The term ‘Tense’ denotes the form of a verb which shows the time at which an action
happened. So, the tense shows two things : (i) the time of the action
(iii) state expressed by the verb.
Look at these sentences:
● Reshma goes to school.
● Reshma went to school.
● Reshma will go to school.
In the above sentences (i) ‘goes’ (ii) ‘went’ and (iii) ‘will go’ are verbs.
In sentence (i), the verb ‘goes’ denotes the present tense and refers to the present
time.
In sentence (ii), the verb ‘went’ denotes the past tense and refers to the past time.
In sentence (iii), the verb ‘will go’ denotes the future tense and refers to the future
time.
By ‘Tense’ we can understand the correspondence between the form of the verb and
our concept of time (past, present and future).
II. ‘Time’ and ‘Tense’ are not the same thing. ‘Time’ is a universal concept. It has
three divisions: past, present and future. ‘Tense’ is related only to the verb.
It is not necessary that if the verb is in the present tense, it will show only the present
time. It is also not necessary that if the verb is in the past tense, it will show the past
time.
Look at the sentences:
● The match takes place on Sunday.
Here the verb ‘takes place’ is in simple present tense but expresses an action that
will take place in the future time.
● Mohan is about to come.
Here ‘present tense’ expresses the near future time.
● The Sun sets in the west.
It is a universal truth. Here, it stands for all the three times: past, present and future.
Note: Modem grammarians believe that there is no future tense in English to express
future time. We use the modal auxiliaries ‘shall’ and ‘will’, with the present tense, etc.
to express future time. But we are following the traditional grammarians in this book.
According to them English has three tenses, (i) Present Tense (ii) Past Tense and (iii)
Future Tense.
1. The following table shows the different forms of the verb:
2. Forms of the present Simple Tense:
● Thus we have seen that the Simple Present Tense is formed by using
the plain infinitive. But -s or -es are added to the bare infinitive (i.e.
infinitive without ‘to’) for the third person singular (He, She) and singular
noun (Nitu)
● We form the negative sentences by using doesn’t or don’t before the
main verb.
● The interrogative sentences are formed by using do or does before the
subject.
● The negative interrogative sentences are formed by using do or does
before the subject and not after the subject.
But the short forms don’t and doesn’t come before the Subject.
We use Present Simple time to talk about things in general. We are not thinking only
about now. We use it to say that something happens all the time or repeatedly or that
something is true in general. Here it is not important whether the action is happening
at the time of speaking
Examples:
● I take my breakfast every day.
● We go to school.
We use Present Continuous tense to talk about something that is happening at or
around the time of speaking. The action is not finished. In such sentences is/am/are
+ verb + ing is used to show continuation.
Examples:
● Girls are playing.
● I am watching TV.
Present Perfect tense is used to give information about an action that has recently
been completed. It is also used to talk about some action in the past that has a result
now. In such sentences verb ends with have/has + verb + ed/t/en/ne forms.
Examples:
● Tom has lost his key.
● I have forgotten your name.
Present Perfect Continuous tense is used to indicate an activity that continues from
the past until now repeatedly or an activity that has recently stopped. In these
sentences have/ has + been + v + ing form is used.
Examples:
● John looks sunburnt. He has been working under the sun since morning.
● Your clothes are very dirty. What have you been doing?
Past Tense
● I/You/He/She/It/We/They played. – (Affirmative)
● I/You/He/She/It/We/They didn’t play. – (Negative)
● Did I/You/She/It/We/They play? – (Interrogative)
All these sentences are in simple past. We use Past Simple for:
● Action completed in the past
● Actions which happened at a specific point in time.
● Past habits and past actions that happened immediately after the other.
Now look at the following sentences:
● I/He/She/It was playing. – (Affirmative)
● We/You/They were playing. – (Affirmative)
● I/He/She/It wasn’t playing. – (Negative)
● We/You/They weren’t playing. – (Negative)
● Was/I/He/She/It playing? – (Interrogative)
● Where were/We/You/They playing? – (Interrogative)
All these sentences are in Past Continuous. We use past continuous for:
● An action that was in progress at a stated time in the past.
● A past action which was in progress when another action interrupted it.
● Two or more actions were happening at the same time.
Let’s read the following sentences:
● Rohit had already left when we arrived at the party.
● He had broken his leg and it was still hurting.
● Everything had seemed normal at first.
All these sentences have been written in Past Perfect Tense. We use it to talk about
an action which finished before another action in the past.
We use certain time expressions with past perfect: before, already, after, just, when,
never, etc.
Now read the following sentences:
I had been watching TV for an hour when I remembered I had forgotten to call my
friend.
She had been painting her room and her clothes were covered in paint.
These sentences have been written in Past Perfect Continuous Tense. We use it to
talk:
● for a past action which started and finished in the past before another
past action, putting emphasis on the duration.
● for an action which lasted for some time in the past and the result was
still visible in the past..
Time expressions used: for, since, until, etc.
11. Future Time Reference
● Let us read the following sentences:
● We will go to the zoo tomorrow.
● He will be on leave next week.
All these sentences indicate that we use will to talk about an event in progress at
some point in future. However, there are different modes in English that can be used
to refer to incidents that occur at some time in future. This mode of reference is
called as future time reference. Such sentences have constructions based on
different structures.
They are as follows:
Simple Present Tense
● The Commonwealth Games begin from 2nd October.
● If he works hard like this, he can pass.
Present Continuous Tense: It is used to refer to future events that have been
planned before.
● We are expecting the queen to inaugurate the games this month.
● I’m sorry I can’t attend the wedding. I’m meeting the director this
evening.
Use of Going to
● We are going to shift to Shimla very soon.
● Suchitra is going to marry Harish.
Be + about to + infinitive
● The class is about to start.
Use of Will/Shall
It is used to make a prediction about future, or in advertisements, etc.
● India will win at least one gold in boxing.
● Their souls shall rest in peace.
Be + To + V
● The teacher is to deliver a talk on study skills.
Rules -
● Simple Present
Simple Present Tense
Singular Plural
Rule: Subject + V1 + s/es + Object Rule: Subject + V1 + Object
Example: The girl sings a song Example: The girls sing a song
Here the subject is Girl (singular) and “s” has Here the subject is Girls (plural) and no
been added to the verb (sing), followed by changes have been made with V1 (first form
the object (song) of verb) and the object
●
Present Continuous
Present Continuous Tense
Rule: Subject + is/am/are + V1 + ing + object
Example: She is eating food
Here the subject is She, followed by “is”
The first form of verb (V1) here is “eat” and “ing” has been added to it, followed by the object
“food”
●
Present Perfect
Present Perfect Tense
Singular Plural
Rule: Subject + has + V3 + Object Rule: Subject + have + V3 + Object
Example: He has cleaned the utensils Example: They have cleaned the utensils
Here, “He” is the subject + has Here, “They” is the subject + have
“Cleaned” is the third form of verb and “Cleaned” is the third form of verb and
utensils is the object utensils is the object
●
Present Perfect Continuous Tense
Present Perfect Continuous Tense
Singular Plural
Rule: Subject + has been + V1 + ing + Rule: Subject + have been + V1 + ing +
Object Object
Example: She has been practising since Example: They have been practising since
morning morning
Here “She” is the subject + has been, Here “They” is the subject + have been,
followed by “ing” added to the the first form of followed by “ing” added to the the first form of
verb “practise” and then the object verb “practise” and then the object
Past Tense
Any event or action that took place in the past can be referred to as the past tense. Below we
have discussed in detail the four sub parts of past tense in English grammar.
● Simple Past
Simple Past Tense
Rule: Subject + V2 + Object
For example: He ran away
Here, the subject is “He” and “ran” is the second form of verb (V2) of “run” followed by the
object
●
Past Continuous
Past Continuous Tense
Singular Plural
Rule: Subject + was + V1 + ing + Object Rule: Subject + were + V1 + ing + Object
For example: She was going shopping For example: They were going shopping
Here, the subject is “She” + was Here, the subject is “They” + were
It is followed by the first form of verb (V1) “go” Followed by the first form of verb (V1) “go” +
+ “ing” and then the object “shopping” “ing” and then the object “shopping”
●
Past Perfect
Past Perfect Tense
Rule: Subject + had + V3 + Object
For example: Sumit had left the job
Here the subject is “Sumit” + had
Then “left”, which is the third form of verb (V3) “leave” is given followed by the object
●
Past Perfect Continuous
Past Perfect Continuous Tense
Rule: Subject + had been + V1 + ing + Object
For example: They had been preparing for their performance for two months
Here the subject is “They” + had been
It is followed by “preparing”, which is the first form of verb (V1) of “prepare” and then the object
Future Tense
The actions that are to take place in the future fall in the category of the future tense. We have
discussed the subparts of the future tense in detail further below in the article, followed by the
examples for the same.
● Simple Future
Simple Future Tense
Rule: Subject + will/shall + V1 + Object
For Example: I will visit my Uncle tomorrow
Here, the subject is “I” + will
It is followed by the first form of verb (V1) “visit” and then the object
●
Future Continuous
Future Continuous Tense
Rule: Subject + will be/shall be + V1 + ing + Object
For Example: I shall be going to the market tomorrow
In this example, the subject is “I” + shall be
Following it is the first form of verb (V1) “go”+ing and then the object
●
Future Perfect
Future Perfect Tense
Rule: Subject + will have/shall have + V3 + Object
For Example: I shall have prepared the notes by tomorrow morning
In this example, the subject is “I” + shall have
It is followed by “prepared”, which is the third form of Verb (V3) “prepare” and then the object
●
Future Perfect Continuous
Future Perfect Continuous Tense
Rule: Subject + will have been + V1 + ing + Object
For Example: She will have been working here since 2015
Here, the subject is “She” + will have been
It is followed by the first form of verb “work”+ing and then the object
