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Rules of Tenses help one understand how to correctly use the different tenses in a sentence, without making a grammatical mistake and also by easily indicating when an event or action has occurred.
Aspirants who are willing to apply for the various Government exams 2023 must go through these tenses rules carefully, as the English language is a part of the syllabus for most of these exams.
Tenses can be divided into three parts:
Each of the three above mentioned tenses can further be divided into subparts. These subparts include:
- Simple
- Continuous
- Perfect
- Perfect Continuous
In this article, we shall discuss in detail the tenses rules for the above-mentioned types of verb tenses, followed by examples to explain them clearly.
Present Tense
Present Tense can be defined as an expression for an activity that is currently in action or is habitually performed. It is used for a state that generally exists or is currently ongoing.
- Simple Present
| Simple Present Tense | |
| Singular | Plural |
| Rule: Subject + V1 + s/es + Object | Rule: Subject + V1 + Object |
| Example: The girl sings a songHere the subject is Girl (singular) and “s” has been added to the verb (sing), followed by the object (song) | Example: The girls sing a songHere the subject is Girls (plural) and no changes have been made with V1 (first form of verb) and the object |
- Present Continuous
| Present Continuous Tense | |
| Rule: Subject + is/am/are + V1 + ing + object | |
| Example: She is eating foodHere the subject is She, followed by “is”The first form of verb (V1) here is “eat” and “ing” has been added to it, followed by the object “food” |
- Present Perfect
| Present Perfect Tense | |
| Singular | Plural |
| Rule: Subject + has + V3 + Object | Rule: Subject + have + V3 + Object |
| Example: He has cleaned the utensilsHere, “He” is the subject + has“Cleaned” is the third form of verb and utensils is the object | Example: They have cleaned the utensilsHere, “They” is the subject + have“Cleaned” is the third form of verb and utensils is the object |
- Present Perfect Continuous Tense
| Present Perfect Continuous Tense | |
| Singular | Plural |
| Rule: Subject + has been + V1 + ing + Object | Rule: Subject + have been + V1 + ing + Object |
| Example: She has been practising since morningHere “She” is the subject + has been, followed by “ing” added to the the first form of verb “practise” and then the object | Example: They have been practising since morningHere “They” is the subject + have been, followed by “ing” added to the the first form of verb “practise” and then the object |
Given below are a few examples that may help you differentiate between the four sub parts of present tense easily:
- Raj speaks German (Simple Present for Singular)
- They speak German (Simple Present for Plural)
- She is speaking German (Present Continuous)
- He has learnt German (Present Perfect for Singular)
- They have learnt German (Present Perfect for Plural)
- She has been learning German (Present Perfect Continuous for Singular)
- They have been learning German (Present Perfect Continuous for Plural)