Now I WANT to DISCUSS verb forms (tense and aspect). Teachers normally TALK about three tenses: past, present, and future. Since we WATCH entire episodes of Saijo no Meii and then TALK about them as though they really HAPPENED（済んだ事）, we USE the simple past tense and past progressive tense most often. Almost every episode is a completely different story, so we hardly ever HAVE the opportunity to USE future tenses. Occasionally we TALK about things that happen every day（連続状態）OR do not CHANGE（続く状態）. Then we USE the simple present tense.

Affirmative sentences（肯定文）in the simple past or present usually do NOT USE an auxilliary verb（助動詞）, but negative sentences and questions（否定文と疑問文）DO NEED one--"do". NOTICE that the tense -d OR -s is ATTACHED to the auxilliary verb, when there is one, NOT to the verb. The verb REMAINS in its dictionary form（原形）.

Auxilliary verbs（助動詞）sometimes SUBSTITUTE for verbs and the noun phrases that FOLLOW them.

When someone is in the middle of an action（途中）in the past, we USE the past progressive（過去進行形）. It is often USED together with the past tense in a "when" clause（節）「その時に ... 途中でした。」.

When something has HAPPENED further in the past（前の前の事）, we USE the past perfect（過去完了形）. Yet mention of the past event（前の事）is often LOCATED in a different sentence OR NOT MENTIONED at all ... simply IMPLIED.

Many Japanese students are CONFUSED about the difference between the simple past tense and the present perfect tense. The perfect tense is not often USED except with certain phrases OR when their meaning is IMPLIED. Below you can SEE some of those phrases and how they are USED in the present perfect pattern.

Present perfect usually INDICATES that a situation that STARTED in the past is NOT FINISHED. In examples 1a and 1b (which have exactly the same meaning), however, the medicine has been SWALLOWED (already). The action IS FINISHED. Some native speakers USE the simple past, others USE the present perfect. Still others USE them interchangably. There is no rule ... either pattern can be USED.

During the Group Work Leaders should MAKE SURE that all students that are online KEEP their microphones ON (so that they can SPEAK) AND their cameras ON (so that they can SEE each other).

At the top of your report WRITE
(message #1) your group's name, "Week 14",
(message #2) the leader's name,
(message #3) Plan A: Speak English, then write English, and
(message #4) Steps 2-3: Noun phrase/sentence pairs.

THEN START WRITING your phrase/sentence pairs about the assigned video. First SAY a phrase, then WRITE it (while everyone REPEATS). DIVIDE each phrase into 4区. Also WRITE the time that the noun (person, place, or thing) APPEARED in the video [ 時刻 ] .

Then MAKE a sentence USING that Noun Phrase. WRITE it (while everyone REPEATS). DIVIDE each sentence into 4区. The Noun Phrases and sentences should be about the video clips at the bottom of the list of Conversation Skills. FOLLOW the same 3-minute procedure that was DESCRIBED last week in Lesson 11.

If you HAVE any questions about what you are supposed to be DOING, first DISCUSS the problem with your group, then ... if you are still in doubt, DO what you or your group THINK is right, (RAISE your hand if you're in the classroom) and SHOW it to the teacher (the PDS Cycle).