Tense is a grammar concept in English. It represents the verb's form in comprehending the situation. Tense is used to give the sentence a time factor. In the ruling, Nadjwa talked with her parents for one hour before going to sleep; the past tense verb form, talk(+ed), indicates the time of the talk.

Tenses, just like time, are divided into three parts:

Past tense - drove
Present tense - drive
Future Tense-driven

Each of the three above mentioned tenses can further be divided into subparts. These subparts include:

Simple
Continuous
Perfect
Perfect Continuous

Past Tense

As we can understand from the name, past tense verbs indicate an action, event or condition that has happened in the past. Each tense has four aspects that talk about the completion of the event or activity and based on that, we have four types of past tense verbs:

Simple Past Tense
Past Continuous Tense
Past Perfect Tense
Past Perfect Continuous Tense.

Simple Past Tense

The simple past tense indicates or describes something that happened or existed in the past. The situations or conditions to use a simple past tense is to:

define an action, event or requirement that occurred in the past or at a specified time
refer or describe an action that has been completed, and there is no time mentioned.

Formulating the Simple Past Tense Verb

We add '- ed' to formulate the simple past tense verb. For verbs ending in 'e', we add '-d' and. However, some simple past tense verbs, such as cut, put, set, etc., remain the same in the present and past tense. Examples are,

He worked at the Cheesecake Factory.
I often brought my lunch to school.

Past Continuous Tense

Past continuous tense is used to indicate an ongoing event in the past. Other conditions where past continuous tense is used are:

To show that someone is in the middle of an action. Example: I was calling him when he came home.
It is used to describe an action taking place when another occurred. Example: While they were painting the door, I painted the windows.
For an action taking place in the past when an interrupted action happened. Example: While he was working on his laptop, he fell asleep.

Formulating the Past Continuous Tense

The past continuous tenses are formed using the past tense of the verb to be(was/were) and the present participle verbs ending in -'ing'. These two tenses can be used together to indicate that an action happened while another was in progress.

Past Perfect Tense

The past perfect tense, a sentence or conversation, describes an event that happened before another event in the simple past tense was completed in the past. The situations where a Past Perfect Tense is used are to:

indicate an event that has occurred and been completed in the past. E ample: Meenu had borrowed money from the bank to buy her new car.
Describe an event or action which happened before a definite time in the past. E ample: We had cleaned up the terrace before the watchman arrived.
Define an action that occurred in the past before another step took place. E ample: We had reached their house after the dinner was over.

Past Perfect Tense is also used to describe a stat. E ample: Their wives had become good friends at the wedding. An essential use of the Past Perfect Tense is that it is used to clarify which event happened earlier when two actions were completed in the past. E ample: I have read those books that you bought for me.

Formulating the Past Perfect Tense

The past perfect tenses are formed with the past tense of the auxiliary verb have, i.e. which is had, and the past participle of the main verb.

Past Perfect Continuous Tense

These tenses are used to describe actions going on in the past up until another action in the past happened. T ey are often used in the following situations:

For an action that has occurred over a period of time having begun in the past.
To describe an action which started and finished in the past before another past action.
It is also regularly used in the reported speech where the present perfect continuous tenses come from the pas. Unlike the past continuous and past perfect tenses, past perfect continuous tenses are not used to indicate state, state of mind or feeling. Examples:

I had been studying.
It had been raining hard for several hours and the streets got flooded.
If it had not been raining, we would have gone to the park.

Formulating the Past Perfect Continuous Tense

These tenses are formed with the past perfect tense of the verb 'to 'e', which i' 'had been and the present participle of the verb, i.e.' '-ing.

Present Tense

There is much use of tenses In English grammar, we use present tense to talk about something going on now(currently) or that is true now and at any time. In other words, we use present tense to describe an event in real-time, i.e. happening at that very moment.

Types of Present Tense

The Present Tense is of four types. Namely,

Simple present tense
Present continuous tense
Present perfect tense
Present perfect continuous tense

RULES OF PRESENT TENSE

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Simple Present Tense

The simple present tense uses the same verb form as the root form of the verb. We use the simple present tense in the following conditions:

To show a fact or something always true
For activities that we do daily -regularly or habitually
To express thoughts, feelings, opinions and beliefs
For a planned action or an event that will happen in the future
We use this tense with a few adverbs to indicate something that happens rarely
We use it in news, reported speech such as in sports commentaries, a narration of books and stories etc
For schedules, plans and programmes
To give instructions

Formulating a Simple Present Tense

When the singular form of the subject or a singular pronoun is used, the verb is used in the simple present tense by adding a '-s' to it. For example,

This person goes to the library often.
When does the flight to Seychelles depart from Mumbai airport?

Present Continuous Tense

This tense describes a continued or ongoing action at the present time. In other words, it expresses an action which is in progress at the time of speaking and has not yet been completed. In the following conditions, we use the present continuous tense:

As mentioned above, when an action that is occurring at the time of speaking
When an action in the future is mentioned without specifying when it will occur
When we talk about a planned or arranged event or action that is set to take place at a specified time in the future.
In conditions where the action or event is occurring but not necessarily while we speak
It is used in a changing situation
We use it with adverbs such as 'always', which describe an action that happens frequently.

Formulating the Present Continuous Tense

It is formed from the present tense of the auxiliary verb 'to be' and the present participle of the verb '-ing'. For example,

The noise is beginning to give me a headache.
I am complaining to his mother about him.

Present Perfect Tense

The Present Perfect Tense is used in case of repeated actions, in those actions where the time is not essential, and actions that began in the past but are not finished yet and will probably finish in the present as we speak. We can use the present perfect tense in the following scenarios:

For actions or events that began in the past and have continued into the present
To show an action that has been completed
To indicate a time that has not yet finished
Used with phrases that begin with "This is the first" or "second time", and so on.
To describe or express an action that has been repeated in the past
Used to indicate or describe actions that have been completed in the recent past

Formulating the Present Perfect Tense

To form the present perfect tense, we need to use the simple present tense of the auxiliary verb 'has' or 'has' based on whether the noun referred to is plural or singular. The past participle of the verb follows the auxiliary verb. We can also write as: have/has + past participle. Let us see some examples,

We have known each other for a very long time.
There have been many contenders for this role.

Present Perfect Continuous Tense

To describe or indicate an event that is going on at this moment we use the present perfect continuous tense. We use this tense in the following conditions:

To describe an event that began in the past and is continuing into the future
To tell about an activity or event that started in the past and is now over(just recently completed or over)
When there is no mention of time.

Formulating the Present Perfect Continuous Tense

The two parts of the present perfect continuous tense are:

The present perfect tense of the verb 'to be': 'have been' or 'has been' and
The present participle of the main verb' -ing.

Future Tense

There are four types of the future tense:

Future Progressive Tense
Simple Future Tense
Future Perfect Tense
Future Perfect Progressive Tense

Simple Future Tense

It is also used to denote facts or events of certainty
It is used to give a warning or take a spontaneous decision
To express readiness
Make an offer or suggestion using 'shall.'
To give an invitation or an order to someone.

It can be used in affirmative, interrogative and negative sentences. Both 'shall' and 'will' can be used in simple future tense sentences, but modern English uses 'Will' rather than 'shall'.

Examples: I'll prepare dinner.

Why won't you tell her the truth?

Future Continuous/Progressive Tense

The future continuous or future progressive tense is used to denote an ongoing event in the future. It comprises two elements: a simple future of the verb 'to be' + the present participle (-ing). The future progressive tense is used in the following condition:

To extend ourselves in the future
To predict future events
Ask or inquire about events in the future
To refer to events in the future that have a continuous nature or occur regularly

Examples: I will be gone for an hour.

In the afternoon, I'll still be stuck in meetings.

Future Perfect Tense

The future perfect tense is a bit complicated compared to the two types mentioned above. It refers to an action that will have been completed at some time in the future.

The future perfect is composed of two elements: the simple future of the verb "to have" (will have) + the past participle of the main verb. It can be used in the affirmative, negative and affirmative and negative interrogative sentences.

Examples: By the time you get this letter, I will have left.

She will have arrived by lunch.

Future Perfect Progressive Tense

This tense is used to describe an ongoing event and will complete sometime in the future. A time reference indicates the starting time of the event or action or how long it has been continuing. Commonly used words to indicate time reference are 'since' and 'for'.

The future perfect progressive is composed of two elements: the main verb in the present participle(base form of verb + -ing) + Auxilliary verb 'will have been.'

Examples:

They will have been living in Mumbai for 10 years.
You will have been starting your shop since May.

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