Tenses - English Grammar

Tenses

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Introduction

• What part of speech has tense in a sentence?Verb – the action word

• What does a verb do?It indicates ‘time’ of an action by changing its form.E.g. She sings/sang/has sung/will sing etc.

• In other words, verb indicates time or carries the time.

Simple

PastBefore right now

PresentRight now

FutureAfter right now

Time Aspect

Simple Aspect

• Action or series of actions as a whole• This is either complete or is regarded as

permanent

Simple


PresentRight now


Time Aspect

Present Simple

• Use– To indicate a regular repeated activity• I eat lunch at 1 pm.• My computer classes are in the evening.

Present Simple

• Use– To indicate general truths or facts• My father works in a private company.• I study engineering.• A week has seven days.

– To introduce a quote• My father says education should help one to find a

decent job.• The Hindu reports that the Prime Minister might visit

UAE soon

Simple


PresentRight now


Time Aspect

Past Simple

• Use– To indicate completed action• We just finished our Math class. (immediate past)• The mock interviews happened last month. (distant

past)– To indicate past habit or regular event• We played cricket almost every day.

Past Simple

• Use– To indicate a past habit or situation of some

duration• My mother worked for over 20 years.

– To indicate past situation at a point in time• My sister joined the Navy in 2010.• India won the world cup cricket in 1983.

Simple


PresentRight now


Time Aspect

Future Simple

• Use– To predict• I will appear for GATE in 2016.• My friend will go to US next month.

– To make formal announcements• The CRT programme will end on Sunday.• The Elephos will conduct a test this evening.

Simple

Continuous


PresentRight now


Time Aspect

Continuous Aspect

• Indicates:– action is in progress– action is not complete– situation is temporary

Simple

Continuous


PresentRight now


Time Aspect

Present Continuous

• Use– Indicates activity in progress• We are learning tenses in grammar.

– Used with ‘these days, this week, today, this month’ etc.• The college bus is not running in my route this month.• Raju is attending C++ classes these days.

Present Continuous

• Use– To indicate the process of change• Many women are putting their careers ahead of their

family lately.– To indicate a future intention• Team Elephos is returning to Hyderabad tonight.

Simple

Continuous


PresentRight now


Time Aspect

Past Continuous

• Use– To indicate an event in progress when something

else happened• While my parents were watching the TV yesterday

night they heard an explosion from the street.– An action, event or situation in progress• He was going to the market at 8 o’ clock this morning.

Simple

Continuous


PresentRight now


Time Aspect

Future Continuous

• Use– To indicate an action that will be in progress in the

future• This time next year we will be working for different

MNCs.– To indicate an activity that will cover a time period• They will be attending interviews all day on Friday.

Simple

Continuous

Perfect


PresentRight now


Time Aspect

Perfect Aspect

• The event took place• The event has some relevance to the time

being referred to

Simple

Continuous

Perfect


PresentRight now


Time Aspect

Present Perfect

• Use– To indicate a relationship between past and

present time• My parents have lived here for over ten years.• The PM has announced that India would like to build its

relation with Pakistan.• I haven’t seen him for ages.• He has been our principal since 2013.

Simple

Continuous

Perfect


PresentRight now


Time Aspect

Past Perfect

• Use– To indicate event that happened before the past• The train had left before we reached the station.

– To be equivalent of the present perfect in the past• My parents had lived here for 10 years before they

were asked to move out.

Simple

Continuous

Perfect


PresentRight now


Time Aspect

Future Perfect

• Use– To indicate from future that something will be

finished and be in the past.• I will have mastered the art of communication skills by

the end of this week.– To indicate the milestone in an activity in the

future• My friend will have completed a year with the new

company in 2016.

Simple

Continuous

Perfect

Perfect Continuous


PresentRight now


Time Aspect

The Perfect Continuous

• Indicates the continuity of an action as well as the point in time since the event started.

Simple

Continuous

Perfect

Perfect Continuous


PresentRight now


Time Aspect

Present Perfect Continuous

• Use– To indicate an activity that has been in progress till

the present moment.• We have been studying ratio and proportions for the

last few sessions.• Salman Khan have been raising false alarms about his

marriage for a while now.

Simple

Continuous

Perfect

Perfect Continuous


PresentRight now


Time Aspect

Past Perfect Continuous

• Use– Similar to present perfect – difference is this looks

back at an activity from the past.• I had been attending CRT classes all day long.

Simple

Continuous

Perfect

Perfect Continuous


PresentRight now


Time Aspect

Education

Tenses - English Grammar