TENSES

What is a Tense in grammar?

Tenses are like time machines for verbs. They help us understand when something happened or when something is going to happen. There are three main tenses:

  1. past,
  2. present, and
  3. future. 

Remember: 

  1. The past tense is for things that have already happened in the past.
    • For example, “Yesterday, Radha walked home.” 
  1. The present tense is for things that are happening right now in the present.
    • For example, “Radha walks home every day.” 
  1. The future tense is for things that will happen later in the future.
    • For example, “Radha will walk home after school.” 
tenses

But there’s more! Each tense has different types:

  1. simple,
  2. continuous,
  3. perfect, and
  4. perfect continuous.

These types can help us be even more specific about when something happened or will happen. 

For example, if we use the simple past tense, we might say “Radha walked home,” but if we use the past continuous tense, we could say “Radha was walking home.” 

Using tenses correctly helps us communicate clearly and accurately about when things happen. 

Verb Tense Example 1 Example 2 
Simple Past Radha walked home  Radha read the book 
Past Continuous Ramya was walking home Radha was reading the book 
Past Perfect Ramya had walked home Radha had read the book 
Past Perfect Continuous Ramya had been walking home Radha had been reading the book 
Simple Present Radha walks home Radha reads a book 
Present Continuous Radha is walking home Radha is reading a book 
Present Perfect Radha has walked home Radha has read the book 
Present Perfect Continuous Radha has been walking home Radha has been reading the book 
Simple Future Radha will walk home Radha will read the book 
Future Continuous Radha will be walking home Radha will be reading the book 
Future Perfect Radha will have walked home Radha will have read the book 
Future Perfect Continuous Radha will have been walking home Radha will have been reading the book 

The Tenses are primarily categorized as

  1. Past Tense,
  2. Present Tense,
  3. Future Tense.

They are basically used to show the time of any action or state of being.  Let us see what the different types of tenses are.   

Present Tense: In this tense, you describe all the actions that are happening at the very moment. 

  1. Simple Present Tense: – With this tense, you can explain the action, event, conditions that are happening in the present. 
    • For example:  
      • 1. she plays the piano.  
      • 2. He plays cricket. 
  2. Present Continuous Tense: – It will be describing the on-going actions that are still going. 
    • For example:  
      • 1. Kishore is eating.   
      • 2. Asrith is playing cricket. 
  1.  Present Perfect Tense: – With this tense, you can indicate actions that begin in the past and continue in the present. 
    • For Example:  
      • 1. She has played the piano.    
      • 2. I have completed the homework. 
  1. Present Continuous Tense: – In this tense, you can describe the actions, events or moments that have been taking place for some time and it is still ongoing. 
    • For example:  
      • 1. She has been playing the piano.    
      • 2. He has been completing his homework. 

Having finished the brief of all the four present tenses, let us now move on to the second type of tense which is called “Past Tense”. 

Past Tense: With this tense, you can describe the actions, moments, or events that have happened in the past. 

  1. Simple Past Tense: – In the simple past tense you can explain any event, moment, actions that have happened in the past. 
    • For example:  
      • 1. She played the piano yesterday.    
      • 2. He ate all the apples two hours ago. 
  1. Past Continuous Tense: – It is used to describe an action that is ongoing in the past.  
    • For example:  
      • 1. She was playing the piano.    
      • 2. He was completing his homework. 
  1. Past Perfect Tense: – This tense will refer to all the events or actions that took place in the past. 
    • For example:  
      • 1. She played the piano.    
      • 2. He had eaten his food. 
  1. Past Perfect Continuous Tense: – It will describe the continuing action that has happened in the past and is still going on. The action goes on till another action interrupts. 
    • For example:  
      • 1. She had been playing the piano.    
      • 2. I had been eating. 

Now let us move ahead to work with Future Tense, the last and third type of tense. 

Future Tense: The future tense is used to express an action that has not yet happened or a state that does not still exist but will be in future. 

  1. Simple Future Tense: – It is mostly used when we plan to do something. 
    • For example:  
      • 1.She will play the piano.    
      • 2. He will eat his food. 
  1. Future Continuous Tense:- It will describe a continuous action that will happen in the future. In simple words, it refers to the actions that are ongoing in the future. 
    • For example:  
      • 1. She will be playing the piano after dinner.    
      • 2. He will be eating his food after homework is completed. 
  1. Future Perfect Tense: – This tense refers to the actions that will happen in the future before any other action takes place. 
    • For example:  
      • 1. She shall have played before dinner.   
      • 2. He shall have the food after completing the homework. 
  1. Future Perfect Continuous Tense: – This tense indicates all the activities that are ongoing and will be completed at a specific time in the future. 
    • For example:  
      • 1. She shall be playing the piano after dinner.    
      • 2. He shall be eating food after completing homework. 

We hope you have got a brief overview of different types of tenses and how they are used to describe a situation, or an event that happened in a different period of time.