NALANDA UNIVERSITY, RAJGIR

CERTIFICATE OF PROFICIENCY IN ENGLISH

Topic: Tenses and Time

Verbs come in three forms: past, present, and future. However, the action which is indicated
in future, is a speculation, and hence, future is time.
The past is used to describe actions that are already over. The present tense describes the
ongoing actions or the actions whose results are still continuing. The future time describes
the anticipated actions. For example,

PRESENT PAST FUTURE

Simple Present Simple Past Simple Future

I read nearly every I read a poem yesterday. I will read twenty books this
day. year.
Present Continuous Past Continuous Future Continuous
I am reading I was reading Plato yesterday. I will be reading
Shakespeare at the Murakami soon.
moment.

Present Perfect Past Perfect Future Perfect

I have read ‘Othelo’. I had read ‘Tempest’ last year I will have read ‘Emma’ by
the end of the week.

Present Perfect Past Perfect Continuous Future Perfect Continuous

Continuous
I have been reading I had been reading for at I will have been reading for at
since 10 am. least 10 hours at a stretch least one more hour.
PRESENT TENSE
1. Simple Present

The simple present tense is used to describe an ongoing or a habitual action. For example,
The Sun rises in the east. We travel every summer. Most regular verbs are used in the root
form in Simple Present, except in the third person, the suffix ‘-s’ or ‘-es’ is attached with the
root form of the verb. For example, He/she/it writes

2. Present Continuous tense

The present continuous tense indicates an action or condition in progress and may continue
into the future. For example,
Mother is cooking now.
They are going to the market latter today.
Common Action Verbs that use the Present Continuous: Ask, call, eat, help, hit, jump, look
at, play, throw, change, grow, arrive, fall, feel, hurt, ache
Common Stative Verbs that do not use the Present Continuous: Recognise, deserve,
understand, own, belong, need, possess, feel, hate, love, sound

3. Present Perfect Tense

The present perfect tense refers to an action or state that either occurred at some time in
the past or began in the past and has continued to the present time . For example,
I have come here before.
We have bought the Rasogolla from this shop.
She has had fever since Tuesday.

4. Present Perfect Continuous Tense

The present perfect continuous tense talks about an action that in the past and is continuing
at the present time. For example,
Mita has been competing in painting competitions these days.
Harish hasn’t been feeling well lately.

PAST TENSE

1. Simple Past Tense

The simple past tense talks about actions that are completed. For example, I won a silver
medal in the dance competition. The simple past also talks about a past state of being.
This is often expressed with the simple past tense of the verb to be and an adjective,
noun, or prepositional phrase. For example, Raj was proud of his victory in singing
contest. The contest was the highlight of the annual function at his school.

For regular verbs, Simple Past is formulated by addin ‘-d’ or ‘-ed’ to the root form of the verb.
Play→Played Type→Typed Listen→Listened
The simple past tense of some irregular verbs looks exactly like the root form:
Put→Put Cut→Cut Set→Set Cost→Cost
For other irregular verbs, including the verb to be, the simple past forms are more erratic:
See→Saw Build→Built Go→Went Am/Is/Are→Was/Were
2. Past Continuous Tense
The past continuous tense refers to an action or state that was continuing at some point in the
past. For example, We were playing in the sun every day that summer.
I was making dinner when she arrived.
Certain verbs can’t be used in the past continuous tense. One common example is the verb
to arrive. For example,
Incorrect: At noon, he was arriving. Correct: At noon, he arrived.

3. Past Perfect Tense

The past perfect, talks about action that is completed at some point in the past. For
example, I had cleaned the house after everyone left.
The past perfect tense is for talking about something that happened before something else.
For example, The train had left before we reached the station.

4. Past Perfect Continuous Tense

The past perfect continuous is a verb tense that indicates something that began in the past,
continued in the past, and also ended at a defined point in the past. For example, He had
been drinking milk when the cat jumped on me.

When, for, since, before are the words that used in a sentence in Past Perfect Continuous
Tense. For example, The manager had been working in this company since 1980.

FUTURE TIME
1. Simple Future

Simple future anticipates an action or condition that will begin and end in the future. For
example, I will go on a vacation this summer.

2. Future Continuous
The future continuous anticipates an action that will occur in the future and continue for a
certain amount of time. For example, I will be arriving at five o’clock.
It is important to note that the future continuous tense is only used with action verbs,
because it is possible to do them for a duration.

3. Future Perfect Tense

The future perfect anticipates actions that will be completed before a certain point in the
future. For example, The party will have ended by the time we reach the venue.
4. Future Perfect Continuous Tense
The future perfect continuous, anticipates actions that have begun sometime in the past,
present, or in the future and is expected to continue till a certain point in the future. For
example, In September, I will have been working at the university for three years.
*Non action Verbs Do Not Use the Future Perfect Continuous. For example,
Incorrect: On Thursday, I will have been knowing you for a week.
Correct : On Thursday, I will have known you for a week.
 Sentence Construction across Time and Tenses

Present Tense

Type Declarative Negative Interrogative

Simple Subject + Verb (root) Subject+ Do/does+not+ Do/Does+

Present Verb(root) Subject+Verb(root)

I read. I do not read. Do I read?

He/She reads. He/She does not read. Does she read?
Present Subject+ Auxilary (be: Subject+ Auxilary (be: Auxilary (be: am/is/are)+
Continuous am/is/are)+ Verb(root+ - am/is/are)+ not+ Subject+Verb(root+ -ing)
ing) Verb(root+ -ing) Am I reading?
Is She reading?
I am reading. I am not reading. Are they reading?
He is reading He is not reading.
They are reading They are not reading.

Present Subject+has/have+Verb Subject+has/have+not+ has/have+Subject+Verb

Perfect (participle) been+Verb(participle) (participle)

I have read. I have not read. I have not read.

He/She has read. He/She has not read He/She has not read
Present Subject+has/have+been Subject+has/have+not+ has/have+subject+been
Perfect +Verb(root+ing) been+Verb(root+ing) +Verb(root+ing)
continuous
I have been reading. I have not been reading. Have you been reading?
He/She has not been
He/She has been reading reading Has she been reading?

Past Tense

Type Declarative Negative Interrogative

Simple Past Subject + Verb (past) Subject+ Did+not+ Do/Does+

Verb(past) Subject+Verb(root)

I read. I did not read. Do I read?

He/She did not read. Does she read?
Past Subject+ Auxilary (be: Subject+ Auxilary (be:was/were)+
Continuous was/were)+ Verb(root+ - Auxilary(was/were)+ Subject+Verb(root+ -ing)
ing) not+ Verb(root+-ing)

I was reading. I was not reading. Was I reading?

He was reading He was not reading. Was he reading?
They were reading They were not reading. Were they reading?

Past Perfect Subject+had+Verb Subject+had+not+ had+Subject+Verb

 (past) been+Verb(participle) (participle)

I had read. I had not read. I had not read.

He/She had read. He/She had not read He/She had not read
Past Perfect Subject+had+been Subject+had+not+ had+subject+been
continuous +ing+Verb(root+ing) been+ing+Verb(root+ing) +Verb(root+ing)

I had been reading. I had not been reading. Had you been reading?
He/She had been reading. He/She had not been Had she been reading?
reading

Future Time

Type Declarative Negative Interrogative

Simple Subject + Auxiliary Subject+ Auxiliary Will+ Subject+Verb(root)

Future (shall/will)+Verb (root) (shall/will)+not+
Verb(root)

I shall read. I shall not read. Will I read?

He/She will read. He/She will not read. Will she read?
Future Subject+ Auxilary (will Subject+ Auxilary Auxilary (Will)+
Continuous be)+ Verb(root+ -ing) (shall/will)+ not+ Subject+be+Verb(root+ -
be+Verb(root+ -ing) ing)

I will be reading. I shall not be reading. Will I be reading?

He will be reading He will not be reading. Will she be reading?
They will be reading. They will not be reading. Will they be reading?

Future Subject+Auxiliary Subject+has/have+not+ has/have+Subject+Verb

Perfect (will)+has/have+ +Verb(participle) (participle)
Verb(participle)

I will have read. I will not have read. Will I have read?
He/She will have read. He/She will not have Will he/she have read?
read
Future Subject+Auxiliary (will) Subject+Auxiliary Auxiliary (will)
Perfect + has/have+been (will)+not+ has/have+ +subject+been
continuous +Verb(root+ing) been+Verb(root+in) +Verb(root+ing)

I will have been reading. I will not have been Will you have been
reading. reading?
He/She has been reading He/She will not have
been reading. Will she have been
reading?