.

Speaking Part 1

• What do you do every morning? → present simple routine
• What are you studying this year? → present continuous temporary course
• What did you do last weekend? → past simple finished weekend

Practice Plan for Tenses

1. Daily 10-minute form drill: one day present simple -s, next day irregular past list, next day did + base.
2. Rewrite drill: take five present simple habits and rewrite as yesterday past simple.
3. Story spine: narrate three pictures only in past simple before adding adjectives.
4. Cloze collection: keep a notebook of gaps that needed is/are/was/were/do/does/did.
5. Speaking card: answer every day / now / last week questions without translating word by word.

One-Page Memory Card

Master these three tenses first. Section 10.2 adds future forms and modals that sit on top of this foundation; Section 10.4 shows how the same auxiliaries build questions and negatives cleanly.