Tense Explained in Details

The subject matter of this chapter is Tense. You know that tense has been primarily classified into three groups: present, past, and future. Each tense again has four aspects. They are simple/indefinite, continuous, perfect, and perfect continuous. So, in total, there are 12 tenses. Understanding these 12 tenses is very important because, in our daily life, we do many activities at many different times. Tense helps us express the exact times of our actions. This is where we find the importance of learning tenses. So, let's start with the present simple tense. 

1. Present Simple Tense   

We use the present simple tense to express habit. 

These are the activities I regularly do. These are the routine activities and these activities have become my habits. So, these are habitual actions. So, we use present indefinite/simple tense to express such habitual actions. 

We also use present indefinite or simple tense to talk about facts, be it scientific or universal.  

They all are universal truth and we use the present simple sentence to express such universal truth. 

It has scientifically been proved that 100 Degree Celsius is the normal boiling point of water. So, any kind of scientific fact should be expressed through the present simple tense.  

There is another usage of present simple tense and that is future construction. In this format, we have two sections. One is the future and another is present simple. We express our desire and wish in future simple sections. 

So, my wish has been expressed in the future form--I will receive her. The rest of the part has been present in simple tense.  

So, we use present simple tense to talk about habitual action, to talk about facts, be it scientific or universal and there is also another usage that is future construction. Then we can go to the next part that is present continuous tense.  

Structure: Subject + verb (V1) + object/complement/adverbial

2. Present Continuous Tense 

Present continuous tense again has three usages. We use the present continuous tense to talk about an activity happening at the time of my speaking. For example, you are listening at the time of my speaking. 

We also use the present continuous tense to talk about the temporary activities.  

I am in the process of helping them; I spend one or two days a week helping them and it is a temporary activity.  

It means I am in the process of learning piano. I spend some time. I spend one or two days a week learning piano. For that kind of temporary activity, we use the present continuous tense. 

There is another kind of present continuous tense and that is to talk about contemporary changes. 

Structure: Subject + am/is/are + ‘-ing’ form of the verb + object/complement/adverbial. 

 3. Present Perfect Tense: 

Present perfect tense has two usages. The present perfect tense allows you to talk about past activities or incidents without specifying the time. For example, you went to New York five years back. Here, ‘You went to New York.’ is a past simple. Now, you can say that you have gone to New York without mentioning time. So, you can express any past incident without mentioning time.  

The second usage is that you can express your experiences in an ongoing time frame through the present perfect tense. 

Here, the time frame is the complete year. This is the month of July. I have another five months to complete the year. So, I can buy more books this year. These kinds of experiences in an ongoing time frame can be expressed through the present perfect tense. 

My life has not finished. I may learn more things in the future. Similarly, I can visit India again in the future. So, we can express such experiences or past incidents through the usage of the present perfect tense. 

 Structure:  Subject + have/has + past participle form of the verb (V3) + object/complement/adverbial (if any)

4. Present Perfect Continuous Tense 

Present perfect continuous tense deals with an action that started earlier but still continues.  

The rain started in the morning and it is continuing. 

My reading started five days earlier and it's continuing. Here you should be aware of the usage of ‘since’ and ‘for’. We use since to talk about the starting time. If you want to refer to the starting time, you should use ‘since’. For example, ‘since morning’ means your starting time is morning. ‘Since 2018’ means your starting time is 2018. And you use ‘for’ to talk about any length of time. It may be the length of two hours; it may be the length of seven days or 20 years. Hope that you have understood the difference between ‘since’ and ‘for.’ Let's have a couple of examples. 

Structure: Subject + have been/has been + ‘-ing’ form of the verb + object/complement/adverbial (if any) 

5. Past Simple 

We use past simple to talk about any completed action.  

These completed actions in the past have been expressed through the past simple sentence. Here, we may or may not add adverb of time.

Structure: Subject + past form of the verb (V2) + object/complement/adverbial (if any)

6. Past Continuous 

Past continuous tense has several usages. We use past continuous tense for an action that was continuing before and after a particular time.  

It means my eating started before 7 am and it was continuing even after 7 am.  

My reading started before 8 pm and it was continuing even after 8 pm. So, it is one of the four usages of past continuous tense.  

We also use past continuous tense to talk about two actions that were going on at the same time.

This is the second usage of past continuous tense.  

 We can also use past continuous tense for any interrupted action.  

My friend knocked at the door when I was reading.  

We can also use past continuous tense to talk about any repeated action.  

So, these are the usages of past continuous tense.

Structure: Subject + was/were + ‘ing’ form’ of the verb + object/complement/adverbial (if any)  

7. Past Perfect Tense 

Past perfect tense talks about an action that took place before another action in the past. 

Here, we have two actions: ‘the patient died’ and ‘the doctor came.’ We are supposed to use past perfect tense for the action which happened earlier. Which action happened earlier? The patient died earlier. That is why I said, ‘The patient had died before the doctor came. ’The doctor came’ is the past simple because it happened later. Let's have some examples: 

Structure: Subject + had + past participle form of the verb (V3) + object/complement/adverbial (if any)

8. Past Perfect Continuous Tense 

Past perfect continuous tense talks about continuous action in the past that began before another action in the past.  

‘I had been working for two hours.’ is the past perfect continuous tense and it happens before ‘my younger brother joined me’. So, it is the past perfect continuous tense. So, past perfect continuous tense refers to a continuous action in the past before another action interrupted the continuous action. Let's have a couple of examples:  

Structure: Subject + had been + ‘ing’ form of the verb + object/complement/adverbial (if any)

9. Future Simple 

Future simple tense is used for many purposes. We use future simple tense to make any prediction.  

They all are predictions.   

We also use future simple tense to make an offer.

You are in a room along with your friend and you are saying, ‘It's too hot.’ And your friend says, ‘I'll turn on the fan.’ Here, your friend is offering to turn on the fan to make the environment comfortable. So, it is the offer. So, we use future simple tense to make an offer. We use future simple tense to make predictions.  

We also use future simple tense to make promises or threats.  

So, these sentences carry promise or threat.  

We also use the future simple sentence to make an assertion and, in that case, we use ‘shall’. We should keep in mind that this usage is very limited to British English. Americans do not use ‘shall’. So, it is limited to British English. So, we can say: 

We can also use the future simple sentence to make a request.  

So, you can see how you can use future simple tense. Future simple tense is used for various purposes. But we should keep in mind that we should not use future simple tense at the beginning of the cause when there is the expression of time.  

When I reach home’ is the expression of time. That is why, here, we cannot use the future simple tense. Let's have another example.  

Structure: Subject + shall/will + base form of verb + object/complement/adverbial (if any)

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But we should keep in mind that Americans do not use ‘shall’. They always use ‘will’. So, it is better to use ‘will’ all the time. Even usage of ‘shall’ is not so popular in British English too. So, it is better to use ‘will’ all the time. 

10. Future Continuous Tense 

Future continuous tense talks about an ongoing action in the future.

My reading will be started before 7 am and I will continue to read even after 7 am. Let's have some more examples. 

Structure: Subject + will be + ‘-ing’ form of the verb +object/complement/adverbial (if any)

11. Future Perfect Tense 

Future perfect tense talks about a completed action in the future. At the same time, it deals with the duration of time. It looks up to that time and looks back to the duration of the time. For example, I want to buy a car in four months. It is the month of July and I want to buy a car in four months. So, I can say: 

So, November is the final time and I will have bought this car even before November. We look up to that November and look back to the starting time to see the duration of the time. This is the future perfect tense. 

Here, Thursday is the final time. We look up to Thursday and look back to the starting time to understand or see the duration of time. Let's have another example. 

Structure: Subject + will have + past participle form of the verb (V3) +object/complement/adverbial (if any)

 12. Future Perfect Continuous Tense

Future perfect continuous tense talks about ongoing activities in the future and, at the same time, it talks about the duration of the time. It also looks up to that time and looks back to the starting time to understand the duration of the time.  

So, if it is July, it means I will have been working up to December. So, I can say I'll have been working on this project for 5 months. Let's have some more examples: 

Structure: Subject + will have been + ‘ing’ form of the verb + object/complement/adverbial (if any)

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So, through this chapter, the author has talked about the present tense, past tense, and future tense with all the aspects. So, the author hopes that you will carefully read this chapter to understand all these types and aspects of tense. As you have come to know the importance of tense lies in the fact that if we understand tense, we will be able to express the exact time of our actions.

Thank You