The present permanent. The present temporary. Talking about a period of time in the past. Talking about a single event in the past

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1 LINKING WORDS The present permanent Use the present simple tense to refer to permanent situations in the present. I now live in a small town. Nowadays I live in a small town. These days, I don't have much of a social life. The present temporary Use the present continuous tense to refer to temporary situations in the present. At present / At the moment, I'm living in a small town. For the time being, I'm living in a small town, but I hope to move soon. Talking about a period of time in the past My mother started work as a nurse in the 1960s. In those days, she lived in London. Back then nurses were badly paid. At that time, nurses lived in special accommodation. Talking about a single event in the past At one time, she lost her door key and had to stay in a hotel. On one occasion, she nursed the son of a famous politician. Sequencing events in the past There are many ways to sequence events in the past. Here are some of the more common ones. 1.After (in the middle of a sentence) 2.Afterwards / After that / After a while (at the beginning of a sentence) 3.Then / Before (in the middle of sentence) 4.Before that / Previously / Until then (At the beginning of a sentence) 5.By the time (usually followed by Past Simple) 6.By then / by that time (at the beginning of a sentence) 1.I went shopping after I had finished work. 2.I worked all day in the office. Afterwards / After that, I went shopping. I went shopping. After a while, I got bored. 3.I had phoned Mary before I went shopping. 4.I went shopping at 6pm. Before that / Previously / Until then I had worked all day in the office. I worked all day, then I went shopping. 5.By the time he came to help her, she had already finished her homework. 6.I worked until 6pm. By then / By that time, I was glad for the opportunity to go shopping.

2 I.BY THE TIME / WHEN (normalmente intercambiables, a no ser que le demos un matiz de tiempo) 1. WHEN points out a specific point in time punto específico en el tiempo. 2.BY THE TIME suggests a passage of time that took too long. un periodo de tiempo transcurrió For example: -The injuries didn't look too serious, but by the time the ambulance arrived, the victim was dead (had died) (Specifies that the delay was at issue) el retraso tiene importancia -The injuries didn't look too serious, but when the ambulance arrived, the victim was dead. (Still technically correct, but missing the passage of time as an issue) -By the time he finished, I had cooked dinner. (le costó acabar y me dio tpo a cocinar) -By the time Alex finished his studies, he had been in London for over eight years. II.AT THE END (OF)/ IN THE END At the end (of something) a specific place/time. Some examples for you to understand it better. 1. At the end of the film I couldn t help crying. 2. At the end of this street there is a big supermarket. 3. At the end of the book the main character, Lisa, dies. Some phrases with at the end: at the end of the earth: en los confines de la tierra, en el culo del mundo (colloquial) at the end of the day: al terminar el día (he arrived home at the end of the day) and al fin y al cabo (at the end of the day, there s nothing we can do) In the end = finalmente, al final, en definitiva, a fin de cuentas) Examples: 1. In the end, 2,000 people attended the conference. 2. In the end, I learnt you have to work very hard to be successful. The same happens with at the beginning and in the beginning. 1. In the beginning, I couldn t see my friend because there were many people there, but then I saw her. 2. At the beginning of the new year, I will give up smoking, this is my new year s resolution.

3 III. AS/WHEN/WHILE 1.Una acción larga transcurría cuando otra la interrumpió: While / as / when they were sleeping, somebody broke into the house. As / when / while I was walking down the street, I saw a strange sight. *We normally use progressive tenses in clauses beginning with as, when or while. Simple tenses are also possible especially with state verbs like sit, lie or grow, be. As I was at home, the postman came. 2.WHILE: para acciones simultáneas. *Both continuous and simple tense forms can be used. While you were playing I was working. John tidied the room while Jane cooked supper. 3. AS para situaciones que cambian al mismo tiempo.*it can be used with simple tenses to talk about situations that change together. As I got older, I got happier. 4. WHEN para referirse a edades. When we were children we lived in a farm house. 5.The expressions just as or just when are used to talk about two short actions that happen at the same time. Just as I opened my eyes, I saw a strange sight. Just when I stepped out, the telephone rang. IV. EVENTUALLY/FINALLY/AL LAST/ IN THE END EVENTUALLY: después de una larga espera, esfuerzo, algo sucede.long WAIT It might take him ages but he'll do it eventually. (después de mucho tiempo y esfuerzo) FINALLY: implica una lista, cadena de sucesos, lo último. Finally, put the lasagne into the oven, preheated to 350 degrees. Jasmine has had over twenty interviews and she has finally got a job as a journalist. AT LAST (impacientes, por fin!!)they re here at last!! We ve been waiting half an hour. IN THE END : conclusión (después de haber discutido, argumentado, pensado) We were going to ski in Austria, then the South of France and in the end we decided to go to Italy.

4 **MORE EXAMPLES at last! = An exclamation showing relief or excitement after waiting a long time (usually used with perfect or present tenses) finally = after a series of incidents or attempts In some situations, more than one is possible. In others, only one. It depends on whether you want to comment on the time taken, the number of attempts or the way the situation is concluded. Situation 1: your journey to England was delayed by bad weather. In the end, I arrived at my hotel (the conclusion of the story) Eventually, I arrived at my hotel (after a long time) At last, I've arrived at my hotel! (it has taken a long time) Finally, I arrived at my hotel. (after a series of incidents: my train was delayed, my bus broke down, the taxi driver got lost, the road was flooded...) Situation 2: Your brother was staying at your house for a week and you told him not to touch your expensive vase because it was very fragile. He was very careful not go near the vase all week. In the end, the neighbour's dog knocked it over and it smashed into pieces. (the conclusion of the story) Eventually, the neighbour's dog knocked it over and it smashed into pieces. At last, the neighbour's dog knocked it over and it smashed into pieces. Finally, the neighbour's dog knocked it over and it smashed into pieces. Situation 3: Barcelona beat Real Madrid 3-2. In the end, Barcelona beat Real (the result of the match) Eventually, Barcelona beat Real (it took a long time to beat Real, perhaps several seasons) At last, Barcelona have beaten Real! (it has taken a long time to beat Real, perhaps several seasons) Finally, Barcelona have beaten Real!(it has taken a lot of attempts to beat Real) *Note that "at the end" is a simple time expression. So I can say: At the end of the 90 minutes, Ronaldo scored with a penalty to pull one back for Real. But in the end, it was Barcelona who went home with all three points.

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6 By the time vs. When (future) BY THE TIME By the time is followed by a clause that (1) relates a time-frame, for viewing the progress or completion of the activity in the main clause; (2) includes an activity with duration and an end-point possibly before and up to X time. FUTURE PROGRESSIVE The sun will be setting by the time I get home. FUTURE PERFECT The sun will have set by the time I get home. WHEN When is followed by a clause that (1) relates a point in time for viewing the progress or completion of the activity in the main clause; (2) includes an acitivity with relatively short duration or its duration is of little importance at X time. FUTURE PROGRESSIVE

7 The sun will be setting when I get home. FUTURE PERFECT ~The sun will have set when I get home. ~ Awkward sounding; by the time is more commonly used. See Will / Will have (Future Perfect). By the time expresses that the end-point of one activity (with duration) is the point-of-time for viewing the timing of another activity, not later than the time [possibly before and up to X point of time]. The expression is used to compare or estmate relative progress of one activity to another When expresses that the timing of one activity is the point-of-time for viewing the timing of another activity, "at the time" [X point of time] time-frame (N) "window of time", a period of time, especially a specified period in which something occurs or is planned to take place