Basics on English Tenses

I live in the present but I remember the past and I keep thinking of the future for which I make plans. Tenses are divided into these time slots – past, present, and future. In each time slot, I can simply say that I work on something in the time or I could be still working on it or could have already completed it. There is also a possibility that I just finished something which I have been working on for long. We divided these into sub-tenses as

I work on something in the time – simple – you read which is an activity you simply do

I am still working on something in the time – continuous – you are currently reading this chapter

I am just finished with some work – Perfect – You have finished reading the first paragraph of this article

I was working on something for the last couple of days but now I could be completed – Perfect Continuous – you have been searching for a course on writing for many days but now you have found it.

Past, present or future, the constructions of simple, continuous, perfect and perfect continuous use the same logic.

PRESENT TENSE

Let us begin with the present tense. Something you do in the present.

Do you walk daily? If yes, then this becomes a simple present.

Before this, I would like to add another note here – For me the first person I know in the world is me and I address myself as “I” so “I” is called the first person. The next person I could be talking to is the second person for me and I would address this person with “you”. All other people on this earth are third persons for me and I can address them as he (if male), she (if female), it (if animal).

Rule: When I am using the third person, I have to add “s” to the verb. So, read becomes reads, walk becomes walks, and run becomes runs.

Plural – when we are talking about more than one person, such as "they" (if third persons are more than one) and we (if I count me and some more people with me).

SIMPLE PRESENT

Simple present tense would be:

I walk (first person)

You walk (second person)

He/She/It walks (third person)

Plurals:

They walk

We Walk

CONTINUOUS PRESENT

Continuous tense adds “ing” to the verb and before that are added words like

• Am for the first person
• Are for the second person
• Is for the third person

So, if you are currently reading this chapter, you can say

I am reading this chapter. (I + am + read + ing)

Now, let us assume that you have a query and you give me a call for an explanation and talk to me and I teach you fundamentals. Then you will use continuously as below:

You are teaching me fundamentals. (You + are + teach + ing)

Perhaps you are also taking another course on copywriting and you tell me about that person and the fact that the person is teaching you the course. For you as well as for me, this person would be third, so your continuous sentence will be written like this –

He is teaching me copywriting. (He + is + teach + ing)

PERFECT TENSE

Perfect is something that is done just now. For example, by the time you read this, I would have already shared the file with you which is something that happened today that is in present but the sharing is already done, so we can use a perfect tense. The format of perfect tense involves – has/have + past participle (+ed). So, you will say this -

You have shared the lesson.

If you ask me if I shared it before checking on your message, I would say this –

I have shared the lesson.

The format remains the same for the first person, second person, and plural but has become have the moment you start talking about a third person. So, if I asked you if the other copywriting teacher had given you notes on tenses and you will say this –

He has not shared the lesson.

Here is the summary of the construction.

I have shared it.

You have shared

She/she/it has shared

We have shared

They have shared.

PERFECT CONTINOUS

it is a combination of the second and third types and uses has/have been verb + ing. So, if you have been studying the lesson one for the past two days and now have finished, you can say,

I have been reading the lesson.

Before we move to the past tense, let us summarize what we already learned

Using the same logic, we have the past and future tenses aligned. In the past, there are some differences like –

• “s” which was to be added to the verb for the third person is not required for past tense
• Instead of am/are/is , we use was/are/were
• Instead of have/has, we use had

The future tense is even simpler. All it needs you to do is

• Add the word “will” to all simple sentences.
• Add “will be” to continuous sentences
• Add “will have” to perfect sentences
• Add “will have been” to perfect continuous sentences

 Take a look

Tense constructions are not difficult but they have to be remembered and practiced. So, use the following verbs and create sentences in the tables using the format giving at the end of this document.

1. Read
2. Write
3. Work
4. Play
5. Study

Note: A name is treated as a third person.