TENSES
Tense means ‘time’, and shows when an action happens, happened, or will happen.
Tenses Present Past Future
I worked well. / She ate her I shall work well. / She will
SIMPLE I work well. / She eats well.
fill. eat her fill.
CONTINUOUS … am / is / are working. … was / were working. … shall / will be working.
… shall / will have worked
PERFECT … has / have worked (eaten). … had worked (eaten)
(eaten)
PERFECT … shall / will have been
CONTINUOUS
… has / have been working … had been working
working
Some Points to Remember:
SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE
i. Denotes what is actually taking place in the present time. E.g.: There goes the school bus.
ii. Denotes a habitual or repeated action. E.g.: She goes for a walk every morning.
iii. Denotes a universal and verifiable truth. E.g.: The sun rises in the east.
iv. Denotes a situation / a fact that is permanent. E.g.: Delhi stands on the Yamuna.
v. Denotes a future action one is sure of. E.g.: He flies to London tomorrow.
PRESENT CONTINUOUS TENSE
i. Denotes an action that is going on at the time of speaking. Phrases such as ‘now, at present, at this
moment, etc.’ are used. E.g.: The teacher is teaching at present.
ii. Denotes an action that is continuing in the present time period, but not when the speaker is speaking.
E.g.: I am learning music. / My father is writing a book.
iii. Indicating disapproval / displeasure. E.g.: She is always ringing me up and asking silly questions.
iv. Sometimes denotes an action that will happen in the near future or to express one’s immediate plans.
E.g.: I am leaving for Mumbai tomorrow.
Note 1: This tense is not used with such verbs as ‘tell, see, hear, smell, wish, think, remember, forget, care,
like, love, hate, seem, contain, cost, etc.’
Examples: a) I tell [not ‘am telling’] you that you are mistaken.
b) We hear [not ‘are hearing’] that Reshma has won an award.
c) What does this book contain? [not ‘What is this book containing?’]
Note 2: However, if these verbs are used in the Present Continuous Tense, their meanings change.
Examples: a) Hitesh is thinking of [considering] leaving his present job.
b) Ira is seeing [visiting] the Home Minister in two days.
c) Hema is seeing [consulting] the doctor for her ailment.
d) The plumber is seeing to [dealing with / repairing] that leaky tap.
e) The police is looking into [investigating] the incident.
PRESENT PERFECT TENSE
i. Denotes an action that has just been completed. E.g.: The train has just left the station.
ii. Denotes a past action whose present result is important. E.g.: I have lived in this house for the past ten
years (and am still living here).
PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE
i. Denotes an action that began in the past which is still continuing or has just ended in the present time.
E.g.: He has been reading this book since April. [Since = point of time; since 2010, since Monday, etc.] E.g.:
She has been waiting for you for half an hour. [For = period of time; for two years, for many months, etc.]
SIMPLE PAST TENSE
i. Denotes an action or an event that took place at a definite time in the distant or immediate past. E.g.: It
rained heavily last night.
ii. States facts about the distant or immediate past. E.g.: Once, the earth was believed to be flat.
iii. Talks of a state / condition / people’s habits in the distant or immediate past. E.g.: Whenever we visited
the Taj Mahal, we clicked a lot of photographs.
PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE
i. Denotes an action that was in progress in the past when another action took place. E.g.: The girls were
singing loudly when the teacher entered the room.
ii. Denotes two actions taking place at the same time in the past. E.g.: The children were playing while
their mother was resting.
PAST PERFECT TENSE
i. Denotes an unfulfilled wish. E.g.: I wish I had accepted that job offer.
ii. Indicates the first of the two related actions that took place in the past (while the Simple Past Tense
denotes the action that happened later). E.g.: The robbers had already escaped before the police arrived.
PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE
i. Indicates that one action in the past is still continuing when the second happened. E.g.: I had been
feeling unwell for a week before I finally consulted a doctor.
SIMPLE FUTURE TENSE
i. Denotes an action that is about to take place. E.g.: We shall complete the work presently.
ii. Denotes an action that will take place in the future. E.g.: They will go abroad during the summer
vacation.
FUTURE CONTINUOUS TENSE
i. Denotes an action that will still be going on at some point / a given period of time in the future. E.g.:
Sam will be singing at the function tomorrow. / When I reach Shimla, it will be snowing there.
FUTURE PERFECT TENSE
i. Denotes that an action will be completed by or at a particular point of time in the future. E.g.: We shall
have completed painting the walls by this time tomorrow. / He will have cooked the meal before you
come. (Of the two actions in the future, the first one to be completed will be in the Future Perfect Tense
and the second one in the Simple Present Tense).
ii. Expresses the speaker’s belief that something has taken place. E.g.: You will have heard of India’s
victory (by now).
USE of ‘SHALL / WILL’:
Normal Usage — I / We shall…; You / He / She / It / They will…; However, this usage is interchanged
when something has to be said forcefully or in a more determined manner.
