TENSES

                                                          

                                                                     THE TENSE   

Read the following  sentences carefully :

1.   Manya sings very well .

2.   Manya sang a beautiful song.

3.   Manya will sing a song .

    

after reading these sentences, can you determine at what  time does the action took place ?

How do you  know, at what time does Manya sang a song?Whether Manya is singing right now or she will sing some other day or she always sings?  

and the answer is, through the verb, we understand when does the action going to happen  .or we can say verbs indicate about the time of action done , that is what called tense or function of tenses. Tense is derived from Latin word called'' TEMPUS'' which means time.

so,basically forms of verbs that shows or express the time of action done ,we simply call them'' The Tense''  

                                                           KINDS OF TENSES

1. PRESENT TENSE 
2. PAST TENSE 
3. FUTURE TENSE

Let's talk about kinds of tenses one by one -

PRESENT TENSE : The verb that refers to present time is said to be in present tense. Present tense is further divided into four forms ;

1. simple present /present indefinite tense:

  

meaning : It is used to express universal facts ,permanent positions , habitual facts,describe events or to quote something special.

rule to apply:  's' or 'es' is added to first form of  verb if the subject is He ,She ,It ,Proper noun or       singular number

example : Shrey writes a letter to his mom .
here 's' is added to the verb' write' which indicate it is a simple present form of verb defining simple habit of writing.

2.   present continuous /present progressive tense : 

meaning : It is used for an action going on at the time of speaking . this tense refers to continuity but incomplete state of action.

rule to apply : helping verb [is /are /am] is added to main verb +ing
  ''is'' is used with -he/she/it proper noun or singular number
  ''are'' is used with -you /we /they and plural numbers
   ''I'' is used with ''am'' as we all know

example :  Shrey is writing a letter to his mom 
 here, Shrey is a single person and proper noun,thus we will use ''is'' as a helping verb and will add'' ing ''to the verb''write'' ,as you can see from example - is writing ,which indicates shrey is writing a letter to his mom right now, action going on at the time of speaking .

3. present perfect tense : This tense reveals the state ,that action has been completed with all              respects.

rule to apply :  has /have + third form of verb V³
 ''has '' is used with He /She/It/proper noun and singular numbers

 ''have" is used with I/You /they/we/and plural numbers as we all know

example:   Shrey has written a letter to his mom .
 so,here ''has is used because Shrey is singular ,proper noun and we have converted verb                     ''write ''into'' written'' as it is, its third form of verb.

4. present perfect continuous tense : It is used for an action which began at sometime in the past and    is still continuing .

rule to apply :[ has /have + been + [verb +ing ]
''has '' is used with He /She/It/proper noun and singular numbers\
  ''have" is used with I/You /We/They/and plural numbers as we all know

example : Shrey has been writing a letter to his mom since morning .  It means he has started writing a letter to his mom somewhere in the morning , which is still going on in the present. .Remember here we have mentioned about the starting point of time, therefore used [since] also ,we can  use[day, date,year.] along with it .
remember - ''since'' is used to indicate starting point of time
                   ''  for'' is used to indicate  period of time



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     PAST TENSE

1. simple past tense :
                               
    meaning  : it is used to indicate actions completed in the past                                                              
    rule to apply: second form of verb is used V2

    example :Shrey wrote a letter to his mom

2. past continuous /progressive tense:

    meaning: The tense that exhibits the continuity  of the actions done in the past,it basically denote      an action going on some time in the past ,the time of action may or may not be indicated.

rule to apply : helping verb [ was /were ] is added to main verb + ing
 ''was'' is used with [ he /she /It /I ] ,singular numbers and neuter genders
 ''were'' is used with [you /we /they] and plural numbers
.
example :  Shrey was writing a letter to his mom .


3 . past perfect tense 

   meaning : It is used to denote the time  of actions completed in the past .

   rule to apply : we use ''had '' as a helping verb + third form of verb [past participle] V3

   example : Shrey had written a letter to his mom.

 4. past perfect continuous tense: 

 meaning :It expresses the action completed in the past but still continued as regular exercise, means it is used for an action that began before a certain point of time  in the past and continued up to that time.

 rule to apply : -[ had + been+ ing is added to main verb] ,since /for /day /date /time is used               accordingly ,as discussed earlier

 example : Shrey had been writing a letter to his mom .


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    FUTURE TENSE

 1. simple future tense :

  meaning:  The simple future tense is used to talk about things which we cannot control. it                   denote the unspecified time for action proposed or planned ,it expresses the future as                           fact . 

  rule to apply : shall/will is used with main verb[ first form of verb ]

 ''shall' is used with [ I and We ]

''will'' is used with all other subjects [he/she/it /you /they/singular /plural number

 example :  Shrey will write a letter to his mom .

2. future continuous tense:

    meaning : We use  future continuous tense to talk about actions which will be in progress at a time     in future.

   rule to apply : shall be /will be  is used with the verb + ing 

  ''shall be'' is used with [ I and We]

  ''will be ''  is used with all other subjects [he/she/it /you /they/singular /plural  numbers

  example : Shrey will be writing a letter to his mom.

3. future perfect tense :

    meaning : The tense that expresses the proposed activity scheduled to be fully completed in future .  .  The future perfect tense is used to talk about action that will be completed by a certain                        future time .

   rule to apply : [ will /shall ] + have + third form of verb V3

   example : Shrey will have written a letter to his mom.


4. future perfect continuous tense :
    
    meaning: It is used for the actions which will be in progress over period of  time that will end in
    the future.

    rule to apply :[ will have/shall have ]+ been +[ verb +ing] - since/for/day /date /time accordingly

    example : Shrey will have been writing a letter to his mom .


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 Recapitulation 

 Let me do one for you - 

 let's take one example say -'' Ravi sings a lovely song''.

 Now ,let's convert the sentence in all forms of tenses mentioned above:

present :

simple : Ravi sings a lovely song.

continuous: Ravi is singing a lovely song .

perfect : Ravi has sung a lovely song .

perfect continuous : Ravi has been singing a lovely song. 

past :

simple : Ravi sang a lovely song.

continuous: Ravi was singing a lovely song.

perfect: Ravi had sung a lovely song.

perfect continuous : Ravi had been singing a lovely song.

future :
simple: Ravi will sing a lovely song .
continuous: Ravi will be singing a lovely song .
perfect: Ravi will have sung a lovely song.
perfect continuous : Ravi will have been singing a lovely song.

points to remember : 

•  when ever we talk about present we always use is /are /am /has /have as helping verb 
•  when ever we talk about past we always use was /were/had as helping verb 
•  when ever we talk about future we use will/shall as helping verb
•  if we are talking about continuous''ing ''will always be added to verb,whether we talk about present /past or future.
• sentences mentioned with time are always perfect or perfect continuous.as they depicts the time of action completed at particular time or going to be completed at particular time or will keep going till particular time.

so, here are some sentences you can practise like  mentioned above to understand the core concept :

  TENSES [ EXERCISE -1 ]  by bo$ki

1. Birds fly in the sky.
2. Rohan sell the books in the bookstore.
3. The boys play cricket in the stadium.
4. Rita writes a letter to her brother
5. He reads a novel of Harry potter.
6. She solves the sum of arithmetic.
7. Jack drives the car very fast.
8. The river flows under the bridge.
9. The musician composes a beautiful song for a film.
10. Sunita spins cotton very neatly.

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TENSES[ EXERCISE-2 ] by bo$ki  

DETERMINE THE VERBS IN THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES AND NAME THE FORMS OF TENSES:

1. Sun rises in the east.
2. They were laughing at the clown .
3. I have been living here for months.
4. I had finished my work when he came.
5. He is waiting for you in the canteen.
6. She has been watering the garden.
7. They have been playing since two hours
8. The ship sailed yesterday.
9. When I saw him,he was playing chess .
10. I had written a letter before he arrived.
11. The Earth moves around the sun.
12. I am going to Shimla tomorrow.
13. The postman will be coming soon.
14. I shall be twenty next Saturday.
15. Perhaps he will arrive before lunch.
16. I shall have returned this book before it starts raining.
17. Police will have been chasing him since next June.
18. I will tell you a story.
19. He had broken his leg.
20. They had failed in the examination.

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  TENSES[ EXERCISE -3]  by bo$ki

CHOOSE THE CORRECT ALTERNATIVE FROM THOSE GIVEN IN THE BRACKETS:

1. Sun ______ on its axis. [rotating /rotates]
2. I _____ twenty next Sunday .[shall be/shall have been]
3. It _____ darker.[ was getting /had gotten ]
4. He ______ ill since last ten days. [has been /will be ]
5. The boys _____ playing hockey.[is playing /are playing]
6. The light went out while I _____ .[ am reading /was reading]
7. The plane_____ at 2.30.[ will arrive /arrives]
8. I think India _____ the match .[wins /will win]
9. I_______  for five years next July.[ will have teached/will have been teaching]
10. He _____ his exercise.[ has done /had done] 

                
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 TENSES [ EXERCISE -4 ] by bo$ki

 Fill in the blanks with correct form of verb :

1. He has _____ the important point on the board .[mark]
2. Sachin _____ the car very fast .[drive]
3. I ____ to Meerut last night.[go]
4. When i entered the room ,she was _____ children at that time.[scold]
5. I had _____ his letter after a week.[ receive]
6. The boy ____ [jump] out of the train ,while it was ____ .[move]
7. I shall _____ some literature books.[buy]
8. When we ______  [ listen] to radio last night ,we ______ a loud noise. [hear]
9. You ________ all letters by 4'0 clock.[type]
10. She ______ a rich man .[marry]

   

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