Tenses in English Grammar | Simple Present & Uses

CONTENTS

1. Forms of Verbs

2. Conjugation of verbs

3. Position of BE and Have Verbs.

4. Tense and its Types.

5. Simple Present- Structure and Uses with examples.

Forms of Verbs

​BE VERBS	​am, is, are, was, were
​HAVE VERBS	​have, has, had
​STRONG VERBS	​Write- wrote- Written (Note: Strong Verbs or irregular verbs form their past tense by changing the inside vowels of present tense.)
​WEAK VERBS	​flow- flowed/ feel- felt etc. (Note: Weak verbs also called regular verbs form their past tense by adding ‘-d, -ed, or –t’. )

2.Conjugation of verbs

Conjugation of Regular/Irregular Verbs.

3.Position of BE and Have Verbs.

4.Tense and its Types.

• Tense refers to different Stages of time when a work is done.

Tense has three forms.

• Present Tense

• Past Tense

• Future Tense

• Present Tense : I watch TV everyday.

• Past Tense : I watched TV yesterday.

• Future: I shall watch TV this evening.

Present Tense

• A verb that represents the present time is said to be in Present tense.

• Tense basically refers to time.

• Every Tense has Four Forms.

• Simple Present

• Present Continuous

• Present Perfect

• Present Perfect Continuous

Examples

• I sing a song ( Simple Present Tense)

• I am Singing a song ( Present Cont)

• I have sung a song. ( Present Perfect)

• I have been singing a song (Present Perfect Continuous Tense)

5. Simple Present- Structure and Uses with examples.

Uses of Simple Present Tense

1. To indicate a work that happens at the present time.

Ex: He reads the newspaper.

2. To indicate a habitual action.

Ex: She goes for a walk every morning.

3. To indicate a fixed future event.

Ex: The match starts at 9 o’ clock.

4. To express a general truth.

Ex: Fortune favours the brave.

5. In broadcasting commentaries on sporting events.

Ex: Ronaldo defends himself, passes the ball etc.

6. In newspaper headlines to describe the past events.

Ex: Bus accident kills five/ Six die in boat capsize.

7. Used for dramatic narrative to indicate historic present.

Ex: Gandhiji utters the word ‘Hey Ram’ and dies.

8. To introduce a quotation

Ex: John says, ‘ All that glitters is not gold.’

Interrogative & Negative structure of Simple Present Tense

1. Interrogative Structure:

Do/Does +Subject + Verb + Object/Complement

Ex:

• Do you walk in the morning?

• Does he practise swimming?

2. Negative Structure

Subject +do not /does not + V1 + Obj/ Complement

Ex:

• I do not play cricket.

• He does not play cricket.

Present Continuous Tense

1. To express an action that happens at the moment.

Ex: I am watching TV now.

2.To express a future event.

Ex: The Prime Minister is visiting Nagpur today.

Note: Time adverbials like ‘ at the moment’ , presently, now are used with present continuous tense.

Present Continuous Tense

a) Structure

• Sub + am/is/are + V1 + ing + object/complement

• I am/we are/He is/They are watching a match now.

b) Uses

1. To express an action that happens at the moment.

• I am watching TV now.

2. To express a future event.

• The PM is visiting Nagpur today.

Note: Time adverbials like ‘ at the moment’ , presently, now are used with present continuous tense.

Present Perfect Tense

Structure:

1.Subject + have/has + V3 + Object/Complement

Ex: I have done my work/He has done his work.

2. Negative Structure

Sub+ have not/has not+ V3 +object/Complement

• I have not /He has not done this

3. Interrogative Structure:

Have/Has + V3 + obj/Complement

• Have you gone there?

• Has he done his work?

Uses

1. To express an action that has just completed.

• I have taken tea.

2.To describe a past experience.

• I have been to Manali twice.

3. To express an action that began in the past and still continues in present.

• I have not received any letter from him since October 2019.

• I have lived this place for five years.

Present Perfect Continuous Tense

Structure

1.Subject + have been /has been + V1 + ing + Object/Complement

• I have been reading a book since morning.

2. Negative Structure

Sub+ have not been /has not been + V3 +object/ Complement

• I have not been writing for an hour.

• He has not been playing since morning.

Note: We use ‘for’ to indicate a period of time and ‘since’ for a point of time in present perfect & perfect continuous tense.

Use

We use present perfect continuous tense to show an action that started in the past and is still continuing till the present.

Ex: I have been/ He has been/ They have been watching a movie for two hours.