May 14 Miss Siti Fatimah Murtaza 1

TENSES

PRESENT, PAST and FUTURE
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The main TENSES

The Present- refer to present time
1) He gets up early in the morning.
2) The sun sets in the west.

The Past- refer to past time
1) He met me in the party yesterday.
2) The boys were flying kites.

The Future- refer to future time
1) The children will play.
2) He will be teaching the class.
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Simple Present Tense
To express a habitual action.
To express general truths.
Examples:
She Takes exercise everyday..
I go to bed at 10 Oclock.
Two and two make four.
The sun rises in the east.
RULES:
* Present form of the verb
* s or es 3
rd
person singular (she, he, it) & they (not included-
plural)
* 2
nd
person (You)
* 1
st
person (I, We)
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Present Continuous Tense
To express an action which is going on at the same time of speaking.
o To express an action that is planned to take place in the near future.
Examples:
The children are playing.
My Mother is cooking.
o She is going to her aunts house in the evening.
o My son is arriving tomorrow.
RULES:
*Present form of the verb+ing
*is/am/are
*areplural subjects (we, they) & you (included)
*is--- singular (she, he, it)
*am--- I

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Present Perfect Tense
To indicate an actions just completed.
To express those past actions whose time is not definite.
Examples:
I have taken my breakfast.
My father has left for office.
She has already passed this test.
I have seen this movie.
RULES:
*Past participle form of the verb
*Has or Have
*has3
rd
person singular (she, he, it)
*have--- other subjects (you, we, they, I)


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Present Perfect Continuous Tense
To denote an action which began in the past and still continuing.
Examples:
We have been studying for five hours.
The girls have been dancing since two Oclock.
RULES:
*Present form of the verb+ing
*has been or have been
*has been3
rd
person singular (she, he, it)
*have been---all other subjects (they, we, you, I)

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Past Tense
To indicate an action completed in the past.
To indicate past habits.
Examples:
She met me in the party yesterday.
I visited my home town last month.
We practised mathematics for hours.
She saw a movie once a week.
RULE:
*Past form of the verb
*irregular & regular forms
(meet-met) (visit-visited)

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Past Continuous Tense
To denote an action going on in the past.
To denote a continuous/persistent habit in the past.
Examples:
The children were playing.
The teacher was evaluating the answer sheets.
He was always disturbing me.
She was always listening to the music.
RULES:
*was or were
* verb+ing
*wassingular subjects (she, he, it)
*were plural subjects (we, they)

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Past Perfect Tense
To describe the action in the past which was completed before
another action of the past.
Examples:
The students had done their work when the teacher entered the
classroom.
She had cooked the food when the guests arrived.
RULES:
*Past participle form of the verb
*had with all the subjects
*Another clause of past simple tense to show the action which
happened later.
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Past Perfect Continuous Tense
o To describe an action that began before a certain point in the
past and continued up to that time.
Examples:
o She had been studying in UPM since 2007.
o We had been waiting for the bus for half an hour.
o She had been learning piano for 6 months.
RULES:
*Present form of the verb+ing
*had been with all the subjects
* since/for
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Simple Future Tense
To describe an action that will take place in future.
Examples:
We shall play a match tomorrow.
They will come back next week.
RULES:
*Present form of the verb
*shall or will
*shall1
st
person (We, I)
*will--- all other subjects (they, you, he, she, it)

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Future Continuous Tense
To denote an action which will be going on at some time in
future.
To denote future events that are planned.
Examples:
The teacher will be teaching the class.
The boys will be studying.
He will be staying with me for one month.
She will be joining us next week.
RULES:
*Present form of the verb+ing
*shall be or will be
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Future Perfect Tense
To describe the completion of an action by a certain time in
future.
Examples:
We shall have completed our homework by five Oclock.
My mother will have cooked food.
RULES:
*Past participle form of the verb
*shall have or will have
*shall have (I, We)
*will have--- (They, you, it, she, he)
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Future Perfect Continuous Tense
To denote that action which will begin in future and will be
continuing in future at a particular time.
Examples:
The child will have been playing since morning.
I shall have been doing my homework for two hours.
RULES:
*Present form of the verb+ing
*shall have been or will have been
*since or for