Use of Tenses

The present indefinite is used ----

To express what is actually taking place at the
present moment; as,
 See, how it rains!
To express a habitual action; as,
 He drinks tea every morning. [ That is, he is
in the habit of drinking tea, etc.]
To express general truths; as,
 The sun rise in east.
In Vivid narrative as a substitute for the past
Tense; as,
 Tom now rushes forward and deal a heavy
blow to Jerry.
Instead of the Future Tense, when futurity is
indicated by the context; as,
 We go to Lahore next week.

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 Use of Tenses
The Present Continuous is used----
Present continuous represents an action as going on
at the time of speaking; as,
 She is singing.
The present Perfect tense is used-----
The present Perfect denotes an action that has just
been completed; as,
 There I have written my exercises.
Present perfect is also used, instead of a past tense,
to represent a past action as continuing to the
present; as,
 We have lived here ten years. [we are still living
there]
Note the Difference-----
• We have lived here ten years.
• We lived here ten years.
Sentence I shows that we are still living here.
Sentence ii shows that we are living here no longer.

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 Use of Tenses
The past Indefinite is used -----
To denote a single act in the past; as,
 Smith scored twenty runs
 The steamer sailed yesterday.
 Steve defeated Rana Smith at West Ring.
To denote an action going on in the past; as,
 While they danced (=were dancing), we sang
(=were singing.)
To denote a habitual action in the past; as,
 He studied (=used to study) many hours every
day.
 Scottish kings were crowned (=used to be
crowned) at scone.

The past continuous tense-----

The past continuous tense represents an action
going on at some point in past tense; as,
 When I saw him he was playing chess.
 I was sitting when he called upon me.

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 Use of Tenses
The past perfect tense--------
The past perfect tense also called the Pluperfect
denotes an action completed at some point in past
time before another action was commenced; as,
 The rain has stopped when we came out.
 I had written the letter before he arrived.
The Future indefinite---------
The future Indefinite is used of a single act that has
still to take place; as,
 I shall see him tomorrow.
Future continuous tense-------
The future continuous tense represents an action as
going on at some point in future time; as,
 I shall be reading the paper, then.
Future Perfect-----------
Future perfect denotes an action that will be
completed at some point in the future time; as,
 I shall have written my exercise by that time.

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