Day-1: An Introduction to Tenses

© VEERESH SAVADI English Made Easy – in 20 Minutes a Day! Foundation English

DAY-1:STUDY OF TENSES

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1

TENSES

At the end of the session, you understand

Types of Tenses

Examples of each tenses

Comparative Table of Tenses

Comparative Study of Present Tense

Writing examples in Present Simple, Continuous,

Perfect and Perfect Continuous

Usage of Present tense

The concept of time can be split into:

The Present - What you are currently doing. I eat, I am

eating

The Past - What you did some time back. I ate, I was

eating

The Future - What you will do later. I will eat, I will be

eating

In the English language, tenses play an important role in

sentence formation. The tense of a verb shows the time of

an event or action. There are four types of tenses. Simple,

Continuous, , Perfect and Perfect Continuous and each of

these has a present, past and future form.

PRESENT TENSES

SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE

In Simple Present, the action is simply mentioned and there

is nothing being said about its completeness.

I eat. I sleep. I play.

PRESENT CONTINUOUS TENSE

In Present Continuous, the action is on-going/ still going on

and hence continuous.

I am eating. I am sleeping. I am playing.

PRESENT PERFECT TENSE

In Present Perfect, the action is complete or has ended and

hence termed Perfect.

I have eaten. I have slept. I have played.

PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE

In Present Perfect Continuous, the action has been taking

place for some time and is still ongoing.

I have been eating. I have been sleeping. I have been

playing.

PAST TENSES

SIMPLE PAST TENSE

In Simple Past, the action is simply mentioned and

understood to have taken place in the past.

I ate. I slept. I played.

PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE

In Past Continuous, the action was ongoing till a certain

time in the past.

I was eating. I was sleeping. I was playing.

PAST PERFECT TENSE

Past Perfect is used to express something that happened

before another action in the past.

I had eaten. I had slept. I had played.

PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE

Past Perfect Continuous is used to express something that

started in the past and continued until another time in the

past.

I had been eating. I had been sleeping. I had been

playing.

FUTURE TENSES

SIMPLE FUTURE TENSE

Simple Future is used when we plan or make a decision to

do something. Nothing is said about the time in the future.

I will eat. I will sleep. I will play.

FUTURE CONTINUOUS TENSE

The future continuous tense is used to express action at a

particular moment in the future. However, the action will

not have finished at the moment.

I will be eating at 9 a.m. I will be sleeping when you arrive. I

will be playing at 5 p.m.

FUTURE PERFECT TENSE

Future Perfect expresses action that will occur in the future

before another action in the future.

I will have eaten before 10 a.m. I will have slept before you

arrive. I will have played before 6 p.m.

FUTURE PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE

Future Perfect Continuous is used to talk about an on-going

action before some point in the future.

I will have been sleeping for two hours when you arrive. I will

have been playing for an hour when it is 5 p.m.

COMPARATIVE STUDY OF TENSES

TENSE SIMPLE/

INDEFINITE

CONTINUOUS PERFECT PERFECT

CONTINUOUS

PRESENT

(s/es/ies)

MV- I form

Do/does

MV- I form

am/is/are

MV- ing form

has/have

MV- III form

has been/have been

MV- ing form

PAST

----

MV- II form

did

MV- I form

was/were

MV- ing form

Had

MV- III form

had been

MV- ing form

FUTURE

shall/will

MV- I form

shall be/will be

MV- ing

shall have/will have

MV- III form

shall have been/will have been

MV- ing form





2

Graphical Representation of Tenses

Types of Pronoun Chart:

Pronouns are used to replace a noun. However, they take different forms depending on how they are used in a

sentence. This chart outlines the five types of pronouns and the correct forms for each.

Persons Subject

pronouns

Object

pronouns

Possessive

determiners

Possessive

pronouns

Reflexive

pronouns

1st person singular I me my mine myself

2nd person singular you

(thou)

you

(thee)

your

(thy)

yours

(thine)

yourself

(thyself)

3rd person singular

he

she

it

him

her

it

his

her

its

his

hers

--

himself

herself

itself

1st person plural We us our ours ourselves

2nd person plural you you your yours yourselves

3rd person plural they them their theirs themselves

Determiners Chart

This chart shows which determiners can be used with countable (singular or plural) vs uncountable nouns.

Common nouns

Proper nouns Countable nouns Uncountable nouns

Singular nouns Plural nouns

**cannot be used without a

determiner! rings jewelry John

a ring some rings some jewelry

**proper nouns cannot take

a determiner unless it is part

of the name (e.g. - The

United States)

the ring the rings the jewelry

this ring

that ring

these rings

those rings

this jewelry

that jewelry

one ring

two rings

three rings

four rings

etc.

**cannot be used with a

number

my ring

your ring

John's ring

etc.

my rings

your rings

John's rings

etc.

my jewelry

your jewelry

John's jewelry

etc.

-- a lot of rings

lots of rings

a lot of jewelry

lots of jewelry

-- many rings

a few rings

much jewelry

a little jewelry

Person/

Pronoun Singular Plural

First I We

Second --- You

Third

He

They She

It





3

REGULAR VERBS

(past root and past participles are the same; both end in 'ed')

1 INFINITIVE 2 PAST 3 PARTICIPLE

admit (admít) admitted (admítid) admitted (admítid)

ban (ban) banned (bánd) banned (bánd)

beg (beg) begged (bégd) begged (bégd)

bury (béri) buried (bérid) buried (bérid)

clap (kláp) clapped (klápt) clapped (klápt)

copy (kópi) copied (kópid) copied (kópid)

cry (krái) cried (kráid) cried (kráid)

drop (drop) dropped (drópt) dropped (drópt)

dry (drái) dried (dráid) dried (dráid)

empty (émpti) emptied (émptid) emptied (émptid)

fancy (fánsi) fancied (fánsid) fancied (fánsid)

fit (fit) fitted (fítid) fitted (fítid)

fry (frái) fried (fráid) fried (fráid)

hug (jág) hugged (jágd) hugged (jágd)

hurry (jári) hurried (járid) hurried (járid)

identify (aidéntifai) identified (aidéntifaid) identified (aidéntifaid)

knit (nit) knitted (nítid) knitted (nítid)

knot (not) knotted (nótid) knotted (nótid)

label (léibl) labelled (léibld) labelled (léibld)

level (lével) levelled (léveld) levelled (léveld)

marry (mári) married (márid) married (márid)

multiply (máltíplai) multiplied (móltí-pláid) multiplied (móltí-pláid)

pedal (pédal) pedalled (pédald) pedalled (pédald)

plan (plan) planned (pland) planned (pland)

plug (plag) plugged (plagd) plugged (plagd)

prefer (prífér) preferred (prifert) preferred (prifert)

program (prógram) programmed (prógramd) programmed (prógramd)

regret (rigrét) regretted (rigrétid) regretted (rigrétid)

reply (replái) replied (repládt) replied (repláid)

rub (rab) rubbed (rábd) rubbed (rábd)

satisfy (satisfái) satisfied (satisfáid) satisfied (satisfáid)

shop (shop) shopped (shópt) shopped (shópt)

signal (sígnal) signalled (sígnald) signalled (sígnald)

skip (skíp) skipped (skípt) skipped (skípt)

slip (slíp) slipped (slípt) slipped (slípt)

stop (stop) stopped (stópt) stopped (stópt)

supply (saplái) supplied (sapláid) supplied (sapláid)

tip (típ) tipped (típt) tipped (típt)

travel (trável) travelled (tráveld) travelled (tráveld)

try (trái) tried (tráid) tried (tráid)

worry (uári) worried (uárid) worried (uárid)





4

Irregular Verbs Chart

This chart contains a list of the most common irregular verbs in English and their various forms, arranged according to type.

Present Root Present Participle Past Root Past Participle

I FORM ING FORM II FORM III FORM

jump jumping jumped jumped

Irregular verbs - Type 1

(past root and past participles are the same but have irregular forms)

bleed bleeding bled bled

bend bending bent bent

build building built built

burn burning burnt burnt

buy buying bought bought

bring bringing brought brought

catch catching caught caught

creep creeping crept crept

dig digging dug dug

dream dreaming dreamt dreamt

feed feeding fed fed

feel feeling felt felt

fight fighting fought fought

find find found found

hang hanging hung hung

have having had had

hold holding held held

keep keeping kept kept

lay laying laid laid

lead leading led led

leap leaping leapt leapt

leave leaving left left

lend lending lent lent

lie lying lied lied

light lighting lit lit

lose losing lost lost

make making made made

mean meaning meant meant

pay paying paid paid

read reading read * read *

run running ran run

say saying said said

seek seeking sought sought

sell selling sold sold

send sending sent sent

shoot shooting shot shot

sit sitting sat sat





5



sleep sleeping slept slept

spend spending spent spent

spill splilling split spilt

spin spinning spun spun

stand standing stood stood

stick sticking stuck stuck

swear swearing swore swore

sweep sweeping swept swept

teach teaching taught taught

tell telling told told

think thinking thought thought

throw throwing threw thrown

understand understanding understood understood

weep weeping wept wept

win winning won won


(present root & past participle are the same but past root is different)

become becoming became become

come coming came come

Present

root

Present

participle

Past

root

Past

participle


(past participles end with 'n')

beat beating beat beaten

bite biting bit bitten

blow blowing blew blown

break breaking broke broken

choose choosing chose chosen

do doing did done

draw drawing drew drawn

drive driving drove driven

eat eating ate eaten

fall falling fell fallen

fly flying flew flown

forget forgetting forgot forgotten

forgive forgiving forgave forgiven

freeze freezing froze frozen

get getting got gotten

give giving gave given

go going went gone

grow growing grew grown

hide hiding hid hidden

know knowing knew known

lie (down) lying lay lain





6



prove proving proved proven

ride riding rode riden

rise rising rose risen

see seeing saw seen

sew sewing sewed sown

shake shaking shook shaken

shave shaving shaved shaven

shine shining shined shone

show showing showed shown

speak speaking spoke spoken

steal stealing stole stolen

take taking took taken

tear tearing tore torn

wake waking woke woken

wear wearing wore worn

write writing wrote written


(past roots have the vowel 'a' and past participles have the vowel 'u')

begin beginning began begun

drink drinking drank drunk

ring ringing rang rung

shrink shrinking shrank shrunk

sing singing sang sung

sink sinking sank sunk

spring springing sprang sprung

swim swimming swam swum


(present root, past root, and past participle are all the same)

cost costing cost cost

cut cutting cut cut

hit hitting hit hit

hurt hurting hurt hurt

put putting put put

quit quitting quit quit

set setting set set

shut shutting shut shut

split splitting split split

spread spreading spread spread

Documents

Day-1: An Introduction to Tenses