TENSE:
Tense is the way of using the correct form of a verb in a sentence to express an
action with respect to correct time of its occurrence.
TYPES OF TENSE:
There are three types of tenses in the English Language.
01. Present Tense----------------- | It expresses an action that occurs in Present time |
02. Past Tense----------------- | It expresses an action that occurred in Past time |
03. Future Tense----------------- | It expresses an action that will occurs in Future time |
For expressing the correct time | Present, Past and Future | of an action, a specific form of verb
(Main and Helping verbs) are used. This means difference structures of a sentence are used for
expressing an action with respect to different times of its occurrence.
Tenses tell the rules for using correct verbs and making the correct structures of sentences to
express an action with respect to the time of its occurrence.
TYPES OF VERB:
Verbs have two types.
01. Main Verb
02. Helping Verb OR Auxiliary Verb
01. Main Verb:
These are the basic verbs that give the meaning of an action such as write, read, eat, sleep, speak etc.
02. Helping Verb OR Auxiliary Verb:
These verbs may not give the basic meaning of an action but are used along
with the main verb in a sentence to show the correct time of occurrence of the action expressed by main verb, such that when
the action | occurred, occurs or will occur |. Examples are, is, am, are, was, were, had, and will etc
Moreover, each main verb has three forms of verbs, such as give table
Base Form Past Form Past Participle Form Present Participle Form
They are also called as:
1ST Form 2ND Form 3RD Form 4TH Form
There are some examples of different form of main verbs
Write Wrote Written Writing
Eat Ate Eaten Eating
Go Went Gone Going
As mentioned earlier, to express an action with respect to different times
of its occurrence, different forms of main verbs and helping verbs are
used to lead the formation of different structures of a sentence according
to the time of the action.
Therefore, a tense tells us about the following
01. Which form of the main verb should be used?
02. Which helping verb should be used?
03. Structure of the sentence.
04. When the action happened?
NOTE: It should be noted that some tenses may only use the main verb
not the helping verb.
The time of action is generally divided into three types bases on time. We can also determine the
tenses that the action occurred in the near past or far past etc, so it will make the 12 tenses the
table is given below.
Present Tense Past Tense
01. Present Indefinite Tense 01. Past Indefinite Tense
02. Present Continuous Tense 02. Past Continuous Tense
03. Present Perfect Tense 03. Past Perfect Tense
04. Present Perfect Continuous Tense 04. Past Perfect Continuous Tense
Future Tense
01. Future Indefinite Tense
02. Future Continuous Tense
03. Future Perfect Tense
04. Future Perfect Continuous Tense
01. Present Indefinite Tense:
Present indefinite tense is also called Present Simple Tense, which is used to express an
action that occurs in Present time is known as Present Indefinite Tense.
Helping Verbs
Do | used for I, We, You, They and Plural Subjects |
Does | used for He, She, It, and Singular Subjects |
Main Verb:- We use 1st form of main verb.
Structure of Sentence:- Subject + Main Verb + Object
Structure of Positive Sentences
Subject + Main Verb + Object
Subject + 1st Form of Main Verb + Object
Example:- He writes a Letter
(He is | Subject | + Write is a | 1st Form of Main Verb | + Letter is an | Object |)
More Examples
❖ I go to school.
❖ He works in a Hospital.
❖ We play football.
❖ He writes a letter.
❖ She washes her clothes.
❖ The sun rises in the east.
Structure of Negative Sentences
Subject + Helping Verb + not + Main Verb + Object
Subject + do/does + not + 1st Form of Main Verb + Object
Do | used for I, We, You, They and Plural Subjects |
Does | used for He, She, It, and Singular Subjects |
Note: s and es will not be used with main verbs in Negative Sentences.
Example: He does not write a Letter.
(He is | Subject | + does is a | helping Verb | + not + Write is a | 1st Form of Main Verb | +
Letter is an | Object |)
More Examples
❖ I do not go to school.
❖ He does not work in a Hospital.
❖ We do not play football.
❖ He does not write a letter.
❖ She does not wash her clothes.
❖ The sun does not rise in the east.
Structure of Interrogative Sentences
Helping Verb + Subject + Main Verb + Object
do/does + Subject + 1st Form of Main Verb + Object
Do | used for I, We, You, They and Plural Subjects |
Does | used for He, She, It, and Singular Subjects |
Note:- s and es will not be used with main verbs in Interrogative Sentences. Question mark is
must after completing the sentence.
Example:- does He write a Letter?
does is a | helping Verb | He is | Subject | + Write is a | 1st Form of Main Verb | + Letter is an |
Object |)
More Examples
❖ Do we play football?
❖ Does he write a letter?
❖ Do you need any help?
❖ Do I tell a lie?
Structure of Intro-negative Sentences
Helping Verb + Subject + not + Main Verb + Object
do/does + Subject + not + 1st Form of Main Verb + Object
Do | used for I, We, You, They and Plural Subjects |
Does | used for He, She, It, and Singular Subjects |
Note: s and es will not be used with main verbs in Intro-negative Sentences. Question mark is
must after completing the sentence.
Example:- does He not write a Letter?
(does is a | helping Verb | He is | Subject | + not + Write is a | 1st Form of Main Verb | + Letter
is an | Object |)
More Examples
❖ Does he not work in a Hospital?
❖ Do we not play football?
❖ Does he not write a letter?
❖ Do you not need any help?
Here are some conditions where we use Present Simple Tense
01. To express what is actually taking place at the present movement such as
❖ She sings a song,
❖ I learn my lesson.
02. To express a habit or a custom such as
❖ We get up early in the morning.
03. To express a Universal truth such as:-
❖ God is one.
❖ The sun rises in the east.
04. To introduce a quotation such as
❖ Allah says, “Indeed we have made the Quran easy to understand”
05. To express scientific statements such as
❖ The earth revolves around the sun.
06. To describe some act as a historic presents such as
❖ Pakistan comes into existence on the 14th august 1947.
