English Tenses

1/ Present Continuous Tense:

A. Form: Subject + Present Participle (am/are/is + verb + -ing) (e.g., I am

working).

B. Usage:

- Actions happening now: "I am reading a book."

- Temporary actions: "She is working on a project this week."
- Annoyance with "always" or "constantly": "He is always interrupting me."

2/ Present Perfect Tense:

A. Form: Subject + Have/Has + Past Participle (e.g., I have worked).

B. Usage:

- Completed actions with relevance to the present: "I have finished my

homework."
- Experiences in life: "She has traveled to many countries."
- Actions started in the past and continue into the present: "I have lived here for
five years."

3/ Past Continuous Tense:

A. Form: Subject + Was/Were + Present Participle (e.g., I was working).

B. Usage:

- Ongoing actions at a specific time in the past: "I was studying when the
phone rang."
- Parallel actions in the past: "While she was cooking, he was watching TV."
4/ Past Perfect Tense:

A. Form: Subject + Had + Past Participle (e.g., I had worked).

B.Usage:

- Action completed before another action in the past: "She had already left
when I arrived."
- Describing a sequence of events in the past: "By the time we got there, they
had already finished."

5/ Additional Points:

-Present Perfect vs. Simple Past: Use the Present Perfect for actions with a
connection to the present and the Simple Past for completed actions in the past
without a clear link to the present.
- Present Continuous vs. Present Simple: Use the Present Continuous for
actions happening now and the Present Simple for habits or routines.
- Past Perfect vs. Past Simple: Use the Past Perfect to show which of two past
events happened first.
 Exercise 01: Fill in the blanks with Present Continues or Past
Continues Tenses

1. I ……………………….. a movie when the lights went out. (am

watching/was watching).

2. I ……………………….. dinner when the guests arrived. (am preparing/

was preparing).

3. I …………………………. now. (am writing/ was writing).

4. ‘Where are the kids?’ ‘They ……………………….. in the garden.(are

playing/ were playing).

5. We ………………………. for them to come.(are still waiting/ were still

waiting).

6. The guests …………………………. in the lobby.(are waiting/ were

waiting).

7. It ………………………….. We cannot go out now.(is raining/was

raining).

8. The students ………………………… for their exam.(are preparing/were

preparing).

9. The mother ………………………….. for the child to return.(is waiting/

was waiting).
10. I …………………………. for the bus when the accident took place. (am
waiting/ was waiting).

11. I ………………………….. in Mumbai at that time. (am living/was

living).

12. I …………………………. when the phone rang. (am sleeping/ was

sleeping) .

Exercise 02: Fill in the blanks with Present Perfect or Past Perfect
Tenses

1. John …………… (visit) me that day before you called.

2. Her wounds……………….. (heal) almost completely. She can start

exercising as early as tomorrow.

3. Did you hear that Ben was fired last month even though he…………….
(work) in almost every department.

4. I…………. (see) many pictures of the pyramids before I went to Egypt

last summer. Pictures are a little misleading, they are smaller than they
look.

5. Sarah……………… (climb) Mount Everest. She is such an adventurous

person.
6. Susan…………….. (climb) Mount Everest and had sailed around the
world by the time she was twenty-five.

7. Before my trip to Paris two years ago, I……………… (never be) to

France.

8. When we finally stopped him, the squirrel………………… (already eat)

twenty nuts.

9. We need more time because Alen………….. (just finish) the painting, but
he hasn't done the decorating yet.

10. You look tired. How long…………… (run)?