Tenses | English Grammar for Junior Classes - Class 1 PDF Download

Introduction to Tenses

• Tenses help us talk about when things happen - in the past, present, or future.
• In English, there are three main tenses: Past, Present, and Future.

1. Present Tense:

• Present Tense talks about things happening now.
• Use the base form of the verb (the verb without 'to') for most actions in the present.

Examples:

• I eat an apple. (action happening now)
• She plays with her toys. (action happening now)

2. Past Tense:

• Past Tense talks about things that happened before now.
• Add 'ed' to regular verbs to make them past tense.

Examples:

• I ate an apple. (action happened in the past)
• He watched a movie yesterday. (action happened in the past)

3. Future Tense:

• Future Tense talks about things that will happen later.
• Use "will" before the base form of the verb for most future actions.

Examples:

• I will eat an apple. (action will happen in the future)
• They will go to the park tomorrow. (action will happen in the future)

4. Present Continuous Tense:

• Present Continuous Tense talks about actions happening right now.
• Use "am/is/are" + the base form of the verb + 'ing'.

Examples:

• I am eating an apple. (action happening right now)
• She is playing with her toys. (action happening right now)

5. Past Continuous Tense:

• Past Continuous Tense talks about actions that were happening in the past.
• Use "was/were" + the base form of the verb + 'ing'.

Examples:

• I was eating an apple when the phone rang. (action happening in the past)
• They were playing in the garden yesterday. (action happening in the past)

6. Future Continuous Tense:

• Future Continuous Tense talks about actions that will be happening at some point in the future.
• Use "will be" + the base form of the verb + 'ing'.

Examples:

• I will be eating dinner at 7 PM. (action in the future)
• She will be playing with her friends tomorrow. (action in the future)

7. Present Perfect Tense:

• Present Perfect Tense talks about actions that happened at an unspecified time before now.
• Use "have/has" + the past participle form of the verb.

Examples:

• I have eaten lunch. (action happened at an unspecified time before now)
• He has visited the museum. (action happened at an unspecified time before now)

8. Past Perfect Tense:

• Past Perfect Tense talks about actions that happened before another action in the past.
• Use "had" + the past participle form of the verb.

Examples:

• I had already eaten lunch when she called. (action happened before another action in the past)
• They had finished their homework before going out. (action happened before another action in the past)

9. Future Perfect Tense:

• Future Perfect Tense talks about actions that will be completed before some point in the future.
• Use "will have" + the past participle form of the verb.

Examples:

• By 5 PM, I will have finished my work. (action will be completed before a point in the future)
• She will have read the book by next week. (action will be completed before a point in the future)