TENSES PART – 1
SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE
Tenses are used to indicate action that has taken place in the past, present, and future. Tenses are of twelve
types. There are four forms of tenses in each one of the three tenses. Therefore, there are 12 tenses in total.
They are
Present Tense:
1. Simple Present Tense
2. Present Continuous Tense
3. Present Perfect Tense
4. Present Perfect Continuous Tense
Past Tense:
5. Simple Past Tense
6. Past Continuous Tense
3. Past Perfect Tense
4. Past Perfect Continuous Tense
Future Tense:
1. Simple Future Tense
2. Future Continuous Tense
3. Future Perfect Tense
4. Future Perfect Continuous Tense
SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE
Simple present tense indicates that an action is present, now, relative to the speaker or writer. It is used to
describe
Habitual action
Unchanging situations
Generalizations
Fixed arrangements
Scheduled events in the near future
We use the simple present tense when an action is happening right now, or when it happens regularly. The
simple present tense is simple to form. Depending on the person, the simple present tense is formed by using
the base form or by adding -s or -es to the end of the verb.
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USAGE OF PRESENT TENSE
1. something that is true in the present.
Examples:
I’m nineteen years old.
He lives in London.
2. To express habits, repeated actions or unchanging situations, emotions and wishes in the present.
Examples:
unchanging situation: I work in London
Habit: I get up early every day.
3. We use words like sometimes, often, always, after, when, before, as soon as, until and never with the
present tense to express future time.
Examples:
I sometimes go to the cinema.
She never plays football.
4. something that is always true
Examples:
The adult human body contains 206 bones.
The colour of the blood is red.
A dog has four legs.
5. something that is fixed in the present or future.
Examples:
Your exam starts at 09.00
It rains a lot in winter.
We fly to London next week.
6. To give instructions or directions
Examples:
You walk for 10 meters, then you turn left.
Open the packet and pour the contents into hot water.
7. With future constructions
Examples:
She'll see you before she leaves.
We'll give it to her when she arrives.
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Note: The simple present tense is not used to express actions happening now.
FORMING THE SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE:
We form the present tense using the base form of the infinitive (without the to). In general, in the third
person we add 'S' in the third person.
Example: The simple present tense is formed using the to speak as follows:
Affirmative Interrogative Negative
I speak Do I speak? I do not speak
You speak Do you speak? You do not speak
He speaks Does he speak? He does not speak
She speaks Does she speak? She does not speak
It speaks Does it speak? It does not speak
We speak Do we speak? We do not speak.
They speak Do they speak? They do not speak.
The spelling for the verb in the third person differs depending on the ending of that verb.
1. For verbs that end in -o, -ch, -sh, -ss, -x, or -z we add -es in the third person.
Examples:
go - goes
catch - catches
wash - washes
kiss - kisses
fix - fixes
buzz - buzzes
2. For verbs that end in a consonant -y, we remove the y and add -ies.
Examples:
marry - marries
study - studies
carry - carries
worry - worries
3. For verbs that end in a vowel -y, we just add -s.
Examples:
play - plays
enjoy - enjoys
say - says
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With the present tense, we use do and does to make questions. We use does for the third person such as she,
he, it and we use do for the others. We use do and does with question words like where, what and why.
Examples:
Where do you live?
Does Ram play football?
Where does he come from?
Do Reena and Meena live in Paris?
Where do they work?
Forming the Simple Present Negative:
The formula for making a simple present verb negative is
do/does + not + root form of verb
You can also use the contraction don’t or doesn’t instead of do not or does not.
Examples:
I like tennis, but I don’t like football. (don’t = do not)
I don’t live in London now.
I don’t play the piano, but I play the guitar.
They don’t work at the weekend.
Things to remember about the simple present tense:
1.In the interrogative forms, we use do or does.
Examples:
Do you like the house?
Does she go to school?
2. Verbs never take an ‘s’ in the negative and interrogative forms.
Examples:
Does he speak Spanish?
Do they play tennis?
She doesn't like chocolate.
3. don't is the short form of do not. We can say either don't or do not.
Examples:
I do not speak Italian or
I don't speak Italian.
4. doesn't is the short form of does not. We can say either doesn't or does not.
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Examples:
He does not listen to jazz music or
He doesn't listen to jazz music.
5. Present tense habitual activities are frequently identified by time expressions from one of the following
words are:
always
never
often
rarely
usually
all the time
every class
every day
every holiday
every hour
every month
every semester
every week
every year
sometimes
most of the time
