English for Agriculture unit 2 grammar

GRAMMAR

Form of the Verb to be

Look at the following sentences:

1. Lowland rice is the most important crop.
2. Irrigation is vital.
3. There is enough water.
4. Agriculture is one of the world's most important industries.

Please note that

• these sentences all use a form of the verb 'to be'.
• in these cases the form = is
• however, the verb 'to be' has many forms.

The most important forms of the verb to be:

Tense	Form
Present	is (singular) / are (plural)
Future Simple	will be
Future with 'going to'	is going to be / are going to be
Past Simple	was / were
Present Perfect	has been / have been
Auxilliary Constructions	can be / may be /should be / etc.

Note:

• Usually, there is only one present tense used for the verb 'to be'.
• Present continuous tense is not used in these types of construction.

Look at how we use 'to be' with different time periods:

Tense	When?
Present	Lowland rice is the most important crop now.
Future Simple	Lowland rice will be the most important crop in the future.
Future with 'going to'	Lowland rice is going to be the most important crop in the future.
Past Simple	Lowland rice was the most important crop in the past.
Present Perfect	Lowland rice has been the most important crop for a long time.
Auxilliary Constructions	Lowland rice must be the most imortant crop now.

Note that the sentences used the singular form of the verb 'to be'.  The following set of sentences show how plural nouns use a different form of 'to be':

Tense	When?
Present	In Europe, potatoes are one of the most important crops now.
Future Simple	In Europe, potatoes will be one of the most important crops in the future.
Future with 'going to'	In Europe, potatoes are going to be one of the most important crops in the future.
Past Simple	In Europe, potatoes were one of the most important crops in the past.
Present Perfect	In Europe, potatoes have been one of the most important crops for many years
Auxilliary Constructions	In Europe, potatoes must be one of the most important crops at the moment.

WRITE A SENTENCE IN THE COMMENT BOX, USING THE FORM TO BE IN EACH TIME TENSE.

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Watch the following video and write a short summary, do it in the cooment box.

English for Agriculture:1 comprehension quiz

Answer the following questions in the comment box.


How important is agriculture in your country? Why?




What type of agriculture is most common in your country?




Where are the main agricultural regions?




What do they produce?




What are some of the problems facing your country's agriculture?



Do farmers in your country affect the environment a lot or only a little?




In what ways do they affect the environment?




Is the effect on the environment the same in all regions?




Discuss any regional differences



Write a short description of the main agricultural activities in your country (about 100 words). Try to use at least 10 terms and 3 verb tenses introduced in this lesson

English for Agriculture: lesson 2 grammar verb tenses

Complete the reading excercise "farmers and the environment" in the prior entry. (for spanish speaking students, watch the following video)

Verb Tenses

This reading introduces the Present Simple Tense. This is one of the six most common verb tenses in English. Others include the Present Continuous tense, the Future Simple tense, the Future with ‘going to’, the Past Simple tense, and the Present Perfect tense. These tenses describe when something happens. All of the sentences in the reading are in the ‘Present Simple Tense’. They describe things that happen every year, always, every day, usually or sometimes.
The table below describes when to use each tense.

Tense	Example	When?
1. Present Simple	People eat rice	every day
2. Present Continuous	People are eating rice	now
3. Future Simple	People will eat rice	in the future
4. Future with ‘going to’	People are going to eat rice	in the future
5. Past Simple	People ate rice	in the past
6. Present Perfect	People have eaten rice	up to now

Examples:
Present Simple
Used to describe things which happen every year, always, every day, usually or sometimes.
Examples:

1. Most people in the Philippines eat rice.
2. She cooks rice everyday.

Present Continuous
Used to express an action in the present; something that is currently happening.
Examples:

1. They are eating rice.
2. He is cooking rice for dinner

Future Simple
Used to express the future.
Examples:

1. They will eat rice for breakfast.
2. I will cook more rice tonight.

 Future ‘with going to’
Also used to express the future except you use the verb to be + going to. The meaning is the same as the future simple.
Examples:

1. They are going to eat rice for dinner.
2. She is going to cook more rice tomorrow.

Past Simple
Used to express a completed action in the past.
Examples:

1. I ate rice for lunch.
2. They cooked rice.

Present Perfect
Used to show that an action was completed sometime before the present time. Used to indicate that an action started in the past and continues to the present time.
Examples:

1. She has eaten rice every day of her life.
2. They have cooked rice over a fire for years.

Writing Tips:

What are the commonly used tenses in scientific writing? 


When writing a typical paper, you will normally use both the past and present tenses.


When you refer to previously published work you should generally use the present tense. When you refer to your present results you should use the past tense.


When you are writing an abstract, most of it should be in the past tense because you are referring to your own present results. The Materials and Methods and Results sections should also be in the past tense because you are describing what you did and what you found. 


Most of the Introduction and Discussion should be in the present tense because you are usually talking about previously established knowledge.