Tenses

Tenses play a crucial role in the English language. It denotes the time an
action takes place, whether sometime in the past, in the present or will take
some time in the future.

The table below gives a glimpse of the way tenses are used using the verb
'play'

Types of Tenses

PAST TENSE

1) Simple Past Tense -

Indicates an action took place before the present moment and that has no
real connection with the present time.
For example, "He danced in the function." (The action took place in the past,
is finished and is completely unrelated to the present)
"He flew to London yesterday."
Note

a.The Verb flew' is an irregular verb which does not take 'ed' in the past
tense like regular verbs.
b. The form of Simple Past Tense-is - verb + ed

2) Past Perfect Tense -

Indicates an action in the past that had been completed before another time
or event in the past.
For example, "He had exercised before it started to rain."
"He had slept before I came back from the market."
Note
a. The form of Past Perfect Tense- is- had + verb (past participle form or
the 3rd form of the verb)

3) Past Continuous Tense -

Indicates an action going on at some time in the past or an action in the past
that is longer in duration than another action in the past.
For example, "It was getting darker."
"The light went out while theywere reading."
Note
a. The form of Past Continuous Tense- is- was/were + verb + ing

4) Past Perfect Continuous Tense -

Indicates an action in the past that took place before another time or event in
the past and continued during the second event/time point in the past.
For example, "At that time, he had been writing a novel for two months."
"He had been exercising when I called."

Note
a. The form of Past Perfect Continuous Tense- is- had + been + verb +
ing

PRESENT TENSE

1) Simple Present Tense -

Indicates an action that is generally true or habitual. That is, it took place in
the past , continue to take place in the present, and will take place in the
future. This tense is used to denote
-a habitual action- for instance, "He walk to school."
-general truths- for instance, "The sun rises in the east", "Honesty is the best
policy."
-a future event that is part of a fixed timetable- for instance, "The match starts
at 9 o' clock."
Note
a. The form of Simple Present Tense- is- verb (infinitive without 'to' and
agreeable with the subject)

2) Present Perfect Tense -

Indicates an action that has been completed sometime before the present
moment, with a result that affects the present situation.
For example, "He has finished the work."
"He has slept."
Note
a. The form of Present Perfect Tense- is- has/have + verb (past participle
form or 3rd form of the verb)

3) Present Continuous Tense -

Indicates an action that is taking place at the moment of speaking.

4) Present Perfect Continuous Tense -

Indicates an action that started in the past and is continuing at the present
time.
For example, "He has been sleeping for an hour."
Note
a. The form of Present Perfect Continuous Tense- is- has/have + been +
verb + ing

FUTURE TENSE

1) Simple Future Tense-

Indicates an action that will take place after the present time and that has no
real connection with the present time.
For example, "She will visit her ailing grandmother soon."
"He will walk home."
Note
a. the form of Simple Future Tense- is- will/shall + verb

2) Future Perfect Tense -

Indicates an action in the future that will have been completed before another
time or event in the future.
For example, "By the time we arrive, he will have studied."

Note
a. The form of Future Perfect Tense- is- will/shall have + verb(past
participle form or 3rd form of the verb)

3) Future Continuous Tense -

Indicates an action in the future that is longer in duration than another action
in the future.
For example, "He will be walking when it starts to rain."
Note
a. The form of Future Continuous Tense is-will/shall be + verb + ing

4) Future Perfect Continuous Tense -

Q1.Choose the correct verb from those in brackets:

a. The earth _____ round the sun. (move, moves, moved)

b. My friends _____ the film yesterday. (see, saw, have seen)

c. It started to rain while we _____ tennis. (are playing, had played, were
playing)

d. I _____ English for five years. (have been studying, study, am studying)

e. The train _____ before we reach the station. (arrives, will have arrived, had
arrived)

f. Don't disturb me. I _____ my work. (do, did, am doing)

g. Fortune _____ the brave. (is favouring, will favour, favours)

h. I _____ the letter before you arrived. (had written, wrote, will write)

i. He _____ us next week. (will have met, will have been meeting, will be
meeting)

j. Perhaps we _____ Delhi next month. (visit, will visit, visited)

Q2.Complete the dialogue.

Rashid: Rahul! Your friend Manas has sent you a postcard. It’s from Kerala. It
____ (look) nice.
Rahul: I bet it does!
Rashid: He ____ (write) that it’s very hot there. There ___ (be) a lot of
tourists. The hotels ____ (be) full. He ____ (say) the restaurants ____ (be)
always full!
Rahul: Yes. I’m sure it is. The papers____ (say) that the temperature there is
30C.
Rashid: Then he ___ (write) that he has learnt a bit of Malayalam, and that he
____ (get on) well with the people there, especially the women!
Rashid: Look, didn’t the newspaper ____ (say) that there’s another strike in
Kerala.
Rahul: Yes, it did Manas won’t mind having to stay in Kerala longer!

Q3. Correct the following sentences:

i. I lived in Calcutta since 1930.

ii. She died before her husband came.

iii. I have written a letter to her last Monday.

iv. I am reading Kalidasa for the last six days.

v. The new hotel has been opened last Saturday.

vi. He had gone to Madras last week.

vii. The train leave the station before I reached there.

viii. I wish my men had been coming quickly and find us.

ix. At the moment the baby sleep in the cradle.

x. He goes out for ten minutes

ANSWERS

Q1.

a. moves
b. saw

c. were playing

d. have been studying

e. will have arrived

f. am doing

g. favours

h. had written

i. will be meeting

j. will visit

Q2.

a. looks

b. has written

c. are

d. are

e. says

f. are

g. say

h. writes

i. gets on

j. say

Q3.

i. I have been living in Calcutta since 1930.

iii.I wrote a letter to her last Monday.

iv. I have been reading Kalidasa for the last six days.

v. The new hotel opened last Saturday.

vi. He went to Madras last week.

vii. The train had left the station before I reached there.

viii. I wish my men came quickly and found us.

ix. At the moment the baby is sleeping in the cradle.

x. He has gone out for ten minutes.

Rules for subject-verb Agreement

1. Singular subject The man drives a bus.

Add -s or -es to the verb She teaches in a primary school.

He studies his map.

2. Plural subject: The men drive buses.

Do not add -s or -es They teach in primary schools.

to the verb We study our maps.

3. For I or You I hate books.

Do not add -s or -es to the verb You like dogs.

I admire actors.

When a sentence has a compound subject i.e.two subjects joined by and,

the plural form of the verb is used.

Exampl es: John and James work at Naivas Supermarket.

ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VERB FORMS

Active Voice

A verb is in active voice when the subject of the sentence performs the

action.

Examples: Our teacher punished us for making noise in class.

Subject action

Players arrived for their first match early in the morning.

Subject action

In the above sentences, the subject is who performed the action.

Hence, the verbs of these sentences are in active voice.

Passive voice

The word passive means “acted upon”.

When the subject of the sentence receives the action or expresses the

result of the action, the verb is in passive voice.

Exampl es: We were punished by the teacher for making noise.

Subject action He was helped by a passer-by.

Subject action

In the above sentences the subjects we and he receive the action.

When we do not know who or what did the action, or when we do not want

to say who or what did it, we use the passive voice.

The passive form of a verb consists of some form of be plus the past
participle.

Exampl es: Active Passive

Baabu explored the sea.

The sea was explored by Baabu.

Be + past participle

The captain helped him.

He was helped by the captain.

Be+past participle

Exerci se 1

Write the verbs from the following sentences and then label each one

Active or Passive.

1. The guest of honour presented prizes to the best students.

2. The cattle were taken home by the herders.

3. The health officer ordered the slaughter house closed.

4. Peace and order has been restored in the area by the youth wingers.

5. The workers cleared the farm.

6. The crop was harvested by the hired workers.

7. The government stressed the importance of unity among tribes.

8. The farmers were urged to redouble their efforts in food production.

9. The KIE is developing support materials for the 8-4-4 system of

education.

10. A fishing pond was started by the Wildlife Club in the school.
Answers

1. presented – active 6. was harvested – passive

2. were taken – positive 7. stressed – active3. ordered – active 8. were urged –

4. restored – passive 9. is developing – active

5. cleared – active 10. was started - passive

Indirect Speech

Indirect speech is used to refer to a person’s words without quoting him or

her exactly.

It is also referred to as indirect quotation or reported speech.

The original spoken words are not repeated.

The exact meaning is given without repeating the speaker’s words.

Exampl e:

Direct speech: The governor said, “Creating new jobs will be my first

priority”

Indirect speech: The governor said that creating new jobs would be his

first priority.

Several changes do occur when changing a sentence from direct to

indirect speech

1. Quotation marks

Quotation marks are left out when writing a sentence in direct speech.

Example:
Direct: Ram announced, “My aunt works in a biscuit factory”

InDi rect: Ram announced that his aunt worked in a biscuit factory.

2. Tense - The tense of a verb in the direct sentence will change in

Indirect speechExampl es:

1. Simple present changes to past simple

Direct: John said, “She goes to school early”

InDirect: John said that she went to school early.

2. Simple past changes to past perfect

Di rect: John said, “She went to school early”

InDi rect: John said that she had gone to school early.

3. P resent progressive changes to past progressive

Direct: “ The baby is eating a banana,” the nurse said.

InDi rect: The nurse said that the baby was eating a banana.

4. P resent perf ect chang es to past perf ect

Di rect: “South Sudan has become a republic,” the new president

declared.

InDi rect: The new president declared that South Sudan had become a

republic

5. P ast pr ogressi ve cha nges to past perfect pr ogressi ve

Di rect: “ I was dreaming when the fire started,” the boy said.

InDi rect: The boy said the he had been dreaming when the fire started.

6. Futur e si mpl e changes to modal

InDi rect: My desk mate said that he would visit me the following day.

7. May changes to might

Di rect: : I may also visit you too,” I replied.InDi rect I replied that I might also
visit him too.

Sometimes the verb in indirect speech does not change tense.

This occurs in sentences that are universal truths

Di rect: Our Geography teacher said “The earth rotates round the sun”

InDi rect Our Geography teacher said that the earth rotates round the sun

Words referring to place also change

Exampl es:

Di rect “I live here,” retorted the old man.

InDi rect: The old man retorted that he lived there

Di rect “This place stinks,” noted the boy.

InDi rect: The bo y noted that that place stunk.

W ords refer ri ng to ti me al so change

Exampl es:

Di rect: “I will visit you tomorrow,” he shouted.

InDi rect: He shouted that he would visit me the following/next day

Direct : “ He died last year,” the policeman reported.

InDi rect: The policeman reported that he had dies the previous year/ the

year before.
Demonstrati ve pr onou ns al so change:

Exampl es: D i rect: “This book is mine,” Jane claimed.

InDi rect: Jane claimed that that book was hers.

Di rect “These are hard times,” observed the president.

InDi rect: The president observed that those were hard times.Pronouns also
change when rewriting a sentence from direct to indirect

speech.

Exampl es:

Di rect: “My car is better than yours,” the teacher bragged.

InDi rect: The teacher bragged that his/her car was better that

his/hers/theirs.