The word “tense” means “time”. There are three times at which an action can take place, namely, Present, Past and Future. Each of these is subdivided to show the continuousness or completeness and also the time of the action.
The Present Tense
Present simple: I do.
Present Continuous: I am doing.
Present Perfect: I have done.
Present Perfect Continuous: I have been doing.
The Present Simple or Indefinite (which presents some difficulty to many students) is used:
- To show an action happening now:
a) See how he walks
b) Look, my friend, it comes
- For a habitual or repeated action: That is, to state that something usually, often or always happens or is done.
a) He comes everyday.
b) I like to eat apples.
c) She never goes to bed early.
d) He reads well
- To state a fact or general truth
a) The world is round.
b) The sun rises in the east.
c) We eat to live.
- To introduce a quotation:
a) The newspaper says…….
b) The dictionary explains….
c) History teaches us…….
- Instead of Past Tense, to make a description appear more realistic; This is generally called the Historic Present.
The devil comes; he catches me; I scream.
- Instead of the Future Tense:
a) I go tomorrow.
b) The train arrives in ten minutes.
c) She leaves next week.
- Instead of the Present Perfect Tense:
a) We hear that the King is dead.
b) I am told that he is very ill.
c) We are informed that war will break out soon.
First Person Second Person Third Person
I am (singular) You are (singular) He is (singular)
We are (plural) You are (plural) She is (singular)
It is (singular)
They are (plural)
Rearranged
I am You are He is
We are She is
They are It is
Further Examples (Third Person Singular)
I have He has
We have She has
You have It has
They have –
I do He does
We do She does
You do It does
They do –
I come He comes
We come She comes
You come It comes
They come –
Note:
Affirmative (yes) Negative(no)
He does. He does not go.
He goes.
She Does. She doe s not know.
She knows.
It does.
It comes. It does not come.
The Present Continuous Tense is used:
- To state that an action is still going on the time of speaking ,that is, to express an action which is not yet completed, e.g.
a) She is having a cup of tea.
b) I am listening to what he is saying.
- Instead of the Future Tense, e.g.
a) I am going to America next week.
b) He is coming home tomorrow.
c) They are arriving tonight.
- To use the phrase “is going” which means “about to”, e.g.
a) He is going to die.
b) You are going to fail in the examination.
c) They are going to fight.
The Present Perfect Tense states that an action is just now completed, e.g.
1. She has gone.
2. It has been done..
3. We have had our food.
The Present Perfect Continuous Tense shows the continuousness of an action just completed, e.g.
1. I have been doing this since last year.
2. He has been talking for an hour.
3. She has been playing since morning.
The Past Tense
Past Simple or Indefinite: I spoke
Past Continuous: I was speaking
Past Perfect: I had spoken
Past Perfect Continuous: I had been speaking
The Past Simple Tense is used:
- To show something that happened in the past’ e.g.
a) He broke his leg yesterday
b) I visited Japan last year.
c) He gave me some money last week
- To express an action wholly completed in the past’ e.g
a) We sang and danced all night.
b) He locked here and there and made many attempts to escape.
- The past Tense is also used to speak politely; e.g.
a) Could you please do this for me? (instead of, Can you….?)
b) Did you wish to speak to me? (instead of, Do you….?)
The Past Continuous Tense shows an action which was going on at a certain time in the past, e.g.
a) I was reading a book.
b) He was catching fish
c) We were doing our work.
The Past Perfect Tense states that an action was completed at a certain point of time in the past, e.g.
a) I knew that it had rained.
b) When I reached home, he had already gone.
This tense refers to two periods of time, one action being completed before the other takes place. The above two sentences show the two actions:
First action completed Second action completed
a) It had rained I knew
b) He had already gone. When I reached home.
The past Perfect tense is often used in Reported Speech
Direct Speech Reported or Indirect Speech
I have seen her. He said that he had seen her.
I have eaten it. He said that he had eaten it.
The Past Perfect Continuous Tense states that an action had been going on at, or before, some point of time past, e.g.
a) She had been doing her work when we saw her.
b) He had been breaking some stones before he was killed by a falling stone.
The Future Tense
The forms of the Future Tense are:
1. Future Simple or Indefinite, e.g.
a) I shall (will) go tomorrow.
b) It will Happen again soon.
c) She will come tonight.
2. Future Continuous. e.g.
a) I shall be eating at that time tomorrow.
b) He will be reading a book if it rains tonight.
c) They will be catching fish if the river is dry next week.
3. Future Perfect Continuous which indicates that an action will have been completed at some point of time in the future, e.g.
a) I shall have gone before it rains.
b) I will have done my homework before he arrives.
c) He will have finished his work when she comes here.
4. Future Perfect Continuous, e.g.
a) I shall have been sleeping before he arrives.
b) They will have been playing before their parents return.
For the Future tenses the Auxiliary Verbs “shall” and “will” are used. There are two forms:
- Which just states future time;
- Which states future time and also expresses a promise, a command or a feeling of determination in the mind of the speaker;
Future time only Promise, Command, Determination
He will He shall (an order or a command)
They will They shall ( a command)
Strong and Weak Verbs
A weak Verb forms its Past tense and Past Participle by adding “d” “ed”, or “it” to the Present Tense, or by remaining unchanged, e.g.
Present Past Past Participle
Dance danced danced
Walk walked walked
Dream dream, dreamed dreamt, dreamed
Cut cut cut
Note:
- The “ed” in the Past tense is pronounced “ed” (id) after a stem ending “d” and “t” , e.g. defended, waited.
- It is pronounced “d” after Verbs ending in Vowels and voiced consonants other than “d”, e.g. paid, aimed, suffered, dazed.
- It is pronounced “t” after Verbs whose stem ends in a voiceless Consonant, e.g. danced, liked, laughed, reached, passed.
A Strong Verb is usually formed by a Vowel change and not by adding “d”, “ed” or “t”, e.g.
Present Past Past Participle
Speak spoke spoken
Know knew known
Drink drank drunk
Arise arose arisen
Awake awoke awaken
Bear bore borne, born
Beat beat beaten
Become became become
Begin began begun
Blow blew blown
Break broke broken
Bring brought brought
Burst burst burst
Choose chose chosen
Cost cost cost
Creep crept crept
Dig dug dug
Do did done
Draw drew drawn
Dream drew drawn
Drink drank drunk
Drive drove driven
Dwell dwell dwell
Eat ate eaten
Fall fell fall
Feed fed fed
Feel felt felt
Fight fought fought
Forget forgot forgotten
Forgive forgave forgiven
Freeze froze frozen
Get got got
Give gave given
Go went gone
Grind ground ground
Grow grew grown
Hang hung hung
Have had had
Hear heard heard
Hide hid hidden
Hit hit hit
Keep kept kept
Kneel knelt knelt
Know knew known
Lay laid laid
Leave left left
Lend lent lent
Lei lied lied
Lose lost lost
Make made made
Mean Meant meant
Meet met met
Mistake mistook mistaken
Mow mowed mown
Outdo outdid outdone
Pay paid paid
Put put put
Read read read
Rid rid rid
Rise rose risen
run ran run
saw sawed sawn
say said said
sell sold sold
send sent sent
set set set
sew sewed sewn
shake shook shaken
shave shaved shaved
shoot shot shot
show showed shown
shrink shrank shrunk
sing sang sung
sit sat sat
slide slid slid
smell smelt smelt
spoil spoilt spoilt
steal stole stolen
stick stuck stuck
sting stung stung
strike struck struck
strive strove striven
swear swore sworn
sweep swept swept
swell swelled swelled
swim swam swum
swing swung swung
take took taken
teach taught taught
throw threw throw
thrust thrust thrust
think thought thought
throw threw thrown
thrust thrust thrust
tread trod trodden
wake woke waked
wear wore worm
weave wove woven
weep wept wept
win won won
wind wound won
withdraw withdrew withdrawn
write wrote written.
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