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DETAIL NOTES ABOUT TENSE
There are three main tenses in English.They are Present,Past and Future. Each Tense has four sub categories. They are : I) Present Tense a) Simple Present b) Present Continuous c) Present Perfect d) Present Perfect Continuous II) Past Tense a) Simple Past b) Past Continuous c) Past Perfect d) Past Perfect Continuous III) Future Tense a) Simple Future b) Future Continuous c) Future Perfect d) Future Perfect Continuous I) Present Tense (a) Simple Present : This Tense is used to express the habits, daily routine and universal truths. In this tense the first form of the verb is used. Taking the verb ‘eat’ we can make sentences in the following manner : The formula for simple present is Subject + V1 I eat an apple everyday. (b) Present Continuous : This Tense is used to express an action which is continuing or taking place now. In this tense the ‘ing’ form of the verb is used. The formula for present continuous is Subject + Aux +V4 (ing form) I am eating an apple now. (c) Present Perfect : This Tense is used to express an action which is over just now or completed today. In this tense the third form of the verb is used. The formula for present perfect is Subject +Auxiliary Verb + V3 (Past Participle Form) I have eaten an apple today. (c) Present Perfect Continuous : This Tense is used to express an action which began at some point of time in the past and is still continuing. In this tense the ‘ing’ form of the verb is used. The formula for present perfect continuous is Subject+Aux+Aux+V4(ing form) I have been eating apples for the last three months. II) Past Tense (a) Simple Past : This Tense is used to express an action which is over or completed at some point of time in the past. In this tense the second form of the verb is used. The formula for simple past is Subject + V2 I ate an apple yesterday. (b) Past Continuous : This Tense is used to express an action which was continuing at some point of time in the past. In this tense the ‘ing’ form of the verb is used. The formula for past continuous is Subject +Aux + V4(ing form) I was eating an apple yesterday. (c) Past Perfect : This Tense is used to express an action which was over long ago. In this tense the third form of the verb is used. The formula for past perfect is Subject +Aux + V3 I had eaten an apple six years ago. d) Past Perfect Continuous : This Tense is used to express an action which began at some point of time in the past, continued for some time and was subsequently discontinued. In this tense the ‘ing’ form of the verb is used. The formula for past perfect continuous is Subject +Aux +Aux + V4(ing form) I had been eating apples until last year. III) Future Tense (a) Simple Future : This Tense is used to express intention. In this tense the first form of the verb is used. The formula for simple future is Subject + Aux + V1 I will eat an apple tomorrow. (b) Future Continuous : This Tense is used to express an action which is imagined to be continuing at some point of time in future. In this tense the ‘ing’ form of the verb is used. The formula for future continuous is Subject +Aux+Aux+ V4(ing form) I will be eating an apple tomorrow in the evening. Future Perfect : This Tense is used to express an action which is imagined to have been completed at some point of time in future. It may be noted that this tense is basically theoretical and rarely used. The formula for future perfect is Subject+Aux+Aux+V3 I will have eaten an apple by this time tomorrow. (d) Future Perfect Continuous : This Tense is used to express an action which is imagined to began at some point of time in future and continue for sometime. It may be noted that this tense is basically theoretical and rarely used. In this tense the ‘ing’ form of the verb is used. The formula for future perfect is Subject+Aux+Aux+Aux +V4 I will have been eating apples from next year.


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