TENSES

Hilda Meriyandah/1006672541/EFN Class A

Tense is a change in the form of the verb associated with changes in

time when an activity or event discussed (Soerjowardhana and
Widiastuti, 2008).

indicates when the situation takes place. In languages which have

tense, it is usually indicated by a verb or modal verb.

A. Simple Present Tense

We can use the simple present for habits or things we do regularly. And for
things that are generally or always true.

Active

+ S + V1 (s)* Randy smokes

- S + do/does + not + V1 Randy does not smoke
? Do/does + S + V1 ? Does Randy smoke?
*using V1(s) if the subject she, he, or it.

+ S + is/am/are + Adj/Noun/Adv She is happy

- S + is/am/are + not + Adj/Noun/Adv She is not happy
 ? Is/am/are + S + Adj/Noun/Adv ? Is she happy?

Passive

+ S + is/am/are/V3 + by … TV is watched by him

- S + is/am/are + not + V3 + by … TV is not watched by him
? Is/am/are + S + V3 + by … ? Is tv watched by him?

B. Present Continuous Tense

We use present continuous for something happening at this moment or
something happening in the present period, but perhaps not at this moment.

Active

+ S + is/am/are + Ving They are talking on the phone

- S + is/am/are + not + Ving They are not talking on the phone
? Is/am/are + S + Ving ? Are they talking on the phone?

Passive

+ S + is/am/are + being + V3 + by … TV is being watched by her

- S + is/am/are + not + being + V3 + by … TV is not being watched by her
? Is/am/are + S + being + V3 + by …? Is tv being watched by her?

C. Present Perfect Tense

We use the present perfect to talk about the past and present together. It
tells us something about the present.

Active

+ S + has/have + V3 Glen has worked here for one week

- S + has/have + not + V3 Glen has not worked here for one week
? Has/have + S + V3 ? Has Glen worked here for one week?

+ S + has/have + been + Glen has been busy for one week

Adj/Noun/Adv
- S + has/have + not + been Glen has not been busy for one week
+ Adj/Noun/Adv
? Has/have + S + been + Has Glen been busy for one week?
Adj/Noun/Adv ?
 Passive

+ S + has/have + been + V3 Tv has been watched by Dea

+ by …
- S + has/have + not + been Tv has not been watched by Dea
+ V3 + by …
? Has/have + been + V3 + by Has tv been watched by Dea?
…?

D. Present Perfect Continuous Tense

We use the present perfect continuous to talk about actions that started in
the past and continue to the present.

Active

+ S + has/have + been + Ving Alya has been working here for a year
- S + has/have + not + been Alya has not been working here for a year
+ Ving
? Has/have + S + been + Ving Has Alya been working here for a year ?
?

E. Simple Past Tense

We use the simple past to talk about a finished action or state in the past. It
can be something that happened once or many times. We often say when it
happened.

Active

+ S + V2 Aulia went to Italy last week

- S + did + not + V1 Aulia did not go to Italy last week
? Did + S + V1 ? Did Aulia go to Italy last week ?

+ S + was/were + Adj/Noun/Adv She was sad last day

- S + was/were + not + Adj/Noun/Adv She was not sad last day
? Was/were + S + Adj/Noun/Adv ? Was she sad last day ?

Passive

+ S + was/were + V3 + by … TV was watched by him last night

- S + was/were + not + V3 + by … TV was not watched by him last night

? Was/were + S + V3 + by … ? Was tv watched by him last night?

 F. Past Continuous Tense
We use the past continuous to talk about actions in progress at a certain
time in the past. We often use the past continuous to describe the
background situation in a story.

Active

+ S + was/were + Ving They were talking on the phone

yesterday
- S + was/were + not + Ving They were not talking on the phone
yesterday
? Was/were + S + Ving ? Were they talking on the phone yesterday?

Passive

+ S + was/were + being + V3 + by … The car was being washed by

Tom yesterday
- S + was/were + not + being + V3 + by The car was not being washed by
… Tom yesterday
? Was/were + S + being + V3 + by …? Was the car being washed by Tom
yesterday ?

G. Past Perfect Tense

We use the past perfect to show that one action happened before another in
the past, and that the first action finished before the second action started.

Active

+ S + had + V3 Tom had watched tv last night before his father

came
- S + had + not + V3 Tom had not watched tv last night before his father
came
? Had + S + V3 ? Had Tom watched tv last night berfore his father
came?

+ S + had + been + He had been there before you

Adj/Noun/Adv
- S + had + not + been + He had not been there before you
Adj/Noun/Adv
? Had+ S + been + Had he been there before you
Adj/Noun/Adv ?
 Passive

+ S + had + been + V3 + Tv had been watched by Tom last night before

by … his father came
- S + had + not + been + Tv had not been watched by Tom last night before
V3 + by … his father came
? Had + S + been + V3 + Had Tv been watched by Tom last night berfore his
by … ? father came?

H. Past Perfect Continuous Tense

We use the past perfect continuous to show that something started in the
past and continued up until another time in the past.

Active

+ S + had + been + Ving She had been writing two letters for ten
minutes before I called her yesterday
- S + had + not + been + Ving She had not been writing two letters for ten
minutes before I called her yesterday
? Had + S + been + Ving ? Had she been writing two letters for ten minutes
before I called her yesterday ?

I. Simple Future Tense

Simple Future has two different forms in English: "will" and "be going to."
Although the two forms can sometimes be used interchangeably, they
often express two very different meanings. These different meanings
might seem too abstract at first, but with time and practice, the differences
will become clear. Both "will" and "be going to" refer to a specific time in
the future.

Active

+ S + will + V1* They will arrive tomorrow

- S + will + not + V1 They will not arrive tomorrow
? Will + S + V1 ? Will they arrive tomorrow ?
 “Will” can be substituted with “be + going to”

+ S + will + be + Adj/Noun/Adv Garry will be late

- S + will + not + be + Adj/Noun/Adv Garry will not be late
? Will + S + be + Adj/Noun/Adv ? Will Garry be late ?

Passive

+ S + will + be + V3 + A novel wiil be bought by Andi tomorrow

by …
- S + will + not + be + A novel wiil not be bought by Andi tomorrow
V3 + by …
? Will + S + be + V3 + Will a novel be bought by Andi tomorrow ?
by … ?

J. Future Continuous Tense

Use the Future Continuous to indicate that a longer action in the future
will be interrupted by a shorter action in the future.

Active

+ S + will + be + Ving Gaby will be cooking rice tonight

- S + will + not + be + Ving Gaby will not be cooking rice tonight
? Will + S + be + Ving ? Will Gaby be cooking rice tonight ?

K. Future Perfect Tense

The Future Perfect expresses the idea that something will occur before
another action in the future. It can also show that something will happen
before a specific time in the future.

Active

+ S + will + have + V3 They will have finished the homework by Friday

- S + will + not + have + They will not have finished the homework by
V3 Friday
? Will + S + have + V3 ? Will they have finished the homework by Friday ?

+ S + will + have + been + I will have been here for eight years next March
Adj/Noun/Adv
- S + will + not + have + I will not have been here for eight years next March
been + Adj/Noun/Adv
? Will + S + have + been + Will you have been here for eight years next March
Adj/Noun/Adv ? ?

L. Future Perfect Continuous Tense

We use the Future Perfect Continuous to show that something will
continue up until a particular event or time in the future.

Active

+ S + will + have + been + They will have been teaching for ten years this
Ving year
- S + will + not + have + They will not have been teaching for ten years this
been + Ving year
? Will + S + have + been + Will they have been teaching for ten years this
Ving ? year ?

M. Simple Past Future Tense

Future in the Past is used to express the idea that in the past you thought
something would happen in the future. It does not matter if you are correct
or not.

Active

+ S + would + V1 Yesterday if Rima saw you, she would buy

present for you
- S + would + not + V1 Yesterday if Rima saw you, she would not buy
present for you
? Would + S + V1 ? Yesterday if Rima saw you, would she buy present
for you ?

+ S + would + be + Last night if she met her brother, she would be

Adj/Noun/Adv angry
- S + would + not + be + Last night if she met her brother, she would not be
Adj/Noun/Adv angry
? Would + S + be + Last night if she met her brother, would she be
Adj/Noun/Adv ? angry ?
N. Past Future Continuous Tense
Sentence patterns when we talk about an activity in the past, sometimes
we want to say about an activity that would be afterwards. That activity
also will being done in the past and when we say about that, the activity
has not been done anymore.

Active

+ S + would + be + Ving She would be watering the garden when Ella

came yesterday
- S + would + not + be + Ving She would not be watering the garden when Ella
came yesterday
? Would + S + be + Ving ? Would she be watering the garden when Ella
came yesterday ?

O. Past Future Perfect Tense

When we talk about an activity in the past, sometimes we want to say
about an activity that would have or would not have afterwards. That
activity also will being done in the past and when we say about that, the
activity has not been done anymore.

Active

+ S + would + have + V3 If they had known that I was there, they

 would have visited me
- S + would + not + have + V3 If they had known that I was there, they would
not have visited me
? Would + S + have + V3 ? If they had known that I was there, would they
have visited me ?

+ S + would + have + been + Yesterday when he saw you, he would have been
Adj/Noun/Adv there for two hours
- S + would + not + have + Yesterday when he saw you, he would not have
been + Adj/Noun/Adv been there for two hours
? Would + S + have + been + Yesterday when he saw you, would he have been
Adj/Noun/Adv ? there for two hours ?

P. Past Future Perfect Continuous Tense

When we talk about an activity in the past, sometimes we want to say
about an activity that would have been or would not have been afterwards.
That activity also will being done in the past and when we say about that,
the activity has not been done anymore.

Active

+ S + would + have + been + If you called her yesterday, she would have
Ving been dancing for two hours
- S + would + not + have + If you called her yesterday, she would not have
been + Ving been dancing for two hours
? Would + S + have + been + If you called her yesterday, would she have been
Ving ? dancing for two hours ?

Sources :
Soerjowardhana, Dony. 2008. Cara Cerdas Menguasai Tenses. Jakarta :
Kawan Pustaka.
http://www.englishpage.com/index.html