Tense


A  tense  may  be  defined  as  that  form  of  a  verb  which  indicates  the  time  and  the  state  of  an  action  or  event . 

Kinds  of  Tense  : 
1. Present  Tense .
2. Past  Tense.
3. Future  Tense.
Again , kinds  of  present tense  : 
               1) Present  Indefinite Tense
           or
              Simple Present  Tense
            2) Present Continuous Tense
            3) Present Perfect Tense
            4) Present Perfect Continuous Tense
Again Kinds of  Past Tense  : 
           1) Past Indefinite Tense
                          Or
             Simple Past Tense
          2) Past Continuous Tense
          3) Past Perfect Tense
          4) Past Perfect Continuous Tense
Again,kinds of  Future Tense  :
      1) Future Indefinite Tense
                               Or
              Simple Future Tense
         2) Future Continuous Tense
         3) Future Perfect Tense

       4) Future Perfect  Continuous  Tense

                               The  Present  Tense 

1)Present  Indefinite  Tense  or  Simple  Present  Tense :


Formation :  1) Subject + Main Verb +Object
             2) Subject + Main Verb + S/es +Object
             3) Subject + Be Verb (Am/Is/Are) + Object
(i) This  tense  is  generally used  to  denote  habit , custom , practice , repeated  action , permanent activity , general  truth etc. 
This  ideas  are  expressed by  the  adverbs  of  frequency  such  as  often, seldom , usually , never  , occassionally , sometimes , normally  , generally  , always , frequently , rarely , daily .                                                         

For Main Verb  :


Person/Number
Subject
Main Verb (go)
1st singular
I
Go
1st plural
We
Go
2nd singular /plural
You
Go
3rd singular
He/she/it/Ram
Goes
3rd plural
They
Go

For  Be  Verb :


Person/Number
Subject
Main Verb
1st singular
I
Am
1st plural
We 
Are
2ng singular / plural
You
Are
3rd singular
He /she/it/Ram
Is
3rd plural
They
Are


Examples  :
 He goes to school every day.
 Man is mortal.
Milk is white.
Honey is sweet. 
 His father is a teacher.
The Sun rises in the east. 

(ii)  To  describe  a  past  event  vividly  as  if  it  were  present  before  our  very  eyes  : 

Napoleon   crosses  the  Alps  
Nadir  Shah  marches  to  Delhi  with  a  fury . 

(iii)  To  introduce  a  quotation  : 

Pope  says  :  A  little  learning  a  dangerous  thing .

Keats  says  :  A  thing  of  beauty   is  a  joy  forever . 

(iv) To  express  an  action  in  the  near  future  : 

Our  school  closes  for  the  summer  on  the  7th .

He  starts  for  Calcutta  tomorrow.

I  leave  for  Dibrugarh  this  afternoon .

The  ceremony  comes  off tomorrow. 

(v)  It  is  used  in  an  exclamatory  sentence  beginning  with  ' here '  or  ' there ' :

Here  comes  our  here ! 

There  goes  the  bell .

(vi)  To  express  an  activity  or  state  continues  , verbs  of  perception  are  used  in  the  President  Indefinite  Tense  because  they  do  not  take  the  continuous  form  in  the  ordinary  meaning  of  the  verb . 

I  see  a  single  star  in  the  sky . 

Do  you  hear  the  sound  of  a car  ? 

Remember  :  

The  Present  Indefinite  Tense  is  formed  by  the  Present  Tense  form  of  the  verb . If the  subject  of  the  verb  is    a  third  person  in  the  singular  number  , ' s '  or  ' es ' ,  is  added  to  the  Present  Tense  form  of  the  verb .   
  
2) Present Continuous tense :
Formation  : Subject +Be Verb (am/is/are) +Main Verb + ing +Object

(i) To  express  an  action  that  is  taking  place  at  the  moment  of  speaking  and  which  is  not  yet  complete . 

Examples : 

 You are reading now.
 He is writing a letter.
 It is raining now.
 Rina is singing a song.

(ii) To  express  an  action  in  near  future  : 

  I am going  to  write  a letter to him.
  It  is  going  to  rain now .
  He  is  going  to  Jorhat  Tomorrow.


Person /number
Subject
Be verb
Main verb
1st person singular
I
Am
Going
2nd person plural
We
Are
Going
2nd person singular / plural
You
Are
Going
3rd singular
He/she/it/Ram
Is
Going
3rd plural
They
Are
Going



3) Present  perfect  tense  :
Formation  : Subject  + Be verb ( Have/Has ) + past participle of main verb +object

(i)  To  express  an  action  that  has  just  been  completed  .

Examples  : 

You have done the sum .
He has finished the work just  now.
I have watched the drama .

(ii) To  indicate  a  past  action  whose  that  has  been  continuing  from  the  past  upto  the  present  moment  .  This  is  called  the  continuative  use  of  the  Present  moment  . It  is  always  used  with  a  time  expression  only  . 

Examples  : 

He  has  lived  in  Guwahati  for  ten years . 

I  have  been  in  this  office  since  1977 .

He  has  read  for  two  hours . 

(iii)  To  indicate  a  past  action  whose  time  is  not  given  and  not  definite  : 

Examples  : 

I  have  seen  the  Tajmahal ..

Have  you  seen  the  Tajmahal  ?


Person/number
subject
Be verb
Main verb (go)
1st person /singular
I
Have
Gone
1st plural
We
Have
Gone
2nd singular/ plural
You
Have
Gone
3rd singular
He/she/it/Ram
Has
Gone
3rd plural
They
Have
Gone

4) Present  perfect  continuous  tense :

Formation  : Subject + Be verb(have been / has been ) + main Verb +ing+ Object  

The  Present  Perfect  Continues  Tense  is  used  to  indicate  that  an  action  has  been  going  on  for  sometime  and  is  not  finished  yet . It , therefore  , denotes  that  an  action :    
(a) began  sometime  in  the  past .
(b) is  continuing  in  the  present . 
(c) may  extend to  the  future .

" Since '  or  ' for '  is  generally  used  with  the  Present  Perfect  Continues  Tense . 

Examples : 

 It has been raining since today morning.
 He has been working in this factor  for  the  ten  years .    
I  have  reading  English  for  six  hours .
He  has  been  taking  for  three  hours . 
The  boys  have  been  playing  since  4 o'clock .                                                       


Person/Number
Subject
Be verb
Main Verb(go)
1st /Singular
I
Have been
Going
1st /Plural
We
Have been
Going
2nd/Singular/plural
You
Have been
Going
3rd /Singular
He/She/It/Ram
Has  been
Going
3rd /Plural
They
Have been
Going

  

                                  The  Past  Tense 

1) Past Indefinite Tense or Simple past tense :
Formation  : 1) Subject +  Past tense of main verb  + Object
                     2)Subject +Be Verb (was/were) + Object

The  Past  Indefinite  Tense  or  The  Simple  Past  Tense  is  the  tense  used  for  the  relation  of  past  events  . It  is  used  to indicate an  action  completed  in  the  past  at  a  definite  time . It  is  used  whenever  any  given past  time  is  stated  or  implied  . There is  often  an  adverb of time  denoting  past  tense  in the  sentence . 
I met him in Jorhat  yesterday.

Examples : 
I went to house yesterday.
lost my pen.
I met him in Jorhat  yesterday.

For  Main verb : 



Person /number
Subject
Main verb (go)
1st Singular
I
Went
1st Plural
We
Went
2nd Singular/ plural
You
Went
3rd Singular
He/she/it/Ram
Went
3rd Plural
They
Went

For  Be  Verb : 


Person /number
Subject
Be verb
1st singular
I
Was
1st plural
We
Were
2nd singular / plural
You
Were
3rd singular
He /she/it/Ram
Was
3rd plural
They
Were

2) Past  continuous  tense :
Formation  : Subject + Be verb ( was/were)  + main verb +ing + object

(i) The  Past  Continuous  Tense  is  used  for  an  action  going  on  for  sometime  in  the  past . 
Examples :  

The man was working in the morning .
It was raining in the yesterday morning .
She was doing the sum in the morning.

(ii) It  is  used  for  an  action  going  on  for  sometime  during  which  something  took  place . 

Examples : 
 When/While I went to his   house  he was reading.
When I met him he was sitting on a chair.


Number/Person
Subject
Be Verb
Main Verb (Go)
1st /singular
I
Was
Going
1st /plural
We
Were
Going
2nd/singular/plural
You
Were
Going
3rd /singular
He/She/It/Ram
Was
Going
3rd /plural
They
Were
Going

3) Past Perfect Tense :
    Formation  : Sub + Be Verb (Had) + Past Participles of main verb  + Object
(i) The  Past Perfect  Tense  is  used  to express  an  action  already  completed  at  some  time in  the  past  before  another  past  action . It  denotes  that  : 

(a) Two  actions  took  place  in  the  past .

(b) One of  them  took  place  before  the  other .

(c) The  earlier  action is  expressed  by  the  Past  Perfect  Tense  and  the  later  action , by  the  Past  Indefinite . 

Examples : 
The patient had died before the doctor came.
The doctor came after the patient had died.
We had left before they came.
After we had washed up we went for   a walk .
The train had left before they reached the station.

(ii) It  is  used  after  ' if ' or  ' I wish '  , if  it  relates  to  a  past  activity  that  is  unreal  or  a  mere  supposition . 

Examples : 
If  I  had  a  car  , I  should  have  given  you  a  life . 
If  you  had  eaten  it  ,  you  should  have  died .
I  wish  I  had  invited  my  friend . 


Person/number
Subject
Be verb
Main verb (GO)
1st singular
I
Had
Gone
1st plural
We
Had
Gone
2nd singular/plural
You
Had
Gone
3rd singular
He/she/it/Ram
Had
Gone
3rd plural
They
Had
Gone

4) Past Perfect Continuous Tense :
Formation  : Subject +Be Verb (had) + Been + Main Verb+ Ing  + Object
 (i) The  Past  Perfect  Continuous  Tense  is  used  to  express  an  action  that  began  in  the  past  and  was  still  going  at  a given  moment  in  the  past . 

Examples :  
He had been living in Assam for three years.
I had been serving in this school for last fifteen years.


Person /number
Subject
Be verb
Main verb (go)
1st person/singular
I
Had been
Going
1st plural
We
Had been
Going
2nd singular/plural
You
Had been
Going
3rd singular
He/she/it/Ram
Had been
Going
3rd plural
They
Had been
Going


                                        The  Future  Tense 

1) Future Indefinite Tense :
Formation  : Subject + Be Verb (shall/will) + present tense of main verb + object
(i) The  future  Indefinite  Tense  is  used  to  denote  an  event  or  action  that  will  be  performed  in  some  future  time . 

Examples : 

I shall go to your house tomorrow.
He will come to our house tomorrow.
I shall meet you at 4   o’ clock tomorrow.



Person/number
Subject
Be verb
Main verb (go)
1st singular
I
Shall
Go
1st plural
We
Shall
Go
2nd singular/plural
You
Will
Go
3rd singular
He/she/it/Ram
Will
Go
3rd plural
They
Will
Go

2) Future Continuous Tense :
         Formation  Subject + Be Verb +(shall be/will be) + main verb + ing +object
           (i) The  Future  Continuous  Tense  is  used  to  express  an  action  still  going  on  in  the  future . 

Examples : 
I shall be watching T.V at your home at 4  o’ clock tomorrow.
Where will you be going ?
I shall be waiting for you.
I shall be sleeping at night.



Person/Number
Subject
Shall be
Main Verb
1st /Singular
I
Shall be
Going
2nd /Plural
We
Shall be
Going
2nd/Singular/Plural
You
Shall be
Going
3rd /Singular
He/She/It/Ram
Shall be
Going
3rd /Plural
They
Shall be
Going

3) Future Perfect Tense :
Formation  : Subject + Be Verb (Shall Have/Will Have) Past Participle form of Main Verb +Object
(i) The Future  Perfect  Tense  is used  to  express  an action  that  will  have  been  completed  at  or  before  a  given  time  in  the  future . 

Examples : 
I shall have done this work  by  3 pm .
The students will have been promoted to class xii by next march.



Person /number
Subject
Be verb
Main verb (go)
1st person
I
Shall have
Gone
1st plural
We
Shall have
Gone
2nd singular/plural
You
Will have
Gone
3rd singular
He/she/it/Ram
Will have
Gone
3rd plural
They
Will have
Gone

4) Future Perfect Continuous Tense :
Formation  : Subject + Be Verb(Shall have /Will have + Been) + Main Verb +Ing +Object.

(i) The  Future  Perfect  Continuous  Tense  is  used  to  express  an  action  that  will be  continuing  or  going  on  for  sometime  in  the  future  until  another  action  begins  in  the  future . 

Examples : 
I shall have been reading the book before he comes.
                              
He will have been working till the sun sets .




Person/number
Subject
Be verb
Main verb (go)
1st person /singular
I
Shall have been
Going
1st plural
We
Shall have been
Going
2nd singular/plural
You
Will have been
Going
3rd singular
He/she/it/Ram
Will have been
Going
3rd plural
They
Will have been
Going


Important  Conditions  :

(i) A sentence  is  written  in The  Simple  Present  Tense  if  there  are  some  words  like  as if , as  though , all though  .
(ii)  A sentence  is  written  in The  Present  Continuous Tense  if  there  is  a   word  like  ' Hurry  Up " .

QUIZ :   


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