Now study the usage of tenses:
❒ 1. Simple Present is used
(i) to express present actions or events or facts (বর্তমান কাজ বা ঘটনা বা তথ্য প্রকাশ করতে)
I get up at 6 a.m.
The train leaves at 7 p.m.
Lipika looks very beautiful.
Rabin goes to school.
I don't like tea, but I prefer coffee.
[ Must Read: Basic Knowledge of the 12 Tenses ]
(ii) to express a habitual action (অভ্যাস বোঝাতে) :
I get up everyday at 6 a.m.
He takes milk every morning.
(iii) to express general truth or eternal truth (সাধারণ সত্য বা চিরসত্য বোঝাতে):
The earth moves round the sun.
Fortune favours the brave.
(iv) in Imperative sentences. (আদেশ অনুরোধমূলক বাক্যে):
Draw a straight line.
Don't run in the sun.
Stop writing and hand over the answer-scripts.
(v) in Exclamatory sentences beginning with here and there (here এবং there দিয়ে Exclamatory sentence বা আবেগমূলক বাক্যে):
Here comes the bus!
There goes the bell!
(vi) in quotations and reporting (উদ্ধৃতি ব্যবহারে বা পরোক্ষ উক্তিতে) :
Keats says, "A thing of beauty is a joy for ever." (Quotation)
They tell me that you are a fool. (Reporting)
(vii) to indicate a future event that is a part of a present plan or arrangement (ভবিষ্যতের কোন ঘটনা যদি বর্তমান কোন পরিকল্পনা বা ব্যবস্থার অঙ্গ হয়।):
They leave for London by the next mail.
His father sails for America next Sunday. When does the school reopen?
(viii) to use verbs of perception, verbs of appearing and verbs of emotion like see, hear, look, seem, feel etc.
(see, hear, look, seem, feel প্রভৃতি কয়েকটি Verb এর ক্ষেত্রে):
I see, you are a fool.
I hear the buzzing sound.
You can't feel her sentiment.
(ix) in clauses of time and condition (সময় বা শর্তবোধক clause এ):
I shall wait till you finish your lunch.
If it rains, we shall get wet.
❒ 2. Present progressive/continuous is used:
(i) for an action going on at the time of speaking. (বক্তা যখন বলছে তখন কোন কাজ চলছে বোঝাতে) :
Lila is dancing now.
The boys are playing hockey.
(ii) imagining an unseen activity (কোন কাজ চলছে কল্পনা করতে):
I think, Subbendu is lying on bed at home. His friends are doing Mathematics now.
(iii) for an action that is planned or arranged to take near future (নিকট ভবিষ্যতে কোন কাজের পরিকল্পনা বা ব্যবস্থা থাকলে) :
Dipu and his friends are leaving Calcutta tonight.
Bela and her friends are arriving here tomorrow.
(iv) for giving information about a third person's whereabouts.(কোন তৃতীয় ব্যক্তির ঘটমান কাজের সংবাদ দিতে) :
Where is Debika?
She's (=she is) watering the plants in her garden.
(v) for explaining what one is doing. (একজন কি করছে তা বোঝাতে):
What are you doing?
I'm (=I am) drawing a picture.
(vi) for describing(বর্ণনা দাও):
Which girl is Nipa?
What is she wearing today?
She is slim and handsome.
She is wearing a white sari today.
❒ 3. Present Perfect is used:
(i) to indicate completed action in the immediate past. (অদূর অতীতে যে কাজ সম্পন্ন হয়েছে):
He has just gone out.
The clock has struck ten.
I have cut my finger and it is bleeding now.
(ii) to express past actions whose time is not definite (অতীতের কোন কাজের সময় নির্দিষ্ট না হলে) :
Mr. Roy has been to Japan.
I have never known him to be angry.
Have you ever been to Delhi?
Have you read 'Gulliver's Travels'?
(iii) to denote an action beginning at some time past and continuing up to the present moment. -Wren & Martin.
(আগে থেকে আরম্ভ হয়ে বর্তমান মুহূর্ত পর্যন্ত চলেছে।)
I have known him for a long time..
We have lived here for ten years.
We haven't seen Padmini for several months.
He hasn't finished his work yet.
*Note: We see that these adverbs or adverbials can be used with the present perfect: just, often, so far, till now, already, since, for, never, ever (in questions only), yet (in negatives and questions).
❒ 4. Present Perfect Continuous is used:
(i) for an action which began at some time in the past and is still continuing. (আগে থেকে আরম্ভ হয়ে এখনও ঘটে চলেছে) :
She has been sleeping for six hours.
He has been playing since 4 p. m.
They have been building the bridge for several years.
*Note: This tense is sometimes used for an action already finished. In such cases the continuity of the activity is emphasized as an explanation of something.
"Why are your clothes wet?" — "I have been watering the garden." -Wren & Martin.
❒ 5. Simple past is used to talk about a past event as a simple (সাধারণভাবে অতীতের কোন ঘটনা বলতে):
(i) It often occurs with adverbs or adverb phrases. (এটি প্রায়ই Adverb বা Adverb Phrase-এর সঙ্গে ব্যবহৃত হয়।)
Haradhan left school last year.
The steamer sailed a week ago.
I received his letter yesterday.
(ii) Sometimes it is used without an adverb of time. In such cases the time may be either implied or indicated by the context. (কোন কোন ক্ষেত্রে adverb of time ঊহ্য থাকে। সেই ক্ষেত্রে প্রসঙ্গ দ্বারা সময় সূচিত হয়।) :
I didn't sleep well (i.e. last night)
Where did he learn Hindi ?'
He learnt Hindi in patna.' (i.e. in some time past.)
(iii) Simple past is also used for past habits (অতীতের অভ্যাস বোঝাতে):
He used to study many hours every day.
My grandmother would bathe in the Ganga in her old age.
She always carried an umbrella.
-Wren & Martin.
Note: 'used to' and 'would' are very often used in the above cases.
❒ 6. Past Continuous is used:
(i) to talk about any continuing process of doing something in the past. (অতীতে কোন কিছু করা হচ্ছিল বোঝাতে) :
The train was late and they were waiting at the station for three hours.
(ii) to describe a background action. (পিছনের কোন কাজ বর্ণনা করতে):
x. What were you doing in the evening yesterday?
y. I was listening to the radio all evening.
x. You took a long time to answer the phone. Were you sleeping?
y. Yes, I was (sleeping)
❒ 7. Past Perfect is used:
(i) to describe an action completed before a certain moment in the past. (অতীতে সম্পূর্ণ হয়ে গেছে এমন কাজের বর্ণনা দিতে):
I met him in New Delhi in 1980.
I had seen him last four years before.
(ii) If two actions happened in the past, it may be necessary to show which action happened earlier than the other. The past perfect is mainly used in such situations. (অতীতে দুটি ঘটনা ঘটলে কোন্টি আগে ঘটেছে সেটা দেখাতেই প্রধানত: Past Perfect ব্যবহৃত হয়।):
I had written the letter before she arrived.
❒ 8. Past perfect continuous is used to express an action that continued in the past for a given period of time. (অতীতে কোন ঘটনা কিছু কাল ধরে ঘটছিল বোঝাতে):
At that time he had been reading a novel for two weeks.
❒ 9. Ways of talking about the Future :
There are four different ways to talk about the near future
(i) by using going to,
(ii) by using present continuous,
(iii) by using simple present,
(iv) by using will, ’ll, won't, shall.
Look at this table. They give the same facts.
"Note-1: Such type of nature is coloured with intention or arrangement.
( এরূপ Future কোন ইচ্ছা বা ব্যবস্থার সঙ্গে জড়িয়ে থাকে।)
But to express pure or colourless future we use only Simple Future tense. [বিশেষ ইচ্ছা বা ব্যবস্থার রঙ না থাকলে কেবলমাত্র Simple Future (shall / will + verb) হয়।]
I shall do this work.
I'll have my dinner at 9 p.m. tonight
There won't be any ceremonial party this year as we've lost a member of the club.
*Note-2: If two future actions are joined by when, the one will be in the future tense (any form) and the other will be in Simple Present tense.
(যদি দুটি ভবিষ্যৎ কালের কাজ when দ্বারা যুক্ত হয়, তাহলে একটিতে Future Tense এবং অন্যটিতে Simple Present Tense হয়।):
I shall leave the place when she comes.
❒❒ Some Important usages :
সে কাল এখানে আসিয়াছে-He came here yesterday (has come নয়)
সভাপতি একটি সুন্দর বক্তৃতা দিলেন -The president made (delivered) a nice speech. (gave নয়)
তাহার ভাই পরীক্ষা দিবে না - His brother will not appear at the examination. (will not give নয় )
তাহারা আসিতে রাজী হইল না - They refused to come. (denied নয়)
সে তাহার দোষ অস্বীকার করিল- He denied his guilt. (refused নয়)
আমরা তাহার নিয়ন্ত্রণ প্রত্যাখ্যান করিলাম- We declined his invitation. (denied নয়)
সে আমার সঙ্গে দেখা করতে আসিয়াছে - He has come to see me. (for seeing me নয়)
সে কলকাতায় পাঁচদিন থাকবে - He will stay in Calcutta for five days. (live নয়)
আমরা কলকাতায় বাস করি -We live in Calcutta. (stay নয় )
তুমি কি তাহার উপদেশে কান দিবে? -Will you listen to his advice? (hear নয়)
তাহারা ভুল করিয়াছে - They are mistaken. (have mistaken নয়)
লোকটি নদীতে ডুবিয়া গেল-The man was drowned in the river. (sank নয়)
নৌকাটি নদীতে ডুবিয়া গেল -The boat sank in the river. (drowned নয়)
