USAGE OF TENSES:

Simple Present Tense is used:

1. In expressions in the immediate present:
e.g. - She wants to speak at once.
It is very cold.
2. When a sentence begins with ‘here’ and ‘there’:
e.g. - Here she comes!
There goes the train.
3. To express a situation that is permanent:
e.g. – This train runs from Mumbai to Delhi.
IMS is at Sanjay Place.
4. To express general truths:
e.g. – Two and four make six.
The Sun rises in the East.
Milk is white.
5. To express regular or habitual actions:
e.g. – I stay at Agra.
I get up early and go to teach at IMS.
I have my dinner at 8.30pm.
6. To express an action in the near future:
e.g. – What do we do next month?
The college reopens next Monday.
7. In time clauses:
Time clauses are introduced by Conjunctions of time such as when, while, until, after, as soon as, no
sooner than etc.
e.g. - When you come to Mumbai, pay us a visit.
Wait here till I come back.
8. In conditional clauses:
Conditional sentences have two clauses- the conditional clause and the main clause. When the main clause
is in simple future, the conditional clause is in Simple Present Tense.
e.g.-Unless you walk fast, you will be late.
If you are determined, you will succeed.
9. In factual writing:
When somebody shows/teaches how to do something.
e.g. – Pour three cups of water and bring it to a boil.
After that, add ginger, cloves and Tulsi leaves.
Then add sugar, tea leaves, milk and boil to get tea that cures cold.
10. In dramatic narratives:
To describe the action of a play, opera, match etc. Also used in radio, tv, commentaries, events etc.
e.g. – In the movie, Ranchordas plays the central character.
The audience waits anxiously for Sachin to bat.
Here comes the Chief Guest for the evening.
11. In reports:
When you are reporting someone’s speech at some point in the recent past.
e.g. - I hear that you are getting married.
I have never eaten pasta but they say it tastes good.
12. To introduce quotations:
Mahatma Gandhi says : “Truth and non-violence are as old as the hills.”
 The present continuous is used:
1. For something happening at the time of speaking:
e.g. - We are having a meeting.
I am feeling tired.
2. To emphasize or for temporary situations:
e.g. – I am teaching at IMS these days.
I am spending the coming summers at Rishikesh.
3. Planned future actions:
e.g. – I am meeting him tomorrow.
We are having a party on Monday.
4. To indicate progressive changes:
e.g. – Your handwriting is improving.
The demand for petrol is increasing.
5. To denote frequent actions:
e.g. – You are always looking for faults.
She is always talking on the phone.
6. To denote habitual actions, esp. new or temporary ones:
e.g. – He is watching a lot of movies these days.
Note the difference below:
Anita always participates in sports. (Positive, good sense)
Anita is always participating in sports. (Negative, she is too busy in sports, not in a good sense)

Present perfect tense is used:

1. To refer to past situations that continue up to the present:
I have never seen an octopus.
I have written 10 pages.
2. To express a past action, the result of which still continues:
She has been ill since Friday.
I have always cared for you.
3. To express what happened in the past without stating a specific time:
I have read the novel, but I do not remember the details.
They have raised 5 lakh rupees for the auditorium.
4. To express an action that has just been completed.
The sun has set.
We have just finished our tea.
5. For repeated or habitual actions:
I have often wondered why she is so generous.
He has practised regularly and will surely win.
6. In news broadcasts:
The govt has decided to punish him.
A large number of trees have been cut.

Present perfect continuous is used:

1. To link the past with the present, to show that an activity began in the past and still continues
in the present:
e.g. - I have been teaching you all for one month.
2. To express repeated, uninterrupted action: (but not when the number of times is mentioned)
e.g. - I have been asking you to work hard. (p.p.cont)
But, I have asked you five times to work hard. (p.p.)
 3. To draw conclusions:
e.g. - Her eyes are red; I think she has been crying.
I am tired; I have been studying all night.

Simple past tense is used:

1. To talk about events, actions, situations that occurred in the past and are now over:
e.g. - It was extremely cold yesterday.
I taught you tenses in December.
I was a student of St. Conrad’s Inter College.
2. When you wish to mention an action in the past at a definite time but you don’t mention the
exact timing:
e.g. - The students came 20 minutes late.
I saw him in the market.
I lived in Delhi.
3. To denote situations which existed over a period of time in the past:
e.g. - I lived in Indore during my graduation days.
Throughout 2010, I learnt the teachings of Islam.
4. To indicate habitual or regular actions of the past:
e.g. - I never missed classes at school.
At Jamia, I ate non-veg food every alternate day.
5. To refer to some desirable thing or unreal state of things:
e.g. - I wish I could go out and earn.
If I were you, I would help her.
6. In polite enquiries:
With polite enquiries often with verbs like hope, think, wonder:
e.g. - I wonder if you would lend me that pen.
I hope he would forgive me.

Past continuous tense is used:

1. To suggest a gradual development of the action in the past:
e.g. - It was getting dark.
I was becoming more and more angry.
2. Actions in progress in the past:
e.g. – I was studying last night, so woke up late today.
They were playing football at the stadium.
3. To indicate repeated actions i.e. in cases where ”always” is used and seems to make the speaker
angry/disappointed:
e.g. – He was always smiling in my class for no reasons.
She was always talking on the phone.
4. With time-to indicate that an action probably began before that mentioned time and continued
after it also.
e.g. -At 10:00am I was teaching MAT aspirants.
At 8 o’ clock, I was driving, so could not attend your call.
5. To denote actions which began before something else happened:
e.g. - I realized I was bleeding when my foot pained badly.
When I was shouting at him, she came and asked what was wrong.
6. To indicate a more casual or less deliberate action:
e.g. – I talked to the dean yesterday.
I was talking to the dean yesterday.
The first sentence suggests that the speaker had planned to talk to the dean on some matter.
The second sentence suggests that the speaker had not planned to talk to him and talked casually.
 Past perfect tense is used:
1. To refer to an earlier past:
When from a point in the past, you talk about an action in the earlier past:
e.g. – I saw him last night. I had seen him at the same shop before also.
Everyone was scared. The terrorists had destroyed the first floor already.
2. Similarly, to distinguish between two actions in the past i.e. to denote that one action was
complete before the second started.
e.g. – I taught five students on Friday, the rest had already left without informing me.
She had died before the doctor arrived.
3. In conditional phrases/clauses:
e.g. - If I had known I won’t be allowed to work, I would have never worked so hard with my studies.
Had I known that they won’t understand me, I would have never come back.

Past perfect continuous is used:

Time and duration:
1. To emphasize the time and duration of a continuous activity which took place before a particular
time in the past:
e.g. - I fell ill because I had not been eating properly.
Yesterday, the doctor came back from Tokyo where he had been meeting various surgeons.
2. To draw conclusions:
e.g. - I was tired. I had been reading late at night.
Seema was fresh because she had been resting the whole day.
3. To show repeated actions:
e.g. - Ravi had not been doing his homework for a whole week and thus the teacher was angry.
I got annoyed because he had been blaming me unnecessarily.

Simple future tense is used:

1. To say what we think will happen:
e.g. - We will win the match.
One day, we shall travel to Mars.
2. To indicate an offer or a promise:
e.g. – I shall gift you a watch if you pass.
I will see to it that no one bothers you.
3. To indicate instant decisions:
e.g. – It is very cold. I will switch the heater on.
It is his anniversary. He will throw a party at Clarks.
4. With verbs like hope, expect, wish, think, be, suppose, believe:
e.g. – I am sure he will be alright.
I hope you will attend the classes regularly.

IMPORTANT: THE FUTURE CAN ALSO BE EXPRESSED WITHOUT USING THE FUTURE TENSE
AND USING OTHER TENSES INSTEAD.
For e.g. : We are going to Mumbai tomorrow.
He is going to win the match.
He is meeting the captain tomorrow.
He is to meet the captain tomorrow.

Future continuous tense is used:

1. To indicate an action that will continue over a period of time, specifically to show that you will be
in the middle of the action:
e.g. - This time, next week, we will be driving through Nepal.
When he comes out of the room, the detectives will be waiting for him.
IMPORTANT:
Compare:
The DJ will play music when the couple enters. (After the couple enters, the DJ will start playing music)
The DJ will be playing music when the couple enters. (the DJ will start playing music already before the
couple enters)
2. To refer to planned tours and travels:
e.g. – I shall be flying to Kolkata on 15th March.
We will be spending these summers in Gangotri.
3. Sometimes, in case of routines:
e.g. – I shall be meeting Rashi tomorrow. She works with me in the same office.
I shall be passing your home in the morning as it is on my way to office.

Future perfect tense is used:

1. To refer to something that hasn’t happened yet,but will happen at a particular time in future:
e.g. - Perhaps by the time you come back, I will have left the town.
By the time you realize your mistake, he will have been punished already.
I will have died by 2040.

Future perfect continuous tense is used:

1. To indicate the duration of an event at a specific time in future:
I shall have been typing for three hours when these notes end.
I will have been teaching English at IMS for 2 months on 1st February.