At the end of the lesson, you will understand
the following
◦Types of tenses
◦Basic tense patterns
◦How the tenses change with the subject
◦When to use different tenses
Mainly there are 3 types
◦Present Tense
◦Past Tense
◦Future Tense
Verbs have mainly 4 forms
They are
V
1-basic form
V
2-past form
V
3-past participle form
V
4-present participle form
V
1
eat
V
2
ate
V
3
eaten
V
4
eating
Pattern
Subject+is/are+V4
❖I am eating chocolates
❖He is eating chocolates
❖She is eating chocolates
❖We are eating chocolates
❖They are eating chocolates
❖Ramuis eating chocolates
❖Sitais eating chocolates
Pattern
Subject+has/have+V3
❖I have eaten chocolates
❖We have eaten chocolates
❖She has eaten chocolates
❖He has eaten chocolates
❖They have eaten chocolates
❖Ramuhas eaten chocolates
❖Sitahas eaten chocolates
Pattern
Subject+has/have+been+V4
❖I have been eating chocolates
❖We have been eating chocolates
❖She has been eating chocolates
❖He has been eating chocolates
❖They have been eating chocolates
❖Ramuhas been eating chocolates
❖Sitahas been eating chocolates
Pattern
Subject+was/were+V3
❖I was eating chocolates
❖We were eating chocolates
❖She was eating chocolates
❖He was eating chocolates
❖They were eating chocolates
❖Ramuwas eating chocolates
❖Sitawas eating chocolates
Pattern
Subject+had+V3
❖I had eaten chocolates
❖We had eaten chocolates
❖She had eaten chocolates
❖He had eaten chocolates
❖They had eaten chocolates
❖Ramuhad eaten chocolates
❖Sitahad eaten chocolates
Pattern
Subject+had+been+V4
❖I had been eating chocolates
❖We had been eating chocolates
❖She had been eating chocolates
❖He had been eating chocolates
❖They had been eating chocolates
❖Ramuhad been eating chocolates
❖Sitahad been eating chocolates
Pattern
Subject+will/shall+V1
❖I shall eat chocolates
❖We shall eat chocolates
❖She will eat chocolates
❖He will eat chocolates
❖They will eat chocolates
❖Ramuwill eat chocolates
❖Sitawill eat chocolates
Pattern
Subject+will/shall+be+V4
❖I shall be eating chocolates
❖We shall be eating chocolates
❖She will be eating chocolates
❖He will be eating chocolates
❖They will be eating chocolates
❖Ramuwill be eating chocolates
❖Sitawill be eating chocolates
Pattern
Subject+will/shall+have+V3
❖I shall have eaten chocolates
❖We shall have eaten chocolates
❖She will have eaten chocolates
❖He will have eaten chocolates
❖They will have eaten chocolates
❖Ramuwill have eaten chocolates
❖Sitawill have eaten chocolates
Pattern
Subject+will/shall+have+been+V4
❖I shall have been eating chocolates
❖We shall have been eating chocolates
❖She will have been eating chocolates
❖He will have been eating chocolates
❖They will have been eating chocolates
❖Ramuwill have been eating chocolates
❖Sitawill have been eatingchocolates
❖For a habitual action
He drinks milk everyday
❖To express a truth
The sun rises in the east
❖Sentences starting with here and there
•Here comes the bus, There he goes
❖Future incidents of fixed time table
The train starts at 9-30 pm
❖In the first conditional
If he studies well, he will pass the examination
❖Usually followed by words like if, when, while,
as, as soon as, untill, unless, till etc.
Let’s wait till he finishes his work
Please ring me up as soon as he comes
❖For currently happening actions
He is drinking milk right now
❖For actions shortly going to happen
I am going to a movie tonight
❖In some special cases
I am thinking of going to Nellore
She is tasting the soup to see if it
needs any salt
❖For a recently completed actions
He has just gone out
❖Past incidents not mentioning specified
time
I have never known him to be angry
Harihas been to Japan
❖For past actions ( their effect is still
experiencing )
He has eaten all the chocolates ( There
aren’t left any )
❖For past actions continued up to now
They have lived here for 10 years
I have known him for a long time
❖For an action which started in the past
and continued up to now
He has been eating since morning
She has been sleeping for 5 hours
❖For a completed action in the
past(usually followed by an adverb of
time )
I received a letter from him last week
He joined in the school yesterday
❖Some times it comes with out an
adverb but the importance of time should
be there
I didn’t sleep well
❖When expressing our old habits
She always carried an umbrella
He studied many hours a day
❖For a continuing action in the past
We were listening to radio all evening
❖In a continued action in the past, if
another action takes place then we use
Simple past for the new action
The light went out while I was reading
❖For expressing long run habits
He was always smoking
❖If two actions takes place in the past,
the one Which comes first should be in
Past Perfect and the next one should be
in Simple Past
I had written the letter before he
arrived
When I reached the station, the train
had already started
❖For an action started in the past and
had been continuing to the moment we
are talking in the past
At that time he had been writing
novels for 5 years
When Haricame to my house
yesterday, my father had been
watching TV since morning
❖When taking about consequences
which are not in our hands
I shall be 20 next Saturday
It will be Diwaliin a week
❖For assumed actions
I think Pakistan will win the match
I’m sure Ravi will get the first class.
❖To express what may happen when you
are talking
It is raining, I will take an umbrella
❖For an action which will be continued
for some time in the future
This time tomorrow it will be raining
here
I shall be watching a movie by 9-30
am tomorrow
❖For programmes which are going to
start in future
He will be meeting us next week
The post man will be coming soon
❖For an action which will be completed
some time in the future
By the end of this month I will have
worked here for 5 years
He will have left before you go to see
him
❖For an action which will be continuing
for some time in the future to the
moment we are talking
By next March we will have been
living here for 4 years
I shall have been teaching for 5 years
by this date next year