Tenses are forms of verbs that show the time of an action or event and sometimes indicate whether the action is completed, ongoing, or yet to happen.
A tense chart generally helps to organize the chart by time and shows how sentences are formed using different tenses.
Types of Tenses
In English Grammar, there are three types of Tenses.
Each tense has various forms and can be further categorized into simple, continuous, perfect, and perfect continuous tenses. The choice of tenses depends on the context, the intended meaning, and the relationship between the action and the time being referred to.
There are 12 tenses which are as follows:
Tenses | Tenses Forms |
|---|---|
Present Tense | |
Past Tense | |
Future Tense | |
Rules and Examples
| Tenses | Rules and Formula |
|---|---|
| Simple Present Tense | Subject + V1 (s/es) + Object |
Simple Past Tense | Subject + V2 (ed) + Object |
Simple Future Tense | Subject + will/shall + V1 + Object |
| Present Continuous Tense | Subject + am/is/are + V1 + ing + Object |
Past Continuous Tense | Subject + was/were + V1 + ing + Object |
Future Continuous Tense | Subject + will/shall + be + V1 + ing + Object |
| Present Perfect Tense | Subject+ has/have + V3 + Object |
Past Perfect Tense | Subject + had + V3 + Object |
Future Perfect Tense | Subject + will /shall + have + V3 + Object |
| Present Perfect Continuous Tense | Subject + has/have + been + V1+ ing + Object + for/since + time |
| Past Perfect Continuous Tense | Subject + had + been + V1 + ing + Object + for/since + time |
| Future Perfect Continuous Tense | Subject + will have been + V1 + ing + Object + for/from + time |
Simple Tenses:
1. Simple Present Tense: This tenses express habitual action or the universal truth.
The General Formula for Present Simple Tense is:
Subject + V1 (s/es) + Object
Example: She wakes up early every morning.
2. Simple Past Tense: This tense describes the actions happened or completed in the past.
The General formula for Past Simple Tense is:
Subject + V2 (ed) + Object
Example: They played cricket yesterday.
3. Simple Future Tense: This tense generally indicates that an action that will occur in the future.
The General Formula for Future Simple Tense is:
Subject + will/shall + V1 + Object
Example: I will go to school next morning.
Continuous Tenses:
4. Present Continuous Tense: This tense describes situations that are happening in the present.
The General Formula for Present Continuous Tense is:
Subject + Helping Verb(am/is/are) + Main verb (V1) + ing + Object
Example: They are playing cricket to practice for the tournament.
5. Past Continuous Tense: This tense refers to actions that were happening in the past.
The General Formula for Past Continuous Tense is:
Subject + Helping Verb(was/were) + Main verb (V1) + ing + Object
Example: She was playing cricket when I called her.
6. Future Continuous Tense: This tense refers to the actions that generally going to happen within a specific time in the future.
The General Formula for Future Continuous Tense is:
Subject + will /shall + be + V1 + ing + Object
Example: I will be working late tomorrow.
Perfect Tenses:
7. Present Perfect Tense: This tense refers to the actions that has recently finished.
The General Formula for Present Perfect Tense is:
Subject + Helping Verb (has/have) + V3 + Object + for/since + time
Example: He has come to Delhi recently.
8. Past Perfect Tense: This tense refers to the action completed in past.
If two action takes place in the past, one after the other, the first action will be in Past Perfect Tense and the second action will be in Simple Past Tense.
The General Formula for Past Perfect Tense is:
Subject + Helping Verb (had) + V3 + Object
Example: She had already eaten when he arrived
9. Future Perfect Tense: This tense describes actions that will certainly be completed at a point in future.
The General Formula for Future Perfect Tense is:
Subject + will /shall + have + V3 + Object
Example: By this time I reach the station, the train will have left.
Perfect Continuous Tenses:
10. Present Perfect Continuous: This tense refers to the action began in past and still in progress.
Used with time phrases like for, since, long, all week.
The General Formula for Present Perfect Continuous is:
Subject + has/have + been + V1 + ing + Object
Example: I have been Studying all day.
11. Past Perfect Continuous: This tense refers to the action that is generally initiated in the past, continued and finished in the past.
The General Formula for Present Perfect Continuous is:
Subject + had + been + V1 + ing +Object + for/since + time
Example: I had been waiting for you since the morning.
12. Future Perfect Continuous: This tense refers to the actions that will continue up until a point in the future.
The General Formula for Present Perfect Continuous is:
Subject + shall/will + have + been + V1 + ing + Object + for/from + time
Example: I shall have been living in Delhi for five years by the end of this year.
Utilizing the Tense Chart
To make effective and perfect use of the Tense Chart, Consider the following steps:
- Check the Time Frame: While checking the action you need to check the time whether the action is happening in the future, past, or present. The only thing you need to understand is to check the time frame of the sentences.
- Appropriate tense: Understand the time frame and then select the relevant tense for the same. After selecting the timeframe choose an appropriate tense to use in a sentence.
- Sentences need to be constructed: Understand the structure of the tense identify verbs, verb forms, and necessary adverbs or prepositions.
- Do practice: By practicing regularly will help you to get a better understanding and the usage of the different tenses. Learning the usage of tenses is not tough you need to practice it accordingly.