VERB TENSES

Verb tenses are used to indicate the time of

the actions.
There are three types of verb tenses.
Present Tense
Past Tense
Future Tense
 PRESENT TENSE
Present tense is further divided in to
SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE/PRSENT
INDEFINITE
It is used to express that which regularly
happens.
He goes to the school at 8am in the morning.
I sleep at 9pm in the evening.
Arun goes for a walk every morning.
It is used to express the habitual actions
Cows eat grass.
Neena eats non veg.

It is used to express a universal truth.
 The earth moves round the sun.
 All humans die one day .
 Heat expands bodies.

Ii is used in Exclamatory sentences.

How fiercely the wind blows!
There goes the dinner bell!
 The two boxers sparred for sometime. Suddenly Joe
Louis jumps at his opponent and with a terrific upper
cut knocks him out for the full count.
( Here the Present Indefinite is used as a substitute for
the Simple Past to make the narrative vivid and
immediate. It is then called the Historic Present.

 The Simple Present is sometimes used to represent a

future action, when its futurity is evident from the
context.
i. College re-opens on Monday.
ii. The Chief Minister returns next Tuesday.
In Conditional Clauses , the Present Indefinite
is used in place of the Simple Future Tense.
Eg: When you go abroad, who will look after
your house?
If I sell this car, I shall buy an Audi.
PRESENT CONTINUOUS TENSE
It is used for an action that is
happening now .
• I am teaching in the class
• Reena is having her breakfast
• The child is playing.

(Present Continuous Tense is also used

to indicate a future action but in
colloquial language)
Note
There are some verbs which are not normally
used in the Present Continuous forms but in
the Present Indefinite.
Eg: think
( Say ‘I think’ , not ‘I am thinking.’
Know
( It’s wrong to say I am knowing/I am wanting)
Other examples are : suppose, understand,
remember , trust, agree, hear, see, smell,
wish, desire, love, hate , etc.
Present Perfect Continuous
Tense

It is used to denote an action which started in the

past and is still continuing. The action is in
complete here.
• Rahul has been reading this book since 10am
• She has been studying in this college for last 5
years .
• Sita has been staying in the college hostel.
• Ram has been working in the garden all day.

.
Present Perfect Tense
It is used when something which happened in
the past is related to the present.
a. Action is incomplete.
b. It has connection with the present.
c. Exact time in the past won’t be mentioned.
 Use it along with recently, yet & just .
a. He has just played football.
b. He hasn’t come yet.
c. He has recently got the job.
A finished action with a result in the present.
We often use the present perfect to talk about
something that happened in the recent past,
but that is still true or important now.
Eg : I have lost my keys.

Present Perfect expresses an action just

completed.
i. I have finished the letter.
ii. Seshu has applied for leave of absence.
iii. There, I have done my good deed for the
day.
It is also used with unfinished time words.
( this month , this week , today)
a. I haven’t seen her this month.
b. She has drunk three cups of coffee today.
Note : It’s wrong to mention exact timing of
the past in Present Perfect Tense.

( I have done my homework yesterday ) ×

Present Perfect is used to denote an action
which began some time in the past and has
continued up to the present.
i. I haven’t seen Tom for a long time.

 Present Perfect is used to refer to past

actions which cannot be attributed to a
definite time.
i. I have read all the plays of Shakespeare.
ii. I have visited Japan and Australia.
iii. I have often gone to that theatre.
However certain adverbs of time like ever,
always, never, constantly, etc. can be used
along with the Present Perfect as the context
demands.
Eg: I have never met this man before.
Have you ever been to Darjeeling?
Sudhir has always been a rebel.
Past Tense
SIMPLE PAST TENSE
It is used for actions completed in the past .
It is usually used for the actions that took
place at a specific time in the past.
( yesterday, last week, last Tuesday, at 8pm
etc.)
a. I went for shopping yesterday.
b. I went for movie last week.
However , it wont be wrong to use simple
past without specific timings in some
sentences.
Eg: a. “Hey , I forgot to tell you something.”
This refers to the past but non – specific.
b. “ What did you buy at the store?”
“ I bought meat.”
( I f you say “ I bought meat” , you need to have
a context. No one would just say that.)
The Past Indefinite is used in the sense of
‘used to do’ to denote a habitual action in the
past.
i. Edison sold ( used to sell) news papers
before he became a famous inventor.
ii. In my youth I took ( used to take) exercise
every day.
iii. While in college he studied ( used to study)
eight hours a day.
PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE
It denotes an action that continued to
happen before and after a particular
action or time . It represents an action
as going on or being done
continuously at some time in the past.
•He was watching television when I
called him.
•I was reading the book when I got the
news.
Past Perfect Tense
It is used to denote an action taking place
before a past action . When we talk about
something that happened in the past, we
sometimes refer back to something that
happened even before that action or time.
The train had left the station before we
reached there.
I had seen him twice before he left for New
York.
Basanti had not finished cooking when the
visitors arrived.
John left the house at 7.30 am yesterday
morning.
Mary rang John’s door bell at 8.15 am
yesterday.
Past perfect tense
Mary rang John’s door bell at 8.15am
yesterday , but John had already left the
house.
 When Mrs. Brown opened the washing
machine , she realised she had washed the
cat.
Compare
1. James had cooked breakfast when we got up.
2. James cooked breakfast when we got up.
Note: The most common mistake with the use of
past perfect tense is to overuse it or to use it
simply because we are talking about a time in
the distant past.

Eg: The Romans had spoken Latin. ( x)

( It simply denotes a past event and not an event
before or relevant to another past event.)
The Romans spoke Latin.
Past Perfect Continuous
Tense

Past Perfect Continuous tense shows that an

action that started in the past and continued
uninterruptedly until another time in the past
when some other development took place.

It is followed by had + been + ing form of the

verb .
i. At that time I had been studying in London
for three years.
 . The President had been speaking about half an
ii

hour when trouble started.

( The President started his speech , and went on
speaking for half an hour when some people
created trouble.

iii.I had been reading the novel till midnight when

the lights suddenly went out.
( The speaker started reading a novel, continued
reading till midnight & was still reading when the
lights suddenly went out.)
Difference between Past Continuous
Tense & Past Perfect Continuous Tense.
Both Past Continuous & Past Perfect
Continuous Tense can be used to talk about
actions or situations that were in progress at
a certain point of time in the past. While the
Past Continuous merely shows continuity, the
Past Perfect Continuous tense also puts an
emphasis on the idea of duration . It is mainly
used to indicate the duration of a past activity
or state.
The Past Continuous Tense is used to talk about
longer actions or situations which had
continued up to the past moment that we are
thinking about.
I had been working at the company for five
years when I got the promotion .
Martha had been walking three miles a day
before she broke her leg.
The program that was terminated had been
working well since 1945.
FUTURE TENSE
SIMPLE FUTURE TENSE
This is used when an action is going to take
place in future .
 I will go there tomorrow .
I shall write to him.
FUTURE CONTINUOUS TENSE
It is used to express a continued or ongoing
action in future .
I will be going there tomorrow .
We shall be visiting Darjjeeling in the summer.
Future Perfect Tense
The Future Perfect Tense denotes that some
action will be completed or perfected before a
certain point of time in the future. It refers to a
completed action in the future. When we use this
tense , we are projecting ourselves forward into the
future and looking back at an action that will be
completed some times later than now. It is most often
used with a time expression.

The Future Perfect Tense is used to express an action

which the speaker assumes , will have completed or
occurred in the future. It gives a sense of completion
of a task that will happen in the future.
1. The patient will have recovered from illness by the n
ext month.
2. We shall have completed half the course by
Christamas.
3. I sahll have finished my class by 3pm.

 This tense is also sometimes used to express completion

of an action in future before another Activity happens.
1. She will have learnt Chinese before she moves to
china.
2. Saraswathi will have gone to Bombay before Mohan
arrives.
 Future Perfect Continuous
Tense
Future Perfect Continuous Tense indicates that the action
which has been in progress over a period of time will
continue uninterruptedly up to a certain point of time in the
future. It is the duration and continuity of the action rather
than its completion that is stressed by the use of this Tense.

i. By January 1995, I shall been giving him a monthly

stipend for 10 long years.

ii. In November, I will have been working at my company for

three years.
iii. By the summer of 1993, We shall have been
living in this house for twelve years.
iv. By 2021, we shall have been studying in this
college for 2 years.
v. Ashok Kumar will have been acting in films
for sixty years before the end of this year.
( It emphasizes the duration and continuity of
the action of living in sentence 3, of studying
in sentence 4, acting in sentence 5.)
Common Errors in the Use of
Tenses
1. I am waiting here for the last two hours.
2. I have been waiting here for the last two
hours.

3. He is working in this office for three years

now.
4. He has been working in this office for three
years now.

5. I have written to him yesterday.

6. I wrote to him yesterday.
1. He has returned from London last week.
2. He returned from London last week.

3. See that you will come for the meeting in

time.
4. See that you come for the meeting in time.

5. Take care that you will not be cheated.

6. Take care that you are not cheated.
Note :
When the Imperative sentence has two clauses
( main clause & subordinate clause) , It’s
wrong to use simple future tense . In such
cases, Simple Present Tense must be used.
1. I shall call you when the dinner will be
ready.
2. I shall call you when the dinner is ready.

3. They will com if you will invite them.

4. They will come if you invite them.
Note

When the Verb in the main clause is in the

Future Tense, the Verb in the subordinate
clause should be in the Present and not in the
future.
1. I had written a letter to him last week.
2. I wrote a letter to him last week.

3. We had gone to the movie last night.

4. We went to the movie last night.
1. He said that he was suffering from fever for
three days.
2. He said that he had been suffering from
fever for three days.
Exercise
Page 69 in David Green