School

FUN WITH STUDIES COACHING
ENGLISH GRAMMAR
1. Read the following sentences carefully :
(i) Birds fly in the air.
(ii) My brother flew to England last week.
(iii) I shall fly a kite on Sunday.
In the first sentence the Verb fly’ refers to the Present time, in the sec¬ond sentence the
Verb ‘flew’ refers to the action in the Past, while the Verb in the third sentence ‘shall fly’
refers to the Future.
2. The Tense of a Verb shows the time when an action takes place.
There are three Tenses :
I. Present Tense
II. Past Tense
III. Future Tense
3. In order to show at what stage an action is, each of the three tenses has been sub-
divided into four heads. These sub-divisions are—
Continuous
Perfect
Tense Indefinite or Perfect
Continuous
Progressive
I have I have been

Present I play I am playing
played playing
I was I had I had been

Past I played
playing played playing
ENGLISH GRAMMAR
I shall
I shall I shall be I shall have
Future have
play playing been playing
played
Thus, the tense of a verb does not show only the time of an action or event alone. It
shows the state of that action also.
A. Simple Present Tense

The Simple Present is used to express :
(i) A habitual action
(ii) A general truth
(iii) What is happening (in exclamatory sentences only)
(iv) An order or request.
(i) A habitual action :

I go for a walk daily.
He comes to school at 8 O’clock.
(ii) General truth :

The sun rises in the east.
Two and two make four.
(iii) What is happening :

Here comes the chief guest !
(iv) An order or request :

Obey your teachers.
B. Present Continuous Tense

[Is/am/are + Verb + trig)
(i) In order to form the Present Continuous Tense, we add Present Par¬ticiple to is, am
or are. The Present Participle is formed by adding ‘ing’ to the first form of the verb.
7s’ is used with he, she, it or Third Person Singular Noun, ‘am’ is used with ‘I’ and ‘are’ is
used with we, you, they and plural Nouns.
Examples : She is singing a song.
ENGLISH GRAMMAR
(ii) In Interrogative form, the helping verb is used before the subject.
[Is/am/are + Subject + (Verb + ing) ?]
Examples : Are you going home ?
(iii) In Negative form, we add ‘not between the Principal Verb and the operative helping
verb.
[Subject + is/am/are + not + (Verb + ing) …]
Examples : She is not weeping.
Uses of the Present Continuous Tense

The Present Continuous Tense is used with the words—at this time, at present, at the
moment, now, nowadays, still etc. and in the following cases :
(a) To describe an action in progress and/or the continuity of the action.
The girls are singing a chorus.
(b) To describe an action in progress, but not necessarily at the time of speaking.
India is exporting onions to the Middle East.
What are you writing these days ?
C. Present Perfect Tense

[Subject + Has/have + III form of the verb)
(i) In the Present Perfect Tense the past participle (III)) form of the verb is used with has
or have. ‘Has’ is added with third person singular subjects, as—‘he’, ‘she’, ‘if and ‘Have’ is
added with ‘I, ‘we’, ‘you’, ‘they’ and plural nouns.
He has won a prize.
You have insulted me.
I have taken the dose of medicine.
(ii) In Interrogative form [Has, have are placed before the subject.] (Has/have + Subject
+ III form of the Verb…?)
Have they crossed the river ?
Where have you seen my brother ?
(iii) In Negative form [‘not’ is used between the main verb and the help¬ing verb.]
(Subject + has /have + not + III form of the Verb…)
She has not come yet.
I have not received any information.
Uses of the Present Perfect Tense

The Present Perfect Tense is used with the words : yet, as yet, already, just, just now, so
far, since, ever since, presently, once, twice, thrice etc. and in the following cases :
(a) To express an action that has been recently completed.
ENGLISH GRAMMAR
I have just received the letter.
(b) To describe an action the time of which is not given. ‘
The train has steamed in.
(c) To describe a past experience.
I have seen this picture several times.
(d) To express an action that began in the Past and still continues.
He has worked in this school for five years, (is still working)
D. . Present Perfect Continuous Tense

(Subject + has/ have + been + I form of the Verb + trig…)
In order to form the Present Perfect Continuous Tense, we put has been or have been
before the Present Participle Form of the Verb ; as—
It has been raining for two hours.
I have been/lying a kite since 2 O’clock.
(a) The Present Perfect Continuous Tense is used to describe an action that began in
the Past, is still continuing and may extend into the Future ; as—
She has been waiting for you for three hours.
They have been playing cards since 10 A. M.
(b) This tense is also used to express an action in a sentence which begins with ‘For
how long’ or ‘Since when!, as in—
For how long have you been sitting here ?
Since when has he been living in this house ?
(c) This tense is also used to express an action which began in the past and has been
just completed. However, its result is visible in the present, as in—
I have been studying since morning and I am much tired now.
She has been washing the dishes for an hour and her clothes are dirty now. Note : Since
is used for a point of time.
For is used for a period of time.

School

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

School

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

School

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

FUN WITH STUDIES COACHING

I have I have been

I was I had I had been

A. Simple Present Tense

(iv) An order or request.

(i) A habitual action :

(ii) General truth :

(iii) What is happening :

(iv) An order or request :

B. Present Continuous Tense

Uses of the Present Continuous Tense

C. Present Perfect Tense

Uses of the Present Perfect Tense

D. . Present Perfect Continuous Tense

You might also like