TENSES AND THEIR USAGES

1. English Grammar
Tenses and their Usages
P.SARAVANAKUMAR
Assistant Professor of English
Vivekananda College
Thiruvedakam West

2. Content
1. Introduction
2. General Objectives & Specific Objectives
3. Tenses
4. Parts of Speech
5. Verbs
6. Simple Present Tense
7. List of Rules
8. Simple Past Tense
9. List of Rules
10. Simple Future Tense
11. List of Rules

3. Introduction
The word TENSE is derived from Latin word
“tempus” which means time. A verb indicates
the time of an action, event or condition by
changing its form.
The concept of tense in English is a method that
we use to refer to time - past, present and
future. Many languages use tense to talk about
time. Other languages have no concept of
tense at all, but of course they can still talk
about time, using different methods.

4. General Objectives
To develop our knowledge and an
understanding of Grammar.
To develop our abilities and to make
use of the Grammar in own writing.
To develop understanding about rules
of Grammar and their uses in writing.

5. Specific Objectives
a. Tenses help us to use the language
effectively.
b. To develop students insight into the
structure of English language.
c. To enable the students to understand the
correct patterns of the language.

6. Tenses
Tenses
Present
Simple Present
Present Continuous
Present Perfect
Present Perfect Cont.
Past
Simple Past
Past Continuous
Past Perfect
Past Perfect Cont.
Future
Simple Future
Future Continuous
Future Perfect
Future Perfect Cont.

7. Parts of Speech

8. verbs
A verb occupies a very important position in a sentence.
Examples:
Boys run.
Our boys are playing.
Verbs are divided into the following clauses.
Auxiliary verb
Transitive verb
Intransitive verb
Strong verb
Weak Verb

9. List of Rules of the
Tenses:

10. Tenses and their Examples :

11. Present tense
 The simple present is used to describe an action , an event, or
condition that is occurring in the present, at the moment of speaking
or writing.
 It is used in the following contexts.
 To express habitual actions
 To express general truth
 To refer to future actions
 To refer to the present period
 To give instructions
 In commentaries
 to introduce quotations
 In Imperative Sentences.
 In Probable Conditional Sentences
 The newspaper headlines describe past events.
 Note: When the subject is third person singular we add ‘s’ or ‘es’ to the
main verb for simple present tense.
 Play, buy, enjoy/ fly, cry, study/ work, make, run
 Go, pass, teach, push

12. Spelling
a. If the verb ends in o,(s)s.ch or sh, we add –es to get the –s form.
Go, goes pass, passes fix, fixes teach, teaches push, pushes Buzz,
buzzes.
b. If the verb ends in ‘vowel’ + y,’ we add –s.
Play, plays buy, buys enjoy, enjoys
c. If the verb ends in ‘Consonant +y we change the y into I and add-
es.
Fly, flies cry, cries study, studies
occupy, occupies
d. If the verb ends in any other letter, we add –s.
Work works make, makes beg, begs run, runs.

13. The following words and phrases are usually used with the simple present.
 She always wears smart clothes
 She rarely phones me
 They seldom play games
 She visits her aunt every week.
Always nearly always occasionally sometimes
often usually generally rarely
seldom never hardly everyday
everyday every week every month every year.

14. Present Continuous Tense
 This tense is used to describe an action
that is occurring right now. The action
has begun earlier and is still in progress.
is / am / are verb+ing
Examples:
 I am studying English now
 They are playing cricket
Sing, write, sit.

15. Present Continuous Tense
a. Present Continuous Tense is used for an action going on at the time of speaking: as,
She is singing now.
The boys are playing hockey.
b. For a temporary action which may not be happening at the time of speaking: as,
I am reading ‘Rivals’ (but I am not reading at this moment)
c. For an action that is planned or arranged to take place shortly; as
I am going to the cinema tonight.
My uncle is arriving tomorrow.
d. The following verbs, on account of their meaning, are not normally used in the continuous form;
1. Verbs of perception, see, hear, smell, notice, recognize
2. Verbs of appearing, appear, look, seem
3. Verbs of emotion, want, wish, desire, feel, like, love, hate, hope refuse. Prefer.
4. Verbs of thinking, think, suppose, belief, agree, consider, trust, remember, forget, know, understand,
imagine. Mean, mind.
5. have, own, possess, belong to., contain, consist of.
e. These verbs are used in the simple present. They may, however, be used in the continuous tenses
with a change of meaning; as
I am thinking of (considering the idea of ) going to America.
Kumar is minding (looking after) the baby while his wife is shopping.

16. Wrong -- Right
 These grapes are tasting sour -- These grapes taste sour.
 I am thinking you are wrong -- I think you are wrong.
 She is seeming sad -- She seems sad.
 He is having a cellular phone -- He has a cellular phone.
 However, the verbs listed above can be used in the
continuous tenses with a change of meaning:
 She is tasting the soup to see if it needs more salt.
 (taste= lest the flavor of )
 I am thinking of going to Malaysia.
 (think of = consider the idea of)
 They are having lunch, (have = eat)

17. spelling
a. If a verb ends in a letter e, we drop the e and add- ing.
Hope – hoping move – moving write – writing tape – taping
b. If a verb ends in –ue, we omit –e and add –ing.
Issue – issuing argue – arguing
c. If a verb ends in –i, -ee, -oe, -w, -x, or –y, we just add – ing.
See – seeing flee – fleeing toe – toeing play – playing study - studying
d. If a one-syllable verb ends in a vowel and a consonant, we double the consonant and add – ing.
Plan –planning run – running stop – stopping drop - dropping beg –
begging
e. If a verb ends in two vowel letters and is consonant, we just add – ing.
Droop – drooping stoop – stooping rain – raining wear – wearing
f. If a two-syllable verb has stress on the first syllable, we just add – ing.
Edit – editing open – opening listen – listening offer – offering
market – marketing
g. If a two-syllable verb has stressed on the second syllable, we double the consonant and add – ing.
Forget – forgetting begin – beginning prefer – preferring control – controlling
Refer – referring.
Key words
now at
present
at
present

18. Present Perfect Tense
The present perfect tense is used to
describe action that began in the past and
continues into the present or has just been
completed.
have + past participle / has + past participle
Examples:
I have just now played.
He / She has played recently .

19. Present Perfect (has/have+PP)
1. To denote an action that has just been completed.
Examples
(1)Ram has just posted the letter.
We have just arrived.
He has not yet completed his work.
2. To express past actions whose time is not given and not definite; as,
Have you read "Gulliver's Travels'?
I have never known him to be angry.
Mr. Hari has been to Japan.
(3) To describe past events when we think more of their effect in the present than of the
the action itself; as,
Gopi has eaten all the biscuits (i.e., there aren't any left for you).
I have cut my finger (and it is bleeding now).
I have finished my work (= now I am free).
(4) To denote an action beginning at some time in the continuing up to the present
moment (often with since- and/or-phrases); as,
I Have known him for a long time.
He has been ill since last week.
We have lived here for ten years.
We haven't seen Padina for several months

20. Present Perfect Cont.Tense
The present perfect continuous is used to
describe an action, event, or condition that has
begun in the past and continues into the
present.
have been verb +ing / has been verb+ing
For Example—
 I have been studying English for 2 years.
 I have been studying English since 1997.

21. Past Tense
The simple past is used to describe
an action, or an event, that occurred in
the past.
Keywords: yesterday, last month, last
week year ,ago.
took / ate
For Example—
I played.
He / She played.

22. Past Continuous Tense
The past continuous tense
is used to described actions
ongoing in the past.
was / were verb+ing
Keywords : when , while.
For Example—
I was playing.
He / She was playing.
You were playing.

23. Past Perfect Tense
The past perfect tense is used to refer to
actions that took place and were
completed in the past.
had + past participle
Keywords: after, before.
For Example—
I had played.
He / She had played.

24. Past Perfect Cont.Tense
The past perfect continuous is used to indicate that
a continuing action in the past began before another
past action began or interrupted the first action.
had been verb+ing
For Example—
I had been playing.
He / She had been playing.

25. Future Tense
The simple future is used to show future action.
We use “Shall” with first person and “Will” with second and third
person nouns and pronouns.
 Simple Future (Certain)
Key words : tomorrow, next week, tonight, very soon, in the future.
will take / shall talk / will see / shall see
 For Example—
 I am going to study English next Saturday.
Note: Have already decided or arranged to do something

26. Future Continuous Tense
The future continuous tense is used to describe actions on-
going in the future. The future progressive is used to refer
to continuing action that will occur in the future.
Keywords: at this time tomorrow, by 3 O'clock tomorrow,
during
will be verb+ing / shall be verb+ing
For Example—
I shall be playing.
He / She will be playing.

27. Future Perfect Tense
The future perfect is used to refer to an
action that will be completed sometime in
the future before another action takes
place.
will have + past participle / shall have +
past participle
For Example—
I shall have played.

28. Future Perfect Continuous Tense
The future perfect continuous
tense is used to indicate a continuing
action that will be completed at some
specified time in the future.
For Example—
I shall have been playing.
He / She will have been playing.