Tenses of the Verb

The tense of a verb shows the time of an action or event.

Kinds of Tenses

Present Simple
take / takes; read / reads

The simple present tense is used in the following contexts.
 

To express a general truth

• Birds fly
• Animals run.
• Trains go very slowly uphill.

To express some habitual actions

• My father goes for a walk in the evening.
• I get up at six o’clock every day.

To denote a universal truth

• Honesty tastes sweet.
• The sun rises in the east.

Note: When the subject is third person singular we add ‘s’ or ‘es’ to the main verb for simple present tense.
 

• I (we/you/they) walk quickly.
• He (she/it) walks quickly.

Keywords: generally, usually, often, hardly, rarely, every day.
 

Past Simple
took / ate

We use the past simple to refer to actions, throughts or feelings finished before the time of speaking.

• I saw a thrilling football match yesterday.
• My uncle came here last Monday.

Future Simple
will take / shall talke / will see / shall see

It is used to express a simple future action.

• I shall see you tonight.
• The flight will take two hours.

Keywords : tomorrow, next week, next month.
 

Present Continuous
is / am / are verb+ing

I am eating. She (he/it) is eating. You (we/they) are eating.

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1.The present continuous tense is used to denote an action which is going on at the time of speaking.

• She is writing a letter now.
• Please don’t shout. The baby is sleeping.

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2.It is also used to denote a future action.

• The Governor is leaving for the States on Sunday.
• Are you playing for the Free Birds this year?

Keywords : now, at present.
 

Past Continuous
was / were verb+ing

• I (she / he / it) was running fast.
• They (you / we) were running fast.

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The past continuous is used to indicate an action going on at some past time.

• They wre working in the field when the lightning struck.
• Rosy fell down while she was climbing the stairs.

 

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Future Continuous
will be verb+ing / shall be verb+ing

The future continuous is used to denote an action which will be going on at some future period.

• She will be lecturing at the college auditorium tomorrow.
• By this time tomorrow we shall be writing the English test.

 

Present Perfect
have + past participle / has + past participle

• I (we / you / they) have finished the work.
• He (she / it) has finished the work.

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The present perfect tense is used to indicate an action just completed and the consequence of which are still present.

• I have already seen this film. I have been to Ceylon.

  Keywords : just, yet, already, so far.
 

Past Perfect
had + past participle

1. It is used to describe a time before the past time being discussed.

• I had spoken to the Secretary before the meeting began.

 

2. When two past actions happened, the action that took place first is denoted by past perfect.

• The thief had escaped before the police came.
• When we reached the airport the plane had alrady left.

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Future Perfect
will have + past participle / shall have + past participle

The furure perfect denotes that a certain action will have been completed at some future period.

• They will have finished the work before sunset.
• I shall have completed all the assignments by the end of this month.

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Present Perfect Continuous
have been verb +ing / has been verb+ing

The present perfect continuous tense expresses an action that began sometime ago and is still going on without break and is not yet completed.

• She has been writing means ‘She was writing before and she is writing still’.
• I have been working here since 1988.

  Keywords : since, for.

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Past Perfect Continuous
The past perfect continuous tense is used to express an action that had been going on for sometime previous to the point of time mentioned.

• Mr Joe had been working in a school before he came to this college.

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