Page 37 - Practical English Usage 3ed - Michael Swan, Oxford

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high things: over preferred
We prefer over to say 'on Ito the other side of something high'.
Why are you climbing over the wall? (NOT • • • aefflSS the wall?) flat areas: across preferred
We usually prefer across to say 'onlto the other side of a flat area or surface'. He walked right across the desert.
It took them six hours to row across the lake.
the adverb over (to)
Note that the adverb over has a wider meaning than the preposition over. We often use over (to) for short journeys.
I'm going over to John's. Shall we drive over and see your mother?
across and through
The difference between across and through is like the difference between on and in. Through, unlike across, is used for a movement in a three-dimensional space, with things on all sides. Compare:
- We walked across the ice. (We were on the ice.)
I walked through the wood. (l was in the wood.)
- We drove across the desert.
We drove through several towns.
For over and above. see 6.
For across from (ArnE). see 402.1.
For other uses of these words, see a good dictionary.
active verb forms
future, present and past; simple, progressive and perfect
English verbs can refer to future, present or past time. future: She wUl see you tomorrow.
present: I'm watching you.
past: Who said that?
For each kind of time, there are three possibilities with most verbs: simple, progressive (be + -ing) and perfect (have + past participle).
simple present: I start
present p'rogressive: I am starting present perfect: I have started
verb forms ('tenses') and time
There is not a direct relationship between verb fonns and time. For example, a past verb like went is not only used to talk about past events (e.g. We went to Morocco last January), but also about unreal or uncertain present or future events (e.g. It would be better ifwe went home now). And present verbs can be used to talk about the future (e.g. I'm seeing Peter tomorrow). Also, progressive and perfect fonns express ideas that are not simply concerned with time - for
example continuation, completion, present importance.
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