📘 Tenses Rules & Uses

1. What are Tenses?

Tenses tell us when an action happens — in the past, present, or future.

2. Why use Tenses?

• They make sentences clear about time.
• Help listener/reader know when something happened.
• Use the correct verb forms with each tense.

3. Three Main Time Periods

• Past: Action already happened. (Yesterday I played)
• Present: Action happening now or always true. (I play / I am playing)
• Future: Action yet to happen. (I will play)

4. Tense Types with Uses

Present Tense

• Simple Present: Habit / General truth → I eat breakfast every day.
• Present Continuous: Happening now → I am eating breakfast.
• Present Perfect: Action completed recently / affecting now → I have eaten breakfast.
• Present Perfect Continuous: Action started in past and continuing → I have been eating since 7 am.

Past Tense

• Simple Past: Finished action → I played cricket yesterday.
• Past Continuous: Action ongoing in past → I was playing cricket at 5 pm.
• Past Perfect: Action completed before another past action → I had eaten before he arrived.
• Past Perfect Continuous: Duration of past action → I had been playing for 2 hours before it rained.

Future Tense

• Simple Future: Will happen → I will play tomorrow.
• Future Continuous: Action ongoing in future → I will be playing at 5 pm.
• Future Perfect: Action completed before a future time → I will have finished the game by 6 pm.
• Future Perfect Continuous: Duration till future → I will have been playing for 2 hours by evening.

5. Always Remember

• Choose tense depending on time of action.
• Use correct verb forms (base/past/past participle).
• Continuous tenses = “be + ing” form.
• Perfect tenses = “have/has/had + past participle”.
• Practice with small, simple sentences first.