Tense Structure in English

The idea of tense structure in English is a technique that we use to indicate time-present, past, or future. The proper knowledge of the tense structure in English helps one to make a meaningful and grammatically accurate sentence.

Normal sentence pattern in English:

  ★Subject+Verb+Object/Compliment

The main and compulsory part of a sentence is the verb. And Verbs are used by maintaining the rules of tense. In a sentence structure, we find verbs in various forms and formats which mainly depend on tense. Like,

      ✶ Auxiliary verb + main verb (I am reading a book)

      ✶Main verb (I read regularly)

      ✶A.v/m.v ( I have a book)

  ✦Tense Structure in English (Active voice)

	Indefinite	Continuous
Present	Subject+v1(present)	Sub+am/is/are+v(ing)
Past	Sub+v2 (Past)	Sub+was/were+v(ing)
Future	Sub+shall/will+v1	Sub+shall be/will be(ing)

note: Alternative name

    Present Indefinite/Simple Present

    Present Continuous/Present Progressive

 ✦Tense structure in English (active voice)

	Perfect	Perfect Continuous
Present	Sub+have/has+v3(past participle)	Sub+have been/has been+(ing)
Past	Sub+had+v3	Sub+had been+v(ing)
Future	Sub+shall have/will have+v3	Sub+shall have been+will have been+v(ing)

Note: Present Indefinite tense+ subject 3rd person and singular = verb(s/es)

 ✦Tense Structure in English (passive voice)

	Indefinite	Continuous	Perfect
Present	am/is/are+v3	am being/is being/are being+v3	have been/has been+v3
Past	was/were+v3	was being/were being+v3	had been+v3
Future	shall be/will be+v3	shall be being/will be being+v3	shall have been+will have been+v3

Reading method:

 (1)  Present Indefinite tense- sub+v1 

       Past Indefinite Tense- sub+v2

       future Indefinite tense- Sub+shall/will +v1

( 2)  sub+v1 - Present Indefinite

       sub+v2-   Past Indefinite

       sub+shall/will - Future Indefinite

Note; Select one column and then memorize the above-mentioned method.

Here are some Auxiliary verbs that indicate the same tense and same meaning. Then how can we use them? Basically, we know the uses of verbs are influenced by the Number and Person of the subject. Well, let's see.

✶am, is, are:

- I+am  ex, I am

 - subject(singular)+is   ex, He is,she is

 - subject(plural)+are    ex. You are, they are

✶was/ were:

-subject(singular)+was   ex. I was. he was

- subject(plural)+were    ex. They were

✶shall, will:

- I+shall ex. I shall, I will(emphasize on the subject)

- subject(others)+will   ex. we will. you will

✶have, has:-

-Subject(1st person+2nd person+3rd person plural)+have

 ex. I have, we have, you have, they have

- subject (3rd person singular)+has  

 ex. He has, it has

✦Practical use of tense structures in English:

Tense	Situation	Example
Present Indefinite	1- a present state of affairs	1- My brother lives in New York.
	2-things in general	2-  sun rises in the east.
	3-habituated action	3- I recite Quran in the morning.
	4-for native verbs	4- Your cough sounds bad.
Present Continuous	1-the specific action that is             occurring	1-John is watching TV.
	2-to indicate future time	2- Himel is leaving for India tomorrow.
Present Perfect	1-an action that has recently          occurred	1- He’s just gone to sleep.
	2-an action that starts in the         past and continues up to the       present	2-I’ve been here since Saturday.
	3-an action that happened before now.	3-I’ve failed my driver’s test twice.
Present P. continuous	1-an action that starts in the past and continues presently	1- Sabrina has been studying for two years.
	2- an action repeated over a period of time in the past and continue in the present	2-  Shojib has been playing the guitar since he was 13.
Past Indefinite	1- an action or a state that began and ended at a        specified time in the past.	1-I was very shy in high school.
	2- an action that happened over a period of time but was performed in the past	2- I worked in advertising for 10 years.
	3-an activity that happened usually in the past	3-we walked every morning before class.
Past Continuous	1-a continuous state or repeated action in the past	1-I was meeting lots of people at that time.
Past Perfect	1-a past act that occurred before another past act	1-Tom went home after he had gone to the store.
	2-an action that continued for a time in the past but ended before now.	2-Masud had lived in Chittagong for ten years before he moved to Dhaka.
Past Per. Continuous	1- a continuous action that occurred before another action	1- We had been playing Cricket before the storm broke.
	2 - a continuous action that was expected to occur in the past	2-I had been supposing his change in trip dates.
Future Indefinite	1- prediction an event that is likely to happen in the future	1- You will pass the exam.
	2- indicating a willingness to do  something	2- I’ll go to the doctor.
Future Continuous	1- an action that will be ongoing at a fixed time in the future	1- At noon tomorrow, I’ll be taking the children to their English class.
	2- future operations that have already been selected	2- I’ll be participating in law college for the next five years.
Future perfect	1- An act that will be  performed before a fixed     time in the future	1- By next June, my parents will have been married for 40 years.
Future P. Continuous	1- An action highlighting the period of time that has happened before a particular time in the future	1- By December, my father will have been working at the same job for 20 years.

 Words that indicate a fixed tense structure. 

★Present Indefinite- (always, everyday, normally, sometimes, often, frequently, occasionally, regularly, daily, generally, etc,)

 ex: I say my prayer regularly. 

 ★Present Continuous- (at this moment, at this time, day by day, currently, gradually, right now, at present) 

 ex; He is improving his spoken English gradually.

★Present Perfect- (already, ever, just, just now, recently, yet, lately, so far, often) 

ex: Abir has already been addicted to smoking.

★Past Indefinite- (yesterday, ago, last day, last night, last year, last month, last, etc) 

ex: I gave you ten lac taka last year.

★past continuous- (at that time, at that moment, at that period)

ex: I was writing a poem at that moment.

Additional Rules of Tenses:

• Sub + am/is/are/have/has + object/complement-- Present Indefinite

ex: I have dream to be a writer. 

• Sub + was/were/had + object/complement-- Past Indefinite

ex:  I had a wonderful proffesion. 

List of Basic English Grammars.