English Grammar
Learn About Tense with Examples
What is a tense in English grammar?
tense, in grammar, a verbal category relating the
time of a narrated event to the time of the speech event. In many languages
the concept of time is expressed not by the verb but by other parts of speech
(temporal adverbials or even nouns, for example).
What
are the 12 types of tenses?
Present Tense
Present Simple Tense
Present
Perfect Continuous Tense
Past Tense
Future Tense
Future
Perfect Continuous tense
1.1: Present Simple Tense
Simple present tense speaks about the present actions, events,
or conditions which are occurring in the current situation.
Structural formula:
Subject + verb (s/es) + object.
Here, the verb is in its base form.
Examples,
1. He plays the piano.
2. Romie loves to eat burgers.
3. We produce biogas from manure.
4. I go to the gym daily.
1.2: Present Continuous (progressive) Tense
Present continuous tense is used to tell about the ongoing
actions, events, or conditions and still not finished.
Structural formula:
Subject + helping verb (is / am/ are) + main verb (-i-n-g) +
object.
Here, verb (ing) is the present participle form of the verb, and
helping verbs (is/am/are) are used by a class of person as the first person
(am), second person (is), and third-person (are) respectively.
Examples,
1. I am
dancing on the stage.
2. She is
looking at him.
3. They
are practicing on the ground.
4. You
are not coming with us to the picnic.
1.3: Present Perfect Tense
The present perfect tense is used to express the situation or
event which is completed but in a present consequence. It is a combination of
the ideal aspect done in the present tense.
Structural formula:
Subject + helping verb (have/has) + verb (ed) + object.
Here, the modal verb “has” is being used for the second person
(He, She, It, etc.), and “have” is used for the first-person and third-person
(I, you, they, we, etc.) respectively.
Verb(ed) is in the past participle form of the verb that shows the task’s
completion.
Examples,
1. He has
completed the task.
2. She
has gone for lunch with her friends.
3. I have
submitted the thesis report in the HOD’s office.
4. They
have given three mock tests already.
1.4: Present perfect
Continuous Tense
The Present perfect continuous tense shows the situation which
has been started in the past and continues in the present.
Structural formula:
Subject + helping verb (have/has) + been + verb (-i-n-g) +
object (optional) + since / for + time duration + object.
Here, “been” is added with the modal verbs (have/has), and verb
(ing) is in the present participle form of the verb. After time duration is
added with since/for (optional)
Examples,
1. He has
been preparing for the MPSC examination.
2. You
have been watching television for 2 hours.
3. I have
been working on this project for the last two years.
4. They
have not been participating in the cultural event for the previous five years.
2.
Past Tenses:
Past tense is used to show the actions, events, or moments that
have already happened or occurred in the past
2.1: Past Simple Tense
The simple past tense is used to describe any event, actions,
moments which occurred in the past. The simple present tense is also called a
preterite.
Structural formula:
Subject + verb (2nd form) + object.
Here, the verb V (2nd form) is in the past simple form.
Examples,
1. I went
to school in the morning.
2. He
wrote a letter to his father.
3. They
came to see my grandmother in the hospital.
4. She
spent her most of the time here for refreshment.
5. Joseph
came from London yesterday.
2.2: Past Continuous
(progressive) Tense
The past continuous tense is used to express the occurring
circumstance or any continuing action that has happened in the past.
It is used to describe any action which is happening in the past.
Structural formula:
Subject + helping verb (was/were) + verb (-i-n-g) + object.
Here, the helping verbs (was/were) are in the past form where
“was” is used for the first person and second person and “were” is used for the
third person. Verb V+ing is in the present participle form to show the
continuation of the action.
Examples,
1. I was
traveling to Los Angeles to attend a business meeting.
2. They
were playing an act in the annual gathering.
3. He was
not listening to my words.
4. You
were cleaning the hall yesterday after the party.
2.3: Past Perfect Tense
The past perfect tense is used to tell the happened situation
which occurred before a completed action in the past. It also shows the
specific time when the action occurred.
The past perfect tense is also called a pluperfect in English and combines the
past tense and a perfect aspect.
Structural formula:
Subject + had + Verb (ed) + object.
Here, the modal verb “had” is used with the main verb, and the
verb V (3rd form) is in the past participle form that shows the completion of
the task.
Examples,
1. I had
never imagined that you did that night.
2. She
had gone to hang out with her boyfriend.
3. They
had rescued the entire refugees from the flooded area.
4. The
train had left the station by the time I reached there.
2.4: Past Perfect
Continuous (progressive) Tense
The past perfect continuous tense represents any action or event
that started in the past and sometimes continued until another action or another
time.
It is the same as that of the past perfect tense, along with it highlights a
time duration of the action that happened before something in the past.
Structural formula:
Subject + had been + Verb (-i-n-g) + object (optional) + time of
action.
Here, the modal verb had is used with been, and the verb V+ing,
the present participle is used to indicate the continuous for a time duration
until the action finished.
Examples,
1. She
had been waiting for her father for more than three hours and then left together
when he appeared.
2. You
had not only been sitting there for so long.
3. They
had been dancing continuously for two hours at his wedding party.
4. It had
been raining fastly for the whole night, so he couldn’t go home.
3.
Future tenses:
The future tense is used to express future activity or a state
of being which has not happened yet and is expected to happen in the future.
3.1: Future Simple Tense
The simple future tense is used to predict or to forecast
something that will happen in the future.
It is an imagination of the mind of our mind that we plan to do something.
Structural formula,
Subject + shall/will+ verb (s/es) + object.
Here, the modal verbs shall/will are used to indicate prediction
and the verb V (s/es) in a simple form.
Examples,
1. I
shall/will go to school today.
2. She
will play the guitar at a cultural festival.
3. They
will finish their work by tomorrow morning.
4. You
shall not break this window glass by your hands.
3.2 Future Continuous
Tense
The future continuous tense is used to explain the ongoing
action at a particular instant in the future or happen in the future.
Structural formula:
Subject + shall/will be + Verb (-i-n-g) + object.
Here, “be” is added with the modal verbs shall/will in a
sentence, and a verb V+ing is in the present participle form to indicate the
continuous action in the future.
Examples,
1. Randy
Orton will be fighting tonight with Roman Reigns.
2. He
will be writing the answers to all the questions in an examination.
3. She
will be singing at tonight’s concert.
4. Malinga
will be playing as a captain in this ICC cricket tournament.
3.3: Future Perfect
Tense
The future perfect tense is used to describe a future action
that has a fixed date schedule.
This is a verb form that expresses an event planned to happen at a particular instant
of time in the future.
Structural formula:
Subject + shall/will + have + verb (3rd form) + object.
Here, the helping verb “have” comes along with modal verbs
shall/will and is connected with the main verb V(3rd form) in the past
participle form shows the completion of the task.
Examples,
1. I
shall have played cricket in college.
2. She
will have baked a cake for tomorrow’s event.
3. They
will have arrived in New York for their concert.
4. I will
have stopped looking at her when she comes near me.
3.4: Future
Perfect Continuous Tense
The future perfect continuous tense is used to explain certain
activities and events that are continuing or happening and done after some
expected time instant.
Structural formula:
Subject + shall/will + have been + verb (-i-n-g) + object
(optional) + time instant.
Here, the helping verb “have been” is used along with the modal
verbs shall/will, and the main verb is in the present participle form V+ing.
Examples,
1. You
shall have been coming to our wedding ceremony.
2. I will
have been waiting for this moment for so long.
3. They
will have been watching movies on the laptop before he comes.
4. Where
will you have been waiting for me before I reach?
0 Comments
Thanks for visiting this site.