Hey everyone! today we are trying to describe you the very basic English grammar rules and that's Rules of Tense. With the help of these rules, you will be able to identify the type of tense and you can also form new sentences very easily and quickly. So, Let's start!!!!
We divide tenses into three parts:
(a) Present Tense(b) Past Tense
(c) Future Tense
Three categories are further divided into four sub-categories:
(i) Indefinite/Simple(ii) Continuous
(iii) Perfect
(iv) Perfect Continuous
Now, you will find the rules that we use to make a sentence correct according to the tense.
1. Present Indefinite or Simple Present
Subject + V1 + s/es + object
We use s/es with the verb, when the subject is singular.
If the subject is plural, then we don't use e/es.
For example
a. Dog barks
b. Dogs barks.
c. Girl plays hockey.
d. Girls play hockey.
We use s/es with the verb, when the subject is singular.
If the subject is plural, then we don't use e/es.
For example
a. Dog barks
b. Dogs barks.
c. Girl plays hockey.
d. Girls play hockey.
2. Present Continuous Tense
Subject + is/am/ are + V1 + ing + object. (sometimes object is not present in the sentence)
For example
a. I am going to market.
b. She is cooking food.
c. They are playing. (without object)
3. Present Perfect Tense
Subject + has/have + V3 + object
Has is used with singular subjects.
Have is used with plural subjects.
For example,
For example,
a. They have played a match.
b. She has cooked the food
c. I have written a letter.
4. Present Perfect Continuous
Subject + has been/ have been + V1 + ing + object
Has been is used with singular subjects.
Have been is used with plural subjects.
For example
a. It has been raining since morning.
a. It has been raining since morning.
b. I have been working here for two years.
c. They have been playing cricket since 2001.
Now comes the Past Tense.
1. Past Indefinite Tense
Subject + V2 + object
For example
a. Ram played a match.
b. They cooked food.
c. I went there.
2. Past Continuous Tense
Subject + was/were + V1 + ing + object
Was is used with singular subjects.
Were is used with plural subjects.
For Example
a. She was cooking food.
b. They were playing cricket.
c. I was writing a letter.
3. Past Perfect Tense
Subject + had + V3 + object ( Always use V3 with has/ have/ had.)
For example
a. She had cooked food.
b. They had played a match.
c. I had left the job.
4. Past Perfect Continuous
Subject + had been + V1 + ing + object
For example
a. It had been raining since Monday.
b. They had been playing cricket since 2002.
c. I had been living in India for three years.
The last tense we have is Future Tense.
1. Future Indefinite Tense
Subject + will/shall + object
Will is used with he/she/it/they/we etc.
Shall is used with 'I'.
But these days, will is commonly used with 'I'.
For example
a. I will/shall go for a movie.
b. They will have fun there.
c. She will make a list.
2. Future Continuous Tense
Subject + will/shall + be + ing + V1 + object
For example
a. She will be cooking food.
b. They will be cutting trees.
c. I will/shall be cleaning the room.
3. Future Perfect Tense
Subject will/shall + have + V3 + object
For example
a. They will have cooked food.
b. I will have left the job.
c. She will have prepared the lecture.
4. Future Perfect Continuous
Subject + will have been + V1 + ing + object.
For example
a. It will have been raining since morning.
b. We will have been playing for three years.
c. They will have been working since 2001.
We have sourced images in this article from GrammarEdge.com, Read Tenses in English Grammar here
