English Tenses and Examples

 

   English Tenses 

Introduction

Tense is the relationship between the time of speaking and the time of event. One may be speaking now about an event that occurred at the time before the speaking [known as past tense], the event occurring now at the time of speaking [present tense] or speaking about an event to occur after the time of speaking [known as future tense]. It is very important for a user of any language to know that any sentence/utterance cannot be separated from the two – sentences and time of event. Perhaps this is why it is said the “English is the tenses.” This particular chapter introduces you into English tenses and provides you with some practices to make you understand the tenses well and know how to use them in your daily conversation.

There is an acute debate on how many tenses do we have in English, and generally in all languages of the world. Some have been arguing that there are three tenses, i.e. present, past, and future tense; another group has been arguing that there are only two tenses and that the future is not a tense because a verb does not change its shape to express the time of action. The last group, and of course the camp which the author supports, argues that there are twelve tenses in language. Since we agree that a tense is a relationship between an event and the time of speaking, then there are twelve instances of this relationship. Each of these is delineated below; the author puts these tenses into three groups, namely, the present group, the past group and the future group.

 

The Present Group

·         Simple present

·         Present continuous

·         Present perfect

·         Present perfect continuous

 

Simple Present

It is called simple present because it is used to express about events which occur frequently. One may argue that it is used to express about objects habits. Think of your habit to drink water, go to school or job, go to church or mosque, to eat or not to eat Ugali. These are things one will express by using simple present tense. One peculiar thing about this tense is that the verb in the tense is the same and it is bare for all persons, except for third person singular only. See how one may express the issues above using simple present tense.

For all other Persons

I eat Ugali every day. Or I don’t eat Ugali

I go to school.

I teach English.

You teach English

They fast for almost 30 days.

For Third Person Singular

He/she/it eats Ugali

She/he/it teaches English

It/she/he fasts for almost 30 days

 

Present Continuous

In this tense, the speaker is saying that an action is now and it is still in progress. Therefore, the speaking is going simultaneously with doing the action being spoken about.  This is the tense that goes with forms such as am, is, are + ing. The type of variation we experience in the simple present tense is not the case here and any other tense except for the present perfect which we shall also discuss later. For example,

I am studying English

We are cooking Pilau

You are playing football

They are walking slowly

One would agree with me that the tense [present continuous] is the most well-known and used tense by English language learners.

 

Present Perfect

Why do speakers use present perfect? A simple answer is that the speaker wants to show that an action has been done now and it is complete. If a speaker says nimefunga mlango in Kiswahili then one can see the door closed; nimefua ngua, then one can see the clothes hanged under the sun or somewhere to dry. In this sense, a present perfect is used for actions which have just been completed at the moment of speaking. In this type of tense speakers use the following structure of sentences:

For all other Persons

I have closed the door

I have eaten Ugali

I have finished my assignment

I have done my laundry

For Third Person Singular

Just like it is for first person singular present, present perfect also adds –s in the verb, but here –s is added into the auxiliary have and it changes into has. Thus,

He/she/it has eaten Ugali

She/he/it has finished its assignment

It/she/he has done his laundry

 

Present Perfect Continuous Tense

Here the speaker explains that an action started sometime earlier and it is still in continuation. One may use this expression in Kiswahili as an instance of a present perfect continuous tense Nimekua nikifundisha Kiingereza tangu wakati ule. Thus, the present perfect continuous tense takes this form: Have + been + ing for all other persons, and has + been + ing for third person singular. See the following examples:

For all other Persons

I have been teaching English for years now

They have been waiting for Donnas support since 2002

Simba and Yanga have been the best derbies in Tanzania

For Third Person Singular

She has been my favourites

He has been gossiping day and night

It is, however, important to know that one may easily cram the rules for the tenses and still get problems when it comes into using them. So, the best way to master them is to make practices as much as possible for easy and comfortable communication.

 

Past Tense

·         Simple past

·         Past continuous

·         Past perfect

·         Past perfect continuous

Simple Past

This tense is used by a speaker to say things which were done before the time of speaking, it may be some minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, or years ago. It is called simple past, also known as past tense, because it does not say whether the action was perfective or progressive. This type of tense does add –ed in regular verbs to form past. Remember that some verbs do change their form or others, like cut, will not change their form when –ed is added. See the following examples of simple past tense.

I cooked Ugali

I cut my finger when I was slicing onions yesterday

I wrote a letter to my darling

I was happy when I joined the Lushoto Institute of Judicial Education

Activity

Make a list of at least twenty irregular verbs and make sentences from each verb using a simple past tense.

Past Continuous Tense

Here the speaker speaks of an action which was done in the past but it was progressive. Here the speaker has an additional element in speaking which we call here “a point of reference.” i.e. I was eating when Juma came in. When Juma came in is what we call a reference point here. Even when you don’t overtly say the reference point, it is always in your mind (i.e. the speakers’ or the hearer’s mind). In past continuous we use the form was/we + -ing. See the following examples.

I was teaching Mathematics last year

They were singing waalade

They were playing for Simba before they went to TP Mazembe

Past Perfect

In this tense, the speaker says that an action was done in the past and it was completed before another. A reference point is usually said overtly in this time of tense. In the tense we use the form had + -ed. See the following examples:

I had cooked Ugali before Kigodoro passed

I had eaten three pieces when they told me that was dog’s meat

She had a baby when she got married

NB: It is important to know that there are two forms of have:

Have as an auxiliary verb like, I have cooked, they have left, etc.

Have as a main verb, like I have money, they have two cars, etc.

Therefore forming past perfect from the constructions in 2 above, it becomes:

I had had money

They had had two cars

Past Perfect Continuous Tense

Here the speaker is speaking of the event which was being done in the past but it was being done before another. i.e. The action was in progressive and it happened before another thing. In this type of tense the speaker uses the form: Had + been + ing. See the following examples:

I had been teaching Mathematics for two years before I went to Europe

She had been saying that for a long time.

 

 

Future Tense

·         Simple future

·         Future continuous

·         Future Perfect

·         Future perfect continuous

Simple Future

This is a tense where a speaker is speaking now but about things which will be done in the time to come. It may be for the things to happen in a minute, day, week, month or years to come. It is called simple future because it does not tell if the action is perfective or progressive, just the action will happen in future. In this tense, a speaker uses the form will + verb. See the following examples:

I will/shall cook Ugali

Simba will defeat Yanga

Yanga will defeat Simba

NB: It is important to learn the differences between will and shall here.

Both will and shall are used to refer things which will happen in future, but shall is used only by the first person singular “I” and first person plural “we”. Example,

I shall come

We shall buy you a car for your graduation

But

They will come

She will buy you a car for your graduation

However, both first person singular and plural may use will. Then why shall for first person only? A rational answer is that shall is used for commitments and it is a person who commits, one can’t make commitment for another person.

Future Continuous

Here the speaker is saying about the event which will happen in future but it will be in continuation. A speaker uses the form will/shall + -ing. See the following examples:

I will be studying next year

I will be travelling tomorrow afternoon

Future Perfect

Here the speaker is speaking about an event which will happen in time to come, but the action will be completed before another thing (before a reference point). In this type of tense, a speaker uses the form will/shall + have + -ed. See the following examples:

I will have cooked Ugali when they arrive from shamba

I shall have graduated my PhD before I get married

They will have spoken good English in 2015

Future Perfect Tense

Here a speaker is speaking about an action which will happen in time to come but it will have happened before another thing and it will be in progressive. The speaker uses the form will/shall + ing. See the following examples:

I will have been cooking Ugali

I will have been dancing Makirikiri

We will have been eating the chicken

 

As it was highlighted earlier, for any person to speak confidently and understandably, grasping of tenses in any language is, then, commanding. Accordingly, one needs to have all cares to master the tenses of a language they [1]are learning. It is likewise significant to underline here that the best way to learn to speak a language is to speak it rather than learning the written descriptions of the language. It is, thus, upon you to learn to speak the forms of the tense we have described in this chapter, considering that some people may well master the formula and still fail to speak them.

Sentence

A sentence is a group of words consisted of a subject and a predicate with a complete meaning.A sentence is a group of words normally made up of subject and predicate that expresses a complete thought or meaning.

-          The subject is the part of the sentence that names whom or what the sentence is about.

-          The predicate is the part of the sentence that says something about the subject.

e.g. Dogs were barking ; Peter jumped.

         Tomatoes and carrots are colorful vegetables

• Neither the tomato nor the pepper grows underground.

 - In the distance flowed a river.

Basing on their purpose, Sentences are in 4 kinds;

-          A Declarative – that makes a statement.

-          An Imperative – gives a command/ makes a request.

-          An interrogative – asks a question.

-          An exclamatory – expresses emotions/feelings

 

Formal agreement in English Sentences

The focus here is that the subject should agree with its verb in terms of number.

-          Number refers to the form of a word that indicates whether it is singular or plural.

-          Singular subjects require singular verbs while plural subjects require plural verbs.

Example,

 The foliage on the trees provides shade.

  Paul, along with his friends go/goes to the town.

 

Mistakes in subject-verb agreement are sometimes made in the following situations;

-          When words come between the subject and the verb.

 e.g. The sharp fangs in the dog’s mouth look scary.

-          When a verb comes before the subject.

e.g. in the distance was a box of chalks.

-          With compound subjects

These are subjects made up of two linguistic units joined by a conjunction.

-          Joyce and Brown are a contended couple.

N.B; when subjects are not joined by either…or, neither…nor, not only…but also, the verb agrees with the subject closer to the verb.

e.g. Neither the negotiator nor the union leaders want the strike to continue.

Neither the union leaders nor the negotiator wants the strike to continue.

• With indefinite pronouns (anyone, somebody, anything, everybody) – these do always take singular verbs.

Quiz:

• Neither of those hairstyles……….you. Suit/suits
• Both of the puppies…..cute. Look/looks
• Either Lucas or Mwenda … needed. Is/are
• Neither the students nor the teacher……ready for the match. Is/are
• Neither the Speaker  nor the members of parliament……… corruption. Accepts/accept
• In far away…..the police stations. Is/ are
• An old chair with broken legs…..ours. Are/is

 

Pronoun agreement

·         A pronoun must agree in number with the word or words it replaces. The word referred to by a pronoun is called antecedent.

e.g. Asha showed me her wedding ring.

     - Students enrolled in the art class must provide their identity cards.

QUIZ:  Each of these computers has… Drawbacks.

    its/their.

 

Common Errors in English

 

-          One of a common mistake involves using adjectives in places of adverbs as in :

-          Peter needs a haircut bad instead of Peter needs a haircut badly.

-          I laugh too loud when I am embarrassed instead of I laugh too loudly when I am embarrassed.

-          She is walking so slow= she is walking so slowly.

-          ‘Well and good’

These two words are often confused. Good is an adjective that describes a noun while ‘well’ is usually an adverb describing verbs.

-          When Amos got AIDS, he discovered who his ….friends really were. Good/well

-          How is your shirt? It is ……good/well

-          She has done …. in her examinations. Good/well

-          Repetition of subjects in clauses:

-          The girl who danced with you *she is my cousin.

-          I know Mbalamwezi who *he is her brother.

-          Misuse of the word cost in its adjective form.

-          Most users are likely to mistakenly say

-           something is very ‘costful’ instead of saying

-          Something is very costly.

-          Other errors base on spellings as in: peace/piece; plain/plane; salon/saloon; principal/principle; whose/who’s; your/you’re

-          Accept/except; advice/advise; effect/affect; among/between;

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[1]Note the use of they and themselves in this chapter; you may think that they are wrongly used in some constructions, but they are used in that way for social reasons.

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