What Is Tenses? 12 Types of Tenses With Examples with PDF

What Is Tense:- (What Is Tenses? -12 Tenses With Examples, Types Of Tenses pdf )

The concept of tense in English is a method that we use to refer to time – past, present, and future. Many languages use tense to talk about time. Other languages have no concept of tense at all, but of course, they can still talk about time, using different methods.

So, we talk about time in English with tense. But, and this is a very big but:

• we can also talk about time without using tense (for example, going to is a special construction to talk about the future, it is not a tense)
• one tense does not always talk about one time (for example, we can use the present tense, or even the past tense, to talk about the future – I am expecting someone in the evening.)

We cannot talk of tenses without considering two components of many English tenses: time and aspect. In simple terms…

Time expresses:

• past – before now
• present – now, or any time that includes now
• future – after now

Aspect can be:

• progressive – uncompleted action or continuous action
• perfective – completed action or state

(Some say that simple tenses have “simple aspect”, but strictly speaking simple tenses are simply unmarked for aspect.)

The progressive aspect produces progressive or “continuous” tenses: past continuous, present continuous, future continuous.

The perfective aspect produces perfect tenses: past perfect, present perfect, future perfect.

And the two aspects can be combined to produce perfect continuous tenses: past perfect continuous, present perfect continuous, future perfect continuous.

There are three types of tense:- (Tenses And Types Of Tenses With Examples)

• Present Tense
• Past Tense
• Future Tense

PRESENT TENSE :- (Tenses And Types Of Tenses With Examples)

1) Simple Present Tense–

Indicates an action that is generally true or habitual. That is, it took place in the past, continues to take place in the present, and will take place in the future. This tense is used to denote
-a habitual action- for instance, “He walks to school.”
-general truths- for instance, “The sun rises in the east”, “Honesty is the best policy.”
-a future event that is part of a fixed timetable- for instance, “The match starts at 9 o’clock.”
Note
a. The form of Simple Present Tense is- VERB(1st form) + (s/es)

2)  Present Perfect Tense-

Indicates an action that has been completed sometime before the present moment, with a result that affects the present situation.
For example, “He has finished the work.”
                         “He has slept.”
Note
a. The form of Present Perfect Tense is- has/have + verb (3rd form of the verb)

3)  Present Continuous Tense–

Indicates an action that is taking place at the moment of speaking.
For example, “She is walking.”
“I am studying.”
Note
a. the form of Present Continuous Tense is- is/am/are + verb + ing.

4) Present Perfect Continuous Tense–

Indicates an action that started in the past and is continuing at the present time. 
For example, “He has been sleeping for an hour.”
Note
a. The form of Present Perfect Continuous Tense is- has/have + been + verb + ing.

Read More: What is Future Tense? Get Examples and Practice Exercise

PAST TENSE:-(Tenses And Types Of Tenses With Examples)

1) Simple Past Tense–

This indicates an action took place before the present moment and that has no real connection with the present time. 
For example, “He danced in the function.” (The action took place in the past, is finished, and is completely unrelated to the present)
                         “He flew to London yesterday.”
Note
a. The verb ‘flew’ is an irregular verb that does not take ‘ed’ in the past tense like regular verbs.
b. The form of Simple Past Tense is – verb (2nd form)

2) Past Perfect Tense–

Indicates an action in the past that had been completed before another time or event in the past.
For example, “He had exercised before it started to rain.”
                         “He had slept before I came back from the market.”
Note
a. The form of Past Perfect Tense is- had + verb ( 3rd form of the verb)

3) Past Continuous Tense–

Indicates an action going on at some time in the past or an action in the past that is longer in duration than another action in the past.  
For example, “It was getting darker.”
                        “The light went out while they were reading.”
Note
a. The form of Past Continuous Tense is- was/were + verb + ing
 

4) Past Perfect Continuous Tense–

Indicates an action in the past that took place before another time or event in the past and continued during the second event/time point in the past.
For example, “At that time, he had been writing a novel for two months.”
                         “He had been exercising when I called.” 
Note
a. The form of Past Perfect Continuous Tense is- had + been + verb + ing   

FUTURE TENSE:-(Tenses And Types Of Tenses With Examples)

1) Simple Future Tense–

Indicates an action that will take place after the present time and that has no real connection with the present time. 
For example, “She will visit her ailing grandmother soon.”
                        “He will walk home.”
Note
a. the form of Simple Future Tense is- will/shall + verb

2) Future Perfect Tense–

Indicates an action in the future that will have been completed before another time or event in the future.
For example, “By the time we arrive, he will have studied.”

Note
a. The form of Future Perfect Tense is- will/shall have + verb(past participle form or 3rd form of the verb)

3) Future Continuous Tense–

Indicates an action in the future that is longer in duration than another action in the future.
For example, “He will be walking when it starts to rain.”
Note
a. The form of Future Continuous Tense is-will/shall be + verb + ing

4) Future Perfect Continuous Tense–

Indicates an action in the future that will have been continuing until another time or event in the future.
For example, “He will have been exercising an hour at 2:00.”
Note
a. The form of Future Perfect Continuous Tense is- will/shall have been + verb + ing