TENSES

WHAT IS TENSE?
 Tense means ‘time’
 We don’t talk about the time of a verb
 We call it tense.
 There are three times at which an action
can take place.
 They are: present
past
future
 Some scholars state that the three
times are present, progressive and past.
 Types of tense
 The Present Tense
a. To show an action happening now
- See how she walks.
- Look, my friend, it comes.

b. For a habitual or repeated action:

- He comes every day.
- I sleep every night.
 Types of tense
 The Present Tense
c. To state a fact or general truth
- The world is round.
- The earth goes round the sun.

d. The future action that has been

planned.
- My sister leaves for Ipoh on
Tuesday.
 Types of tense
 The Present Tense
e. To refer to something which is true at the
stated time.
- Sue teaches in a school.
- Wong lives in Penang.

f. For exclamations; to express what is

taking place at the present.
- Here comes the bus.
 Types of tense
 The Present Tense
g. Introduces quotations or proverbs.
- There is a proverb which states
that too many cooks spoil the soup.

h.With when, as soon as, until, if, as

though – to show possible actions in
the future.
- When he returns, he will be really
happy.
 The simple present is used for events or
situations that exist
 Always
 Usually
 Habitually in the past, present and future.
 Or referring to a present state of condition

 The verb form maintains its basic form

 When using the singular nouns/pronouns, -s is

added to the verb
 Types of tense
 The PastTense
a. To show something that happened in
the past.
- He broke his leg yesterday.
b.To express an action wholly
completed in the past:
- They sang and danced all night
c. To speak politely:
- Could you please do this for me?
 SIMPLE PAST
 The simple past is used to talk about activities or
situations that began and ended at a particular
time in the past

 The simple past is usually used with time

expressions (e.g yesterday, last night, two days
ago)

 The form of the simple past does not change with

the number of the subjects
 Regular past form
 The simple past is mostly formed by verb + -ed
 Walk - walked
 Talk - talked
 Cook - cooked
 Spelling rules of verb + ed
 For verbs ending in –e, add –d
e.g like – liked
 For one syllable verbs ending in one vowel + one
consonant, double consonant, add –ed
e.g stop – stopped
plan – planned
ban - banned
 The consonant is not doubled if the verb ends in y or w.
e.g play - played
show - showed

 For two syllable verbs, ending in a consonant, double the

consonant, add –ed if the stress is on the second syllable
e.g re`fer - re`ferred

 For verbs ending in a consonant + y, change –y to –ied

e.g bury - buried
carry - carried

 For other verbs, add -ed

 Types of tense
 The Future Tense

a. Future simple or Indefinite

- I shall do it tomorrow.
- She will leave next year.
 SIMPLE FUTURE
 It is used to refer to an event that are going
to happen in the future
 e.g Mary will complain to the headmaster
tomorrow.

 Refer to an event in the future which is

connected to the circumstances in the
present
 e.g. Mary is dissatisfied and she is going to
complain to the headmaster tomorrow.
 ENGLISH FUTURE FORM
 There is no change in the verb. It is through the
use of modals (will, might, may) that we can
indicate the future

 We can refer to the future by using will + basic

verb form
 e.g I will see you soon.
They will come back as soon as the show is
over.
 ENGLISH FUTURE FORM
 We can also use be verbs + going to + basic
verb form to express the future.

 e.g I am going to read this book.

She is going to bake a cake later.
 The Present
Progressive/Continuous Tense
a. To state that an action is still going on
at the time of speaking and is not yet
complete.
- He is writing a letter.
- It is raining still.

b.Instead of the future tense.

- He is coming home tomorrow.
 The Present
Progressive/Continuous Tense
c. Refer to a longer period of time where
the action is general and non-specific.
- He is trying to find more sponsors
for his project this year.

d.The use of the phrase ‘is going’

- He is going to die.
 PROGRESSIVE TENSE
 Present Progressive
 It is used to refer to future time. It can be used
when the future action or event is definite or
already planned.
 e.gAli has a dinner reservation this
evening.
He is meeting his girlfriend.

(The meeting is already prearranged. The present

progressive tense is used to indicate the future.)
 The Difference between the Simple Present
and Present Progressive
e.g Ali is reading a book (1)
Ali reads books (2)

In (1),
Ali is now doing something which is reading a
book. It is in the progressive form.

In (2),
It does not tell us if Ali is actually reading a book
now. We can infer that perhaps reading is one of
Ali’s hobbies.
 Forming the present progressive verbs
 The form has two parts:

 Be verbs (am / is / are)

 Verb + ing

 e.g They are listening to the radio

She is digging for gold

I am writing an essay tonight

 The Past
Progressive/Continuous Tense
a. To show an action which was going on at
a certain time in the past:
- I was reading a book when he came.
- He was catching fish when it began
to
rain.
- He was sleeping when I went to his
house.
 Past Progressive
 We use the past progressive when we
describe an action that was in progress at a
specific time in the past or at the time of
another action.

 e.g Ali was watching the television at 8

 o’clock.
 Past Progressive

 The past progressive is also used to focus

on the duration of an action. The simple
past tense is used to focus on the
completion of an action.

 e.g Rani was reading a book last night.

(We don’t know if she finished the book)
 Past Progressive
 When two actions are in progress at the same
time, the past progressive can be used in both
parts of the sentence

e.g While I was doing my homework, my

roommate was watching TV.

 The past progressive is formed by:

be (was / were) + verb + -ing

 The Future
Progressive/Continuous Tense 
Indicates continuing action, something that will be
happening, going on, at some point in the future.

This tense is formed with the modal "will" plus

"be," plus the present participle of the verb (with
an -ing ending):

 I will be running in Ipoh International Run.

 Our campaign plans suggest that the President will be
winning the southern vote by November. "
 The Future
Progressive/Continuous Tense
 The future progressive refers to an unfinished
action or event that will be in progress at a time
later than now.

 The future progressive is used for quite a few

different purposes. The future continuous can
be used to project ourselves into the future.
 The Present Perfect Tense
a. To state that an action is just now
completed.
- She has just gone out.
- He has done it.
b. An event which happened/never
happened before but viewed in the
present.
- Jane has been to Bangkok.
 The Present Perfect Tense
c. A repetition of an event before now
- He has played golf for years.

d. An event which began in indefinite

time in the past which continues till
now. (use have/has + past participle + since)
- Ramu and Andy have been friends
since young.
 The Present Perfect Tense
a. To show that an action was completed at
a certain point of time in the past:
- I knew that it had rained.
- When I reached home, he had
already gone.
 This tense refers to two periods of time,
one action being completed before the
other takes place.
 The Past Perfect Tense
a. The Past Perfect Tense is often used
in Reported Speech.

Direct Speech Reported/Indirect

I have seen her. He said he had seen

her.
I have eaten it. He said that he had
eaten it.
 The Past Perfect Continuous
Tense

a. To show that an action had been going on

at, or before, some point of time in the
past:
- She had been doing her work when
we saw her.
- He had been breaking some stones
before he was killed by a falling
stone.
 The Future Tense
 For future tense the auxiliary verb
‘shall’ and ‘will’ to show:
 Future time
- I shall
- You will
 Promise, command, determination
- I will (a promise)
- You shall (a promise)
- He shall (an order or a command)
 The Future Tense

c. Future Perfect Continuous

- I shall have been sleeping before
the train arrives.
- They will have been reading before
their parents return.