Tenses

What are Tenses?

Tense is something which tells us when the action expressed by the verb took place. There are three main divisions of tenses.

1.  Past Tense

2.  Present Tense

3.  Future Tense

1. Past Tense: The past tense is used to talk about actions which took place in the past.

Examples of past tense are:

• Manjula studied in this school. Gretel was cleaning her house.
• Raman had perfected the art of hospitality.
• Harsh had been touring the country this time last year.

2. Present Tense: The present tense is used to talk about actions which take place in the present.

Examples of present tense are:

• Sarita lives with her parents.
• Yamini is preparing dinner for her family.
• I have finished my work.

3. Future Tense: The future tense is used to talk about actions which will take place in the future.

Examples of future tense are:

• Geeta will return the book.
• I shall be travelling to Munich.
• Rajat will have completed his chores in some time.

These 3 tenses are further divided into four categories each.

1. Present Tense

The present tense can be divided into four categories:

1. Simple present tense

2. Present Continuous tense

3.  Present Perfect tense

4. Present Perfect continuous tense

1.1 Simple Present Tense

Examples of sentences in the simple present tense:

Examples of simple present tense are:

• I exercise every day.
• Mala visits her mother on Tuesdays.
•  Manish plays the flute
  

1.2 Present Continuous Tense:

• The present continuous tense is used to express actions which are currently in progress.
• Progressive helping verbs (is, am, are) are used along with the „-ing‟ form of the verb.

1.3 Present Perfect Tense

• The present perfect tense is used to express an action which may have happened at a specific time before now.
• Perfect helping verbs (has, have) are used with the past participle form of the verb.

The present perfect tense is never used when the time or date of the action is mentioned.

• Frieda has visited us in 1999. Incorrect
• Frieda visited us in 1999. Correct

Example of present perfect tense:

• Bob has released the birds from their cage.
• The train has halted at the station.

1.4 Present Perfect Continuous Tense

• The present perfect continuous tense is used to express an action which may have happened in the past and has continued up to this very moment.
• It is formed out of the addition of perfect helping verbs (has, have) to the participle form of progressive helping verbs (been) and finally to the „-ing‟ form of the main verb.

Examples of Present Perfect Continuous Tense are:

• Lionel has been writing his assignment since 6 o'clock.
• Meera has been waiting for you at the reception.

2.  Past Tense

The past tense can be divided into four categories:

1. Simple Past Tense

2.  Past Continuous Tense

3.  Past Perfect Tense

4.  Past Perfect continuous tense

2. 1  Simple Past Tense:

The simple past tense is used to express an action which was completed at one point of time in the past.

examples of simple past tense are:

• I appeared for the interview yesterday.
• Meera paid her bills.

2.2 Past continuous tense:

• The past continuous tense is used to express actions which were in progression at one point of time in the past.
• It is formed when progressive helping verbs (was, were) are added to the „-ing‟ form of the main verb.

examples of past continuous tense are:

• Gerald was painting on a huge canvas.
• Sangeeta was talking in her sleep.
• The bomb was ticking as they spoke.

2.3 Past Perfect Tense: 

• The past perfect tense is used to express an action which may have happened at a specific time before another action began in the past.
• The perfect helping verb „had‟ is used with the past participle form of the verb

examples of  Past Perfect Tense are:

The past perfect tense is never used when the time or date of the action is mentioned.

• Kirk had graduated in 2007. Incorrect
• Kirk graduated in 2007. Correct

2.4 Past Perfect Continuous Tense:

• The past perfect continuous tense is used to express an action which may have started at a particular point of time in the past and may have ended at another point of time in the past.

• It is formed out of the addition of the perfect helping verb had to the participle form of the progressive helping verb been and finally to the „-ing‟ form of the main verb

examples of past perfect continuous tense are:

• Krishna had been talking to himself in a stupor.
• William had been sleeping during the lecture.

3.  Future Tense

The future tense can be divided into four categories:

1. Simple future tense

2. Future Continuous tense

3. Future Perfect tense

4. Future Perfect continuous tense

3.1  Simple Future tense:

The simple future tense is formed by adding the modal auxiliaries „will‟, „would‟, „may‟, „shall‟ and „might‟ to the simple present tense of the main verb.

examples of simple future tense are:

• The lunch will be ready in 10 minutes.
• Dr Paranjpe will preside over the meeting.
• You will regret if you are hasty.
• Children would get the wrong message

3.2 Future continuous tense:

The future continuous tense is formed by adding the modal auxiliaries „will‟ or „would‟ and the progressive helping verb „be‟ to the „-ing‟ form of the main verb.

examples of Future continuous tense are:

• I will be studying at the National Institute of Technology.
• Falguni and I will be accompanying Sheetal to her house.

3.3 Future Perfect tense:

The future continuous tense is formed by adding the modal auxiliaries „will‟ or „would‟ and the perfect helping verb „have’ to the participle form of the main verb.

examples of future perfect tense are:

• Manish will have cleaned the room by the time we return.
• The authorities will have arrested him by daybreak

3. 4 Future Perfect Continuous Tense:

The future perfect continuous tense is formed by the addition of the modal auxiliaries will or would; perfect helping verb have; the past participle form of progressive helping verbs (been); and the present participle (-ing) form of the main verb.

examples of Future Perfect Continuous Tense are:

• Jatin will have left as he will have been waiting for two hours by then.
• Anuja will have slept as she will have been awake for two hours.