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Tenses at a glance (Rapid Revision Course)

Prepared by Sumedha Manabarana

Hello and welcome to English TensesThe word ‘tense’ comes from the Latin word ‘tempus’ meaning ‘time’.

Latin, fixed in the second or the first century, was the language of ancient Rome. It was also the official language of the Roman Empire. Some other languages developed from Latin are Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and French.

Now, read the following sentences.

The verb go in the first sentence refers to present time.

The verb went in second sentence refers to past time.

The verb shall go in the third sentence refers to future time.

i. We go to Canberra every year.

ii. We went to Canberra during the last December vacation.

iii. We shall go to Canberra next year, too.

In this way, a verb may refer to

present time,

past time, or

future time

Thus, the present, the past and the future are the three main tenses in English. (Modern English does not consider future as a tense.)

Now read the following sentences:

I eat. (The verb shows that the action is simply mentioned.)

I am eating. (The verb shows that the action is still going on.)

I have eaten. (The verb shows that the action is finished at the time of speaking)

I have been eating. (The verb shows that the action is going on continuously, and not completed at this present time.)

Thus we see that the Tense of a verb shows not only the time of an action or event, but also the state of an action referred to.

PRESENT TENSE PAST TENSE FUTURE

PRESENT SIMPLEPAST SIMPLEFUTURE SIMPLEPRESENT CONTINUOUSPAST CONTINUOUSFUTURE CONTINUOUSPRESENT PERFECTPAST PERFECTFUTURE PERFECTPRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUSPAST PERFECT CONTINUOUSFUTURE PERFECT CONTINUOUS

PRESENT TENSE PAST TENSE FUTURE

PRESENT SIMPLEPAST SIMPLEFUTURE SIMPLEPRESENT CONTINUOUSPAST CONTINUOUSFUTURE CONTINUOUSPRESENT PERFECTPAST PERFECTFUTURE PERFECTPRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUSPAST PERFECT CONTINUOUSFUTURE PERFECT CONTINUOUS

For I, We, You, They or any plural

ASPECT

SIMPLE

CONTINUOUS PERFECT PERFECT CONTINOUS

TENSE

PRESENTPASTFUTURE

I eat rice.I ate rice.I will eat rice.I am eating rice.I was eating rice.I will be eating rice. I have eaten rice.I had eaten rice.I will have eaten rice. I have been eating rice. I had been eating rice.I will have been eating rice.

I am / was I, We shall. Will is also possible.We, You, They and any plural are / were

The ENGLSIH Tense ACTIVE VOICE

PASSIVE VOICE (The tenses in red colour means that they do not have passive.)

(NB: For the Present tenses He, She, It or any singular: He eats/He is eating/He has eaten / He has been eating.)

PRESENT PAST FUTURE

……………………………………… ……………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………… ………………………………………

PRESENT PAST FUTURE

……………………………………… ……………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………… ………………………………………

PRESENT PAST FUTURE

……………………………………… ……………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………… ………………………………………

ACTIVITY

Now, fill the table correctly. (You may do this in your note book.)

I learn English.

We play cricket.

You repair it.

PRESENT PAST FUTURE

……………………………………… ……………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………… ………………………………………

PRESENT PAST FUTURE

……………………………………… ……………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………… ………………………………………

PRESENT PAST FUTURE

……………………………………… ……………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………… ………………………………………

They do homework.

I have a dream.

They have problems.