{"id":144,"date":"2011-04-28T13:25:53","date_gmt":"2011-04-28T12:25:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress-232648-741634.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=144"},"modified":"2011-04-28T13:25:53","modified_gmt":"2011-04-28T12:25:53","slug":"verb-tenses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/verb-tenses\/","title":{"rendered":"Verb Tenses"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A Brief Introduction to Verb Tenses and Aspects
<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n

(submitted by V. Suresh<\/a> )<\/p>\n\n\n

Tense<\/strong> refers to a verb form which tells the time of a state or action in a sentence. <\/p>\n\n\n
Daniel has a car.
<\/em>Daniel will have a car.
Daniel had a car. 
<\/em>They played the game well. 
We are reading The Hindu.<\/em>
<\/td>		Sudha was happy last Tuesday.
<\/em>We are in Chennai.
My son will look surprised on seeing this magic mirror.
<\/em>He will run here tomorrow.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n\n\n

We need to know the structure and use of the different verb tenses so that we can employ the appropriate form with regard to time and situation.<\/p>\n\n\n

1. <\/strong>Simple Present or Present Indefinite <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

Structure: subject + V1 (dictionary) form of the verb. [When the subject is third person singular (he, she, it<\/em>), the verb adds to itself -s<\/em>, -es<\/em> or -ies<\/em>]<\/p>\n\n\n

Exception: the verb \u2018be<\/em>\u2019 \u2013 I am, you are, he\/she\/it is, we are, they are <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

Uses of the simple present tense:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

A. Present actions (which last for a very short period)
\u00b7 Sam lifts the pen<\/em>.
\u00b7 His uncle gets into the car<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n

B. Regular\/General\/ Habitual actions 
\u00b7 Suresh gets up at 6.<\/em>
\u00b7 We visit Tirumala every May.<\/em>
\u00b7 My friend John reads the <\/em>Sports Star.<\/p>\n\n\n

C. Time Tables \/ Official plans
\u00b7 The Chief Minister dedicates this water purifying plant to the state on the 12th of next month.
\u00b7 Seshadhri Express arrives at Kaakinada station at 5 PM on Wednesdays.
\u00b7 The school reopens on 3 June 2010.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

D. Conditional clauses
\u00b7 If you work (<\/em>not will work) hard, you will pass.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

E. Sayings and Proverbs
\u00b7 The pen is mightier than the sword.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

F. To make past events livelier, we use simple present
\u00b7 Now, Alexander marches for another battle.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

G. Newspaper headlines 
\u00b7 INDIA DEFEATS PAKISTAN TO ENTER SEMIFINAL<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

H. Exclamatory sentences with ‘here’ and ‘there’
\u00b7 Here she comes!
\u00b7 There! He wins!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

2. Present Continuous <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

Structure: subject + \u2018be<\/em>\u2019 verb (am, is, are<\/em>) + present participle (-ing<\/em> form) of the main verb (\u2018be<\/em>\u2019 is an auxiliary verb)<\/p>\n\n\n

Uses of the present continuous:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

A. Actions taking place at the present moment
\u00b7 Ravi and his friends are playing chess.
\u00b7 Sugunya\u2019s father is buying vegetables.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

B. Actions taking place now, but not at this moment
\u00b7 Ram is feeding his children. He is doing a project for Ambuja Cements. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

C. Personal Plans
\u00b7 My aunt is visiting the dentist next Tuesday.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

D. Actions, usually unpleasant ones, happening despite your protest or disapproval
\u00b7 Varun is always taking my stationery without my knowledge.
<\/em>
3. Present Perfect<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

Structure: subject + ‘have<\/em>‘ verb (have, has<\/em>) + past participle (-ed<\/em> form) of the main verb (\u2018have<\/em>\u2019 is an auxiliary verb)

Uses of the present perfect:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

A. Actions which have just finished (immediate past)
\u00b7 Vimal has just entered the house.
\u00b7 We have just had tea. 
<\/em>
B. Time of the past action is unknown or indefinite
\u00b7 We have met him once.<\/em> (We don\u2019t remember when it was.) 
\u00b7 Sujatha\u2019s uncle has told me about this place many times. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

C. When something refers in some manner to the present moment
\u00b7 My father has bought me five hundred books so far<\/em>. (And he may buy me more in the future.)<\/p>\n\n\n

D. Action finished, but its effect is felt in the present
\u00b7 Tharun has failed in Maths. He is attending remedial classes<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n

4. Present Perfect Continuous <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

Structure: subject + \u2018have<\/em>\u2019 verb (have, has<\/em>) + been<\/em> + present participle (-ing<\/em> form) of main verb (\u2018have<\/em>\u2019 and \u2018be<\/em>\u2019 are auxiliary verbs)<\/p>\n\n\n

Uses of the present perfect continuous:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

A. Actions which started in the past and are continuing
\u00b7 Vimal has been whitewashing the fence since four this afternoon.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

B. Action has finished, but its effect is felt in the present (the same situation is expressed using present perfect, also)
\u00b7 We look tired perhaps because we have been working in the sun all day.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

5. Simple past or past indefinite<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

Structure: subject + V2 (past) form of the verb<\/p>\n\n\n

Exception: the verb ‘be’ (was, were<\/em>) \u2013 I\/he\/she\/it was; you \/we\/they were<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

Uses of the simple past tense:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

A. A state in the past or a completed action
\u00b7 Sudha\u2019s uncle was a teacher. 
\u00b7 Suresh turned this place into a busy shopping centre a few years ago.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

B. Past habit
\u00b7 When we were in Bangalore we read <\/em>The Times of India.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

6. Past Continuous <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

Structure: subject + ‘be<\/em>‘ verb (was, were<\/em>) (-ing<\/em> form) of main verb<\/p>\n\n\n

Uses of the past continuous:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

A. Time when an action was in progress in the past 
\u00b7 Vaaruni was playing chess with her brother at 7:00 last evening.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

B. Past continuous and simple past \u2013 when a brief action happens during a longer past action
\u00b7 Yesterday, when Seema was cleaning the sofa, she found a coin under one of the cushions<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n

7. Past Perfect <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

Structure: subject + ‘have<\/em>‘ verb (had<\/em>) + past participle (-ed<\/em> form) of the main verb<\/p>\n\n\n

Use of the past perfect:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

A: The first of two successive actions in the past
\u00b7 Latha\u2019s father had spoken to her about life in a city before he took her to the train station.
\u00b7 When we reached the theatre the film had started.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

8. Past Perfect Continuous<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

Structure: subject + ‘have<\/em>‘ verb (had<\/em>) + been<\/em> + present participle (-ing<\/em> form) of the main verb<\/p>\n\n\n

Use of the present perfect continuous:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

An action started before a certain time in the past and which continued 
\u00b7 When I visited Ramya yesterday she had been listening to music for half an hour.
\u00b7 Last Tuesday Suman and his uncle had been writing letters for just over an hour when they received the telegram from Delhi.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

9. Simple Future<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

Structure: subject + will <\/em>(shall<\/em> for I <\/em>and We<\/em>) + V1 (dictionary form) of the verb<\/p>\n\n\n

Use of the simple future:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

An action or state in the future over which we do not have any control
\u00b7 Mrs Armstrong will meet us tomorrow<\/em>. (She has just called us)
\u00b7 They will become doctors next year. 
\u00b7 David will be seventeen next Sunday.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

10. Future Continuous<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

Structure: subject + will \/shall<\/em> + be<\/em> + present participle (-ing<\/em> form) of the main verb<\/p>\n\n\n

Use of the future continuous:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

The time in the future when something will be in progress
\u00b7 Ranjith will be reading his newspaper at six this evening.
<\/em>
11. Future Perfect<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

Structure: subject + will \/shall <\/em>+ have<\/em> + past participle (-ed<\/em> form) of the main verb<\/p>\n\n\n

Use of the future perfect: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

To show completion of a task in the future
\u00b7 Veeraraghavan will have taken these chairs to his grandmother\u2019s by 3 PM tomorrow.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

11. Future Perfect Continuous<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

Structure: subject + will \/shall<\/em> + have<\/em> + been<\/em> + present participle (-ing<\/em> form) of the main verb<\/p>\n\n\n

Use of the future perfect continuous.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

An action starting at a certain point in the future and continuing to another point 
\u00b7 Immanuel will have been working for this company for four years by July 2012.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Brief Introduction to Verb Tenses and Aspects (submitted by V. Suresh ) Tense refers to a verb form which tells the time of a state or action … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":278,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_generate-full-width-content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[292],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}