Before we begin, here’s a list of the 12 verb tenses in English: Present Simple Present Continuous/Progressive Present Perfect Present Perfect Continuous/Progressive Past Simple Past Continuous/Progressive Past Perfect Past Perfect Continuous/Progressive Future Simple Future Perfect Future Continuous/Progressive Future Perfect Continuous/Progressive

1. Mahatma Gandhi Arts, Science & Late N. P. Commerce College,
Armori, Dist. Gadchiroli
Class :- B. Sc. – I (Sem. – I)
Subject :- Compulsory English
Topic :- Tense
- Prepared By -
Asst. Prof. Anil P. Raut

2.  TENSE :-
 Verb is considered to be the most important part of speech, in all languages.
 It indicates the time and action as well.
 Verb is the deciding factor of Tense in a sentence.
 Let us examine the sentence given below :
1) I eat a mango.
2) I ate a mango.
3) I shall eat a mango.
 The verb provides two important elements to the sentence.
1) Time
2) Action (Meaning)

3.  There are three times in all languages.
Present Time
Time Past Time
Future Time
 There are five forms of a verb which include three Times.
1) Present Eat V1 Form.
2) Past Ate V2 Form.
3) Past Participle Eaten V3 Form.
4) Present Participle Eating [V1 + ing] Form.
5) Infinitive To eat [To V1] Form.
 Tense is a form of a verb which shows both the Time and Action.

4.  Each tense has four sub kinds as following.
1) Simple / Indefinite Tense
2) Continuous / Progressive / Imperfect Tense
3) Perfect Tense
4) Perfect Continuous Tense
 Thus there are 12 Type of tenses :-
1) Simple Present Tense
2) Present Continuous Tense
3) Present Perfect Tense
4) Present Perfect Continuous Tense
5) Simple Past Tense
6) Past Continuous Tense
7) Past Perfect Tense
8) Past Perfect Continuous Tense
9) Simple Future Tense
10) Future Continuous Tense
11) Future Perfect Tense
12) Future Perfect Continuous Tense

5.  Now let us study these tenses in details :
(1) Simple Present Tense :-
(The verbal form: Vi)
 Simple Present Tense is used in the following cases:
(a) To show the habitual actions.
Examples :-
She wears sarees.
(ii) He drinks coffee every morning.
(iii) I go to school everyday at 10.30 a.m.
(b) To express Universal Truth:
Examples :-
(i) The sun rises in the east and sets in the west.
(ii) Honesty is the best policy,
(iii) Barking dogs seldom bite.
(c) To express fixed actions in future :
Examples :-
(i) The next train is at 5.00 tomorrow morning.
(ii) The movie starts at 10.30 in the afternoon.

6. (d) In exclamatory sentences beginning with here and there, we use simple present
tense to show what is actually taking place in the present :
Examples :-
(i) Here comes Mr. Amol Wasekar!
(ii) There he goes!
(e) To express Quotations :
Examples :-
Shakespeare says, "Brevity is soul of wit".
(f) To express an action going on at present time :
Examples :-
(i) See how the children dance.
(ii) I see her coming.
(g) To express a capability or a Quality :
Examples :-
(i) She is good in Mathematics.
(ii) Mercury is heavier than Iron.
(h) In live commentaries :
Example :-
(i) Yuvraj hits a six.

7. (2) Present Continuous Tense :-
The verbal form: is / am / are + (V + ing)
Present continuous tense is used to express following :
(a) An action which is in progress at the time of speaking :-
Examples :-
(i) Kumar is reading the newspaper.
(ii) I am teaching English grammar.
(b) An action which is fixed in future :-
Examples :-
(i) He is returning on Monday.
(ii) The exams are going to be conducted next month.
(c) We use present continuous tense with adverbs like always, continually,
constantly ete:
Examples :-
(i) The ladies are talking continually in the party.
(ii) The children are shouting constantly in the class.

8. (3) Present Perfect Tense :-
The verbal form : have / has + V3
(a) Present perfect tense is used to express just completed actions :-
Examples :-
(i) I have completed my work.
(ii) Rohit has just left the house.
(b) It is used to express past actions without mentioning the past time or where the time
was not definite :-
Examples :-
(i) My friends have seen all the movies of Harry Potter.
(ii) Abhishek has completed his project work.
(c) It is used to express some actions beginning in the past and continuing :-
Examples :-
(i) Shivam has been ill since last week.
(ii) Ambuj and his friends haven't seen the principal for several months.
Note :- Present Perfect Tense is not used with adverbs of past time like yesterday, day before yesterday etc.
Examples :-
(i) I have seen him yesterday. (Wrong expression)
(ii) I saw him yesterday. (Correct expression)
This is because we should use only simple past tense with adverbs of past time.

9. (4) Present Perfect Continuous Tense :-
The verbal form : have / has + been + (V1ing)
 Present perfect continuous tense is used in the following cases :-
a) To express an action beginning in the past, at present it is in progress
and in future it would continue for a while :-
Example :-
(i) Vijay Shaha has been designing a software since 9.00 a.m.
9.00 am Still in progress
X
X
Present Time Future
of Speaking
At 9.00 am the work started, at the time of speaking Vijay Shaha is still working
and we don't know when he completes his work, which means the action is
incomplete.
(ii) Radha has been studying the book since 8.00 a.m.
(iii) The students have been preparing for the examinations for two weeks.
X
X

10. A note on the correct use of for and since :-
 For is used for period of time :-
Examples :-
(i) For six days
(ii) For a long time.
 Since is used to indicate point of time :-
Examples :-
(i) Since 6.00 p.m.
(ii) Since 12.00 noon.
Since is always used with a perfect tense.

11. (5) Simple Past Tense :-
The verbal form : V2 form
 The simple past tense is used in the following cases :-
(a) To express the actions that happened in the past. Generally adverbs like
yesterday, ago, last year etc. are used with the simple past :-
Examples :-
(i) I finished my work last night.
(ii) She completed her B. E. last year.
(iii) My friend received his document yesterday.
(b) It is used to express a habitual action in the past :-
Examples :-
(i) Aparna studied many hours everyday when she was a student.
(ii) Anish always carried an umbrella with him.
(iii) Nitya used to dance when she was studying class - I.
(c) It is used in conditional clauses (Past time) :-
Examples :-
(i) I stayed at home until my friend came.
(ii) You would have enough money if you sold the house.
(iii) I could not leave the college before the principal arrived.

12. (6) Past Continuous Tense :-
The verbal form : Was / Were + (V1 + ing)
 Past continuous tense is used in the following cases :-
(a) To express a continuous action in the past :-
Examples :-
(i) They were listening to the music all evening.
(ii) When I was crossing the road, I saw a snake.
(iii) The students were attending the personal interview.
(b) To express an action in progress when another action took place :-
Examples :-
(i) When I was watching the T.V., somebody rang the calling bell.
(ii) It was raining when I was saw him.
(iii) While Vaishali was sleeping in the room, her daughter shouted loudly.

13. (c) To express some definite actions in the past :-
Examples :-
(i) Dr. Santosh was motivating the members of his organization in the yesterday's
meeting.
(ii) Narendra Modi was inspiring the people of Wardha with his speech yesterday.
(d) To express a gradual development of action in the past :-
Examples :-
(i) It was getting darker.
(ii) The solution was turning into semiliquid form.
(iii) The winds were blowing very fast.
(e) To express a continuous action in the past which started before a point of
time and may be continued after it :-
Examples :-
(i) At 1.30 am, I was still studying Physics.
(ii) Kumar was having his lunch at 2.00 pm.
(iii) Rekha was working on the project even on Sunday.

14. (7) Past Perfect Tense :-
The verbal Form : Had + V3 form
 Past Perfect Tense is used in the following cases :-
(a) To show that one action in the past took place before another action began :-
Examples :-
(i) When I reached station, the train had already left the platform.
(ii) When I entered the class, the teacher had already started the lesson.
(iii) The workers went home when they had finished their work.
(b) To express a past unfulfilled wish or desire, we use past perfect tense, with
if only, wish, would, sooner etc :-
Examples :-
(i) I wish I had passed the examination (but I didn't pass).
(ii) Shivam could have solved the problem, if he had been asked.

15. (8) Past Perfect Continuous Tense :-
The verbal form : Had + been + (V1 + ing)
 The Past perfect continuous tense is used in the following cases :-
(a) To express an action that began in the past and continued through a period
of time, until some given past time or past action :-
Examples :-
(i) Sai Kumar had been working on this project for two days.
(ii) When I saw him, he had been waiting for his friend,
(iii) Mr. Zeeshan had already been teaching in that college for 3 years.

16. (9) Simple Future Tense :-
The verbal form : Will / Shall + V1 form
 Simple future tense is used in the following cases :-
(a) To express action that would take place in future, which we cannot control :-
Examples :-
(i) We shall invite Mr. Modi to our college tomorrow morning.
(ii) We shall have our university examinations after the elections.
(iii) Rama will be 25 next month.
(b) To express predictions, doubts or conditions :-
Examples :-
(i) Where shall I be next month, I wonder!
(ii) Perhaps my brother will come tomorrow.
(iii) If I meet him, I will give this letter to him.
(c) To express formal announcements of future :-
Examples :-
(i) The minister will attend the inaugural function of the new school tomorrow.
(ii) The Chief Minister of Maharashtra will meet the opposition members soon.

17. Note :- Future time can be expressed with the help of some other verbs.
(1) We can use the going to form for future expressions which are already
decided or certain to happen :-
The verbal form : is / am / are + going + to +V1 form
Examples :-
(i) I am going to become a teacher.
(ii) The students are going to invite the Principal for the party.
(iii) Asif Khan is going to be awarded as the best student of the year.
(iv) It is going to rain today.
(v) Sachin Tendulkar is going to take the retirement.
(2) About to can also be used for immediate future :-
The Verbal form : is / am / are + about + to + V1 form
Examples :-
(i) They are about to leave the country.
(ii) My mother is about to serve lunch.
(iii) I am about to finish this work.

18. (10) Future Continuous Tense :-
The verbal form : Will / Shall + be + (V1 + ing)
 Future continuous tense is used to express a continuous action in future time.
Examples :-
(i) I will be writing to Mr. Prashant my plans.
(ii) It will be raining when we leave home.
(iii) She will be staying here still Monday.
(iv) You shall be meeting the members of the Board next week.
(11) Future Perfect Tenses :-
The verbal form : Will / Shall + have + V3 form
 Future Perfect Tense is used to express the actions, which would be
completed before a certain time in future.
Examples :-
(i) I shall have completed my Ph.D. by the end of 2025.
(ii) Vahid will have read this book by the next week.
(iii) Gopal will have left before we reach home.

19. (12) Future Perfect Continuous Tense :-
The verbal form : Will / Shall + have + been + (V1 + ing)
 The future perfect continuous tense is used to express those actions that
continue through a given period of time in future.
Examples :
(i) At tomorrow morning, I shall have been sleeping as tomorrow is a holiday.
(ii) By the end of May 2021, Anirudh and his friends will have been presenting
their project work in the United States of America.