Tenses - Easy and Concise English Grammar Notes

In a series of sharing English grammar notes, today I am sharing Tenses.

Present continuous	Present simple
present of be + active participle	base form/s-form
I am reading you/we/they are reading he/she/it is reading	I/you/we/they read he/she/it reads
Negative
I am not reading you/we/they are not reading he/she/it is not reading	I/you/we they do not read he/she/it does not read
Questions
am I reading? are you/we/they reading? is he/she it reading?	do I/you/we/they read? does he/she/it read?

Past Continuous	Present Perfect Continuous
Past of be + active participle	Present of have + been + active participle
I/he/she/it was flying you/we/they were flying	I/you/we/they have been waiting he/she/it has been waiting
Negative
I/he/she/it was not flying you/we/they were not flying	I/you/we/they have not been waiting he/she/it has not been waiting
Questions
was I/he/she/it flying? were you/we/they flying?	have I/you/we/they been waiting? has he/she/it been waiting?

Present Perfect	Past simple:
present of have + past participle	Past form
I/you/we/they have opened he/she/it has opened	someone opened
Negative
I/you/we/they have not opened he/she/it has not opened	someone did not open
Questions
have I/you/we/they opened? has he/she/it opened?	did someone open?

Past Perfect	Past Perfect Continuous
had + past participle	had been + active participle
someone had invited	someone had been going
Negative
someone had not invited	someone had not been going
Questions
had someone invited?	had someone been going?

#Present

Present Simple

Ram plays cricket.

Sub + V₁ + Object

Note: 's' is used according to subject, always use 's' if subject is singular

Present Continuous

Ram is playing cricket.

Is / Am / Are + V_{1 + ing}

Sub + V_{1 + ing}+ Object

Present Perfect Continuous Tense

Ram has been playing cricket since morning or for two hours.

{ Has + Been + V_{1 + ing} + time [since or for] }

Present Perfect Tense

Ram has played cricket.

Has / Have + V3 + Object

#Past Tense

Past Indefinite

Ram played cricket. [ Sub + V2 ]

Past Continuous

Ram was playing cricket. [ Sub + Was / Were + V_{1 + ing} ]

Past Perfect Continuous Tense

Ram had been playing cricket since morning or for two hours.

{ Had + Been + V_{1 + ing} + time [since or for] }

Past Perfect Tense

Ram had played cricket. [ Sub + Had + V3 ]

#Future Tense

Future Indefinite

Modals ( will/shall) always use with 1st form of verb.

Ram will play cricket.

Future Continuous

Ram will be playing cricket.

Sub + will/shall+be+ V_{1 + ing}+ Object

Future Perfect

Ram will have played cricket.

(always use 'have' with 'will')

Future Perfect Continuous

Ram will have been playing cricket since morning.

Example : I ___(return) my book in the library yesterday.

The case of after and before

The passenger ____ reached the station before the train _______(arrive).[had,reached (V2) ]
The doctor came after the patient died(V3).

Conditional Statements

If + Present Indefinite + Future Indefinite + Obj

If + Past + Indefinite + would + V₁+ Obj

If + Past Perfect + would + Have + V3 + Obj

Examples:

If I will go to Delhi, I will Meet her. [Correct:If I go to Delhi]
She will come to meet me as soon as I will reached Delhi.[Correct: I reach Delhi] Conditional Words
- As soon as
- If
- As If
- If wish
- Unless
- Until
- When
- When ever
Unless you ~~will not~~ take care of yours.you will not recover.
Until the train will not gets the signal. It will not arrive. [ always use 's' or 'es' with verb according to the subject ]
Ram had a car. [ had = main verb (past indefinite)] Ram had had a car. [past perfect] [ has had had ; be was been ] Sub + Main Verb + V3 + Obj
She was a good girl. [past Indefinite] She had been a good girl.[past perfect]
If I ~~was~~ a bird, I would fly in the sky. [ Correct :were] Present wish = Past indefinite [ never depends on subject]
If we had ___ mohan in our team we would have won the match. [ Correct : had ] Past wish = Past Perfect
If I had seen you, I would ____ stop my car. [ Correct: Have ]
He scolded me as if he ~~was~~ my boss. [ Correct: Were ] [ Never use 'was' in conditional statement after if or as ]

Verbs and Tenses - Bank Exams Today