Home arrow Tenses

Dictionary

Dictionary & thesaurus
Computing Dictionary
Medical Dictionary
Legal Dictionary
Financial Dictionary
Acronyms
Idioms
 by:   

About us

About us

Bhacharada English House 3274/82 City Villa, Ladprao Road, Bangkapi, Bangkok 10240, Thailand
Tel : (66)0-2736-5960, (66)8-4920-7878

พชรฎาบ้านภาษา 3274/82 ซิตี้วิลล่า ถนนลาดพร้าว แขวงคลองจั่น เขตบางกะปิ กรุงเทพฯ 10240
โทรศัพท์ 0-2736-5960, 08-4920-7878
Tenses
If only PDF Print E-mail

If only means the same as I wish.  We can use if only instead of I wish with the same use of tenses.
Examples:
     If only I was/were as beautiful as you.
     If only I hadn’t dropped the meat.
     If only Sandra would tell me the truth. 

If only can be more emphatic than wish.  It often expresses regret.
Example:
     If only you'd told me you had an extra toaster.  I wouldn't have bought a new one. 

After if only we can soemtimes use the present tense in a wish about the future.
Example:
     If only the train gets in on time, we'll just catch the three o'clock bus.

Only can sometimes be in mid position:  If you'd only told me, I could have eaten it.
    

 
Past Simple or Past Continuous PDF Print E-mail
When one action interrupts another, we use the Past Continuous and the Past Simple together in one sentence.
Read more...
 
Past Continuous PDF Print E-mail

We use the Past Continuous for an action or situation that was happening, but not completed, at a particular time in the past

Read more...
 
Wish + Verbs PDF Print E-mail

Wish is a state verb NOT an action verb.  A state means something staying the same.  State verbs express meanings such as being, having, opinions and feelings.

 

Read more...
 
Future Tense PDF Print E-mail

There are different ways of expressing the future.  It depends on what we want to express.

Read more...
 
Past Simple PDF Print E-mail

We use the Past Simple for an action that started and finished in the past, often with a past time expression (yesterday, this morning, last week/month/year; a week/month ago, in 2000, etc). 

Read more...