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Tenses: The Present - What You Are Currently Doing

Verbs change form depending on when an action occurs, with the main tenses being present, past, and future. The present tense expresses current or general situations, the past tense expresses finished past actions, and the future tense expresses actions that will happen. Each tense can be simple, continuous, or perfect depending on how the action relates to other time frames.

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Ayesha Rehman
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36 views

Tenses: The Present - What You Are Currently Doing

Verbs change form depending on when an action occurs, with the main tenses being present, past, and future. The present tense expresses current or general situations, the past tense expresses finished past actions, and the future tense expresses actions that will happen. Each tense can be simple, continuous, or perfect depending on how the action relates to other time frames.

Uploaded by

Ayesha Rehman
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Tenses

Verbs change their tense depending on when the action takes place. The three most
common are present, past, and future. Present tense expresses a situation that exists
now or a widespread truth. Past tense expresses an action or situation that started
and finished in the past. Most past tense verbs end in -ed. Future tense expresses an
action or situation that will happen in the future. This tense is formed by using
will/shall with the simple form of the verb. 

1. The Present - What you are currently doing.

I eat, I am eating

2. The Past - What you did some time back.

I ate, I was eating

3. The Future - What you will do later.

I will eat, I will be eating


In the English language, tenses play an important role in sentence formation.
The tense of a verb shows the time of an event or action.
PRESENT TENSES
SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE
Structure: Verb "+s/es" form is used for 2 or 3 person
Some Examples:
 The sun sets in the west.
 All the cars stop at this crossing.
 Michael teaches social studies in a school.
 That notice reads, “No parking”.
 Rajdhani leaves at seven in the morning.
 The teacher said if she works hard she will pass.
 There goes the taxi.
 Do you play tennis?
 He does not go to the temple.
 Does he write novels?
In Simple Present, the action is simply mentioned and there is nothing being said
about its completeness.
I eat.
I sleep.
I play.
PRESENT CONTINUOUS TENSE
In Present Continuous, the action is on-going/ still going on and hence
continuous.
I am playing. present continuous usually defines an act that is going on at the time
of speaking.

The sentences with present progressive tense are used when:


 Something is taking place now, while speaking and has a definite end as
well.
 When something is already decided and arranged as well to perform it.
 To indicate an undesirable habit.
Structure:
 Use first form of the verb “+ing”
 Singular 3rd person subject — use ‘is’
 Plural 1st, 2nd and 3rd person and singular 2nd person subject — use ‘are’
 1st person singular — use ‘am’
In other words, it is "Subject + be (is, am, are) + Verb+ -ing + Object"
Some Examples:
 Please wait for a moment, Shyam is talking to Mary.
 We are late; he will be waiting for us at the restaurant now.
 Mom, I am playing football.
 Are they still living here?
 She is having her breakfast now.
 I’m planning to meet the Director tonight.

PRESENT PERFECT TENSE


The Present Perfect Tense explains the incident that has happened in the past and
that continues until the present time.

Examples
 For almost five generations, my family members have been engineers.
 In order to avoid delays in my work, I have been doing it regularly.
 I have always wanted to ride on this vehicle.
Present Perfect Continuous Tense 
Usually, Present Perfect Continuous Tense is used for a situation that has occurred
in the past and which continues until that moment. 

Structure:
 Use the first form of the verb + “–ing”
 Singular subject (has been), Plural subject or I (have been)
 ‘Since’— if the point of time is mentioned.
 ‘For’ — if the duration of time is specified.
Examples:
 I have been eating apples today.
 You have not been studying for the past month.
 We haven’t been playing with Mary since Tuesday.
In Present Perfect, the action is complete or has ended and hence termed Perfect..
.
PAST TENSES
Construction:s+v+o
Examples:
 Katie worked in that office for almost four years.
 He passed away in 1999.
 We went for the movie yesterday.
In Simple Past, the action is simply mentioned and understood to have taken place
in the past.
I ate.
I slept.
I played.
PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE
In Past Continuous, the action was ongoing till a certain time in the past.
Structure 
Subject + was/were + Verb in its -ing form + Object
I was eating.
I was sleeping.
I was playing.
Examples:
 He was washing the dishes, while she was cooking dinner.
 I was working at 11p.m yesterday.
 We were playing football when it started to rain.
 She was reading a thriller novel when I called her.
 What were you doing when Sam arrived?
 I was walking down the street yesterday when the police van was
patrolling the city.

PAST PERFECT TENSE


Structure 
Subject + had + past participle form of verb + Object

Example:
 I had never seen such a beautiful before.
 She understood the movie only because she had read the book.
 Clara had never been to a club before last night.
 We didn’t get a room in the hotel because we had not booked in advance.

Past Perfect is used to express something that happened before another action in
the past.
I had eaten.
I had slept.
I had played.
PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE
Structure:
Subject + had + been + Verb (ing) + object

Example:
 I had been playing the guitar all morning.
 I had been sleeping all the way from the beginning of the class.
 He had been trying to call her.
 Until this year, Neha had been going to a village school.
 The baby had been crying out loud for minutes when her mother fed her.
Past Perfect Continuous is used to express something that started in the past and
continued until another time in the past.
I had been eating.
I had been sleeping.
I had been playing.
FUTURE TENSES
SIMPLE FUTURE TENSE
Simple Future is used when we plan or make a decision to do something. Nothing
is said about the time in the future.
I will eat.
I will sleep.
I will play.
FUTURE CONTINUOUS TENSE
The future continuous tense is used to express action at a particular moment in the
future. However, the action will not have finished at the moment.
I will be eating at 9 a.m.
I will be sleeping when you arrive.
I will be playing at 5 p.m.

FUTURE PERFECT TENSE


Future Perfect expresses action that will occur in the future before another action
in the future.
I will have eaten before 10 a.m.
I will have slept before you arrive.
I will have played before 6 p.m.
FUTURE PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE
Future Perfect Continuous is used to talk about an on-going action before some
point in the future.
I will have been sleeping for two hours when you arrive.
I will have been playing for an hour when it is 5 p.m.
I have been eating.
I have been sleeping.
I have been playing.
PAST TENSES
SIMPLE PAST TENSE
In Simple Past, the action is simply mentioned and understood to have taken place
in the past.
I ate.
I slept.
I played.
PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE
In Past Continuous, the action was ongoing till a certain time in the past.
I was eating.
I was sleeping.
I was playing.
PAST PERFECT TENSE
Past Perfect is used to express something that happened before another action in
the past.
I had eaten.
I had slept.
I had played.
PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE
Past Perfect Continuous is used to express something that started in the past and
continued until another time in the past.
I had been eating.
I had been sleeping.
I had been playing.
FUTURE TENSES
SIMPLE FUTURE TENSE
Simple Future is used when we plan or make a decision to do something. Nothing
is said about the time in the future.
I will eat.
I will sleep.
I will play.
FUTURE CONTINUOUS TENSE
The future continuous tense is used to express action at a particular moment in the
future. However, the action will not have finished at the moment.
I will be eating at 9 a.m.
I will be sleeping when you arrive.
I will be playing at 5 p.m.
FUTURE PERFECT TENSE
Future Perfect expresses action that will occur in the future before another action
in the future.
I will have eaten before 10 a.m.
I will have slept before you arrive.
I will have played before 6 p.m.
FUTURE PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE
Future Perfect Continuous is used to talk about an on-going action before some
point in the future.
I will have been sleeping for two hours when you arrive.
I will have been playing for an hour when it is 5 p.m.

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