Tenses
Look at the following table
| | Past | Present | Future |
| Simple | He wrote They wrote | He writes They write | He will write They will write |
| Continuous | He was writing They were writing | He is writing They are writing | He will be writing They will be writing |
| Perfect | He had written They had written | He has written They have written | He will have written They will have written |
| Perfect Continuous | He had been writing They had been writing | He has been writing They have been writing | He will have been writing They will have been writing |
Download this Tense Table
Thus we have 12 different forms of tenses in English. Each form has its own use. A student who is serious in learning English grammar need to learn how each of these tenses is formed and in what context it is used.
Before going to learn more about each tense forms, learners are requested draw a table like above and practise writing each tense forms as many times using different verbs so as to have a thorough idea about how each tenses are formed.
Actually all these 12 English tense forms are only a marriage between different auxiliary verbs and lexical verb forms i.e. infinitive, present participle and past participle. (Eg. to write, writing, written)
Following verbs can be used for practising
Base/Present
|
Past
|
Past participle
|
Draw
|
Drew
|
Drawn
|
Dream
|
Dreamed, dreamt
|
Dreamed, dreamt
|
Drink
|
Drank
|
Drunk
|
Drive
|
Drove
|
Driven
|
Eat
|
Ate
|
Eaten
|
Fall
|
Fell
|
Fallen
|
Feel
|
Felt
|
Felt
|
Give
|
Gave
|
Given
|
Keep
|
Kept
|
Kept
|
Make
|
Made
|
Made
|
Pay
|
Paid
|
Paid
|
Send
|
Sent
|
Sent
|
Stand
|
Stood
|
Stood
|
Swim
|
Swam
|
Swum
|
Take
|
Took
|
Taken
|
Teach
|
Taught
|
Taught
|
| Think | Thought | Thought |
| Weep | Wept | Wept |
| | Past | Present | Future |
| Simple (To do + infinitive) | He drew They drew | He draws They draw | He will draw They will draw |
| Continuous (To be + ing) | He was drawing They were drawing | He is drawing They are drawing | He will be drawing They will be drawing |
| Perfect (To have + P.P.) | He had drawn They had drawn | He has drawn They have drawn | He will have drawn They will have drawn |
| Perfect Continuous | He had been drawing They had been drawing | He has been drawing They have been drawing | He will have been drawing They will have been drawing |
Note: All the verbs are written in italics. He and They are the subjects in this example.
Dream
– dreamt - dreamt
Past
|
Present
|
Future
|
|
Simple
|
He dreamt
They dreamt
|
He dreams
They dream
|
He will dream
They will dream
|
Continuous
|
He was dreaming
They were dreaming
|
He is dreaming
They are dreaming
|
He will be dreaming
They will be dreaming
|
Perfect
|
He had dreamt
They had dreamt |
He has dreamt
They have dreamt
|
He will have dreamt
They will have dreamt
|
Perfect Continuous
|
He had been dreaming
They had been dreaming
|
He has been dreaming
They have been dreaming
|
He will have been dreaming
They will have been dreaming
|
Drink
– drank - drunk
Past
|
Present
|
Future
|
|
Simple
|
He drank
They drank
|
He drinks
They drink
|
He will drink
They will drink
|
Continuous
|
He was drinking
They were drinking
|
He is drinking
They are drinking
|
He will be drinking
They will be drinking
|
Perfect
|
He had drunk
They had drunk
|
He has drunk
They have drunk
|
He will have drunk
They will have drunk
|
Perfect Continuous
|
He had been drinking
They had been drinking
|
He has been drinking
They have been drinking
|
He will have been drinking
They will have been drinking
|
Drive
– drove - driven
Past
|
Present
|
Future
|
|
Simple
|
He drove
They drove
|
He drives
They drive
|
He will drive
They will drive
|
Continuous
|
He was driving
They were driving
|
He is driving
They are driving
|
He will be driving
They will be driving
|
Perfect
|
He had driven
They had driven
|
He has driven
They have driven
|
He will have driven
They will have driven
|
Perfect Continuous
|
He had been driving
They had been driving
|
He has been driving
They have been driving
|
He will have been driving
They will have been driving
|
Eat
– ate - eaten
Past
|
Present
|
Future
|
|
Simple
|
He ate
They ate
|
He eats
They eat
|
He will eat
They will eat
|
Continuous
|
He was eating
They were eating
|
He is eating
They are eating
|
He will be eating
They will be eating
|
Perfect
|
He had eaten
They had eaten
|
He has eaten
They have eaten
|
He will have eaten
They will have eaten
|
Perfect Continuous
|
He had been eating
They had been eating
|
He has been eating
They have been eating
|
He will have been eating
They will have been eating
|
Present Tense Forms
Simple Present Tense
The simple present tense is either the Base form or the –s/es form of the verb.
Eat, eats; go goes; write, writes
With a plural subject,the Base form(plural) of the verb is used:
Cows eat grass.
With a singular subject the -s/es form(singular) of the verb is used:
A cow eats grass.
The simple present tense has several uses:
1. To denote a permanent truth:
The sun rises in the east.
The sun sets in the west.
2. To denote a habitual or repeated action:
He usually drinks tea.
She writes to her mother every week.
3. In imperative sentences:
Get out.
Help me, please.
4. In exclamatory sentences:
How little she knows!
How wonderful you are!
The following adverbs of Frequency are often found with the Simple Present Tense, especially when a habitual action is denoted.
Always,often,usually,never,generally,rarely,occasionally,seldom,daily,annually,every day(month, week),several times a week (month, year)
Eg.
He rarely goes to see films.
He comes to me once a week.
The Present Continuous
This tense is derived by using the Present Tense forms of be + Present Participle
[am/is/are + (verb) ing]
This tense form is used to indicate an action going on at the moment.
Eg. The child is sleeping now.
I am writing a letter.
Expressions of present time such as now, today, at present, at this moment go with this tense form.
Let us check your learning for the two tense forms we have already covered.
Use the correct tense of the verbs given in brackets, the Simple Present or Present Continuous:
Remember every question of this kind usually has a clue to the answer inside the question itself. In this case it is adverb of time (means at what time the action takes place) like often, now, every month etc. Each of these adverbs is linked to a particular tense form.Once you understood what tense form is to be used next step is to know how to write it.If the subject is singular verb should be singular and the subject is plural verb should be plural.Now go through it.
1. He often ……………..(write) with a pen. Now he ……………….(use) a pencil.
2. He………………(write) to me every month. Today I……………(write) to him.
3. She ……………..(know) three languages; now she……………. (learn) a fourth.
4. He……….(go) to the library every day, but today he…………(not go) because it………..(rain).
5. Now the snow……………..(fall).Every year it ………………(fall) during the season.
6. She ……………(cook) well; now she ……………….(cook) a new dish.
7. As a rule, he ………………(wear) trousers. But today he ……………(wear) a dhoti.
8. He usually………………(sing) Malayalam songs, but today he………………(sing) Hindi songs.
(Answers)
1. writes, is using.
2. writes, am writing
3. knows, is learning
4. goes, is not going, is raining
5. is falling, falls
6. cooks, is cooking
7. wears, is wearing
8. sings, is singing
Note : If your correct answers are less than six please don't go forward.Relearn everything from the beginning.
Daily reading of at least one English News Paper will surely pay you
rich dividend in future.
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