English Grammar Tenses

Tenses
Look at the following table

PastPresentFuture
SimpleHe wrote
They wrote
He writes
They write
He will write
They will write
Continuous
He was writing
They were writing
He is writing
They are writing
He will be writing
They will be writing
PerfectHe had written
They had written
He has written
They have written
He will have written
They will have written
Perfect ContinuousHe had been writing
They had been writing
He has been writing
They have been writing
He will have been writing
They will have been writing

Thus we have 12 different forms of tenses in English. Each form has its own use. A student who is serious in learning English grammar need to learn how each of these tenses is formed and in what context it is used.
Before going to learn more about each tense forms, learners are requested draw a table like above and practise writing each tense forms as many times using different verbs so as to have a thorough idea about how each tenses are formed.
Actually all these 12 English tense forms are only a marriage between different auxiliary verbs and lexical verb forms i.e. infinitive, present participle and past participle. (Eg. to write, writing, written)

Following verbs can be used for practising

Base/Present
Past
Past participle
Draw
Drew
Drawn
Dream
Dreamed, dreamt
Dreamed, dreamt
Drink
Drank
Drunk
Drive
Drove
Driven
Eat
Ate
Eaten
Fall
Fell
Fallen
Feel
Felt
Felt
Give
Gave
Given
Keep
Kept
Kept
Make
Made
Made
Pay
Paid
Paid
Send
Sent
Sent
Stand
Stood
Stood
Swim
Swam
Swum
Take
Took
Taken
Teach
Taught
Taught
 Think  Thought    Thought
 WeepWept Wept
First one is done here.


PastPresentFuture
Simple
(To do + infinitive)
He drew
They drew
He draws
They draw
He will draw
They will draw
Continuous
(To be + ing)
He was drawing
They were drawing
He is drawing
They are drawing
He will be drawing
They will be drawing
Perfect
(To have + P.P.)
He had drawn
They had drawn
He has drawn
They have drawn
He will have drawn
They will have drawn
Perfect ContinuousHe had been drawing
They had been drawing
He has been drawing
They have been drawing
He will have been drawing
They will have been drawing

Note: All the verbs are written in italics. He and They are the subjects in this example.



Dream – dreamt - dreamt

Past
Present
Future
Simple
He dreamt
They dreamt
He dreams
They dream
He will dream
They will dream
Continuous
He was dreaming
They were dreaming
He is dreaming
They are dreaming

He will be dreaming
They will be dreaming

Perfect
He had dreamt
They had dreamt
He has dreamt
They have dreamt
He will have dreamt
They will have dreamt
Perfect Continuous
He had been dreaming

They had been dreaming

He has been dreaming

They have been dreaming

He will have been dreaming

They will have been dreaming


Drink – drank - drunk

Past
Present
Future
Simple
He drank
They drank
He drinks
They drink
He will drink
They will drink
Continuous
He was drinking
They were drinking
He is drinking
They are drinking

He will be drinking
They will be drinking

Perfect
He had drunk
They had drunk
He has drunk
They have drunk
He will have drunk
They will have drunk
Perfect Continuous
He had been drinking
They had been drinking
He has been drinking
They have been drinking
He will have been drinking
They will have been drinking

Drive – drove - driven

Past
Present
Future
Simple
He drove
They drove
He drives
They drive
He will drive
They will drive
Continuous
He was driving
They were driving
He is driving
They are driving

He will be driving
They will be driving

Perfect
He had driven
They had driven
He has driven
They have driven
He will have driven
They will have driven
Perfect Continuous
He had been driving
They had been driving
He has been driving
They have been driving
He will have been driving
They will have been driving

Eat – ate - eaten


Past
Present
Future
Simple
He ate
They ate
He eats
They eat
He will eat
They will eat
Continuous
He was eating
They were eating
He is eating
They are eating

He will be eating
They will be eating

Perfect
He had eaten
They had eaten
He has eaten
They have eaten
He will have eaten
They will have eaten
Perfect Continuous
He had been eating
They had been eating
He has been eating
They have been eating
He will have been eating
They will have been eating


Now let us look at each of these tense forms in detail one by one.
Present Tense Forms
Simple Present Tense
The simple present tense is either the Base form or the –s/es form of the verb.
Eat, eats; go goes; write, writes
With a plural subject,the Base form(plural) of the verb is used:
Cows eat grass.
With a singular subject the -s/es form(singular) of the verb is used:
A cow eats grass.
The simple present tense has several uses:
1. To denote a permanent truth:
The sun rises in the east.
The sun sets in the west.
2. To denote a habitual or repeated action:
He usually drinks tea.
She writes to her mother every week.
3. In imperative sentences:
Get out.
Help me, please.
4. In exclamatory sentences:
How little she knows!
How wonderful you are!
The following adverbs of Frequency are often found with the Simple Present Tense, especially when a habitual action is denoted.
Always,often,usually,never,generally,rarely,occasionally,seldom,daily,annually,every day(month, week),several times a week (month, year)
Eg.
He rarely goes to see films.
He comes to me once a week.
The Present Continuous
This tense is derived by using the Present Tense forms of be + Present Participle
[am/is/are + (verb) ing]
This tense form is used to indicate an action going on at the moment.
Eg. The child is sleeping now.
I am writing a letter.
Expressions of present time such as now, today, at present, at this moment go with this tense form.
Let us check your learning for the two tense forms we have already covered.
Use the correct tense of the verbs given in brackets, the Simple Present or Present Continuous:
Remember every question of this kind usually has a clue to the answer inside the question itself. In this case it is adverb of time (means at what time the action takes place) like often, now, every month etc. Each of these adverbs is linked to a particular tense form.Once you understood what tense form is to be used next step is to know how to write it.If the subject is singular verb should be singular and the subject is plural verb should be plural.Now go through it.
1. He often ……………..(write) with a pen. Now he ……………….(use) a pencil.
2. He………………(write) to me every month. Today I……………(write) to him.
3. She ……………..(know) three languages; now she……………. (learn) a fourth.
4. He……….(go) to the library every day, but today he…………(not go) because it………..(rain).
5. Now the snow……………..(fall).Every year it ………………(fall) during the season.
6. She ……………(cook) well; now she ……………….(cook) a new dish.
7. As a rule, he ………………(wear) trousers. But today he ……………(wear) a dhoti.
8. He usually………………(sing) Malayalam songs, but today he………………(sing) Hindi songs.

(Answers)
1. writes, is using.
2. writes, am writing
3. knows, is learning
4. goes, is not going, is raining
5. is falling, falls
6. cooks, is cooking
7. wears, is wearing
8. sings, is singing
Note : If your correct answers are less than six please don't go forward.Relearn everything from the beginning.
Daily reading of at least one English News Paper will surely pay you
rich dividend in future.




Previous

Web Analytics