e-Journal of English Language Teaching Society (ELTS) Vol. 2 No. 1 2014 t ISSN 2331-1841 Page 2
state or action denoted by a verb occurs. Gari (2012) also argues that the basic tenses in English
are present, past and future. English also has perfect tenses (present tense, present perfect, past
tense, past perfect and future tense, future perfect) and progressive tenses.
There are sixteen tenses in English (Azar, 2002). They are separated into four groups.
They are present tense, past tense, future tense and past future tense.Present tense is used to talk
about repeated action and general truth. It is divided into four types; simple present tense,
present continuous tense, present perfect tense, present perfect continuous tense. Past tense is
used to describe things that happened in the past or thing that were true in the past. It is divided
in to four types: simple past tense, past continuous tense, past perfect tense, past perfect
continuous tense. Then, future tense, it is used to describe something that will happen in the
future. This tense also divided into four types: simple future tense, future continuous tense,
future perfect tense, and future perfect continuous tense.
The present continuous tense is used to express an action that occurs at the time of
speaking or can be used to express the future time to explain a plan. The time signals are used
now, right now, at the moment, at the present, today, this morning, this afternoon, this evening,
etc. The present continuous tense or progressive tense is a tense that indicates the activities that
are being done or are in progress. Azar (2002:13) points out,
The present progressive (Present Continuous Tense) expresses an activity that is in
progress at the moment of speaking. It is a temporary activity that began in the past, is
continuing at present, and will probably end at some point in the future.
Dialogue is a literary and theatrical form consisting of a written or spoken
conversational exchange between two or more people (Brainy, 2001). Dialogue is a short
conversation between twR RU PRUH SHRSOH WRGD\ LV ZLGHO\ HQFRXQWHUHG LQ VWXGHQWV¶ ODQJXDJH
textbook to practice a new language and is used by language teachers as a teaching technique to
teach language in classroom activity. Brainy (2001) defines³$conversation between two or
more persons; particularly, a formal conservation in theatrical performances or in scholastic
exercises´. Although the sentences in the dialogue consist of fabricated sentences it can present
something valuable in teaching a new language. Brainy further states, ³A conversation is a
dialogue, not a monologue. That's why there are so few good conversations: due to scarcity,
two intelligent talkers seldom meet.