TENSES (ACTIVE VOICE)

TENSES

Tense is the form of the verb used to express the time of an action.

Mainly there are three tenses:

• Present Tense
• Past Tense
• Future Tense

The Present Tense

 A verb that refers to the present time is said to be in the present tense.

Present family consists of four members, as; The Present Indefinite, The Present Continuous, The Present Perfect and The Present Perfect Continuous.

 

(I) The Present Indefinite is used:-

To express an action that is happening now

Examples:

• I now go to school
• He writes a letter.
• They read a book.

To express the universal truths:

Examples:

• The sun rises in east.
• Two and two make four.

To express a future action:

Examples:

• The office opens on Monday week.
• He comes tonight.

To quote from the existing work of authors:

Examples:

• Shakespeare says, “Frailty thy name is woman.”

 

(II) The Present Continuous is used to denote an action that is going on at the time when a statement is made.

Examples:

• They are telling a lie
• We are helping the poor.
• He is playing cricket.

 

(III) The Present Perfect is used to denote an action that has just been completed.

Examples:

• They have told a lie.
• We have helped the poor.
• He has played cricket.

 

(IV) The Present Perfect Continuous is used to denote an action that started in the past and still going on.

Examples:

• It has been raining since morning.
• He has been playing cricket for two hours.

The Past Tense

 A verb that refers to the past time is said to be in the past tense.

Past family consists of four members, as; The Past Indefinite, The Past Continuous, The Past Perfect and The Past Perfect Continuous.

 

(I) The Past Indefinite is used to denote an action as going on at some point in past.

Examples:

• He wrote a letter.
• We helped the poor.
• They told a lie.

 

(II) The Past Continuous is used to denote an action that was going on at some time in the past.

Examples:

• They were telling a lie
• We were helping the poor.
• He was playing cricket.

 

(III) The Past Perfect is used to denote an action that has completed in past before another action started.

Examples:

• They had told a lie before I came.
• He had played cricket when we reached there.

 

(IV) The Past Perfect Continuous is used to denote an action that finished at some definite time in the past but that had been going in before it finished.

Examples:

• It had been raining since morning.
• He had been playing cricket for two hours.

The Future Tense

A verb that refers to the future time is said to be in the future tense.

Past family consists of four members, as; The Future Indefinite, The Future Continuous, The Future Perfect and The Future Perfect Continuous.

 

(I) The Future Indefinite is used to denote an action that has still to take place.

Examples:

• He will write a letter.
• We shall help the poor.
• They will tell a lie.

 

(II) The Future Continuous is used to denote an action that will going on at some time in the future.

Examples:

• They will be telling a lie
• We shall be helping the poor.
• He will be playing cricket.

 

(III) The Future Perfect is used to denote an action that will be finished at some time in the future.

Examples:

• They will have told a lie.
• He will have played cricket.

 

(IV) The Future Perfect Continuous is used to denote an action that will be going on in future and not completed in future.

Examples:

• It will have been raining since morning.
• He will have been playing cricket for two hours.

THE PRESENT TENSE

(I) The Present Indefinite

(Active voice)

AFFIRMATIVE	NEGATIVE	INTERROGATIVE
I go.	I don’t go.	Do I go?
We go.	We don’t go.	Do we go?
You go.	You don’t go.	Do you go?
He goes.	He doesn’t go.	Does he go?
They go.	They don’t go.	Do they go?
It goes.	It doesn’t go.	Does it go?

(II) The Present Continuous

(Active voice)

AFFIRMATIVE	NEGATIVE	INTERROGATIVE
I am going.	I’m not going.	Am I going?
We are going.	We are not going.	Are we going?
You are going.	You are not going.	Are you going?
He is going.	He is not going.	Is he going?
They are going.	They are not going.	Are they going?
It is going.	It is not going.	Is it going?

 

(III) The Present Perfect

(Active voice)

AFFIRMATIVE	NEGATIVE	INTERROGATIVE
I have gone.	I have not gone.	Have I gone?
We have gone.	We have not gone.	Have we gone?
You have gone.	You have not gone.	Have you gone?
He has gone.	He has not gone.	Has he gone?
They have gone.	They have not gone.	Have they gone?
It has gone.	It has not gone.	Has it gone?

 

(IV) The Present Perfect Continuous

(Active voice)

AFFIRMATIVE	NEGATIVE	INTERROGATIVE
I’ve been going.	I’ve not been going.	Have I been going?
We’ve been going.	We’ve not been going.	Have we been going?
You’ve going.	You’ve not been going.	Have you been going?
He has been going.	He has not been going.	Has he been going?
They have been going.	They have not been going.	Have they been going?
It has been going.	It has not been going.	Has  it been going?

THE PAST TENSE

(I) The Past Indefinite

(Active voice)

AFFIRMATIVE	NEGATIVE	INTERROGATIVE
I went.	I didn’t go.	Did I go?
We went.	We didn’t go.	Did we go?
You went.	You didn’t go.	Did you go?
He went.	He didn’t go.	Did he go?
They went.	They didn’t go.	Did they go?
It went.	It didn’t go.	Did it go?

 

(II) The Past Continuous

(Active voice)

AFFIRMATIVE	NEGATIVE	INTERROGATIVE
I was going.	I was not going.	Was I going?
We were going.	We were not going.	Were we going?
You were going.	You were not going.	Were you going?
He was going.	He was not going.	Was he going?
They were going.	They were not going.	Were they going?
It was going.	It was not going.	Was it going?

 

(III) The Past Perfect

(Active voice)

AFFIRMATIVE	NEGATIVE	INTERROGATIVE
I had gone.	I had not gone.	Had I gone?
We had gone.	We had not gone.	Had we gone?
You had gone.	You had not gone.	Had you gone?
He had gone.	He had not gone.	Had he gone?
They had gone.	They had not gone.	Had they gone?
It had gone.	It had not gone.	Had it gone?

 

(IV) The Past Perfect Continuous

(Active voice)

AFFIRMATIVE	NEGATIVE	INTERROGATIVE
I had been going.	I had not been going.	Had I been going?
We had been going.	We had not been going.	Had we been going?
You had going.	You had not been going.	Had you been going?
He had been going.	He had not been going.	Had he been going?
They had been going.	They had not been going.	Had they been going?
It had going.	It had not been going.	Had it been going?

THE FUTURE TENSE

(I) The Future Indefinite

(Active voice)

AFFIRMATIVE	NEGATIVE	INTERROGATIVE
I shall go.	I shall not go.	Shall I go?
We shall go.	We shall not go.	Shall we go?
You will go.	You will go.	Will you go?
He will go.	He will not go.	Will he go?
They will go.	They will not go.	Will they go?
It will go.	It will not go.	Will it go?

 

(II) The Future Continuous

(Active voice)

AFFIRMATIVE	NEGATIVE	INTERROGATIVE
I shall be going.	I shall not be going.	Shall I be going?
We shall be going.	We shall not be going.	Shall we be going?
You will be going.	You will be going.	Will you be going?
He will be going.	He will not be going.	Will he be going?
They will be going.	They will not be going.	Will they be going?
It will be going.	It will not be going.	Will it be going?

 

(III) The Future Perfect

(Active voice)

AFFIRMATIVE	NEGATIVE	INTERROGATIVE
I shall have gone.	I shall not have gone.	Had I gone?
We shall have gone.	We shall not have gone.	Shall we have gone?
You will have gone.	You will not have gone.	Will you have gone?
He will have gone.	He will not have gone.	Will he have gone?
They will have gone.	They will not have gone.	Will they have gone?
It will have gone.	It will not have gone.	Will it have gone?

 

(IV) The Perfect Continuous

(Active voice)

AFFIRMATIVE	NEGATIVE	INTERROGATIVE
I shall have been going.	I shall not have been going.	Shall I have been going?
We shall have been going.	We shall not have been going.	Shall we have been going?
You will have going.	You will not have been going.	Will you have been going?
He will have been going.	He will not have been going.	Will he have been going?
They will have been going.	They will not have been going.	Will they have been going?
It will have been going.	It will not have been going.	Will  it have been going?

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