The term “tense” is defined as “any of the forms of a verb that may be employed to show the time of the action or state expressed by the verb” in the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary. The word is slightly different in the Merriam-Webster dictionary. It states that “a distinction of form in a verb to represent distinctions of time or duration of the action or state it denotes” is what the word “tense” means.
How Important Is It to Know about Tenses?
The English language’s tenses are frequently regarded as its core and most essential concept. Everything seems silly without tense. You can describe acts that occur at various periods by using multiple tenses. It aids in making your context and the facts you’re trying to get across clear. You may also create sophisticated sentence constructions using it. Therefore, you should be familiar with all twelve tenses and their usage if you want to be able to communicate information properly and quickly.
Different English Tenses
- Present Tense
- Past Tense
- Future Tense
The four different forms are:
- Simple Tense Form
- Continuous Tense Form
- Perfect Tense Form
- Perfect Continuous Tense Form
1. Present Simple Tense : When describing an action or occurrence that is currently occurring or has just occurred in the given context, the simple present tense is used in sentences. The present indefinite tense is another name for the simple present.
Subject + Verb in the base form/third person plural form
2. Present Continuous Tense : As the name implies, the present continuous tense is used to describe actions that are ongoing or happening at that same moment. As they depict action that is taking place in the present, they are also known as the present progressive tense. Now let’s look at the definitions of the present continuous tense from several dictionaries.
Subject + am/is/are + present participle (verb+ing) + the rest of the sentence
3. Present Perfect Tense : In a sentence, the present perfect tense is used to describe either an activity that took place recently and is still having an impact today, or an action that reflects an unspecified period of time in the past. Let’s look at the definitions of the tense in several dictionaries to get a better understanding of it.Subject + have/has + past participle + the rest of the sentence4. Present Perfect Continuous Tense : When describing an action that began in the recent past and is still ongoing in the present, the present perfect continuous tense is used in sentences. As the action moves from the past to the present, it is also known as the present perfect progressive tense.Subject + have/has + been + present participle (verb+ing) + the rest of the sentenceRead Also : Figures of Speech
