Tenses in English – Present Tense, Past Tense and Future Tense and Four Patterns of the Tenses - Part 2

Just as the   Present.  Tense   has   four   forms;   the Past Tense also   has the following four   forms. 

            1.  I loved                                                        (Simple Past)

            2. I was loving                                                             (Past Continuous.)

            3. I had loved                                                  (Past   Perfect)

            4. I had been loving                                        (Past   Perfect   Continuous)

Similarly the   Future   Tense   has the following   four   forms.

1.       I shall / will  love                                      ( Simple  Future)

2.      I shall / will be loving                                (Future Continuous.)

3.      I shall /  will  have   loved                         (  Future  Perfect)

4.      I shall have been   loving                          (Future Perfect Continuous.)

We  may   now define  Tense  as

A verb   agrees with its subject   in   number   and person.  Study   the   verb form   of various   tenses. 

Simple   Present Tense                                              Present   Continuous Tense

I speak                                                                         I am   speaking

You speak                                                                    You are speaking

He   speaks                                                                  He is   speaking

We speak                                                                    We are Speaking

They speak                                                                  They are speaking

Present Perfect Tense                                               Present Perfect   Continuous Tense 

I have spoken                                                              I have been speaking

You have spoken                                                         You have been speaking

He has spoken                                                             He has been speaking

We have spoken                                                          We have been speaking

They have spoken                                                       They have been speaking

Simple Past Tense                                                       Past Continuous Tense 

I spoke                                                                         I was speaking

You spoke                                                                    You were speaking

He spoke                                                                     He was speaking

We spoke                                                                    We were speaking

They spoke                                                                  They were speaking

Past Perfect Tense                                                     Past Perfect Continuous Tense.

I had spoken                                                                I had been Speaking

You had spoken                                                           You had been Speaking

He had Spoken                                                            He had been Speaking

We had Spoken                                                           We had been Speaking

They had spoken                                                         They had been Speaking

Simple Future                                                            Future Continuous Tense

I shall/ will Speak                                                        I shall / will be speaking

You   will speak                                                           You will be speaking

He will speak                                                               He will be speaking

We shall /will speak                                                    We shall / will be speaking

They will speak                                                           They will be speaking

Future Perfect   Tense                                               Future Perfect Continuous Tense

I shall / will have spoken                                            I shall/ will have been speaking

You will have spoken                                                  You will have been speaking

He will have spoken                                                    He will have been speaking

We shall / will have spoken                                        He shall / will been speaking

They will speak                                                           They will be speaking

Future Perfect Tense                                                             Future Perfect Continuous Tense

I shall / will have spoken                                            I shall / will have been speaking

You will have spoken                                                  You will have been speaking 

He will have spoken                                                    He will have been speaking

They will have spoken                                                 they will have been speaking

Tenses in English – Present Tense, Past Tense and Future Tense and Four Patterns of the Tenses - Part 1

Tenses   :  Introduction

Read   the following   sentences:

            1.   I write this letter to give pleasure to you. 

            2.  I wrote the letter in his very presence.

            3.  I shall write another letter   tomorrow.

In sentence 1 above,   the   Verb write refers to Present time.

In sentence 2, the   Verb wrote refers to Past time.

In sentence 3, the   Verb shall write refers to future time.

Thus a Verb may refer.

(1)    To present time (2) Past time, or (3) to future time.

A Verb  that  refers to  present  time  is said  to  be  in the Present  Tense;  as ,

            I play,                                                  I write 

A  Verb  that  refers  to  past  time  is  said  to be  in  the Past  Tense;  as 

            I played,                                                            I wrote 

A  Verb  that  refers  to  past  time  is  said  to be  in  the Future   Tense;  as 

            I shall play,                                                      I shall write

 There   are three main Tenses. 

The Present, the Past and the Future.

The Tense of a Verb shows the time   of an action   or event.

Note:

Sometimes a  past   tense may  refer  to  present  time,  and a  present  tense   may  express  future  time, as  :

v  I wish I  knew  the answer (= I’m  sorry  I don’t  know  the  answer,  past   tense  -Present   time.)

v  Let’s wait   till he comes.   (Present tense - future tense.)

Below   we give   the chief Tenses (Active Voice, Indicative Mood) of the verb to write.

                                                Present Tense 

                                                Singular Number                               Plural   Number

1^st Person                                I write                                                  We write

2^nd person                                You write                                             You write

3^rd Person                                He writes                                             they write

                                                Past Tense 

                                                Singular Number                               Plural   Number

1^st Person                                I wrote                                                 We wrote

2^nd person                                You wrote                                            You wrote

3^rd Person                                He wrote                                             They wrote

Future Tense

                                                Singular Number                               Plural   Number

1^st Person                                I shall / will write                                 We shall / Will write 

2^nd person                                You will write                                      You will write 

3^rd Person                                He will write                                       They will write

Read these sentences 

            1. I write                                  (Simple Present)

            2. I am writing                        (Present Continuous)

            3. I have written                      (Present Perfect)

            4.  I have been writing            (Present Perfect Continuous.)

The  Verbs  in all  of  these  sentences  refer   to the  Present  time,  and are  therefore  said  to be  in the  Present  tense.

            In  sentence 1,  However,  the  Verb  shows  that  the  action is  mentioned  simply , without anything being   said about  the  completeness  or   incompleteness  of the action.

           

that   from  of  a  Verb  which  shows  the  time   and  the state   of an  action  or   event.

In  sentence 2,  the  Verb   shows that the action  is  mentioned   as  incomplete  or  continuous ,  that   is,  as still  going  on. 

In sentence 3,   the Verb shows that the action   is mentioned as   finished, complete, or prefect, at the   time   of Speaking.

            The  tense   of the Verb   in sentence  04 is  said   to  be   Present  Perfect Continuous,   because  the  verb  shows   that  the  action is  going   on  continuously, and  not  completed   at this  present  moment.

            Thus we  see  that  the  Tense   of a  Verb  shows not   only   the  time  of  an  action   or  event,  but   also  the   state   of  an action referred  to.