在帶學生準備劍橋英語認證的短文寫作測驗時，內容(content)、組織(organization)、語言(language)是評分三大指標，下筆時一定要將這些評分要點記在心裡，並自我檢視是否展現出自己這三方面的最佳狀態：內容要符合題目要求，整篇文章組織能讓讀者輕鬆理解您的表述，語言部份則是指用字和文法的正確性。
通常在批改學生文章時，最大的問題就是文法，文法錯誤易造成讀者的理解困難或誤解；請想想，一位閱卷老師要在有限時間內改幾篇文章，如果這文章無法讓人順順看懂，而是得停滯在這裡猜想，也許因字跡太難辨識，也許因時態不一致，或是句子結構混亂...等等，老師就會放棄猜想而扣分。
手長在您那兒，不好好寫出端正清楚的字，我也沒轍；然而時態與句型是學習過程中老師一再叮囑的，是否有吸收進您腦子，真的一下筆就分曉。而以我們中文腦要做這樣思考邏輯轉換的確不容易，最好平時就常書寫，無論造句練習或短文練習都好，可以試著用英文寫日記，剛開始也許中文多一點，英文少一點，漸漸習慣一些固定模式後，就會慢慢增加英文的量；交國際筆友也是個好方法，可強迫自己使用英文，附加價值是文化交流，非常有趣。
句型架構請參考我其他相關文章，這篇最主要放在時態的部份。話說時態，大家腦中可能開始出現一些混亂...過去?現在?進行?完成?.....先簡化來想，一條時間軸上我們標出三個點: 過去(past)、現在(present)、未來(future)
這三個時間區塊中，都可以再細分成四個面向表達：簡單(present)、進行(continuous)、完成(perfect)、完成進行(perfect continuous)。於是3×4＝12 就變成12種時態變化，來看看下面表格...
|
Present Simple 現在簡單 I jog every other day. |
Past
Simple 過去簡單 I
jogged for an hour last night. |
Future
Simple 未來簡單 I
will jog as much as I can this year. |
|
Present Continuous 現在進行 I am watching a movie now. |
Past Continuous 過去進行 I was watching a movie at noon yesterday. |
Future Continuous 未來進行 I will be watching a movie with Pilar tomorrow evening. |
|
Present Perfect 現在完成 I have phoned her already. |
Past Perfect 過去完成 I had phoned her before you came in. |
Future Perfect 未來完成 I will have phoned her by the end of this week.(本週尚未結束) |
|
Present Perfect Continuous 現在完成進行 She has been playing the piano since she was five. |
Past Perfect Continuous 過去完成進行 She had been playing the piano for 5
hours before the doorbell rang. |
Future Perfect Continuous 未來完成進行 She
will have been playing the piano for 10 hours before dinner tonight.(今天還沒晚餐) |
何時使用現在簡單式(present simple)？---不因時間因素改變的事實、恆定狀態、習慣、歸納陳述
- The highest mountain in Taiwan is Yushan.
- Light travels faster than sound.
- I drink a cup of coffee every morning.
- This article explains the causes of global warming.
- I met Eliza in 1991.
- We swam a lot while we lived in Kuala Lumpur.
- He enjoyed being a student.
- People lived in caves a long time ago.
- Ryan has been to Japan many times.
- You have grown since the last time I saw you.
- She has learned how to play tennis.
- I have had lots of quizzes and tests so far this semester.
- They haven't finished their homework yet.
下面附上網路搜尋到的資料，我覺得蠻有意思，僅供參考，不是絕對，因為不同內容會有不同的常用時態，例如日常口語和故事小說，常用時態一個是現在簡單，一個是過去簡單。
Did you know?
80% – 85% of academic and technical English is in the present, including passives(被動語態).
5% – 10% is in the past, including passives(被動語態).
5% is in every other tense/verb form
15% of verbs are modal(情態助動詞) / 25% are passive(被動語態).
60% of all content is nouns (3 – 4 nouns per verb).