Now study the usage of tenses:
(i) to express present actions or events or facts —
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.
(ii) to express a habitual action —
I get up everyday at 6 a.m.
He takes milk every morning.
(iii) to express general truth or eternal truth —
The earth moves round the sun.
Fortune favours the brave.
(iv) in Imperative sentences —
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 comes the bus!
There goes the bell!
(vi) in quotations and reporting —
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 —
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.
I see, you are a fool.
I hear the buzzing sound.
You can't feel her sentiment.
(ix) in clauses of time and condition:
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:
Lila is dancing now.
The boys are playing hockey.
(ii) imagining an unseen activity:
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:
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:
Where is Debika?
She's (=she is) watering the plants in her garden.
(v) for explaining what one is doing:
What are you doing?
I'm (=I am) drawing a picture.
(vi) for describing:
Which girl is Nipa?
What is she wearing today?
She is slim and handsome.
She is wearing a white sari today.
(i) to indicate completed action in the immediate past:
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:
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.
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:
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:
(i) It often occurs with adverbs or adverb phrases.
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:
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:
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.
(i) to talk about any continuing process of doing something in the past:
The train was late and they were waiting at the station for three hours.
(ii) to describe a background action:
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)
(i) to describe an action completed before a certain moment in the past:
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:
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:
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.
But to express pure or colourless future we use only Simple Future tense.
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:
I shall leave the place when she comes.
He came here yesterday (not has come )
The president made (delivered) a nice speech. (not gave)
His brother will not appear at the examination. (not will not give)
They refused to come. (not denied)
He denied his guilt. (not refused)
We declined his invitation. (not denied)
He has come to see me. (not for seeing me)
He will stay in Calcutta for five days. (not live)
We live in Calcutta. (not stay)
Will you listen to his advice? (not hear)
They are mistaken. (not have mistaken)
The man was drowned in the river. (not sank)
The boat sank in the river. (not drowned)
