3 Tenses

Tense

It is any form of the verb which may be used to show (i) the time of an action and (ii) the state of an
action or an event. The Tense of a verb shows the time when an action takes place. There can be no
sentence without a verb.
• There are three main Tenses in English:
The Present Tense ———— (i) Mr. Sharma teaches us English.
The Past Tense ———— (ii) Mr. Sharma taught us English.
The Future Tense ———— (iii) Mr. Sharma will teach us English.

The three main tenses are subdivided into four heads. They are:
(a) Indefinite or Simple (b) Continuous or Progressive
(c) Perfect (d) Perfect Continuous.

• Tense at a glance:

Tense Present Past Future

Simple Write Wrote will write/shall write
Continuous am writing was writing will be writing/shall be
writing
Perfect has written/have written had written will have written/shall have
written
Perfect Continuous has been writing/have had been writing will have been writing/shall
been writing have been writing

• Examine the following sentences:

(i) I write a letter. (ii) I am writing a letter.
(iii) I have written a letter. (iv) I have been writing a letter.
The verbs in all these four sentences refer to the Present Time and are therefore said to be in the
Present Tense.
• In sentence (i): the verb ‘write’ simply expresses the action done in the present time, without
indicating the state of action. It does not tell us anything about the completeness or
incompleteness of the action. Hence the verb is said to be in the Simple Present Tense or Present
Indefinite Tense.
• In sentence (ii): the verb ‘am writing’ is still going on or continuing. Hence the verb is said to be
in the Present Continuous Tense.
• In sentence (iii): the verb ‘have written’ shows that the action is completed, finished or perfect.
Hence the verb is said to be in the Present Perfect Tense.
• In sentence (iv): the verb ‘have been writing’ shows that the action is going on continuously up to
the present time. Hence the verb is said to be in the Present Perfect Continuous Tense.

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• Similarly the Past Tense and the Future Tense have four forms:

• Simple Past Tense or Past Indefinite Tense (i) I wrote a letter.

• Past Continuous Tense (ii) I was writing a letter.

• Past Perfect Tense (iii) I had written a letter.

• Past Perfect Continuous Tense (iv) I had been writing a letter

• Simple Future or Future Indefinite Tense (v) I shall write a letter.

• Future Continuous Tense (vi) I shall be writing a letter.

• Future Perfect Tense (vii) I shall have written a letter.

• Future Perfect Continuous Tense (viii) I shall have been writing a letter.

Present tense
• Simple Present Tense: When a tense is used to show the present time it is known as the simple
present tense.

SUBJECT VERBS BASE FORM (first from of the verb)

Rohan writes English well
Fatima sings very beautifully
You wait here

We use the Present Simple Tense to describe:

(i) Things that are always true i.e., universal fact. Example: The Sun rises in the East.
(ii) Situations that exist now and will go on indefinitely. Example: Teachers teach the students.
(iii) Habits or things that happen regularly. Example: We go to school everyday.

• Present Continuous Tense: When a tense is used to show what is happening now, it is known as
the present continuous tense.

SUBJECT AM/IS/ARE PRESENT PARTICIPLE (verb + ing)

I am reading a letter from my parents
Mary is writing a novel
It is snowing heavily

26 Tenses
• Present Perfect Tense: When a tense is used to show that an action has just been completed, or
an action has finished at the moment of speaking, it is known as the present perfect tense.

SUBJECT HAVE/HAS PAST PARTICIPLE (verb third

form)
Sushil has completed his work
Priyanka has written a story for children
They have vacated the house

• Present Perfect Continuous Tense: When a tense is used to show that an action has been taking
place for some time in the past and is in progress up to now, it is known as the present perfect
continuous tense.

Past Tense
The past tense refers to actions and events that happened in the past or in an earlier time.
• Simple Past Tense: When a verb shows that an action has been completed in the past, it is known
as the simple past tense.
SUBJECT PRESENT PARTICIPLE (verb + ing form)
I wrote a novel when I was 15 years old
We looked for Manjeet everywhere
They built the bridge

• Past Continuous Tense: When a tense is used to show that an action was in progress or
incomplete in the past, it is known as the past continuous tense.

SUBJECT WAS/WERE PRESENT PARTICIPLE (verb + ing form)

I was reading the newspaper
We were looking for Manjeet
You were dancing all evening

• Past Perfect Tense: When a tense is used to show that an action had been completed in the past
before another action began, it is known as the past perfect tense.

SUBJECT HAD PAST PARTICIPLE

I had read the letter
Devesh had finished his work
They had built the house

• Past Perfect Continuous Tense: When a tense is used to show that an action had been in progress
when another past action began, it is known as the past perfect continuous tense.
SUBJECT HAD BEEN PRESENT PARTICIPLE (verb + ing form)
I had been teaching here
We had been paying for Manasi
You had been helping us

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The Future Tense

• Simple Future Tense: When a tense is used to show that some action will take place in the future,
it is known as the simple future tense.
SUBJECT SHALL/WILL VERB BASE FORM (first form)
I shall write a story for the newspaper
We shall sing for the queen
It will snow heavily

• Future Continuous Tense: When a tense is used to show that some action will be in progress in
the future, it is known as the future continuous tense.
SUBJECT SHALL/WILL BE PRESENT PARTICIPLE
I shall be writing the letter soon
We shall be going to Mussoorie in March
It will be snowing heavily at this time of the year

• Future Perfect Tense: When a tense is used to show that some action will be finished in the
future, it is known as the future perfect tense.

SUBJECT SHALL/WILL HAVE PAST PARTICULAR

I shall have written the letter
We shall have built the house by August next year
It will have snowed heavily

• Future Perfect Continuous Tense: When a tense is used to show that some action will have been
in progress in the future, it is known as the future perfect continuous tense.

28 Tenses
 Exercise

1. Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the verb from the options given below.
My grandmother (a) ............................. the most influencing person in my life. She is 75 but is fit and
fine. Born in a well off family, Granny was a rebel since the day she (b) ........................... . She (c)
.......................... my endeavours when I was young. I used (d) ........................ near her every evening
and (e) ........................ her to tell some stories. I always felt that she (f) ................................. the art
of story telling because with her artful words she (g) ...................................... the characters stand
alive in front of me. What I (h) ............................... from her is priceless.
(a) (i) is (ii) was (iii) has (iv) has been
(b) (i) is born (ii) was born (iii) has born (iv) were born
(c) (i) had supported (ii) supported (iii) is supporting (iv) was supporting
(d) (i) sitting (ii) have sit (iii) to sit (iv) has sat
(e) (i) has cajoled (ii) will cajole (iii) cajole (iv) had cajoled
(f) (i) had mastered (ii) is mastering (iii) will master (iv) has mastered
(g) (i) had made (ii) is making (iii) has made (iv) made
(h) (i) learnt (ii) had learnt (iii) have learnt (iv) am learning

2. Fill in the blanks with correct form of verbs choosing the correct option.
(a) .......................... punishment to a child or an adult for (b) ........................... something wrong never
serves a good purpose. The child should be made (c) ........................... that he (d)
..................................... something wrong but with love and compassion. If we punish the children,
they rather than becoming good individuals and (e) ............................... their conduct, become
cynical. I feel ridiculing the children (f) ....................... as it (g) ......................... to disastrous outcomes.
The children may also stop (h) ...................................... the teacher who ridicules them.
(a) (i) Given (ii) Giving (iii) Gives (iv) Gave
(b) (i) doing (ii) do (iii) done (iv) have done
(c) (i) realizing (ii) realized (iii) to realize (iv) have realized
(d) (i) is doing (ii) has done (iii) will do (iv) had done
(e) (i) improved (ii) improving (iii) is improving (iv) improves
(f) (i) should be avoided (ii) are avoiding (iii) have avoided (iv) can be avoided
(g) (i) shall lead (ii) should lead (iii) must lead (iv) can lead
(h) (i) respect (ii) respecting (iii) respected (iv) to respect

3. Fill in the blanks with the correct forms of the verbs given in the bracket.
(a) Have you ever ..................... such a beautiful scene? (see)
(b) The moon has not yet ...................... (appear)
(c) I ..................... English for ten years. (teach)
(d) What .....................your father feel about Vibrant Academy? (do)
(e) All work and no play ..................... Jack a dull boy. (make)
(f) He scratched his head and ..................... for a moment. (think)

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 (g) When I reached the temple, a group of people .....................devotional songs. (recite)
(h) What ..................... you .....................here since the time I left for college? (do)
(i) By this time tomorrow, I .....................home. (reach)
(j) The students .....................answers to all my questions. (give)
(k) ..................... the students ..................... yesterday? (study)
(l) After school, we ...................and .................our parents about our English teacher. (go, tell)
(m) The new railway bridge .....................two weeks ago. (complete)
(n) They ..................... the work when the teacher entered the class. (finish)
(o) I was teaching English when she ..................... the classroom. (enter)

4. Fill in the blanks with the correct verb form of those given in brackets.
(a) You .................. (buy) a new scooter last week.
(b) She .................. (ill) for a week.
(c) We ..................... (finish) our lunch half an hour ago.
(d) He jumped off the train while it .................. (run).
(e) The train ................... (leave) before we reached the station.

5. Correct the following sentences.

(a) He retired to bed before we reached there.
(b) I am having a car.
(c) He left for America next week.
(d) She is reading since morning.
(e) I am going to office every day by bus.

6. Fill in the blanks by choosing the correct options.

(a) Rita ___________ acting weird since yesterday, I wonder what’s up.
(i) have been (ii) has been (iii) is (iv) was

(b) Mary __________ the match easily.

(i) have win (ii) has win (iii) won (iv) win

(c) Jogging ___________ my favourite exercise.

(i) was (ii) is (iii) will be (iv) were

(d) She _____________ yet ot submit her assignment.

(i) was (ii) is (iii) were (iv) had

(e) I _____________ finished my graduation by 2025.

(i) will (ii) will have (iii) have had (iv) had

30 Tenses