TENSES

V1-the first form of verb (base form) Ex:do

V2- the second form of verb (Simple past) EX:did

V3- the third form of verb (Past Participle) Ex: done

V4- the fourth form of verb (Present Participle) Ex: doing

V5- the fifth form of verb (Simple Present) Ex:does

I/we

You

He/they
The Present Tenses

Simple Present
Depending on the person, the simple present tense is formed by using
the root form or by adding -s or -es to the end.
Structure: subject+verb(s/es)
Uses of The Present Simple Tense:
****to express universal truths, facts, customs
Ex:The Earth revolves round the Sun.
****to express habitual actions
Ex:She walks to the office every day.
****to express a permanent state
Ex:Delhi stands on the bank of the Yamuna.
****in exclamatory sentences
Ex:There goes the train!
****in subordinate clause beginning with ‘if’ and ‘when’
Ex: If you request him, he will help you.
****in imperative sentences
Ex: Obey your elders
****to indicate a planned future action or series of actions when
they refer to a journey.
Ex:We leave Delhi at 9:00am and reach Amritsar at 3:00pm.
****for narrative events in a dramatic way
Ex:The sound of firing is heard.
****in running commentaries on sports events
Ex:Rohit hits the ball straight into the goal.
****to introduce quotations
Ex:My father says, “Hard work is the key to success.”

Present Continuous/Present Progressive

Structure: subject+(is/am/are)+verb(ing)

The Present Continuous is formed by to be [am, is, are] + [present

participle]

Uses of the Present Progressive Tense:

****for an action that is in progress at the time of speaking

Ex: The children are playing football.

****for an action that is in progress and will continue in future (it

may not be going at the time of speaking)

Ex: He is learning French.

****to describe an action that is planned to take place in the near
future

Ex: Aman is going to England next week.

****to express disapproval of a persistent habit or something done

again and again (we generally use adverbs-always, constantly)

Ex: Raj is repeatedly making the same mistakes.

Present Perfect
Structure: subject+have/has+verbV3

The present perfect tense is formed by have/has + the past participle.

Uses of Present Perfect:

 To express an action that has been recently completed

Ex: Our team has won the match.

 For past actions whose time is not given

Ex: Has she cooked the lunch?

 With adverbs like already, often, constantly etc

Ex: I have already read this novel.

 For an action which began in the past and is still continuing

Ex: I have always helped him.
Present Perfect Continuous
Structure: subject+have/has+been+verbV4

The present perfect continuous is formed using the

construction has/have been + the present participle (root + -ing).

Uses of the Present Perfect Progressive Tense:

 To express an action which began at some time in the past and is

still continuing
I have been working in the field.

 To express an action which has already been finished

She has been working all the day.

Simple Past
Structure: subject+ verb V2

The simple past is formed by using the past tense form of the verb.
Uses of the Simple Past:
****to indicate an action that was completed in the past. Generally,
the adverbials of the past time are used-yesterday , last week….
Seema met us two days ago.
****sometimes without adverbials of time
My mother congratulated me on my brilliant success.
****for an activity done in the past
Som studied for three hours.
****to express a habitual action in the past
My father always got up at 4:00am.
****in conditional clauses (if)
If he accepted my advice, he would overcome his difficulty.
**** in the indirect form of speech
He said that he worked for eight hours every day.

The Past Progressive

subject+ (was/were)+verb V4
The Past Progressive tense has the form was/were +present participle
(verb+ing)

Uses of the Past Progressive Tense:

****to express a state or an action that was continuing at a certain

point of time in the past (we use adverbials of time)

Ex: She was cooking at 8:00am.

****to express an action that was in progress in the past

Ex: I was reading a newspaper.

****to express an action in progress at some point of time in the past

when another event took place

Ex: He was reading a novel when the doorbell rang.

****to describe two or more actions continuing at the same time

Ex: While he was doing homework, his brother was listening to songs.

****to indicate a persistent habit in the past

Ex: She was always finding fault with my work.

Past Perfect
Structure: subject+had+verbV3
The past perfect tense has the form had + past participle.

Uses of Past Perfect Tense:

****for an action that had been completed before another action

began in the past

Ex: The guests had already left when she reached there.

****to describe an action taking place before a particular time in the

past

Ex: By 3:00pm, all the students had left the school.

****to describe an action in the past which became the cause of

another action
Ex: The child was crying because his father had beaten him.

****to describe an action in the past using the time adverbials

Ex: She had not come here since 1960.

****to express an unfilled wish

Ex: If you had worked hard, you would have passed.

Past Perfect Progressive

Structure: subject+had+ been+verbV4
The past perfect progressive tense has the form ‘had + been’+ ‘present
participle’

Uses of Past Perfect Progressive Tense:

****to describe an action in the past that had begun and had been
going on for some time before another action took place in the past

Ex: The match had been going on for several hours.

****to express a repeated action in the past

Ex: She had always been asking us for help.

****to describe an action which began before the time of speaking in

the past

Ex: The farmer had been ploughing since morning.

Simple Future:

Structure: Shall/will + base form of the verb

Uses of the simple future:

****Shall is used to express determination, promise, intention, offer,

suggestion…

Ex: You shall get a reward if you win the race.

****Will is used to express willingness, habitual action

Ex: I will do it myself.

****used for an action that is yet to take place.

Ex: I shall help him.

Future Progressive:

(Shall/will+be)+ present participle

Uses of the future progressive:

****used to say that something will be in progress at a particular

moment in the future

Ex: I shall be doing this work tomorrow.

Future Perfect:

(Shall/will+have)+past participle

Uses of the future perfect:

****to express an action that is expected to be completed by a certain

time in the future

Ex: They will have reached the station in half an hour.

****to express the speaker’s belief that something has taken place

Ex: She will have read “The Tempest.”

Future Perfect Progressive:

(Shall/will+have been)+present participle

Uses of the future perfect progressive:

****to express an action as being progress over a period of time that

will end at some point in the future

Ex: By next June, I shall have been completing my studies.

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