TENSES

&
THEIR USAGE
OBJECTIVES
 After attending this lecture students should be
able to:
 Understand the concept of tenses in English
Language
 Importance of verb in tenses
 Usage of verb “be” in tenses
TENSES

 Basically, there are three tenses ̶ present, past

and present, however, there are twelve basic
sentence structures for various expressions in
English Language.
VERB
 Out of eight parts of speech, it is only verb that shows tense
(time factor) in a sentence.
 Basically, there are three kinds of verb in English language:
be, have and do
 Forms-wise English verbs are divided into two categories:
regular and irregular verbs
 Regular verbs are the ones whose second and third forms are
obtained by adding "ed" to the end first forms.
 e.g. Walk Walked Walked
 Irregular verbs follow no particular pattern for second and
third forms.
 e.g. Go Went Gone
 TENSES WITH "BE" VERBS

 "Be" is an irregular verb that shows existence or

state of somebody, something or someplace etc.
 Forms Of "Be" Verb
Infinitive Present Past Past Participle Gerund
Imperative
Be Is, Am, Are Was, Were Been Being Be
 SIMPLE PRESENT V/S PRESENT PERFECT
Purpose Present Perfect Present Indefinite
S + have/has +V (Past Participle) + C Time S + V (Present) + C
Factor
Existence since 2000. I have been a student at Bahria I am a student at
University. Bahria University.

Existence since 2000? Have you been a student at Bahria Am I a student at

University? Bahria University?

Existence since 2000. I have not been a student at Bahria I am not a student
University. at Bahria University.
….CONT
Purpose Present Perfect Present Indefinite
S + V (Present) + C
S+ have/has +V (Past Participle) +C Time
Factor
State/Adjective for three years. He has been married He is married.

State/Adjective three years? Has he been married for Is he married?

State/Adjective for three years. He has not been married He is not married.
PAST INDEFINITE V/S PAST PERFECT
Purpose Past Perfect Past Indefinite
S + V (Past) + C
S + had +V (Past Participle) + C Time Factor

Existence for four years He had been in London He was in London.

Existence for four years Had He been in London Was he in London ?

Existence for four years He had not been in He was not in

London London.
….CONT
Purpose Past Perfect Past Indefinite
S + V (Past) + C
S + had +V (Past Participle) + C Time
Factor

Adjective/State since he heard the news. He had been very He was very happy.
happy

Adjective/State since he heard the news? Had he been very Was he very happy?
happy

Adjective/State since he heard the news. He had not been very He was not very
happy happy.
PRESENT INDEFINITE V/S FUTURE INDEFINITE

Future Indefinite Present Indefinite

S + modal verb + V (Infinitive) + C S + V (Present) + C

He will be at office. He is at home.

Will he be at home? Is he at home?
He will not be at office. He is not at home.

She may be quite well next week. She is seriously ill now.

They must be home by the evening. They are at work.

BE VERB WITH ROUTINE SENTENCES
Time Routine Time Present/Past

Always I am at home in the evening. Now I am at home.

Routine He is at school from Monday to Now He is at school.

Friday.

Routine They are often in the ground. Now They are in the ground.

A routine then She was sometimes in the library. Then She was in the library.

Used to be My friends were rarely angry with Then My friends were angry
me. with me.
VERB BE IN GERUND FORM
 With certain adjectives such quiet/noisy, good/bad
and wise/foolish be verb may come in gerund form:
 Michael is being foolish. It means for the time
being he is behaving foolishly.
 Gerund of be verb may be used in another way too.
e.g.
 Being a student (as a student), you should devote
proper time to your studies.
VERB WITH INFINITIVE
 Be + infinitive
 We are to wait until he comes. (Imperative)
 The program is to start at 10 o’clock.
(Instruction)
 They are to come. (Expected)
 I could not come because I was to see the doctor.
(Must) etc.
CONCLUSION
 Be (as a main verb) + adjective/noun
 Without time factor With time factor
am, are have been
is has been
was, were had been
 Present/Past Routine
 Is, am, are, was, were be +frequency adverb