Ordinarily, many English language learners are tense about grammatical tense. Firstly those who have studied or are studying in English Medium schools have a fear of grammar. Secondly, people learning English for competitive exams as aspirants for Government jobs are also facing the same situation. As a matter of fact, in this piece, you will get detailed knowledge about ‘What are Tenses: Meanings, Examples & Exercises’ .
Usually, if you asked 100 English-speaking persons in a gathering about’ tense’, you may get the correct intelligent answer from one of them if you are lucky. Inexplicably The rest of the 99 persons would stare at you as a person from Mars, asking terms such as Simple Present Tense, Present Continuous Tense or Past Continuous tense. Undoubtedly these people would probably no nothing about mood, aspect or voice, although they may be very fluent English speakers, communicating effectively.
To illustrate the word ‘tense ‘ is used in the English language to signify a characteristic of the verb in a sentence structure. Particularly the tense of a verb is used to portray the particular time in which an event or a specific activity is taking place. Undeniably the phrasal verb ‘tense’ is also used for grammatical aspects, which conveys in the first place how long an action occurs., whether sometime in the past, in the present or will take place sometime in the future
The Collins dictionary especially refers to tense where you are referring to the past, present or future time. In the same manner, the Cambridge Dictionary, the Oxford Dictionary and the Merriam-Webster Dictionary moreover also define tense in a similar way, the subject matter is the same although worded in separate ways.
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What are the different types of verb tenses? In the first place as per the English dictionaries, the three main verb ‘tenses’ are the past, present and future. In particular along with four grammatical facets viz. Simple, Continuous, Perfect and Perfect Continuous. Combinations of the 3 time periods along with 4 facets give us 12 unique verb tenses.
Simple Present Tense Continuous Tense Perfect Tense Perfect Continuous Tense Simple Past Tense Continuous Tense Perfect Tense Perfect Continuous Tense Simple Future Tense Continuous Tense Perfect Tense Perfect Continuous Tense. Generally, the Simple tenses will show actions which happen at different times. As a rule, the Perfect tenses will show completed actions that will relate to different time periods. However, going forward the Continuous tenses are for ongoing actions that may take some time to complete. Lastly, the Perfect Continuous Tense is a combination of the Perfect and the Continuous tenses to manifest ongoing actions that may happen over a period of time.
‘Tense’ is regarded on the other hand to be the foundation and the most basic element of English Grammar. To illustrate without tense, moreover, every sentence will seem to be ridiculous without regard to any time frame. All the more tense helps everybody to express actions which take place in separate instances. So then tenses always give articulateness to the context and the message you are trying to convey. In the same manner, Tense allows you to build complex sentence structures. Put another way, If you are decisive to convey information clearly and rapidly, for this reason, you must be well conversant about the usage of different tenses.
Simple Present Tense To clarify the Simple Present tense is the most fundamental basis of English grammar. Wherefore it is well used for individual actions or recurrent actions in the present. In other words, the simple present is just the basic form of the word with no changes or add-ons.
Basic Grammar Rule Subject+ Verb(1)+ s/es+ Object(singular).
Subject+ Verb+Object(plural).
Examples : The Sun sets in the West. Sita goes to college. Today I feel like a crorepati. Present Continuous Tense Undeniably the present continuous is utilised to talk about the ongoing actions happening or conditions that are still not completed.
Basic Grammar Rule:- Subject + helping verb(is /am/are) + main verb(ing)+ object.
Examples :
1. He is playing cricket
2. She is running
3. I am drinking water
Present Perfect Tense In this case, the present perfect tense is applied to report a situation or an occasion which has already taken place but has an instant outcome. Notwithstanding this is why the present perfect tense can be utilised to describe experiences and situations.,that occurred before, but have an influence on the present.
Basic Grammar Rule:- Subject + helping verb(have/has)+ verb(ed)+ object
Examples:- 1. He has not finished eating yet.
2. I have seen that show once.
3. We have visited Kashmir several times.
Present Perfect Continuous tense Moreover the Present Perfect continuous tense manifests a situation which has begun in the past and still carries on in the present
Basic Grammar Rule:- Subject + helping verb(have/has) + been +verb(ing) +object (optional )+ since/for + time period + Object
Examples:- I have been learning Bangla for many years. He has been working here since 2000. He has been spending money. Simple Past Tense The Past tense is utilised to convey a past activity or action. It is a form of a verb that details the incidents that have already occurred.
Basic Grammar Rule:- Subject + Verb + Object
Simple Past Tense Examples:- 1. Shikha went to college.
2. Rohit ate snacks.
3. He flew to Delhi yesterday.
Past Continuous Tense The Past Continuous tense is used to describe incidents or happenings which already happened in the past.
Basic Grammar Rule:- Subject + helping verb(was/were) + verb(ing) + object
Examples:- She was watching TV. They were sleeping. He was eating his dinner. Past Perfect Tense It is used to narrate an event that occurred before an event occurred before a completed action in the past.
Basic Grammar Rule:- Subject +had+ verb(ed) + object
Examples:- 2. They had not been divorced long when they lived separately.
3. She had brushed her teeth.
Past Perfect Continuous Tense The Past Perfect Continuous tense describes any event or action that began in the past and occasionally continued into another action or another time.
Basic Grammar Rule:- Subject +had been + Verb(ing) + object(optional) + time of action
Examples:- 1. She had been standing in the rain the whole evening.
2. I had been eating vegan food for the whole winter.
3. She had been playing all day.
Simple Future Tense To clarify the Simple Future Tense is used to narrate an action that will be finished between now and a definite period in the future.
Basic Grammar Rule:- Subject+ shall/will + have+verb (3rd ) + object
Simple Future Tense Examples:- 1. He shall go to the office tomorrow.
2. He will have painted the house by 7 pm.
3. My wife will bathe her.
Future Continuous Tense In this case, it is used to narrate an ongoing action that will occur in the future.
Basic Grammar Rule:- Subject + shall be /will be+verb(ing)+ object
Examples:- She will be writing a letter to Anushri. He will be going to the cinema. He will be watching a game. Future Perfect Tense It shows an action that will be completed usually in the future by a specified time. On the other hand, since it depends on another time, the future perfect tense is often times with words such as at, by, or, before.
Basic Grammar Rule:- Subject +will have/shall have+verbs+object
Examples:- By the time you eat this, I will have left by then. I shall have started playing by that time. 3 She will have reached home by then.
Future Perfect Continuous Tense The Future Perfect Continuous Tense demonstrably focuses on the period of an action before a distinct time in the future.
Basic Grammar Rule:- Subject+ shall/will+ have been+ verb(ing)+ object(optional) Future Perfect Continuous Tense Examples: 1. By next year she will be graduating in her batch.
2. She will have been running daily for a month before the finals.
3. By the time the alarm goes off, we will have been travelling for 6 hours.
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Exercise Choose the precise verb:-
The moon_______round the earth(move, moves, moved). Perhaps she __________Varanasi next month(visit,will visit,visited) The bus ____________before we reach the bus stand. ( leaves, will have left, had left). Fortune___________The smart people. ( is favouring, will favour, favours) My brother __________the musical show yesterday.(see, saw, have seen)) He___________the letter before you arrived. (had written, wrote, will write) She__________us next week(will have met, will have been meeting, will be meeting) I ____________French for 2 years (have been studying, studying, am studying) Don’t disturb him,he_________his work already. (do, did, am doing). It started to rain while we____________football.(are playing, had played, were playing) Give the best English language coaching to your teens regularly in live online classes & live practice sessions. At Henry Harvin we have expert teachers, teaching in structured online video courses. In the first place, your kids will be given thorough training from elementary to expert-level English covering General English and Grammar. In brief, we will provide learning materials, online tests & practice sessions. They will also be able to attend speaking practice groups and live classes
Conclusion: As a rule, Tenses play a crucial role in the oral & written English language. In this case, Speaking & writing correct English is only possible if English Grammar is properly learnt and understood. In fact the above piece on Tenses: Meaning, Examples & Exercises will definitely make any person proficient in the nuances of English.
Q. 1 What is Tense?
Q.2 What are the basic three tenses in the English language?
The basic three tenses are Present tense, Past Tense and Future Tense.
Q.3 What are the twelve different subdivisions of English Tenses?
Simple Present Tense, Present Continuous tense, Present Perfect tense, Present Perfect Continuous tense, Simple Past tense, Past Continuous tense, Past Perfect tense, Past Perfect continuous tense, Simple Future Tense, Future Continuous tense, Future Perfect tense, Future Perfect Continuous tense.Q.4 Are tenses absolutely necessary in the English language?
Tenses are the primary element and undoubtedly the backbone of the English language, no communication whether oral or written will be perfect without proper tenses.
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