Tenses in English



Lesson 10

12 Tenses in English 


Note:- Tense is of two types based on voice. 


1. Active voice and 2. Passive voice. (Know more about passive voice)

In this lesson 1, we are going to describe active voice in details. 


Tense Definition in English 

Tense tells us about when an action takes place either in past, present or in future. 

If an action takes place in past, present or future, we use our sentence  accordingly. 


In the following examples, the first sentence expresses that my visit took place in past, the second sentence states that her going is taking place now and the third tells us that our meeting is in the upcoming day, tomorrow. 

Examples:

(a) I visited India last year. 

(b) She is going to school now. 

(c) We will have a meeting tomorrow.


Types of Tense 

1. Past Tense

2. Present Tense

3. Future Tense


Note:- All the three tenses, past, present and future have the following 4 sub-divisions. So the total number of tense is 12.They are given as under: 


1. Indefinite 

2. Continuous

3. Perfect

4. Perfect Continuous


1. Past Tense tells us that some action happened in the past.

‘went’ and ‘talked’ tell us that my going and her talking happened in the past in the following examples.  

Examples:

(a) I went to the market yesterday.

(b) She talked to me a few minutes ago.  


2. Present Tense tells us that some action happens or is happening now. 

 ‘Are talking’ and ‘am taking’ show that talking and taking are happening at the moment of speaking. 

Examples:

(a) You are talking around. 

(b) I am taking my breakfast now. 


3. Future Tense tells us that some action will happen in the future. 

‘will go’ and ‘shall talk’ indicate that ‘going’ and ‘talking’ will take place in the future. 

Examples:

(a) She will go to the market tomorrow.

(b) We shall talk soon. 


The Best Way of Learning Tense By Heart

Learn the examples of 12 tenses instead of learning them through the structures and rules. 


Note:- In the given below examples, ‘I’ is the subject, ‘go’ is the main verb and the following are the helping or auxiliary verbs: 


Helping or Auxiliary Verbs for Present Tense

1. Do and Does for present indefinite for plural and singular, Is, Am, Are for present continuous for singular, I and plural, Have and Has for present perfect for plural and singular and Have been and Has been for present perfect continuous for plural and singular. 


Helping or Auxiliary Verbs for Past Tense

2. Did for past indefinite, Was and Were for past continuous for singular and plural, Had for past perfect and Had been for past perfect continuous tense both for singular and plural. 


Helping or Auxiliary Verbs for Future Tense

3. Will and Shall for future indefinite, Will be and Shall be for future continuous, Will have and Shall have for future perfect and Will have been and Shall have been for future perfect continuous. 

Examples:

Present Indefinite 

1. I go. (Positive sentence)

2. I don't go. (Negative sentence)

3. Do I go? (Interrogative sentence)

4. Do I not go? (Interrogative negative sentence) 

5. Why do I go? (Fact-finding sentence) 

Note:- ‘Does’ will be used in place of ‘do’ with third person singular subjects. For example, He does not go. 


Present Continuous 

1. I'm going. (Positive sentence)

2. I'm not going. (Negative sentence)

3. Am I going? (Interrogative sentence)

4. Am I not going? (Interrogative negative sentence) 

5. Why am I going?  (Fact-finding sentence)

Note:- ‘Is’ and ‘are’ will be used in place of ‘am’ with singular and plural subjects respectively. For example, He is going and They are going. 


Present Perfect

1. I have gone. (Positive sentence)

2. I have not gone. (Negative sentence)

3. Have I gone? (Interrogative sentence)

4. Have I not gone? (Interrogative negative sentence) 

5. Why have I gone? (Fact-finding sentence) 

Note:- ‘Has’ will be used in place of ‘have’ with third person singular subjects. For example, He has gone.


Present Perfect Continuous 

1. I have been going since morning. (Positive sentence)

2. I have not been going since morning.(Negative sentence) 

3. Have I been going since morning? (Interrogative sentence) 

4. Have I not been going since morning? (Interrogative negative sentence) 

5. When have I been going since?  (Fact-finding sentence) 

Note:- ‘Has been’ will be with third person singular subjects in place of ‘have been’. For example, He has been going since morning. 

 

Past Indefinite 

1. I went. (Positive sentence)

2. I did not go. (Negative sentence)

3. Did I go? (Interrogative sentence)

4. Did I not go? (Interrogative negative sentence)

5. Why did I go? (Fact-finding sentence) 


Past Continuous

1. I was going. (Positive sentence)

2. I was not going. (Negative sentence)

3. Was I going? (Interrogative sentence)

4. Was I not going? (Interrogative negative sentence) 

5. Why was I going? (Fact-finding sentence) 

Note:- if plural subject is used, then ‘were’ will be used in place of ‘was’. For example, We were going. 


Past Perfect

1. I had gone. (Positive sentence)

2. I had not gone. (Negative sentence)

3. Had I gone? (Interrogative sentence)

4. Had I not gone? (Interrogative negative sentence) 

5. Why had I gone? (Fact-finding sentence) 


Past Perfect Continuous

1. I had been going since morning. (Positive sentence) 

2. I had not been going since morning. (Negative sentence) 

3. Had I been going since morning? (Interrogative sentence) 

4. Had I not been going since morning? (Interrogative negative sentence) 

5. When had I been going since? (Fact-finding sentence) 


Future Indefinite

1. I will go. (Positive sentence)

2. I will not go. (Negative sentence) 

3. Will I go? (Interrogative sentence) 

4. Will I not go? (Interrogative negative sentence) 

5. Why will I go? (Fact-finding sentence) 


Future Continuous

1. I will be going. (Positive sentence) 

2. I will not be going. (Negative sentence) 

3. Will I be going? (Interrogative sentence) 

4. Will I not be going? (Interrogative negative sentence) 

5. Why will I be going? (Fact-finding sentence) 


Future Perfect

1. I will have gone. (Positive sentence) 

2. I will not have gone. (Negative sentence) 

3. Will I have gone? (Interrogative sentence) 

4. Will I not have gone? (Interrogative negative sentence) 

5. Why will I have gone? (Fact-finding sentence) 


Future Perfect Continuous

1. I will have been going by 12 o'clock tomorrow. (Positive sentence)

2. I will not have been going by 12 o'clock tomorrow. (Negative sentence) 

3. Will I have been going by 12 o'clock tomorrow?  (Interrogative sentence) 

4. Will I not have been going by 12 o'clock tomorrow? (Interrogative negative sentence) 

5. By what time will I have been going tomorrow? (Fact-finding sentence)