TENSES

• Tense is a form of a verb that shows the time of an action and

its degree of completeness. (or state of any action).

• The three main divisions of time are- Present, Past, Future-

time then, time now, time to come. These tenses are further
sub-divided as given below:

PRESENT TENSE:
1. Simple Present Tense/ Present Indefinite –Subject+ V1(s/es)+rest of the
sentence
E.g.- He goes to school.

2. Present Continuous- Subject+is/are/am+V1(ing)+rest of the sentence.

E.g.- He is going to school.

3. Present Perfect- Subject+has/have+V3+rest of the sentence.

E.g.- He has gone to school.

4. Present Perfect Continuous- Subject+ has/have been+V1(ing)+ rest of the

sentence.
E.g.- He has been going to school.

USES OF TENSES
The Simple Present Tense is used: -
1. To express universal truths, general statements, habits, proverbs, to
introduce quotations.
E.g.- The earth moves round the sun.
Honey is sweet.
 He drinks tea every morning.
God helps those who help themselves.
Shakespeare said, "Life is but a walking shadow."

2. To express a near future event.

E.g.- The PM leaves for US next month.
The match starts at 5 o' clock.
The train leaves at 6:30.

3. In exclamatory sentences beginning with here and there.

E.g.- Here comes the bus!
There she goes!

The Present Continuous Tense is used: -

1. To describe actions (temporary) going on in the present or
continuing at the present moment.
E.g.- The boys are playing cricket.
He is going to school.
The man is beating the child.

2. To describe actions that are going to take place in the future.

E.g.- I am leaving for Bangalore tomorrow.
I am going to be 17 next week.
Note: - The following verbs, on account of their meanings, are not normally
used in the continuous form:
(1) Verbs of Perceptions, e.g., see, hear, smell, notice, Recognize.
(2) Verbs of appearing, e.g., appear, look, seem.
(3) Verbs of emotion, e.g., want, wish, desire, feel, like, love, hate,
hope, refuse, prefer.
(4) Verbs of thinking, e.g., think, suppose, believe, agree, consider,
trust, remember, trust, know, understand, imagine, mean,
mind.
 (5) Have (=possess), own, possess, belong to, contain, consist of,
be (except when in the passive).

Wrong Right
These grapes are tasting These grapes taste
sour. sour.
I am thinking you are I think you are
wrong. wrong.
She is seeming sad. She seems sad.
He is having a cellphone. He has a cellphone.

The Present Perfect Tense is used: -

1. To indicate a link between the present and the past. The term
'perfect' here gives the idea that somebody has already completed
the work.
E.g.- I have written a letter.
He has just gone out.

2. To describe past events which have their effect in the present.

E.g.- I have done my work. (So, I am free now.)
He has eaten all the biscuits. (=there aren't any left).
3. To denote actions that began at some time in the past and
continuing up to the present moment (often with since and for
phrases).
E.g.- We have known each other for 10 years.
He has been ill since last week.
I haven't seen him for several months.

The Present Perfect Continuous Tense is used: -

1. To denote activities that started in the past and are still in progress.
E.g.- He has been working for 2 hours.
I have been watching the television since 8 am.
 He has been sleeping since 3 pm.

PAST TENSE
1. Simple Past/ Past Indefinite- Subject+ V2+ rest of the sentence.
E.g.- He sang a song.

2. Past Continuous Tense - Subject+ was/were+ V1(ing)+ rest of the sentence.

E.g.- He was singing a song.

3. Past Perfect Tense - Subject+had+V3+rest of the sentence.

E.g.- She had finished her work.

4. Past Perfect Continuous Tense - Subject+had been+V1(ing)+rest of the

sentence.
E.g.- She had been singing a song.

The Simple Past Tense is used: -

1. To describe past actions. With past time phrases, Simple past is
used. (yesterday, ago, last week, last night, ten days back, the other
day, etc.)
E.g.- The ship sailed yesterday.
I received his letter a week ago.
He left college last year.

2. Used for past habits.

E.g.- She studied many hours everyday.
He went for a walk every morning.
He always carried an umbrella.
The Past continuous is used: -
1. To describe activities going on at some time in the past.
E.g.- We were listening to the radio all evening.
I was playing chess.
She was going shopping.

The Past Perfect is used: -

1. If two activities of the past are mentioned, it is necessary to show
which action happened earlier than the other. In such a case,the
first activity takes Past Perfect and the second activity takes Simple
Past.
E.g.- When I reached the station, the train had left.
First action - The train had left (past perfect).
Second action - When I reached the station (simple past).

2. Other examples:-

First action completed Second action took place

(Past Perfect) (Simple Past)
The patient had died before the doctor came.
After he had left The roof collapsed.
The rain had stopped When he went out of the
house.

The Past Perfect Continuous Tense is used: -

1. To describe an action which began in the past and continued up to a
certain time in the past.
E.g.- When I visited him in Delhi, he had been teaching there for five
years.
At that time he had been writing a novel for two months.
FUTURE TENSE
1. Simple Future/ Future Indefinite - Subject+will/shall+V1+rest of the
sentence.
E.g.- I will sing a song.

2. Future Continuous Tense - Subject+ will/shall+be+V1(ing)+rest of the

sentence.
E.g.- I will be singing a song.

3. Future Perfect Tense - Subject+ will/shall have+ V3+ rest of the sentence.
E.g.- I will have written my exercise by then.
4. Future Perfect Continuous Tense - Subject+ will have been+V1(ing)+rest of
the sentence.
E.g.- By the end of this year, I will have been living in Kolkata for five years.

The Simple Future Tense is used: -

1. To talk about activities that we think or believe will happen in the
future.
E.g.- I will visit my uncle tomorrow.
He shall go to Agra tomorrow.
Note: - Simple future time can be expressed in other ways without
using the future verb.

• Simple present tense - The meeting starts within an hour.

• Present Continuous tense- I am leaving for Germany tomorrow.
• By using is/are/am going+ infinitive - It is going to rain after some
time.
• He is going to resign from the committee.
The Future Continuous Tense is used: -
1. To denote activities that will be going on at some point in the
future.
E.g.- Tomorrow at this time I will be taking my examination.
What will you be doing this evening?

The Future Perfect Tense is used: -

1. To denote activities that will be completed by a certain time in the
future.
E.g.- By the end of this month, we will have shifted to our new house.
He will have left before you go to see him.
I shall have returned from school by that time.

The Future Perfect Continuous Tense is used: -

1. For actions which will be in progress even after a point of time in
future.
E.g.- By next March, I will have been teaching here for four years.
Note: - This tense is not very common.
To put it simply: -

Simple – I speak.

Continuous – I am speaking.
Present
Perfect – I have spoken.

Perfect Continuous – I have been speaking.

Simple – I spoke.

Continuous – I was speaking.

Past Perfect – I had spoken.

Perfect Continuous – I had been speaking.

Simple – I shall/will speak.

Continuous – I shall/will be speaking.

Future
Perfect – I shall/will have spoken.

Perfect Continuous – I shall/will have been speaking.