Tenses and its Kinds | English Grammar Class 7 PDF Download

Tenses in English

A tense is a form of a verb that shows time. The tense of the verb tells us when an event happened, when something exists, or when a person does something. Past, present and future are the three main types of tenses.

What Are The Three Main Types Of Tenses And Why Do We Need Them?

Past, present and future are the three main types of tenses.

Past tense
The past tense is used to describe an activity or a state that occurred in the past. It often includes a time marker to show when the event or action took place.

Structural formula:
Subject + verb (2nd form) + object.

Examples:

• We met yesterday.
• He bought a new laptop last week.

Present tense
The simple present tense is used to talk about actions that are happening now, actions that happen regularly (habits), or states that are generally true.

Structural formula:
Subject + verb (s/es for third person singular) + object.

Examples:

• She lives in Spain.
• Bob drives a taxi.

Future tense
The future tense is used to describe an event or action that has not yet happened but is expected to happen later.

Structural formula:
Subject + shall/will + verb + object.

Example:

He will be here soon.

Now that we have understood the three main types of tenses, speaking and writing in English will become easier. To communicate more clearly we also need to learn the different subtypes of tenses listed below.

Subtypes Of Tenses

1. Past continuous tense
The past continuous tense is used to describe actions that were in progress at a particular time in the past.

Structural formula:
Subject + helping verb (was/were) + verb (-ing) + object.

Examples:

• I was watching TV.
• We were sleeping.
• She wasn't eating her lunch.

2. Past perfect tense
The past perfect tense is used to show that one past action happened before another past action.

Structural formula:
Subject + had + past participle (3rd form) + object.

Examples:

• He had gone when she became ill.
• She had not lived in New York.
• They had not been married long when I was born.

3. Past perfect continuous tense
The past perfect continuous tense shows an action that began before a certain time in the past and continued up to that time.

Structural formula:
Subject + had been + verb (-ing) + object (optional) + time marker.

Examples:

• We had been playing games for six hours when Dad came home.
• She had been reading magazines for a month before she decided to apply for the job.
• Had she been washing dishes all day?

4. Present continuous tense
The present continuous tense is used to talk about actions or events that are happening now and are not yet finished.

Structural formula:
Subject + helping verb (am/is/are) + main verb (-ing) + object.

Examples:

• She is playing basketball.
• Birds are flying in the sky.
• I'm learning English.

5. Present perfect tense
The present perfect tense is used to describe actions or experiences that happened at some time in the past but have a connection with the present. We usually do not use definite past time markers (like yesterday) with this tense.

Structural formula:
Subject + helping verb (have/has) + past participle (3rd form) + object.

Examples:

• She has not finished her work yet.
• I have seen that movie twice.
• We have visited LA several times.

6. Present perfect continuous tense
The present perfect continuous tense shows an action that began in the past and continues up to the present, often with emphasis on the duration.

Structural formula:
Subject + have/has + been + verb (-ing) + object (optional) + since/for + time duration.

Examples:

• I have been learning English for many years.
• He has been working here since 2010.
• We have been saving money.

7. Future continuous tense
The future continuous tense describes an action that will be in progress at a certain time in the future.

Structural formula:
Subject + shall/will be + verb (-ing) + object.

Examples:

• He will be coming to visit us next week.
• She will be watching TV.
• He will be writing a letter to Mary.

8. Future perfect tense
The future perfect tense describes an action that will be completed before a specific time in the future.

Structural formula:
Subject + shall/will + have + past participle (3rd form) + object.

Examples:

• They will have finished the film before we get home.
• She will have cleaned the house by 9 pm.

9. Future perfect continuous tense
The future perfect continuous tense focuses on the duration of an action up to a point in the future.

Structural formula:
Subject + shall/will + have been + verb (-ing) + object (optional) + time instant.

Examples:

• He will have been studying hard for two weeks before the exam.
• By the time the alarm goes off, we will have been sleeping for eight hours.

Examples Of Tenses In English