What is Tense ?
Tense indicates the time of an action or verb ; different forms of verbs are used to indicate something that has already happened or is happening or is going to happen.
Types – There are three types of Tense .
They are – 1. Present Tense
2. Past Tense
3. Future Tense
Each of these three types of Tense can be divided into four subtypes –
i. Indefinite or Simple Tense
ii. Continuous Tense
iii. Perfect Tense
iv. Perfect Continuous Tense
1 . Present Tense – Present Tense indicates the action that is happening presently or happens regularly or is a universal truth or something just completed but its effect is still there or something that has been happening for a specific time being .
There are four types of Present Tense –
i . Present Indefinite or Simple Present Tense – This type of Present Tense indicates that something happens regularly or a universal truth or a common fact .
Structure of the sentence – Subject + Verb + Object
Verb – When a subject is First Person or Second Person or Third Person Plural Number, we use the main form of a verb .
But when a subject is a Third Person Singular Number then we add ‘ s ‘ or ‘ es ‘ or ‘ ies‘ at the end of the main verb .
Examples – He goes to school everyday.
The sun rises in the east.
He is a good boy .
The mosquito flies .
Negative Sentence – He is not a bad boy .
They don’t play football.
He doesn’t play football.
Interrogative Sentence – Is he a good boy?
Does he go to school everyday?
Is he not a good boy ?
ii. Present Continuous Tense – It indicates something which is happening presently or indicates an action which is still continuing.
Structure of the sentence – Subject + be verb ( am / is / are ) + Verb+ing + Object
Be Verbs – ‘ am ‘ after ‘ I ‘
‘ is ‘ after Third Person Singular Number
‘ are ‘ after ‘ We ‘, Second Person and Third Person Plural Number.
Examples – I am reading now .
He is drawing .
They are playing in the field.
Negative Sentence – He is not playing now.
Interrogative Sentence – Are they playing now ?
Are they not playing now ?
Isn’t it raining heavily ?
Who isn’t going to help you ?
iii. Present Perfect Tense – It indicates something that is just completed but its effect is still there .
Structure of the sentence – Subject + has/ have + Past Participle form of Verb + Object
Has/ have – When a subject is First Person or Second Person or Third Person Plural Number then we use ‘ have ‘ and when a subject is Third Person Singular Number then we use ‘ has ‘after the subject.
Examples – I have just taken my lunch .
He has finished the job.
Negative Sentence – He has not done this .
Interrogative Sentence – Has he done this ?
Have you done this ?
Has he not done this ?
iv . Present Perfect Continuous Tense – It indicates something that has been continuing for a time being or something that started in the past but is still continuing.
Structure of the sentence – Subject + has / have + been + Verb+ing + Object
Examples – It has been raining for two hours.
They have been working here since 2010 .
Negative Sentence –
It has not been raining since last month .
They have not been working here for a few months .
Interrogative Sentence – Has it been raining for an hour ?
Have they not been working for several years?
2. Past Tense – Past Tense indicates the action that already happened or something that was completed in the past or something that was happening at a particular moment in the past or something that was happening for a period of time in the past.
Different types of Past Tense –
i. Past Indefinite or Simple Past Tense –
It indicates an action that happened or completed in the past .
Structure of the sentence – Subject + Past form of Verb + Object
Examples –
He did the job .
They went to the college yesterday.
Negative Sentence – I didn’t attend the meeting yesterday.
Interrogative Sentence – Did you go there ?
Did you not attend the meeting yesterday?
ii. Past Continuous Tense – It indicates something that was happening continuously at a particular moment in the past or it shows an ongoing action in the past .
Structure of the sentence – Subject + Was / Were + Verb+ing + Object
Was – When the subject is ‘ I ‘ or Third Person Singular Number then we use ‘ was ‘ after that .
Were – When the subject is ‘ We ‘ or Second Person or Third Person Plural Number then we use ‘ were ‘ after that .
Examples–
She was dancing in a function last night .
I was listening to music when you called me.
( In this sentence we used Past Continuous and Simple Past together – The part ‘ You called me ‘ is in Simple Past form )
He was reading the story book at 10pm yesterday .
They were practising grammar in the evening yesterday.
Negative Sentence – You were not listening to the audio minutely in previous class .
Interrogative Sentence – Was he talking too much ?
Was he not talking too much ?
Who wasn’t reading the book carefully?
Wasn’t it raining heavily yesterday ?
iii. Past Perfect Tense – When two incidents happened in the past and one of these happened earlier than the other , then it is called Past Perfect Tense.
Structure of the sentence –
For earlier action Part – Subject + had + Participle form of the Verb
For secondary action Part – We must use Simple Past Tense to write this part .
Examples –
The train had left the station before I reached there .
Here in this sentence two incidents happened – one, the train had left the station and secondly, I reached there ( the station ) .
So the train left earlier than my arrival time.
Another Example –
When the doctor came the patient had already died.
Here ‘ the patient had already died ‘ – this action happened earlier and the doctor came later .
So in both these two sentences we used Subject + had + Past Participle form of Verb – this structure in the earlier action part and Simple Past form for the secondary action part .
Negative Sentence – The train hadn’t left the station before I reached there.
Interrogative Sentence – Had the train left the station before you reached there ?
Had the train not left the station before you reached there?
iv. Past Perfect Continuous Tense – It indicates something which was started in the past and continued up until another time or until another incident happened in the past .
Structure of the sentence –
For the action which had been continuing –
Subject + had + been + Verb+ing + object
For the action upto when the earlier action continued –
Subject+ Past form of the Verb + Object
Examples –
He had been reading story book when his father returned from the office .
Here in this sentence – ‘ He had been reading story book’ – this part is showing the continuation of his reading and we used the structure Subject + had + been + Verb+ing + Object.
The other part -‘ when his father returned home from the office’ – this part is showing upto which time or until which incident he continued to read story book . We used Simple Past Tense formula in this part of the sentence.
Another Example –
He had been working here for ten years when he got promotion .
Negative Sentence – He had not been doing homework when his father returned home from the office.
Interrogative Sentence – Had she been doing her homework when her father called her ?
Had she not been doing homework when her father returned from the office ?
3. Future Tense – Future Tense indicates an action which is still not happened but going to be happened in future .
Different types of Future Tense –
i. Future Indefinite or Simple Future Tense – It indicates an action which is going to be happened in future.
Structure of the sentence – Subject + will + Verb + Object
Examples –
I will go to the school tomorrow.
He will do it .
They will play positive cricket tomorrow.
She will visit the place next week.
Negative Sentence – They will not play defensive cricket tomorrow.
Interrogative Sentence – Will they play positive cricket tomorrow?
Will you not go to school tomorrow?
ii. Future Continuous Tense – It indicates an action happening over a period of time in future .
Structure of the sentence – Subject + will + be + Verb+ing + Object
Examples –
He will be playing all afternoon.
We will be dancing in the party tomorrow.
I will be listening music when you come back.
Negative Sentence – We will not be dancing in the party tomorrow.
Interrogative Sentence – Will you be dancing in the party tomorrow?
Will you not be dancing in the party tomorrow?
iii. Future Perfect Tense – It indicates an action in future that will be completed before some other point or time or incident in future .
Structure of the sentence – Subject + will + have + Past Participle form of Verb + Object
Examples –
I will have finished the job before the inauguration.
We will have taken lunch before you visit our office tomorrow.
At 7 pm he will have left the office .
They will have practised enough before the match starts tomorrow.
Negative Sentence – They will not have done the job before the inauguration.
We will not have finished our lunch before you visit our office tomorrow.
Interrogative Sentence –
Will you have taken your lunch before we reach tomorrow?
Will you not have taken your lunch before we visit your office tomorrow?
iv ) Future Perfect Continuous Tense – It indicates a longer action which will be continuing up to another event or time in future .
Structure of the sentence – Subject + will + have + been + Verb+ing + Object
Examples – Next week he will have been working here for five years.
They will have been practising grammar for an hour when their teacher arrives .
She will have been studying all evening.
He will have been waiting for two hours by the time the manager meets him .
Negative Sentence – He will not have been studying all evening .
They will not have been waiting for hours before the doctor visits the chamber .
We can also use won’t instead of will not .
Interrogative Sentence – Will they not have been practising when their coach arrives ?
