Tenses
Tenses show when something happens.
Present tense - I eat.
Past tense - I ate.
Future tense - I will eat.
Verbs
are one of the most important classes of words. They tell us what is happening
in terms of actions or the state of affairs in a particular situation.
E.g.
•
The children talk (verb) very loudly.
•
My daughter is (verb) a talented artist.
All sentences
require a verb. The tenses are parts of verbs that tell you the time when the
action referred to in the sentence took place.
The base form is the basic verb form. It is so
called as it has no inflections (i.e., no endings such as -s, -ing or -ed).
This is the form of
the verb that is listed in dictionary entries. The base form of any verb can be
changed into a singular or plural, present or past tense.
E.g.
•
smile (base
form)
•
smiles (third
person singular, present tense)
• smiled (past tense)
In
the English Language there are two tenses: the present and past. As the terms
imply, the present tense refers to actions and states in the present while the
past tense talks about actions and states in the past. To refer to the future,
we often use the present tense and modal verbs.
E.g.
•
We leave
for London tonight. (using the present
tense)
•
We will
attend the dinner on Friday. (using
the modal verb will)
The present tense is the most basic tense in the English Language. Generally we use it to refer
to present activities or to talk about routines or habits. We also use the
present tense to refer to facts and beliefs. It is also used to make general
statements about people and things.
E.g.
•
She leaves
for work at 7.30 every morning. (routine)
•
The sun rises
in the east. (fact)
• Harry usually drinks a glass of wine with his meal. (generalisation)
Regular verbs are made past tense by adding -ed.
E.g.
•
The audience laughed (past tense) loudly at his joke. [laugh (base form) + ed ]
Irregular verbs
differ from the base form as they have a different spelling to indicate the
past tense.
E.g.
•
swim (base
form) - swam (past tense).
Unlike the present tense, the form of a verb in
the past tense is the same whether the subject is singular or plural.
E.g.
•
The girl
(singular subject) drank the water. The girls (plural subject) drank
the water.
Other
parts of the verb are the present participle and past participle. (See table on
page 50: Different forms of the Verb.) The present participle and the auxiliary
verb be form the continuous tenses.
The present
continuous indicates ongoing or future activity.
E.g.
•
The workers are repairing the burst pipe.
•
I am
taking my dog for a walk in an hour’s time.
The past continuous is used for an activity
that was ongoing at a certain point in the past.
E.g.
•
She was
working very hard last month.
It is also used to
indicate an ongoing situation that was interrupted by a single past action.
E.g.
•
The audience was enjoying the concert when the police arrived.
The present perfect tense is used when an
action or situation in the present is linked to a moment in the past. It is
often used to show actions that have happened up to the present but aren’t
completed yet.
The present
perfect tense is formed by have/has +
past participle; the past perfect is formed by had + past
participle.
Examples of the use of the present perfect tense.
•
We can go out now – my car has been repaired.
•
I have
worked in the city for the past five years.
Often, speakers of English make mistakes with
the use of the present perfect and simple past.
E.g.
•
I have
watched that movie on Friday.
The use of the
simple past tense would be correct in this instance:
E.g.
•
I watched
that movie on Friday.
Usually
the present perfect should not be linked
to a specific time (in this case, Friday) but to a duration of time such as recently, before, and since last year.
Most people have a problem with the past perfect tense. A rule to remember
is: when a sentence refers to two past actions, you use the past perfect to
indicate the action that took place first.
E.g.
•
By the time I arrived (simple past), the train had left (past perfect).
•
To my horror, I realised (simple past) at the airport that I had forgotten (past perfect) to bring my passport!
|
BASE |
SINGULAR |
PRESENT |
PAST |
PAST |
|
FORM |
PRESENT |
PARTICIPLE |
TENSE |
PARTICIPLE |
|
|
TENSE |
|
|
|
|
begin |
begins |
beginning |
began |
begun |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
bite |
bites |
biting |
bit |
bitten |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
catch |
catches |
catching |
caught |
caught |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
fall |
falls |
falling |
fell |
fallen |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
forget |
forgets |
forgetting |
forgot |
forgotten |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
freeze |
freezes |
freezing |
froze |
frozen |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
give |
gives |
giving |
gave |
given |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
know |
knows |
knowing |
knew |
known |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
run |
runs |
running |
ran |
run |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
sing |
sings |
singing |
sang |
sung |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
write |
writes |
writing |
wrote |
written |
