Someone has said that about life and it also explains tense – Past is a waste paper, Present is a newspaper paper, Future is a question paper So Read and Write carefully Otherwise your life will a tissue paper.
So today in this article we will see what are these three tenses? Along with this, we will also try to know what is Tense and how many types are there?
What is Tense?
Tense is usually denoted by time, but under time we talk about days, months, years, season’s etc. while tense is a grammatical word, under which we talk about the time in which the work happened and we know that verb tells about any work or action.
That’s why the tense tells us how much the action of the verb has been completed and in what time it has happened.
For example – John goes to office every morning.
By the way, this is an example of simple present tense, but from here past and future are also being known, because John goes to office every day, he went to office yesterday as well as at present he goes to office every day and it is expected that he will go in future also.
This means that even when the verb is present, it also gives sense of present, past and future.
That's why there is a need to understand the tense of the verb and its usage carefully.
So, tense changes the form of the verb to express the time of action.
Types of Tenses-
Normally there are 3 types of tense –
Present tense
When a verb is connected in the present, it is called present tense. Generally, Do/Does, am/are/is, has/have, has been/have been, etc. helping verbs are used under Present Tense.
I drive a car.
I am driving a car.
I have driven a car.
I have been driving for 2 years.
Past tense
When a verb is related to the past, that is, when we talk about past time, it is called past tense. Generally auxiliary verbs like did, was/were, had, had been etc. are used under past tense.
He operated a computer
He was operating the computer.
He had operated the computer.
He had been operating the computer since morning.
Future tense
When an action is related to the future, that is, when we talk about an event/imagination that will happen in the future, it is called future tense. Generally, auxiliary verbs like shall/will, will be, will have, will have been etc. are used in future tense.
He will become a good speaker.
He will be managing all people.
He will have managed all people.
He will have been managing all people for a year.
Four SubTypes
And these Tenses also have 4 subtypes –
- Simple / Indefinite Tense
- Continuous / Imperfect / Progressive Tense
- Perfect Tense
- Perfect continuous Tense
What are all these types and we will understand each tense type in the next articles? We hope you enjoy each topic.
Tense Table of Helping Verbs
Below we have given the auxiliary verbs for all the active voice tenses in the table –
HV: helping verb and MV: Main verb
| Tense | Present | Past | Future |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple / Indefinite | show-regular action or universal truth HV – Do / Does MV – I form | show-yesterday or last or past habitual action HV – Did MV – II form | show-discussion of the future HV – Shall / Will MV – I form |
| Continuous | show-continuty or temporary action HV – Am / Are / Is MV – I form+ing | show-continuty in past HV – Was / Were MV – I form+ing | show-Continuity to a short time in the future HV – Shall be / Will be MV – I form+ing |
| Perfect | show- perfection up to now HV – Have / Has MV – III form | show-before,when sentences or wish or hope in past HV – Had MV – III form | show- expires at a specified time in the future/ by or before time HV – Shall have / Will have MV – III form |
| Perfect Continuous | show- impact on beginning from past yet HV – Have been / Has been MV – I form+ing | show-starting in the past going on in the past HV – Had been MV – I form+ing | show-continue until the specified time in the future HV – Shall have been / Will have been MV – I form+ing |
Conclusion
So in this topic we learned about tense and its types. In the next article, we will discuss each type in detail.
FAQ
que.- What is tense?
ans.- Tense changes the form of the verb to express the time of an action.
que.- What are the 3 types of tense?
ans.- There are 3 types of tenses – present past and future.
que.- How many types of Tense are there in total?
ans- There are total 12 types of Tenses.