Introduction

to
Tenses
Instructor: Nagina Kanwal
University of the Punjab Jhelum
Campus
 Tenses in English
• There are three main verb tenses in English: present,
past and future.
• The present, past and future tenses are divided into four aspects:
the simple (indefinite), progressive (continuous),
perfect and perfect progressive (continuous).
• There are 12 major tenses that English learners should know.
• English has only two ways of forming a tense from the verb alone:
the past and the present. For example, we drove and we drive.
• To form other verb tenses, you have to add a form of have,
be or will in front of the verb. These are called helping,
or auxiliary verbs.
 What are Tenses ???
• Tenses demonstrate the time of an action in a
sentence usually performed by or centered
around the subject of the sentence.
• The actions are called verbs.
• Verbs change according to tenses and other
issues.
 Contd.
• Simple (indefinite) Tenses
• Simple tenses usually refer to a single action. In general, simple tenses
express facts and situations that existed in the past, exist in the present, or
will exist in the future.
• Simple present: I drive home every day.
• Simple past: I drove home yesterday.
• Simple future: I will drive home later.
• Progressive (Continuous) Tenses
• We use progressive tenses to talk about unfinished events. Progressive
tenses are also called continuous tenses.
• Past progressive: I was driving when you called.
• Present progressive: I am driving now.
• Future progressive: I will be driving when you call.
 Contd.
• Perfect Tenses
• They express the idea that one event happens before another event.
• The adverbs never, yet and already are common in perfect tenses.
• Present perfect: I have driven that road.
• Past perfect: I had already driven that road in the past.
• Future perfect: I will have driven 200 miles by tomorrow.
• Perfect Progressive (continuous) Tenses
• Generally, perfect progressive tenses express duration, or how long? Perfect
progressive tenses usually include the adverbs for or since.
• Present perfect progressive: I have been driving since this morning.
• Past perfect progressive: I had been driving for three hours before I stopped to get
gas.
• Future perfect progressive: I will have been driving for five hours by the time I
arrive.
 Present (simple)Indefinite Tense

• Present Indefinite Tense represents an action which is

regular, or habitual or true and uses the base form of the 
verb. In case of the third person singular number, ‘s or
es’ is added with the verb.

• Generally simple present tense is used to indicate an

action which happens – always, regularly, every day, daily,
normally, generally, usually, occasionally, sometimes,
often, rarely, frequently, nowadays, naturally, seldom,
constantly, never, every a week, every year, once a year, on
a week, at times, at present, now and then, or all the time.
 Examples

• I write articles on different topics.

• He reads various kinds of books.
• They love to play football.
• She prefers coffee to tea.
• He goes to the library every day.
• We come for shopping in this market.
• You always shop in that market.
• He loves to travel around the world.
• They always play cricket in that field.
• The lyricist writes realistic songs.
• Do you love to listen to realistic songs?
• I do not like to quarrel.
• I am a peace-loving person.
• I know how to protest against injustice.
• Do you like to watch cricket?
• I love my country.
 
 Present Continuous Tense
• We use the present continuous tense to talk about things that
are happening around now but are temporary.
• For example:
• Q) "What are you doing these days?
• " A) "Unfortunately I'm working a lot."
• It is also used to describe trends or situations that are happening
but may be temporary.
• For example:
• "Nowadays more and more people are shopping on the Internet."
• ...and habitual actions (usually negative).
• For example:
• "He's always cleaning his car."
 Contd.

The present continuous tense can also be used to discuss

future events:
• Example: I am having dinner with him at seven o'clock.
Example: She is flying to London tomorrow morning.
Example: Hassan is leaving the company next week after
25 years' service.
Example: We are visiting the Niagara Falls in three weeks.
Example: My brother is writing another book next month.
 PRESENT PERFRECT TENSE

• We use the Present Perfect to say that an action happened at an unspecified time before now.
The exact time is not given.
• You CANNOT use the Present Perfect with specific time expressions such as: yesterday, one
year ago, last week, when I was a child, when I lived in Japan, at that moment, that day, one
day, etc.
• We CAN use the Present Perfect with unspecific expressions such as: ever, never, once, many
times, several times, before, so far, already, yet, etc.
• Examples:
• I have seen that movie twenty times.
• I think I have met him once before.
• There have been many earthquakes in California.
• People have traveled to the Moon.
• People have not traveled to Mars.
• Have you read the book yet?
• Nobody has ever climbed that mountain.
• A: Has there ever been a war in the United States?
B: Yes, there has been a war in the United States.
 PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

• We use the Present Perfect Continuous to

show that something started in the past and
has continued up until now. "For five
minutes," "for two weeks," and "since
Tuesday" are all durations which can be used
with the Present Perfect Continuous.
 Examples

• They have been talking for the last hour.

• She has been working at that company for three
years.
• What have you been doing for the last 30 minutes?
• James has been teaching at the university since
June.
• We have been waiting here for over two hours!
• Why has Nancy not been taking her medicine for
the last three days?
 Contd.
• You can also use the Present Perfect Continuous WITHOUT a duration
such as "for two weeks."
• Without the duration, the tense has a more general meaning of
"lately." We often use the words "lately" or "recently" to emphasize
this meaning.
• Examples:
• Recently, I have been feeling really tired.
• She has been watching too much television lately.
• Have you been exercising lately?
• Mary has been feeling a little depressed.
• Lisa has not been practicing her English.
• What have you been doing?
 Past Indefinite (simple)

• We use the past simple to talk about actions and states which
we see as completed in the past.
• We can use it to talk about a specific point in time.

• She came back last Friday.

• I saw her in the street.
• They didn't agree to the deal.

It can also be used to talk about a period of time.

• She lived in Tokyo for seven years.
• They were in London from Monday to Thursday of last week.
• When I was living in New York, I went to all the art exhibitions I
could.
 Contd.
• You will often find the past simple used with time expressions such as
these:
• Yesterday
• three weeks ago
• last year
• in 2002
• from March to June
• for a long time
• for 6 weeks
• in the 1980s
• in the last century
• in the past
 Past continuous tense

• for an action that was taking place in the past when a shorter
action (expressed in the simple past tense) happened.
• Example: I was camping when I got stung by a bee.
Example: When I visited him in the hospital, he was snoring loudly.
Example: While he was reading the newspaper, he fell asleep.
Example: While I was talking to him, his eyes looked somewhere
else.
Note: The past continuous tense and the simple past tense are
used together 
• As well as……
• Example: While my brother was laughing, my sister was crying.
Example: My father was drinking while my mother was eating.
 Contd.
-for an action that was happening and not yet finished
at a particular time or throughout a period of time in
the past. We do not state when the action started or
ended.
• Grandma was knitting a sock at 11 o'clock last night.
They were hunting wild boars all evening. 
-to show that we were in the middle of an action.
• I was collecting old newspapers. (I was in the middle
of doing the collecting.)

• The police sirens were wailing.

 Past Perfect Continuous Tense
• Past Perfect Continuous Tense represents an ongoing action that started and continued for
some time in the past. To indicate time reference “for” and “since” are used and it describes
when the action started and how long it continued in the past.

• Examples
• I had been writing articles on various topics for three hours.
• He had been reading different kinds of books since morning.
• They had been playing football in that field before it started to rain.
• Jane had been gossiping in the coffee shop for two hours.
• Jeff had been studying in the library before he came to the class.
• You had been shopping in that market before you came home.
• Tom had been traveling around the world since the month of December.
• They had been playing hockey on that field for three hours.
• The lyricist had been writing realistic songs since the beginning of his career.
• Had you not been enjoying the concert for three hours?
• I had not been watching the cricket match on television for two hours.
• Richard had been practicing to sing the song since morning.
• I had been helping him to do the task before I started the program.
• We had been enjoying the program thoroughly for three hours.
 Future Indefinite Tense
• We use the future indefinite tense for actions that will happen in the future.
• In Future Indefinite Tense, we use Shall/Will with all the Nouns and
Pronouns and the first form of the verb. 
• Shall is used with I and We. Will is used with You, They, He, She, It and the
nouns. However, Will can also be used with I and We to express certainty.
• Examples
• I shall eat pizza.
• He will make an airplane.
• You will consider his request someday.
• They will make up for the destruction.
• Cars will operate on electricity in future.
• I will do this work.
• They will take benefits from the government by protesting.
 More about Future Indefinite Tense
• In English, we could choose from a variety of forms to express
future tense(using 'will'/'shall', 'going to', the present
continuous, the present simple, etc.) to talk about future events.
• The followings show the different tenses used to express the
completion of an activity in the future:
• The police will conclude their investigation of the computer
fraud next week. (simple future)
The police conclude their investigation of the computer fraud
next week. (simple present)
The police are concluding their investigation of the computer
fraud next week.(present continuous)
 Contd.
• The police will be concluding their investigation of
the computer fraud next week. (future continuous)
• There are ways we can use to express the future in
English:
• 1. Will
2. Be going to
3. Be to
4. Be about to
5. Simple Present
6. Present continuous
 Future Continuous Tense
• Future Continuous Tense represents a continuous action which will happen in the future.

Future Continuous Tense Examples

• I will be writing articles on different topics.
• Robert will be reading various kinds of books.
• They will be playing football in that field.
• Bob will be going to the library.
• We will be shopping in that market this Monday.
• You will be shopping at that market tomorrow.
• I will be attending a program of my varsity on Friday.
• Jeff will be traveling around the world in March.
• They will be playing hockey in that field on Thursday.
• Will you be going to the concert of realistic songs?
• I will not be attending the program because of my busy schedule.
• Robin will be joining us at the meeting.
• I will be helping him to do the task.
• We will be going to enjoy the musical drama.
• I will be arranging all the necessary materials for the program.
 Future Perfect Tense
• The future perfect tense is used to indicate a future
event that has a definitive end date. It follows a
general formula of will + have + verb (ending in -ed).
• They indicate something that will happen in the
future. But, that “something” will have ended.
• For example, “Amir will have gardened by then.”
• For example, “You will have worked ten hours by
Saturday.”
• In other words, the ten hours of working will occur
between now (the present) and Saturday (the future).
 Future Perfect Tense

• If the future is progressing (as in the progressive perfect tense),

then things are ongoing. If the future is perfect, then things are
happening, but with an end date.
• To indicate the future perfect tense, make use of will + have +
verb (ending in -ed).
• The storm will have raged by the time we arrive.
• Mom will have cooked our favorite meal.
• I will have slept eight hours.
• The plant will have grown by then.
• Henry will have ran by ten o’clock.
 Future Perfect Tense Examples

• Future Perfect Tense represents an action which will have been occurred at some time in the future.
If two actions take place in the future, the first one is Future Perfect Tense and the second one is 
Simple Present Tense.

• I will have written articles on different topics before you come.

• Robert will have read various kinds of books.
• They will have played football in that field before you reach.
• April will have gone to the coffee shop before she comes here.
• Bob will have gone to the library before he comes to the class.
• We will have shopped in that market before you come home.
• I will have attended the program before I come here.
• Jeff will have traveled around the world before he comes to Bangladesh.
• They will have played hockey in that field before you reach.
• Will you have gone to the concert of the realistic songs before I come?
• I will not have attended the program because of my busy schedule.
• Robin will have joined us at the meeting before you reach.
• I will have helped him to do the task before the class starts.
• We will have enjoyed the musical drama before the game show starts.
• I will have arranged all the necessary materials before the program starts.
 Future Perfect Continuous Tense

• Future Perfect Continuous Tense represents a

continuous action which will be done at a
certain time in the future. If two actions take
place in the future, the first one which will be
continued is Future Perfect Continuous Tense
and the second one is Simple Present Tense.
 Examples

• I will have been writing articles on different topics for three hours before you
come.
• Robert will have been reading various kinds of books for a week on this topic.
• They will have been playing football in that field before you reach.
• Bob will have been studying in the library since morning before he comes to
the class.
• We will have been shopping in that market for the whole day before you come
home.
• I will have been attending the program before I come here.
• Jeff will have been traveling around the world before he comes to Bangladesh.
• They will have been playing hockey in that field before you reach.
• Will you have been going to the concert before I come?
• I will not have been attending the program before I finish this job.
• I will have been helping him to do the task before the class starts.
• I will have been arranging all the necessary materials before the program
starts.
Thank you !