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Tenses: WWW - Campusgate.co - in
Tenses: WWW - Campusgate.co - in
in
Tenses
The tenses a sentence indicates the time in which a verb is
located. The tense also indicates the state or action of the
verb. A change in the tense brings about a change in the form
of the verb.
There are three types of tenses:
Present tense: I see.
Past tense: I saw.
Future tense: I will see.
TENSE
PRESENT
PAST
FUTURE
Simple
I watch
I watched
I shall watch
Continuous / Progressive
I am watching
I was watching
I shall be watching
Perfect
I have watched
I had watched
A. PRESENT TENSE
1. SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE
Examples:
I like my school.
Mary waits for him longer and does not leave till he
comes.
Used to speak about a series of completed events. First I take some clay and apply some water.
(demonstrations, instructions, commentaries)
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Indicates an activity that takes place at the time of speaking.
Used in questions.
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B. PAST TENSE
1. SIMPLE PAST TENSE
Simple past tense is used for different types of past activities.
a. Indicates an activity that ended in past with the time implied
Examples:
He is jailed because he committed a robbery.
b. Indicated an activity that ended in the past and contains
adverbs/ adverb phrases of past time.
Examples:
A man met me on the road yesterday.
c. Indicates an activity that presisted in the past.
Examples:
We always went to the theatre together.
MAIN CLAUSE
PAST PERFECT
First action
I had gone
STRUCTURE
SUBORDINATE CLAUSE
SIMPLE PAST
Second action
before he came
MAIN CLAUSE
SIMPLE CLAUSE
Second action
He came
SUBORDINATE CLAUSE
PAST PERFECT
First action
after I had gone
ii. Past perfect tense is used after past verbs of thinking and
saying.
Examples:
1. She told me that she had finished.
2. We wondered who had seen the ghost.
3. I thought I had returned the book a week earlier.
iii. Past perfect tense is used to describe past events that did
not take place.
Examples:
1. If had accepted my fault, he would have forgiven me.
2. I wish she had spoken to me first.
iv. Past perfect tense is used to state how long a particular
event continued in the past.
Examples:
1. He told me that his mother had been ill since Monday.
2. I was heartbroken to discard my watch. I had had is
since school.
v. Past perfect is used to indicate two events, one of which took
place before the other. One event is stated in past perfect tense
and the other in simple past.
Examples:
1. The people had noticed the thief as he did behind the
bush.
2. She had switched off the lights when Ravi entered.
4. PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE
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ii. Past perfect continuous tense is used to describe actions and situations that the shorter or temporary. Permanent activities
assume a past perfect tense.
Examples:
1. My hands were stiff because i had been carrying heavy bags for a long time. (Past perfect continuous tense)
2. I had carried the burden of being irresponsible man since years. (Past perfect tense)
3. I had been watching horror movies all afternoon. (Past perfect continuous tense)
4. I had watched all the horror movies directed by Bridgmna
C. FUTURE TENSE
1. SIMPLE FUTURE TENSE
i. A simple future tense is used to provide information about the future.
Examples:
1. It will be winter soon.
2. Will all your friends be at the party?
3. The company will begin operations next month.
ii. A future tense, especially will and shall, is used to indicate conditional events.
Examples:
1. Rita will not pass the exam if she does not study.
2. If it is not too cold, we will have a party on the lawn.
iii. W ill/shall is also used to indicate requests, orders, promises, threats and offers.
Examples:
1. I will kill him!
2. Shall I open the door?
3. Will you see me tomorrow at eight?
2. FUTURE CONTINUOUS TENSE
i. Future continuous tense is used to indicate an event that will be going on at some time in the future.
Examples:
1. This time next week I will be holidaying in Germany.
2. Have a happy journey. We will be missing you.
ii. Future continuous tense is used to indicate an event that is expected to happen or decided.
Examples:
1. Raj will be performing a dance next week.
2. I will be meeting him one of these days, I expect.
iii. Future continuous tense is used to indicate that a particular decision about an event is not made but it will take place anyway.
Examples:
1. Shall I bring your shirt? Its okay. I will be meeting the tailor anyway.
3. FUTURE PERFECT TENSE
Future perfect tense is used to indicate that an event will be complete or finished by a certain moment in the future.
Examples:
1. The principal says that he will have started extra classes for the weak students by Monday.
2. I will have earned a lot of money by the end of this month.
Shall can be used after I and we instead of will.
Examples:
1. I shall have earned a lot of money by the end of this month.
2. We shall have created a new record after we win this match.
4. FUTURE PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE
Future perfect continuous tense is used to indicate a continuous action.
Examples:
1. By January, you shall have been working as a teacher for three years.
2. By March, Mr. Raj will have been working with us for a year.
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