Tenses in English Grammar Sem 2

Tenses in English Grammar Sem 2

Verbs come in three tenses: past, present, and future. The past is used to describe things that have already happened (e.g., earlier in the day, yesterday, last week, three years ago). The present tense is used to describe things that are happening right now, or things that are continuous

 

Past Tenses

The past tense in English is used:

to talk about the past

to talk about hypotheses (when we imagine something)

for politeness.

There are four past tense forms in English:

Past simple:	I worked
Past continuous:	I was working
Past perfect:	I had worked
Past perfect continuous:	I had been working

 

We use these forms: to talk about the past:

He worked at McDonald's. He had worked there since July.
He was working at McDonald's. He had been working there since July.

to refer to the present or future in hypotheses:

It might be dangerous. Suppose they got lost.

This use is very common in wishes:

I wish it wasn't so cold.

and in conditions with if:

He could get a new job if he really tried.
If Jack was playing, they would probably win.

For hypotheses, wishes and conditions in the past, we use the past perfect:

It was very dangerous. What if you had got lost?
I wish I hadn't spent so much money last month.
I would have helped him if he had asked.

and also to talk about the present in a few polite expressions:

Excuse me, I was wondering if this was the train for York.

Past Tense for English Grammar - Notes

Verbs has three tenses: Past, Present and Future

·        The Present Tense is used to describe things that are happening right now, or things that are continuous.

·        The Past Tense is used to describe things that have already happened.

·        The Future Tense describes things that are yet to happen.

 

Tense of a verb indicates the time during which an action or event has occurred. Tenses are forms taken by verbs to indicate the time of an action (also its continuance and

accomplishment) with reference to the time of utterance.

 

The Past Tense is a grammatical tense whose principal function is to place an action or situation in past time. The Past Tense expresses actions that has occurred or a state that existed previously.

Types of Past Tense for English Grammar

·        Simple Past

·        Past Continuous

·        Past Perfect

·        Past Perfect Continuous 

 It is usually formed using the past participle form of the base verb, and usually ‘ed’ is added to the base form to make simple past tense. The auxiliary did + base form is also used for the formation of the simple past tense. Unlike other forms of Past Tense, Simple Past is the one which is used most often.

 

Examples:

·        Rina studied yesterday at 2 in the afternoon.

·        Preetam called the police.

·        Priya completed her work last week.

·        She did not cheat in the exam.

·        Did you knock at the door last night?

·        I washed cars for 3 years.

 

Consider the given tables:

bject	Auxiliary Verb	Negation	Main Verb	Object
I			completed	my task
She			made	history
You			went	to school
They			saw	me
We	did	not	forgive	him
He	did	not	recite	the poem
Did	I/ we/ you/ they/ he/ she/ it		recognize	him?
Did	I/ we/ you/ they/ he/ she/ it	not	punish	him?

 

 

However, to be verb is different in the Simple Past Tense:

 

Subject	Main Verb	Negation	Object
I, he/she/it	was		sure
You, We, They	were		wrong
I, he/she/it	was	not	sad
You, We, They	were	not	strong
Was	I, he/she/it		angry?
Were	You, We, They	not	happy?

2.     Past Continuous/ Progressive (Subject + was/were +V1+ ing + Object)

This tense is used to describe an action that went on for some time in the past. This tense is usually used when the action concerned was in progress during another action happened in the past.

 

Examples:

·        I was learning my lesson.

·        At 6 p.m. yesterday, I was knitting a sweater. (The event was continuing at the specified time. It may have started earlier and ended later than the mentioned time.)

·        Christina was taking a nap while I was reading newspaper. (Two actions existed simultaneously, so past continuous can be used for both)

·        Shushmita was writing on the blackboard when the teacher entered the classroom. (The past continuous tense is used to express a long action. And the italicized part is in the simple past tense which expresses a short action that happens in the middle of the long action. We can join the two ideas with when.)

·        My daughter spilt the milk while I was taking rest in the bedroom. (The past continuous tense is used to express a long action. And the italicized part is in the simple past tense which expresses a short action that happens in the middle of the long action. We can join the two ideas with)

⇒ when should be followed by the short action (simple past tense)

⇒ while should be followed by the long action (past continuous tense) Consider the following:

I was cleaning the room (long action)	when	the bell rang. (short action)
When	the bell rang (short action)	I was cleaning the room. (long action)
The lights went off (short action)	while	we were having dinner. (long action)
While	we were having dinner (long action)	the lights went off. (short action)

Look at these example sentences with the past continuous tense:

 

Subject	Auxiliary Verb	Negation	Main Verb	Object
I	was		writing	an article
You	were		speaking	French
She	was		sipping	coffee
We	were		playing	hockey
He	was	not	working	hard
Was	she		studying	in the morning?
Were	they	not	collecting	wood?

 

3.     Past Perfect (sub + had + v3 + object)

This tense describes an action which has ended in the past. It denotes an action completed at some point in the past before another action started. It generally compares two actions that took place in different time periods in the past.

 

Examples

·        The ceremony had begun way before we arrived. (The event of ceremony

started before the act of arrival took place.)

·        Saurav had eaten an apple when he left for work. (This means Saurav ate an apple before he went to work.)

·        Priya had left the party when the delegation arrived.

 

Look at the following example sentences with the past perfect tense:

 

Subject	Auxiliary Verb	Negation	Main Verb	Object
I	had		read	the book
You	had		shook	my belief
She	had		been	to Moscow
We	had		brought	Lily home
He	had	not	completed	his work
Had	she		prepared	tea?
Had	they		prayed	before dinner?

4.      Past Perfect Continuous (Subject + had been +V1 + ing + Object)

This tense describes actions that began at a point of time in the past and continued for a specific length of time up to another moment in the past.

 

Examples:

·        I had been reading the book since 9 in the morning.

·        The house looked very clean because Maya had been cleaning it for several days.

·        Atul passed with flying colors because he had been working.

·        Maria was disappointed as she had been waiting for two hours.

 

Look at the following example sentences with the past perfect continuous tense:

 

 

Subject	Auxiliary Verb	Negation	Auxiliary Verb	Main Verb	Object
I	had		been	waiting	for 2 hours
You	had		been	consuming	alcohol
It	had		been	functioning	well
We	had	not	been	reaching	on time
Had	they	not	been	making	faces?
Had	you		been	spending	a lot of money?