Tenses in English Language

2. Tenses in English Language • The word ’Tense’ comes from Latin word ‘Tempus’ which means ‘Time’ • Time can be divided in three parts: • Thus there are three main Tenses, each of them can be subdivide in four subparts

7. To express a habitual action: as, • He drinks tea every morning. • I get up everyday at five o’clock. • My watch keeps good time.

8. To express general truths: as, • The sun rises in the east. • Honey is sweet. • Fortune favors the brave. • In exclamatory sentences beginning with here and there to express what is actually taking place in the present: as, • Here comes the bus! • There she goes! • In vivid narrative as substitute for the simple past: as, • Sohrabnow rushes forward and deals a heavy blow to Rustam. • Immediately the Sultan hurries to his capital • To express a future event that is a part of a fixed time table or fixed programme : as, • The next flight is at 7.00 tomorrow. • The match starts at 5:20.

9. To introduce quotations : as, • Keats says, ”A thing of beauty is a joy for ever” • It is used instead of simple future tense, in clauses of time and of condition: as, • I shall wait till you finish your lunch. • If it rains we shall get wet. • As a broadcast commentaries on sporting events, the simple present is used.

10. For an action going on at the time of speaking: as, • She is singing .(now) • The boys are playing hockey.

11. For a temporary action which may not be actually happening at the time of speaking : as, • I am reading a ‘David Copperfield’ (But I am not reading at this moment) • For an action that has already been arranged to take place in the near future: as, • I am going to cinema tonight. • My uncle is arriving tomorrow. • It has been pointed out that the Simple Present is used for a habitual action. • However, when the reference is to a particularly obstinate habit-something which • persist, For example in spite of advice or warning – we use the Present Continuos • with an adverb like always, continually, constantly: as, • My dog is very silly; he is always running out on the road.

12. The following verbs on account of their meaning, are not normally used in the continuous form Verb of perception, e.g. See, Here, Smell, notice, recognize. Verbs of appearing, e.g. appear, look, seem. Verbs of emotion, e.g. want, wish, desire, feel, like, love, hate, hope, prefer. Verbs of thinking, e.g. think, suppose, believe, agree, consider, trust, remember, forget, know, imagine, mean, mind. 5. have(=possess) , e.g. own, possess, belong to, contain, consist of, be(except in passive)

13. To indicate completed activities in the immediate past (with just) : as, • She has just gone out. • It has just struck ten.

14. To express past actions whose time is not given and not defined; as, • Have you read ‘Gulliver's Travel’?. • I have never known him to be angry. • Mr. Harry has been to Japan. • To describe past events when we think more of their effort in the present than • of the action itself; as, • I have cut my fingers. (and it is bleeding now) • I have finished my work.(= now I am free) • To denote an action beginning at some time in the past and continuing up to the • present moment ( often with since and for - phrase ) ; as, • I have known him for a long time. • He has been ill since last week. • We have lived there for ten years.

16. The Present Perfect Continuous is used for an action which began at some time • in the past and is still continuing; as, • He has been sleeping for five hours. ( and still sleeping) • They have been building the bridge for several month . • They have been playing since four O’clock. • This tense is used also sometimes used for an action already finished. In such • cases the continuity of the activity is emphasized as an explanation of • something; as, • “Why are your cloths so wet?”– ‘ I have been watering the garden” .

17. The Simple Past is used to indicate an action completed in the past. It often • occurs with adverbs or adverb phrase of past time; as, • The steamer sailed yesterday . • I received his letter a week ago. • She left school last year.

18. Sometimes the Simple Past is used without adverb of time. In such cases the time may be either implied or indicated by the context ; as, • I learnt Hindi in Nagpur. • I didn’t sleep well last night. • Babar defeated Rana Sanga at Kanwaha. • The Simple Past is also used for past habits; as, • He studied many hours everyday. • She always carried an umbrella.

19. The past Continuous is used to denote an action going on at some time in the past. The time of action may or may not be indicated; as, • We were listening to the radio all evening. • It was getting darker. • The light went out while I was reading.

20. Sometimes the past continuous and simple past are used togather when a new action happened in the middle of the longer action. The simple past tense is used for new action; as, • The light went out while I was reading. • When I saw him, he was playing chess • The past Continuous is also used with always, continually, etc. for persistent habits in the past ; as, • He was always grumbling.

22. To describe an action completed before a certain moment in the past: as, • I had seen him last five years before. • If two action happened in the past, it may be necessary to show which action happened earlier than the others. Past perfect is mainly used in such situations.The simple past is used in one clause and the past perfect in others: as, • When I reached the station the train had started. • I had done my exercise when Harry come to see me. • I had written the letter before he arrived

24. The Past Perfect Continuous is used for an action that began before a certain point • in the past and continued up to that time; as, • At that time he had been writing a novel for two months. • When Mr. Mukerji came to the school in 1995, Mr. Anand had already • been teaching there for five years.

25. The Simple Future Tense is used to talk about things which we cannot control • It expresses the future as fact; as, • I shall be twenty next Sunday. • It will be Diwali in a week. • We will know our exam result in may. • We use this tense to talk about what we think or believe will happen in the future; as, • I think Pakistan will win the match. • I’m sure Helen will get a first class

26. We can use this tense when we decide to do something at the time of speaking ; as, • It is raining. I will take an umbrella. • “Mr. Sinha is very busy at the moment.”-” All right I will wait.’’ • We use the going to form (be going to + base of the verb) when we have decided to • to do something before taking about it ; as, • “Have you decided what to do?” -- “yes, I am going to resign the job” • “why do you want to sell your bike?”—”I am going to buy a new car” • We also use the going to form to talk about what seems likely or certain, when there is something in the present which tells us about the future; as, • It is going to rain; look at those clouds. • The boat is full of water. It is going to sink.

27. Be about to • The going to form may also express an action which is on the point of happening; as, • Let’s get into the train. It is going to leave. • Look! The cracker is going to explode. • Be about to + base form of verb can also be used to for the immediate future; as, • Let’s get into the train. It’s about to leave. • Don’t go out now. We are about to have lunch.

28. We use the future continuous tense to talk about action which will be in progress at a time in the future; as, • I suppose it will be raining when we start. • This time tomorrow I I will be sitting on the beach in Singapore.

29. Be to • We also use this tense to talk about actions in the future which are already planned or which are expected to happen in the normal course of things; as, • I will be staying here till Sunday. • He will be meeting us next month. • The postman will be coming soon. • We use be to + base form to talk about official plans and arrangements; as, • The Prime Minister is to visit America next month • The conference is to discuss ‘Nuclear Test’

30. The future Perfect Tense is used to talk about action that will be completed by a certain future time; as, • I shall have written my exercise by then. • He will have left before you go to see him. • By the end of this month, I will have worked here for five years.

31. The future Perfect Continuous Tense is used for an action which will be in progress over a period of time that will end in the future; as, • By next month we shall have been living here for four years • I’ll have been teaching for twenty years next july