TENSES
Tenses can be divided into three parts:
1. Present Tense
2. Past Tense
3. Future Tense
Each of the three above mentioned tenses can further be divided into subparts. These subparts include:
Simple
Continuous
Perfect
Perfect Continuous
Present Tense
Simple Present
Simple Present Tense
Singular Plural
Rule: Subject + V1 + s/es + Object Rule: Subject + V1 + Object
Example: The girl sings a song Example: The girls sing a song
Here the subject is Girl (singular) and “s” has been Here the subject is Girls (plural) and no changes
added to the verb (sing), followed by the object have been made with V1 (first form of verb) and
(song) the object
Present Continuous
Present Continuous Tense
Rule: Subject + is/am/are + V1 + ing + object
Example: She is eating food
Here the subject is She, followed by “is”
The first form of verb (V1) here is “eat” and “ing” has been added to it, followed by the object “food”
Present Perfect
Present Perfect Tense
Singular Plural
Rule: Subject + has + V3 + Object Rule: Subject + have + V3 + Object
Example: He has cleaned the utensils Example: They have cleaned the utensils
Here, “He” is the subject + has Here, “They” is the subject + have
“Cleaned” is the third form of verb and utensils is “Cleaned” is the third form of verb and utensils is
the object the object
Present Perfect Continuous Tense
Present Perfect Continuous Tense
Singular Plural
Rule: Subject + has been + V1 + ing + Object Rule: Subject + have been + V1 + ing + Object
Example: She has been practising since morning Example: They have been practising since
morning
Here “She” is the subject + has been, followed by
Here “They” is the subject + have been, followed
“ing” added to the the first form of verb
by “ing” added to the the first form of verb
“practise” and then the object
“practise” and then the object
Given below are a few examples that may help you differentiate between the four sub parts of present
tense easily:
1. Raj speaks German (Simple Present for Singular)
2. They speak German (Simple Present for Plural)
3. She is speaking German (Present Continuous)
4. He has learnt German (Present Perfect for Singular)
5. They have learnt German (Present Perfect for Plural)
6. She has been learning German (Present Perfect Continuous for Singular)
7. They have been learning German (Present Perfect Continuous for Plural)
Past Tense
Simple Past
Simple Past Tense
Rule: Subject + V2 + Object
For example: He ran away
Here, the subject is “He” and “ran” is the second form of verb (V2) of “run” followed by the object
Past Continuous
Past Continuous Tense
Singular Plural
Rule: Subject + was + V1 + ing + Object Rule: Subject + were + V1 + ing + Object
For example: She was going shopping For example: They were going shopping
Here, the subject is “She” + was Here, the subject is “They” + were
It is followed by the first form of verb (V1) “go” + Followed by the first form of verb (V1) “go” +
“ing” and then the object “shopping” “ing” and then the object “shopping”
Past Perfect
Past Perfect Tense
Rule: Subject + had + V3 + Object
For example: Sumit had left the job
Here the subject is “Sumit” + had
Then “left”, which is the third form of verb (V3) “leave” is given followed by the object
Past Perfect Continuous
Past Perfect Continuous Tense
Rule: Subject + had been + V1 + ing + Object
For example: They had been preparing for their performance for two months
Here the subject is “They” + had been
It is followed by “preparing”, which is the first form of verb (V1) of “prepare” and then the object
To help you understand past tense and its form even better, given below are a few examples to simply
the concept:
1. I played football yesterday (Simple Past)
2. I was playing football yesterday (Past Continuous for Singular)
3. They were playing football yesterday (Past Continuous for Plural)
4. They had played football yesterday (Past Perfect)
5. They had been playing football the entire yesterday (Past Perfect Continuous)
Future Tense
Simple Future
Simple Future Tense
Rule: Subject + will/shall + V1 + Object
For Example: I will visit my Uncle tomorrow
Here, the subject is “I” + will
It is followed by the first form of verb (V1) “visit” and then the object
Future Continuous
Future Continuous Tense
Rule: Subject + will be/shall be + V1 + ing + Object
For Example: I shall be going to the market tomorrow
In this example, the subject is “I” + shall be
Following it is the first form of verb (V1) “go”+ing and then the object
Future Perfect
Future Perfect Tense
Rule: Subject + will have/shall have + V3 + Object
For Example: I shall have prepared the notes by tomorrow morning
In this example, the subject is “I” + shall have
It is followed by “prepared”, which is the third form of Verb (V3) “prepare” and then the object
Future Perfect Continuous
Future Perfect Continuous Tense
Rule: Subject + will have been + V1 + ing + Object
For Example: She will have been working here since 2015
Here, the subject is “She” + will have been
It is followed by the first form of verb “work”+ing and then the object
Given below are a few examples that may help you clarify the future tense concept clearly:
1. She will go to school tomorrow (Simple Future)
2. She will be going to school tomorrow (Future Continuous)
3. She will have gone to school tomorrow (Future Perfect)
4. She will have been going to school tomorrow (Future Perfect Continuous)
