Understanding the Tenses - Verb Forms | English Grammar (Communicative) Interact In English- Class 9 PDF Download

15. Understanding the tenses:

The tense forms that have been practised and discussed in this chapter, allow you to show accurately and subtly the time and the relationship of actions and events with it. We use them in speech and writing.

Understanding and recognising how the tense forms are used.

15.1 Can you identify the present tense forms.

Note - Present Perfect is used for recent past without time expression.

15.2 Present Continuous

1. I am playing tennis
2. You are reading well.
3. She is looking at something.    

✏ Present Continuous means on going action.
✏ There are certain verbs related to perception, appearing, emotion and thinking are not used in a continuous form. A few are:
see, hear, smell, notice, want, wish, look, seem, think, suppose, agree, own, imagine.

15.3 

Simple Past

1. I knew about it
2. You took it away
3. She finished her work. 

Past Perfect

1. I had known about it
2. You had taken it away.
3. She had finished her work

✏ Simple Past is used for past action with time expression.
✏ Past Perfect is used to show which action occurred first if two actions took place in past.

15.4

✏ Past continuous is used to denote on going action for some time in past. It is also used to show persistent habits in the past.

16. Present Perfect Continuous
Read the following sentences with the present perfect continuous tense form
1. Mr and Mrs Singh have been living in the same house in the same town for the last five years.
2. "Have you been keeping your pocket money safely, Rani?"
3. Petrol prices have been going up steadily this year.

✏ These sentences illustrate the main use of the Present Perfect Continuous tense to show that the action started in the past and is still in progress in the present.