What are Tenses?

Tenses

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

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

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

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

Present Tense

The present tense can be divided into three sub-categories:

1. Simple
2. Continuous
3. Perfect

Simple Present Tense

Examples of sentences in the simple present tense:

Habitual actions Rishabh rises at 7 every day. Grandpa feeds the pigeons.		Events of the near future I go shopping today. My train leaves at 12.
Ability Gaurav runs very fast. Jayanti speaks French.		Facts The Earth is the third planet from the Sun. Chemistry is the study of the composition of matter.
	Opinions and words of wisdom Samantha is the rudest girl I have known. All that glitters is not gold.

Simple present tense on a timeline:

Now Simple Present Tense Ideas which are generally true.

• 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.

Helping Verbs	Main Verb (-ing form)
is	eating
are	lying

Examples of sentences in the present continuous tense:

Present continuous tense on a timeline:

Past Present Continuous Future

Action in progression

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.

Helping Verbs	Main Verb (Past Participle)
has	reported
have	listened

• The present perfect tense is never used when the time or date of the action is mentioned.
  • The milkman has delivered the milk in the morning. Incorrect
  • The milkman delivered the milk in the morning. Correct

Recently completed action When the time of completion is unspecified

The ninja has emerged from the shadows. Rama has baked a pie.

The milk has gone cold. Sanjay has flown a plane.

Present Perfect Tense Action which happened at a specific time before now.

Past Tense

The past tense can be divided into four sub-categories:

1. Simple
2. Continuous
3. Perfect
4. Perfect continuous

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 sentences in the simple past tense:

Simple past tense on a timeline:

• 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.

Helping Verb	Main Verb (-ing)
was	doing
were	talking

• Past continuous tense on a timeline:

Past Continuous Action in progression

Now

• 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.

Exam

Past perfect tense on a timeline:

Past perfect tense

Action which happened before another action in the past

• 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 progressive helping verbs (been) and finally to the ‘-ing’ form of the main verb.

Helping Verb	Helping Verb (Participleform)	Main Verb (-ing)
had	been	buying
had	been	playing

Examples of sentences in the past perfect continuous tense:

Past perfect continuous tense on a timeline:

Past Perfect Continuous

The future tense can be divided into four sub-categories:

1. Simple
2. Continuous
3. Perfect
4. Perfect continuous

Simple Future

• The simple future tense is formed by adding the modal auxiliaries ‘will’ or ‘would’ to the simple present tense of the main verb.

Modal Auxiliary		Main verb
will		leave
would		come
	Events of the future There will be a puppet show. Winter will be here soon.	Consequences of present actions If you don’t preheat the oven, you will burnthe bread. If the sailors are not careful, stowaways mayget into the ship.
	Expressing promise or a plan We will open the presents in the morning. I will introduce you to my business associate.	Future facts or habitual actions Neha will board the train to Jaipur tomorrow. He will be crowned the king of England.

Simple future tense on a timeline:

• 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.

Modal Auxiliary	Progressive Helping Verb	Main verb
will	be	going
would	be	breaking

Examples of sentences in the future continuous tense:

Future events which will be in continuation I will be writing the exam at this time today. Carol and Gerald would be driving their car home right now.

Talk about future events or plans Rajesh will be working for us. We will be making Christmas pudding.

Helping Verbs	Main Verb (Past Participle)
had	Started
had	Gone
ples of sentences in the past perfect tense:
Action completed in the past before another action began I had just baked a cake when the guests arrived. Neha had just ordered a pizza when the bell rang.	To change from direct speech to reported speech Suresh said, “I have a dog.”Suresh said that he had had a dog. Grace stated, “I read the book.”Grace stated that she had read the book.

Future continuous tense on a timeline:

Continuous Action in progression

• 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.

Modal Auxiliary	Perfect Helping Verb	Participle Form of Main verb
will	have	eaten
would	have	taken

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 a progressive helping verb (been); and the present participle (-ing) form of the main verb.

Modal Auxiliary	Perfect Helping Verb	Past Participle Form ofProgressive Helping Verb	Present Participle Formof Main Verb
will	have	been	talking
would	have	been	sleeping