Simple Future Tense

Future is uncertain and so is the future tense. However, if you feel there is a possibility of an action in the future (according to the subject of the sentence) – either probable or certain – we should use Simple Future Tense. See an example below.

I shall go to school.

The above sentence has an action – ‘go to school‘. However, the action has not occurred as yet. There is a probability of this action to happen. Hence, this is in future tense.

Syntax of this tense

Subject + SHALL / WILL + present form of Verb + ….

Negative Syntax -  Subject + SHALL / WILL + NOT + present form of Verb + …

Interrogative Syntax – SHALL / WILL + Subject + present form of Verb + … ?

Contracted auxiliaries : Subject + ‘ll + present form of verb + ….

Note: The use of ‘Shall‘ is usually restricted to British English these days. Americans hardly use this.

Note1: ‘Shall‘ (the modal auxiliary verb) is used for 1st Persons nominative cases ‘I‘ and ‘WE‘. For all other persons, we use ‘WILL’.

Note2: If we use WILL with first persons ( I and WE), this will imply definiteness and/or willingness of the actions to be done by subject.

Note3: ‘Shall‘ can be used with second persons (YOU) to indicate – order, obligation & the like - in the future time period. (see examples below).

Examples:

• I shall not come to office today.
• You will not open this box.
• The guys will compete with one another.
• Stuart will finish his assignment next week.
• The police will investigate the matter.

All the above sentence are in simple future tense. They imply actions of the subjects which are going to / likely to happen in the future.

More examples (a bit offbeat)

• I will complete this project anyhow tomorrow. [ the subject shows definiteness of his action - complete]
• You shall not enter the room.    [it actually means - you should not enter the room - an order you can say]
• He shall be rusticated from the college. [an oder it indicates - he will be rusticated and this is by order].
• I‘ll go with him.    [it can be - I shall or I will- both are okay but actually it implies - I will go, showing willingness to go]

Uses of Simple Future Tense

To indicate an action which is likely or certain to happen in the future, we use Simple Future Tense.

• Rita will join us in a minute. [she has not joined us and hence, the action will occur in future - certainly or probably.]
• The President will deliver a speech shortly for his election campaign.

In a complex sentence (in present tense) which has a condition and one clause depends on the other, we should use simple future tense with the one which finishes the sentence or which is the primary clause (main clause).

• It it rains, I will not go to school. [two sentences (clauses) - one depends on the other & there is a condition]
• They will play the match if the captain keeps Stuart in the squad. [there is a condition in this complex sentence & the one which completes the sentence has a simple future tense.]

Trivia

For a sentence, mostly in spoken English, which is going to happen in near future and which is certain, we can do away with the syntax of future tense and use simple present only.

→ He comes tomorrow.

→ The program starts next week.

Even though the above two sentence clearly indicate actions in the future, (with the uses of future adverbs – tomorrow & next week), they are in simple present tense and the syntax of future tense ( subject + WILL/SHALL + …) is not used anymore here. These sentences confirm definiteness of the future actions of subject. Else, they should have been -

• He will come tomorrow.
• The program will start next week.

We can omit or make the usages of Will/Shall silent in these cases. Instead, we can just use simple present tense, the way I put there.

So, with this we are done with our chapter on simple future tense today. Hope the lessen makes things easy for you to understand one more tense in details. For any other concerns or questions, do let me know and I will try to address this. Do mention anything which is needed to add here or if there is any error on my part. Catch you in our next chapter. Happy learning.

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Past Perfect Continuous Tense

We’ve already understood what Present perfect continuous tense is and how it works and when we need to use this. In past perfect continuous tense, there must be more than one action (say two actions) and one must start before the another. However, the action that started first must be going on until the second action started. Well, a bit confusing, isn’t it? Let me make it elaborate with an example.

I had been watching a movie before you called me.

See the sentence above. It has two actions in it.

[1. watching a movie] and [2. you called me.]

As you can find – the action (watching a movie) started earlier than the other action (you called me). So, we shall need to use a past perfect tense here (as we’ve already  known this). But, that action (watching the movie) was a continuous action before the other action started (you called me). Hence, we need to apply both a past perfect tense and a continuous tense. Together we call it – Past Perfect Continuous Tense. Hope it makes sense now.

Syntax of this tense

→ Subject + HAD + BEEN (auxiliary verb)+ Verb(ing) + …..

Interrogative Syntax

→ HAD + subject + BEEN + Verb(ing) + ….

Let’s see a few more examples.

• It had been raining before you reached the school. [ 1st action (raining) was continuous before the 2nd action (reach) started]
• She had been sleeping before the doorbell rang.
• The boys had been making a lot of noise before the teacher entered the classroom.

Look at all the sentences above. The words in bold are in past perfect continuous tense. These are the actions which began before the another actions (the ones in underline) started. But those actions were in a continual mode and were going on until the other actions began.

Uses of Past Perfect Continuous Tenses

There is no particular usage of such tense. The only thing you need to keep in mind is – when you find two actions in the past and the one which started before the another was in a continual process until another actions started, you should use this tense. Else, past perfect tense will do.

• I had been writing an essay before the teacher snatched my answer paper. – [I was writing until my paper taken away ]
• The train had been moving away from the platform before we reached the station. [the train was in motion - a continual action -  before we arrived at the station.]
• My mom had been missing me. [here the second action is understood or silent. It means - my mom was missing me before I came back from my boarding school]

So, friends – hope this type of tense is clear to all of you. If not, you can always reach me for further explanation. To sum things up – when you need to use two actions in a sentence which occurred in the past, you need to use past perfect tense to the one which took place first. However, if that action (the first action you refer to) was going on or in a running mode until the second action began, you just need to use this tense i.e. Past perfect continuous tense – a grammatical blend of past perfect tense and past continuous tense. That’s it.

That’s all for today. From our next chapter, we will move to future ; I mean into the future tense categories. Until then, have a great time with grammar and with your family.

The post Past Perfect Continuous Tense (Tense 9) appeared first on Easy English Learning.

It had started raining before we reached home.

The above sentence is a complex sentences with two different clauses. Each sentence (clause) is in a tense. Check it again. The two sentences which we can find there are -

It had started raining

We reached home.

The second sentence (we reached home) is in simple past tense. The first one is in another type of past tense. It’s Past Perfect Tense. We already know what Present Past Tense is and how it is used. Past Perfect Tense is the past form of it. Let’s go deep into this and talk more in details.

Past Perfect Tense

If there are two actions in the past corresponding to each other or related to each other, the action which happens earlier than the other will be in past perfect tense. In other words, the tense which occurs earlier than another tense in the past is known as Past Perfect Tense.

Note: When we refer to an action of very distant past, we can also use it but this is much of Old English practice now.

Syntax of such tenses.

Subject + ‘Had’ (auxiliary verb) + Past participle of Verbs + …..

Interrogative syntax:

‘Had‘ + subject + Past participle of Verbs + ….

A few examples

• She thanked me for what I had done for her.
• He had seen me before I did.
• The classes had already started before we could enter the class.
• Rose completed her papers after I had submitted mine.
• After it had stopped raining, we planned to resume the match.

Uses of this tense

As already said, when you need to use two sentences in the past tense, you should use past perfect tense for the sentence where an action occurred before the other action. E.g.

Two actions in the past

1. I met him.   2. He went to office.

You can see there are two actions and both occurred in the past. Now, you’re to know or decide which one happened earlier.

→ The sentence – “He left for the office” – happened earlier.

→ The other sentence – “I met him” – happened after the first action.

So, we’ve gotten a clear picture. As per the grammar rule, we will apply Past Perfect Tense in this sentence – “He left for the office“. Now, the complete complex sentence will look like -

He had gone to office before I met him.

If you do not wish to use a complex sentence. It’s okay. But you still need to apply past perfect tense to the action which occurred before the second action.

• I could not meet him. He had already gone to office.
• Mom called her. But she had already fallen asleep.

Do remember that the actions must relate or correspond to each other. Else, they will be two individual past sentences.

• I took a cup of coffee. The boys made a lot of noise in the cafeteria.
• I fell asleep. My mom called me.

In the above pair of sentences, you can see two actions but they are not related to nor do they correspond to each other. They are just two different actions.

Note2: Avoid using past perfect tense when there is only one action to refer to. Just use simple past tense in those cases.See the table below -

So, we come to understanding that when we find two references of actions taken place in the past and one action happens earlier than the other, we should use past perfect tense. For a single occurrence of an action, just use simple past tense. That’s it.

Hope this chapter helps your understand perfect tense in the past form. For any other suggestion or additional info or any corrections of typos,  just leave a comment below and I will get back to you. See you in our next chapter.

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I was having my dinner when you called me.

As you know tense is an action and in the above example, there was an action (to have dinner) and the action already happened in the past. It’s no longer effective or relevant in the present time. We already know how past tense works and how we can form them.

With the above sentence, the action (to have dinner) was a continuous action and it did not end when ‘you called me‘. This means, the action of ‘having dinner‘ was on. This action started in the past and it was continuing until another action occurred (another action: you called me).

This type of tense, where an action starts in the past and it remains in a continual process for some time or until another action, is known as Past Continuous Tense. It’s a complete action of the past but it just remains active for some time or till another action begins.

Syntax of this tense:

Subject + WAS/WERE + Verb (ing) + ……

Examples:

• She was drinking water. [ 'Drinking' was going on until another action in the past]
• You’re talking over the phone.
• They were making a lot of noise in the class-room. [maybe until their teacher dropped in]
• She was cooking in the kitchen.
• The boys were playing football.
• You and I were discussing the matter. [maybe before the classes started]

All the sentences above are in Past Continuous Tense. They were all different actions in the past but in a process until another action(s) began.

Uses of Past Continuous Tense

We use this tense when we remain in an ongoing process of ac(s) in the past time. Check out an example below.

Kevin was not singing at that time ↔ AND ↔  Kevin did not sing at that time.

In the two above sentences – one is in past continuous tense and the other one is in simple past tense. In sense they are almost same – the subject (Kevin) had no activity on ‘song/singing‘ at that time. Then why use two different tenses?

Well, the first one – Kevin was not singing at that time – refers to an action (singing) which did not start in the past and hence, it could not end even (since it never started!). But, he must be doing something, right? The period (in the past) could not remain void. If he was not singing, he might have been – eating or, dancing, or sleeping, or any kind of action. To cover this (both the period of any of his other actions), he used a negative continuous tense in the past form corresponding to something he was asked about or he tried hide a truth. Perhaps, Kevin tries to mean, ” I was not singing. I was sleeping at that time“)

Hope I made sense here.

Moreover, such tense should not be used when there was not a continual action before another action or there is no running process in the past.

• I was watching TV – this should be used if →

- you’re asked – “What were you doing when I called you?”

- you mean to say – “Hey, when you called me, I was busy watching a movie on TV“.

- there is an immediate following action and that needs a mention – “Damn! The power just went off when I was watching the thriller on TV“.

In all other cases, use simple past tense only. Let’s see a chart below which I’ve create to mark some differences in using both the tenses.

With this, we reached the end of this chapter. So . what have we learnt today?

If there was a continual action in the past and if it continued to occur before another action and/or the action was going on for a some time before it stopped, you should use Past Continuous Tense. That’s it.

Let me now if everything said above makes sense to your satisfaction. We will see past perfect tense along with this uses in our next chapter. Until then, happy learning.

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Simple Past Tense

John won the badminton match yesterday.

The sentence has a strong verb ‘WIN’. If you notice, the action of the verb is in a past time (ref: yesterday) which means that the action (winning the match) started and finished in the past time and it’s no longer effective in the present.

Unlike Present Perfect Tense, which indicates an action starting in the recent past but the action or its impact is still prevalent in the present time, Simple Past Tense completes an action in the past and it does not bring its impact to the present time.

“John won the match yesterday” – here everything was over yesterday – John won the match and the impact of the match is no longer felt or needed in the present time. Hence, this is an action of the past time. We mark such actions in Simple Past Tense.

Note: A Simple Past Tense usually has adverbs of past time (such as ago, back, yesterday, last, etc)  in a sentence.

Syntax of Simple Past Tense

• Subject + past tense form of verb + …. (in affirmative sentences)
• Subject + was/were + …. (with ‘be’ auxiliary verb)

• Subject + DID NOT + Present form of the verb + ….(in negative sentences)
• Subject + was/were + NOT + …. (with ‘be’ auxiliary verb)

E.g.: He bought a book. (here subject is HE and ‘bought‘ is the past tense form of ‘buy‘ and the book is an object)

More Examples

• I received a call from Rose yesterday. (it’s today and the action occurred in the past time)
• John flew to Japan last month. (he might be back from Japan already)
• I finished my dinner 2 hours ago. (now doing other things but the impact of dinner is also over)
• Mr. Stewart passed away last year. (he is no more; the action is complete already )
• I did not go to school yesterday. (I may have gone to school today)
• He was a cricket player. (now he is no longer in cricket games).
• He studied economies in England. (either he is not in England any more or he is not studying economics now)

Note1:  Add suffixes such as -ed, -d, -t, -ied to the the main verbs to make them in past tense. (This applies for weak verbs only). Else, follow this list of strong verbs and use them as given.

Examples of past tense in weak verbs: -played, gifted, modified, learnt, judged.

→ Go to this page for a list of commonly used strong verbs.

Differences between Simple Past Tense and Present Perfect Tense

The differences in meaning and structure between sentences in Simple Past Tense and Present Perfect Tense look subtle but they are different in all the means. Have a look at their differences with examples.

→ I have eaten my dinner. – (the action might end some times ago but its impact is still on and I may not feel hungry now) ↔ Present perfect tense

→ I ate my dinner. – (the action of eating is complete and I may prepare for my next meal now.)  ↔ Simple past tense

→ He has been a good teacher. (he started as being a good teacher and he is still a good one). ↔ Present perfect  tense

→ He was a good teacher. (he might have started being a good teacher but he has lost his goodness and he is not seen as a good choice now) ↔ Simple past tense

→ She has sung a beautiful song. (she may have finished singing a while ago but the charm of the song can still be felt) ↔ Present perfect tense

→ She sang a beautiful song. (she sang the song and it’s all over now. She may be preparing for her next performance) ↔ Simple past tense

Summing things up – Simple past tense simply represents an action of the verb done in the past and it has no effect in the present time. The action started in the past and finished in the past;  no impact or trail or effect can be felt or assumed in the present That’s it.

Well friends, this chapter ends here. Hope I made things simple and easy to understand. Let me know with your comments if I need to add anything more here or if I’ve got some typos or something like this here. Keep learning and keep improving your grammar. Until then, have a great time ahead.

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Present Perfect Continuous Tense

As we already know, Perfect Tense completes an action of the Verb. That means, an action already started is complete now and there is nothing left for the action.

I have finished my homework

It means that I started my homework, the homework is finished now and I have nothing more to do on my homework.

In Present Perfect Continuous Tense, an action starts in some time of the past and is still going on. In short, an action started in the past (in most cases, the time is specific) and the action is continuing. E.g. I have been watching the movie for 2 hours.

Syntax: Subject + (HAVE/HAS) + been + Verb(ing) +  (SINCE/FOR, – if you add time period) + ….

See examples

• He has been reading for 5 hours
• We’ve been living in this city since 1981
• Mr. John has been studying in this college for 4 years.
• She’s been eating for 30 minutes.
• They have been playing since morning.

Present Perfect Tense vs. Present Perfect Continuous Tense

→ In Present Perfect Tense, an action starts in the past (usually recent past) and it’s complete now.

→ He has played the game. (means – he started playing and it’s over now)

→ In Present Perfect Continuous Tense, an action starts in the past and is not complete yet. The action continues to go on for a period.

 → He has been playing the game since morning. (means -he started playing in the morning and is still going on)

Note: When you use Present Perfect Continuous Tense, keep in mind that the action starts in the past with probably a specific time (at least the time must be understood in the statement/sentence) and the action should go on in the present. More examples -

• She has slept for ten hours.  [Sleep was for 10 hours and the sleep it complete. He is not in sleep now]
• He has been sleeping for ten hours. [Sleep started 10 hours ago and it's still going on. He is still in sleep now]

• It has rained for 2 hours. [Rain started 2 hours ago and it's stopped now]
• It has been raining for 2 hours. [Rain started 2 hours ago and it's still raining- nonstop]

• She has sung the song for 10 minutes. [Her song was for 10 minutes and it's done now. She's not singing now]
• She has been singing the song for 10 minutes. [Her song began 10 minutes ago and she is still continuing with her singing]

Exception with Perfect Present Continuous Tense

As we understood, the sentence pattern of this tense is [SUBJECT + HAVE/HAS+ BEEN+ VERB(ING) + ... ]. However, certain words (such as know, finish etc) do not come in (ING) format. e.g. knowing, finishing. (Learn more hear). So, in such cases, we just tweak the syntax a bit. It turns into a Present Perfect Tense then. See below.

Syntax:  Subject  +  HAVE/HAS + Past participle of Verb +….

Examples:

• I have known Mr. Stuart since childhood.
• I have not seen him since morning.
• He has wanted to become a movie actor since his college days.
• I have not found a job for five years.

Note2: All the sentences above are in Present Perfect Tense. However, they are used with a time period (with the use of SINCE/FOR). But, we cannot use Present Perfect Continuous Tense here. The verbs in those sentence usually are not used in -ing format.

So, we’re done with this chapter on Present Perfect Continuous Tense.. To sum up – when an action starts in the past and is still going on for a period, we use this tense. There is a subtle difference between Present Perfect Tense, Present Continuous Tense (where an action starts and keeps going on) and Present Perfect Continuous Tense. Use the tense wisely and you will never have grammatical error. Catch you next time with another chapter on Tense. That will be on Simple Past Tense. Until then, happy learning.

Do let me know if you have any questions on this chapter. I will help you understand it better, in case I am unable to make things easier in this chapter.

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Present Perfect Tense

Unlike present continuous tense, which indicates that an action is still going on and not completed yet, Present Perfect Tense completes an action of the verb started in the past. Moreover, when an action is just done i.e. in the recent past, we use this tense.

Syntax: Subject + auxiliary verbs ‘HAVE‘/’HAS‘ + Past Participle of Verbs + ….. (e.g.  He has written a poem.)

Interrogative Syntax: Bring the auxiliary verb (have/has) before the subject and finish the sentence with a note of interrogation (?). You will get the interrogative sentence in Present Perfect Tense. ( e.g.  Has he written a poem?)

When an action starts in the past (e.g. working on the homework) and that action is completely done (i.e. no more action of that verb is left now), we need to use Present Perfect Tense. What happens in Present Continuous Tense? An action starts in the past and keeps going on (i.e. not completed yet). In case of Present Perfect Tense, the action is no more active; it’s complete. You can say – it’s a mixture of Present and Past tense. See a few examples →

• She has had her dinner.
• I have just reached home.
• You have not finished your drink.
• I have attended the meeting.
• The boys have won the match.
• John has completed his graduation in English literature.

Uses of Present Perfect Tense

> As stated above, when a work is just done, we use Present Perfect Tense. By ‘just done‘ I mean a work completed in the recent past and not in the distant past.

• He has just reached home. [indicates - his arrival at home is a recent event]
• It’s (it has) started raining heavily. [indicates - in the near past, it started raining- not too ago]
• We’ve just finished our dinner. [it happened just in the recent past]

> When the time of action which has already started is not definite, we use present perfect tense.

• I have read this book.    [action (reading) has started but the time of that action is not specific.]
• Have you watched Harry Potter? ['Watching' is an action but the time of that is neither specific nor significant]
• They have never won a medal.     [same as above]

> When the effect of an action started in the past is still on and we can feel the effect in the present, we use Present Perfect Tense.

• Sir, we have completed all the assignments (i.e. there isn’t any more assignment at this moment]
• She’s performed well. [i.e. the good effect of her performance is still in discussion]
• My mom has cooked a delicious recipe. [i.e. the tasty effect of that recipe is still in the tongue/memory]

> When an action specifically starts in the past and continues to be in the present, we use present perfect tense.

Note: It’s often used with ‘since’/'for‘

• I’ve known John since my childhood. [i.e. the action (knowing) started in the past and still on]
• We’ve been living in this town since 1972. [same as above]
• I have not seen my Mom for a long time. [i.e. the action (not seeing) started in the past and still going on]

Note2: Present Perfect Tense should not be used when you use an adverb of the past time. In that case, you need to use only Simple Past Tense. See a few examples:

Wrong – He has reached the airport 30 minutes ago [this is wrong since 'Ago' is adverb of the past time]

Correct – He reached the airport 30 minutes ago. [Simple Past Tense]

Wrong – My. Alex has passed away last night.['last' is an adverb of past time]

Correct – Mr. Alex passed away last night.

Wrong – A few minutes back, he’s been here.['back' is an adverb of past time]

Correct – A few minutes back, he was here.

So, we’ve understood that when an action done in the recent past and/or done without a specific time period and/or started and finished but its effect is still continuing, we use Present Perfect Tense. It’s a mixture of both present and past form; or, you can it’s in between the past time and present time. We vastly use present perfect tense in our sentences. Make a correct judgment of them and use them correctly. For any further explanations or discussion, please get in touch with me. I will go into details of this for you.

In our next chapter, we will move on to Present Perfect Continuous Tense. Until then, happy reading and happy learning.

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