1. Read the following sentences carefully :
(a) Birds fly in the air.
(b) My brother flew to England last week.
(c) I shall fly a kite on Sunday.
In the first sentence the Verb ‘fly* refers to the action in Present time, in the second sentence the Verb ‘flew’ refers to the action in the Past, while the Verb in the third sentence ‘shall fly’ refers to the action in Future.
2. The Tense of a Verb shows the time when an action takes place.
There are three Tenses :
(i) Present Tense
(ii) Past Tense
(iii) Future Tense
3. In order to show at what stage an action is, each of the three tenses has been sub-divided into four heads.
These sub-divisions are—
Tense | Indefinite | Continuous or Progressive | Perfect | Perfect Continuous |
Present | I play | I am playing | I have played | I have been playing |
Past | I played | I was playing | I had played | I had been playing |
Future | I shall play | I shall be playing | I shall have played | I shall have been playing |
Thus, the tense of a verb does not show the time of an action or event alone. It shows the state of that action also.
1. THE PRESENT TENSE
A. Simple Present Tense
The Simple Present is used to express :
(i) A habitual action
(ii) A general truth
(iii) What is happening (in exclamatory sentences only)
(iv) An order or request.
(i) A habitual action :
→ I go for a walk daily.
→ He comes to school at 8 O’clock.
(ii) General truth :
→ The sun rises in the east.
→ Two and two make four.
(iii) What is happening :
→ Here comes the chief guest!
(iv) An order or request:
→ Obey your teachers.
EXERCISE 1
Q.1. Fill in the blanks in the following with the correct form of the verb given in brackets : (Present Tense)
(i) I _______ in Model Town. (live)
Ans. Live
(ii) The mother _______ food for us. (cook)
Ans. Cooks
(iii) She _______ to temple every morning. (go)
Ans. Goes
(iv) He _______ on me whenever he wants. (call)
Ans. Calls
(v) I _______ what my sister _______. (eat)
Ans. Eat, Eats
(vi) My father _______ from his office in the evening. (return)
Ans. Returns.
B. Present Continuous Tense
(Is/am/ are + Verb + ing)
(i) In order to form the Present Continuous Tense, we add Present Participle to is, am or are. The Present Participle is formed by adding ‘ing’ to the first form of the verb.
‘Is’ is used with he, she, it or Third Person Singular Noun, ‘am’ is used with T and ‘are’ is used with we, you, they and plural Nouns. .
Examples: She is singing a song.
(ii) In Interrogative form, the helping verb is used before the subject.
Is/am/are + Subject + (Verb + ing) …. ?)
Examples: Are you going home ?
(iii) In Negative form, we add ‘not between the Principal Verb and the operative helping verb.
[Subject + is/am/are + not + (Verb + ing) …]
Examples: She is not weeping.
Uses of the Present Continuous Tense
The Present Continuous Tense is used with the words—at this time, at present, at the moment, now, nowadays, still etc. and in the following cases :
(a) To describe an action in progress and/or the continuity of the action.
The girls are singing a chorus.
(b) To describe an action in progress, but not necessarily at the time of speaking.
India is exporting onions to the Middle East.
What are you writing these days ?
EXERCISE 2
Q.1. Fill in the following blanks with correct the Present Continuous Tense of the verbs given in brackets :
(i) Look ! the sun ________. (rise)
Ans. Is rising
(ii) Why _______ you so fast ? (run)
Ans. Are, Running
(iii) The children _______ in the park. (play)
Ans. Are playing
(iv) Mohini ________ a novel now. (read)
Ans. Is reading
(v) Water _______ from the running tap. (flow)
Ans. Is flowing
(vi) ______ it ________ outside now ? (rain)
Ans. Is, Raining
(vii) What ______ your sister these days ? (do)
Ans. Is, Doing.
C. Present Perfect Tense
(Subject + Has /have + III form of the verb)
(i) In the Present Perfect Tense the past participle (III) form of the verb is used with has or have. ‘Has’ is added with third person singular subjects, as—‘he’, ‘she’, ‘if and ‘Have’ is added with T, ‘we’, ‘you’, ‘they and plural nouns.
(a) He has won a prize.
(b) You have insulted me.
(c) I have taken the dose of medicine.
(ii) In Interrogative form [Has, have are placed before the subject.]
(Has/have + Subject + III form of the Verb…?)
(a) Have they crossed the river ?
(b) Where have you seen my brother ?
(iii) In Negative form [‘not’ is used between the main verb and the helping verb.]
(Subject : has /have + not + III form of the Verb…)
(a) She has not come yet.
(b) I have not received any information.
USES OF THE PRESENT PERFECT TENSE
The Present Perfect Tense is used with the words : yet, as yet, already, just, just now, so far, since, ever since, presently, once, twice, thrice etc. and in the following cases :
(a) To express an action that has been recently completed.
→ I have just received the letter.
(b) To describe an action the time of which is not given.
→ The train has steamed in.
(c) To describe a past experience.
→ I have seen this picture several times.
(d) To express an action that began in the Past and still continues.
→ He has worked in this school for five years, (is still working)
EXERCISE 3
Q.1. Fill in the following blanks with the Present Perfect Tense of the verbs given in brackets :
(i) Where _______ you _______ your purse ? (lose)
Ans. Have, lost
(ii) _______ she not yet _______ her work ? (finish)
Ans. Has, finished
(iii) How many sums _______ she ? (solve)
Ans. Has, solved
(iv) My sister _______ from Meerut presently. (return)
Ans. Has returned
(v) Raju _______ Saroj since 1980. (know)
Ans. Has known
(vi) Asha _______ never _______ the Red Fort. (see)
Ans. Has, seen.
D. Present Perfect Continuous Tense
(Subject + has /have + been + I form of the Verb + trig…)
In order to form the Present Perfect Continuous Tense, we put has been or have been before the Present Participle Form of the Verb ; as—
→ It has been raining for two hours.
→ I have been flying a kite since 2 O’clock.
(a) The Present Perfect Continuous Tense is used to describe an action that began in the Past, is still continuing and may extend into the Future; as—
→ She has been waiting for you for three hours.
→ They have been playing cards since 10 A. M.
(b) This tense is also used to express an action in a sentence which begins with ‘For how long’ or ‘Since when’, as in—
→ For how long have you been sitting here ?
→ Since when has he been living in this house ?
(c) This tense is also used to express an action which began in the past and has been just completed. However, its result is visible in the present, as in—
→ I have been studying since morning and I am much tired now.
→ She has been washing the dishes for an hour and her clothes are dirty now.
Note: Since is used for a point of time.
For is used for a period of time.
EXERCISE 4
Q.1. Fill in the following blanks with correct tense (Present Perfect Continuous) of the verbs given in brackets :
(i) It _______ outside for half an hour. (hail)
Ans. Has been hailing
(ii) The storm _______ since 4 O’clock. (howl)
Ans. Has been howling
(iii) I _______ for the bus since morning. (wait)
Ans. Have been waiting
(iv) Since when _______ you _______ in this school ? (read)
Ans. Have, been reading
(v) It _______ not _______ since midnight. (rain)
Ans. Has, been raining/has, rained
(vi) She _______ midnight oil for five years. (bum)
Ans. Has bumt/has been burning
(vii) I _______ for the examination for one year. (prepare)
Ans. Have been preparing.
EXERCISE 5
Q.1. Fill in the blanks with correct present tense form of the verbs given in brackets:
(i) Water _______ at 100°C. (boll)
Ans. Boils
(ii) We _______ a hockey match tomorrow. (play)
Ans. Are playing
(iii) _______ your brother _______ his account ? (clear)
Ans. Has, cleared
(iv) The cattle _______ In the field. (graze)
Ans. Graze
(v) She _______ meat several times. (taste)
Ans. Has tasted
Q.2. Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the verbs (present tense) given in brackets:
(i) There _______ (go) the bell!
Ans. Goes
(ii) If you _______ not _______ (obey), you will be punished.
Ans. Do, obey
(iii) _______ you _______ (go) for a walk daily ?
Ans. Do, go
(iv) The players _______ (warm) themselves up at the moment.
Ans. Are warming
(v) The train _______ just _______ (arrive).
Ans. Has, arrived
Q.3. Supply the correct form of the verbs (present tense) given in brackets:
(i) Ask him what he (want).
Ans. Wants
(ii) The girls (rehearse) a play for the School Day.
Ans. Are Rehearsing
(iii) She (absent) herself since Monday last.
Ans. Has been absenting
(iv) What (make) you laugh ?
Ans. Makes
(v) I (fly) to New York next week.
Ans. Am flying.
7 videos|128 docs|40 tests
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1. What are the different tenses covered in Class 7? |
2. How do we form the present continuous tense? |
3. What is the difference between the simple past tense and the past continuous tense? |
4. How do we form the present perfect tense? |
5. When do we use the future simple tense? |
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