Uses of Tenses

1 The Simple Present

i. Habitual or general actions that happen all the time, in the past, at present
and in the future
o She plays hockey every day. o I visit my parents every week.
o I get up early.
ii. General existence or scientific facts
o The earth revolves round the sun.
o Ice melts at 0 o.
iii. Dramatic narratives (history, story, sports, events), Commentaries,
Instructions, Demonstrations, Newspaper headlines, to make them vivid.
o Sir Isaac Newton watches the apple fall and discovers the low of gravity
o He passes the ball, and it is a goal. (=describing actions as they happen)
iv. A present state, existence or state verbs: senses (feel, smell, taste), wants
and likes (want, like, love, hate, need), possession (have, own, belong).
These verbs of perception are not used in the progressive form.
o I love my brother. o This house belongs to me.
o He is tall. o My sister is a teacher.
v. Planned future actions
o The course begins at 9:30 next Sunday morning.

It is often used with adverbs or adverb phrases such as: “always, never, occasionally,
often, sometimes, usually, every week, on Mondays, twice a year etc.”

2 The Simple Past

All the actions in the past with

a reference to time
Now

The Past The Future

i. To express actions which occurred in the past at a definite time. It is

always necessary to say (or imply) when the actions happened. So the
simple past tense is always used with a reference to time like yesterday,
ago, last week etc.
o I went to London last Sunday. o I met my friend yesterday.
o I never met my grandmother. (=perhaps she died before I was born.)

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 ii. To give a series of actions in the order that they happened.
o She went home, met her mother, had dinner and slept at 10 pm.

iii. To express a past habit or past repeated actions.

o When I was a boy, I always woke up at 4 am.

o When I was a school student, I always tried to learn new things.

3 The Simple Future

i. To express unplanned future actions or decisions that are made at the time
of speaking. (i.e. the intention is unpremeditated)
o I’ll do that for you.
o Okay. I’ll call you at 9’o clock.

It is often used with ‘I hope …’, ‘I think …’ etc.

o I hope I will join you soon.

ii. To make predictions that are not based on evidence.

o We will never lose the match.
o It will rain tomorrow.

There are several ways of expressing the future in English.

1. The simple present – for timetables, official programmes, travel

arrangements, planned public events.
o The school reopens on Monday.
o The next train leaves at 7.30.

2. The present continuous – for fixed plans and arrangements.

o I am going home tomorrow.
o I am travelling to London next week.

3. The -be going to form – for planned events (especially intentions and
decisions)
o I am meeting my friend tonight. (emphasis on arrangement)
o I am going to meet my friend tonight. (emphasis on intention)
o Look at the sky. It is going to rain. (prediction based on evidence)

To express the future in the past, we use ‘would’ and ‘was V 1ing (to)’.
o I had no time to meet you all because I was leaving for Delhi in two hours.

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4 The Present Continuous
i. A temporary action or event that is happening at the time of speaking.
o I am watching a game.
o She is waiting for the bus.

ii. Temporary actions/situations or changing situations but not

necessarily in progress at the moment of speaking. They may be in
progress in the background. (Imagine that you are at a restaurant and accidently
meet a friend after a long time. She says to you, “What are you doing?” Here, you can’t
answer, “I am eating here or I am going to eat.”)
o She is studying Engineering.
o I am preparing for the exam.
iii. Actions that happen ‘very often’ or ‘too often’ to show envy, to
complain or to criticise with words like always, continually,
constantly.
o They are always telling lies. (Complain and also emphasis on how often)
o They always tell lie . (=not ‘very often’)
o He is always asking questions. o He always asks questions.

iv. Definite arrangements in the near future. (the most usual way of
expressing one’s immediate plans)
o I am going to meet my friend tomorrow.
o I am going home tomorrow.

5 The Past Continuous

i. Past actions which continued or were in progress (going on for some
time) around a particular past time.
o What were you doing at 9’o clock last night? ~ I was writing a poem.
o When I reached home, my mom was cooking.

ii. It is often used together with the simple past tense. The past
continuous refers to a longer ‘background’ action; the simple refers to
a shorter action that happened in the middle of the longer action, or
that interrupted it. We often use words like when, while and as.
o When I was crossing over the road, I witnessed an accident.
o I met her on train when I was travelling to Chennai.

When I was travelling to Chennai Now

The Past The Future

I met her on train

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6 The Future Continuous

I will be attending the workshop next week

Now
The Past The Future

i. To express actions that will be in progress in the future, especially

when we imagine ourselves doing something.
o By this time tomorrow, I will be playing with my friends.
o I will be attending the workshop next week

ii. The progressive is used when there is no intention. It sounds more

polite in some cases.
o I will meet him tomorrow. (=intention)
o I will be meeting him tomorrow. (=no intention, simply refers to future)
o When will you come home? (e.g. father to son)
o When will you be coming home? (e.g. son to father)

7 The Present Perfect

i. To express recent actions (immediate past actions). The results of the
actions will be there at present, thus drawing a connection between the
past and the present. A reference to time (when the actions happened)
is not usually mentioned.
o I have just done it. o They have arrived.
o He hasn’t called yet. o She has finished her work.
The following time expressions are used with the present perfect:
already, just, recently, before, so far, lately, yet, ever, still, for
(duration/length) and since (starting point). Some of these expressions
are also used in the simple past.

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 ii. To talk about an action as a life experience, without referring to a
specific time/occasion the action took place. (We don’t state when it
happened. We might have done it more than once. We might repeat
the same in the future)
o I have been to Australia. o She has lived in India.
o I have visited Tajmahal . (=implies that it is still possible to visit again)
o The writer has written 50 books. (=implies that he can write
more. If he is dead, the sentence should be ‘he wrote 50 books’)
iii. Unfinished actions which last throughout an incomplete period.
(begins in the past and continues past the time of speaking in the
present)
o She has lived here for four years. (= She still lives)
o I have known her since 2011.

iv. A finished action with a result in the present.

o Where is your father? ~ He has gone home. (=Now he is not there)
o I have lost my mobile. So, I cannot call him.

v. The present perfect is also used with a reference to an unfinished time

like today, this week, etc. When the time is over, the simple past is
used with a reference to time.
o I haven’t met him today. (=the day isn’t yet over)
o I met him today. (=before a particular point in the day)
o He hasn’t seen me this week.

Notes: Difference between the simple past and the present perfect

The simple past is used to talk about only past actions. The present perfect
connects the past with the present.
In the simple past, we must use time expressions to show the time is finished
and to show when the actions happened. We don’t use time expressions,
except for time expressions that show the unfinished time such as this week,
today,etc.

Present Perfect: Actions that have some

The simple past: Actions that happened
relationship between the past and the present.
at a definite time in the past.
Now
The Past The Future

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8 The Past Perfect
Now

The Past The Future

When I arrived home (2) My friends had already left. (1)

i. When we talk about two actions that happened in the past, the first
completed action should be expressed in the past perfect tense, and the
second in the simple past. (Both actions happened in the past)
o When I arrived home, my friends had already left . (=before I got home)
o When I arrived home, my friends left . (=at the moment, I probably saw them).
o He told her that he had met her in the mall.
The past perfect is used to talk about the first action to avoid confusion
between two actions showing which one happened first.

ii. The comparison of the past perfect and present perfect.

o The house is clean. I have cleaned it.
o The house was clean. I had cleaned it.

9 The Future Perfect

i. It is used to express actions that will be completed by a certain time in
the future.
o I will have completed my assignment by Monday.
o I will have left before you get there.

It is often used in conditional sentences with would, could etc.

o If you had told me, I would have helped you.

o She might have succeeded, if she had been given the opportunity.

For more about conditional sentences, turn to page

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10 The Present Perfect Continuous
i. To express an action which began in the past and is still continuing
(with the progress emphasized) . We use the present perfect continuous to
look back on actions from the present and often use ‘for’ and ‘since’.
o I have been writing essays since morning.
o She has been waiting for 8 hours.

The present perfect or the present perfect continuous:

ii. An action in the present perfect can be expressed as a continuous
action by the present perfect continuous. Observe the difference:
Difference I
o I've written six letters since breakfast. (how many times the action
is done and it doesn’t clearly state whether the action is still in progress)
o I've been writing letters since breakfast. (emphasis on how long
the action is in progress)
Difference II
o I've cleaned the house. (it means this job has been completed)
o I've been cleaning the house. (it means 'this is how I've spent the
last hour'. It does not necessarily mean that the job is completed)

11 The Past Perfect Continuous

i. An action began in the past and continued for some time until another
action started in the past. It is used to say or emphasise how long the
action had been happening up to a past moment.
o I had been waiting for six hours before he arrived.
o He was tired because he had been running.

Now

The Past The Future

She had been teaching at a school before she joined the university.

12 Future Perfect Continuous

i. It is used to express continuous actions that are in progress now and
will be in progress in the future.
o I will have teaching for years next may.
o By this time next week, I will have been writing this book for a year.

(This tense is less commonly used in contemporary English.)

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