Tenses

 

1     Uses of Simple Present Tense

The Simple Form of the Present can be used to denote the following.

(a) What is always and necessarily true…

1. The sun shines by day and the moon by night.
2. Things equal to the same thing are equal to one another.
3. The Sun rises in the East.
4. The capital of India is New Delhi.
5. If it is 5 o’clock, they visit their factory.

(b) What is permanent or habitual in life or character….

1. He keeps his promises.
2. He has good health.
3. He goes by this road.
4. They come after 4 pm only.
5. She reads the company documents only in the night.

(c) What is present, provided that present time is implied by the context…

1. I understand what you say.
2. The door is open. It is not shut.
3. They seek your help.
4. My father repays our home-loans.
5. Your sister keeps your rooms clean and neat.

What is future, provided that future time is implied by the context….

1. He comes (=will come) in a few days' time.
2. When do you (=will you) start for Chennai?
3. When does he pay his tuition fees?
4. What do your parents do for earnings?
5. How does your brother do these days?

What is past, provided that the event expressed by the verb is known to be past. (This is called the Historic or Graphic present.)

1. Babar now leads (=then led) his men through the Khyber pass and enters (=entered) the plains of India.
2. The King of England punishes the people for their unlawful acts.

3. Chola Kings wins the war with his arch rival Cheran King.

The simple form of the present tense is also used for stage directions in plays.

1. Anne crosses the room and locks the door.
2. King Lear now walks into the stage and keeps on shouting at his workers.

2     Uses of Present Continuous Tense

The Present Continuous is used to express an action going on at the time of speaking.

1. He is playing football.
2. They are saving money for their daughter’s marriage.
3. It is flying towards Chicago.
4. Our sisters are studying in this school.
5. Your brother is playing in the nearby ground.

It also sometimes expresses habit or custom.

1. She is attending college very regularly these days.

3     Uses of Present perfect Tense

The peculiar purport of this Present Perfect Tense is that it invariably connects a completed event in some sense or other with the present time. Perfect Tense is used to talk or write about an event whose consequences are still relevant.

1. I have lived twenty years in Lucknow.

That sentence means that I am living there still and I began to live there twenty years ago.

1. I have passed my examination. I passed it two years ago.
2. I have been to Paris. I went there in 1939.
3. They have sent in their application. We got it yesterday.
4. He has come to meet you in person.
5. My parents have bought a computer for me.

The Present Perfect denotes an action completed at the time of speaking.

1. She has worked out all the sums.
2. He has visited all the European capitals.
3. I have read most of Scott's novels.
4. You have informed your parents well in advance.
5. My friend has bought this book for him.

Such a sentence as the following is wrong.

Babar has founded the Mughal Empire.

This is wrong, because the state of things arising out of the foundation of the empire by Babar has entirely passed away.

The Present Perfect, since it denotes present time, cannot be qualified by any Adverb or phrase denoting past time. This would be a contradiction in terms.

1. The rain has ceased yesterday. (Incorrect)
2. The rain ceased yesterday. (Correct)

3. I have finished my letter last evening. (Incorrect)
4. I finished my letter last evening. (Correct)

5. The parrot has died of cold last night. (Incorrect)
6. The parrot died of cold last night. (Correct)

7. The application has reached few years back. (Incorrect)
8. The application reached few years back. (Correct)

But such sentences as the following are correct. Because the Adverb or phrase used in each of them is of such a kind as to connect past time with the present. Hence no contradiction occurs.

The institution has been flourishing for the past 150 years.

That is…it began to flourish 150 years ago and is still flourishing.

Fever has raged in the town since Monday last.

That is…fever began to rage on Monday last and is raging still.

This Present Perfect Tense is most often used in literature reviews in which the focus is on examinations of works done in the past that is relevant to the present.

4     Uses of Simple Past Tense

The Simple Past is used to denote an action finished in the past.

1. My father died yesterday.
2. She left home at 8.30.
3. Babar founded the Mughal Empire in India.
4. I lived twenty years in Lucknow.
5. We bought this house twenty years back.

It also denotes a habitual action in the past.

1. They studied and planned for years.
2. We went to Chennai in search of jobs.
3. They came to New York to take care of their parents.
4. He used to walk through the forest before night-sleep.
5. She called me for help.

This tense is used to denote the series of completed actions finished in the past.

1. Before we went there, he had come.
2. First I ate the lunch. Then only my sister came.
3. He was our boss before this man became our senior.

This tense is used to mention about the event which took place when another even was going on.

1. He came when we were playing.

2. My sister called us for lunch when we were sitting in the hall.

3. The teacher asked us to submit the assignments when he was dictating.

5     Uses of Past continuous Tense

 

The Past Continuous expresses an action begun and continuing in past time.

1. He came into my room while I was writing.
2. I saw her as I was passing yesterday.
3. They were waiting for their bus.
4. My parents were coming by bus.
5. His brother was walking along the bank of the river when we saw him.

Uses of Past Perfect Tense :

The Past Perfect Tense is also called the Pluperfect Tense.

This is used whenever we wish to say that some action had been completed before another was commenced.

The Verb expressing the previous action is put into the Past Perfect or Pluperfect Tense. The Verb expressing the subsequent action is put into the Past Simple.

1. He had been ill two days when the doctor was sent for.

2. He had seen many foreign cities before he returned home.

3. The boat was sunk by a storm which had suddenly sprung up.

4. The sheep fled in great haste for a wolf had entered the fold.

The Past Perfect ought never to be used at all except to show the priority of one past event to another.

6     Uses of Simple Future Tense

The Simple Future Tense expresses simply future time, near or remote.

1. He will come tomorrow.
2. Examinations will be held next month.
3. Your school will reopen next month.
4. They will question your stance.
5. He will go by father’s words.
6. The dog will not come with you in its master presence.

To predict a future event or happeneings…

1. My father will pay my fees tomorrow.
2. His college will take pat in this competition.
3. We will type this letter today.

To express our willingness….

1. I will score more marks in this exam.
2. You will get what I give you.
3. She will marry my brother.

7     Uses of Future Continuous Tense

The Future Continuous Tense represents an action going on at some point in future time.

1. We shall be playing football tomorrow afternoon.

2. He will be sleeping by this time tomorrow.

3. My brothers will be singing this song next week this time.


The future continuous is used to project ourselves or the subject of the verb into the future.

1. Tomorrow this time, we will be traveling by car towards Chennai.

2. Next year this time, I will be studying in University of New York.

3. By next month, we will be working in our new jobs.


This tense is used for predicting or guessing about future events.

1. My sister will be coming to the meeting, I expect.

2. You will be feeling thirsty after working in the sun.

3. I will be missing the sunshine once I am back in England.

8     Uses of Future Perfect Tense

Future Perfect Tense is used in two different senses.

(a) To denote the completion of some event in future time

(b) To denote the completion of some event in past time

(a) He will have reached home before the rain sets in. (The reaching of home will be completed before the setting in of rain begins.)

(b) You will have heard (must have heard in some past time) the news already, so I need not repeat it.

It seems like a contradiction to make a Future Tense have reference to anything past. But the Future Tense here implies an inference. YOU WILL HAVE HEARD means I infer or believe that you have heard.

1. By this time next week we will have been married for 40 years.

2. If everything goes well, by June 2019, he will have finished his university degree.