Tense

Affirmative/Negative/
Question
Use Important Notes
Simple present/
Present Indefinite

A: He writes a letter.
N: He does not write a letter.
Q: Does he write a letter?
1. Universal truth
Sun shines during the day.
2. Habits
She gets up early in the
morning.
3. Instruction or direction
Take this and go to Nasik.
4. Future actions
Well give it to her when she
arrives.

In affirmative statement, use the
first or basic form with first,
second and third person plurals.
But with third person singular,
use s or es with the first or
basic form.
(Add es to verbs ending in s, sh,
x, o, ch.)
In negative and interrogative
sentence, use do- with first,
second and third person plurals
does - with third person singular
Present
Progressive/
Continuous
A: He is writing a letter.
N: He is not writing a letter.
Q: Is he writing a letter.
1. Action taking place in the
moment of speaking.
1. It is raining now.
2. Action taking place only for
a limited period of time.
2. She is working for exam.
3.
3. Action arranged for the
future.
at the
moment, just, just now, Listen!,
Look!, now, right now
4. We are going for picnic
tomorrow.
Present Perfect A: He has written a letter.
N: He has not written a letter.
Q: Has he written a letter?
1. Action that stopped recently.
I have just completed my
homework.
2. Indicate an activity began in
the past and continues till the
moment of speaking.
I have waited for you for 3 hrs.
3. A repeated action in an
unspecified period between the
past and now.
We have visited Mumbai
several times.

For and Since
Since and For are very common
time expressions used with the
Present Perfect.
We use For with a period of time,
for example:
I have lived here for 20 years.
When talking about a starting
point, we use Since, for example:
I have lived here since 1960.

Present Perfect
Continuous/
Progressive
A: He has been writing a
letter.
N: He has not been writing a
letter.
Q: Has he been writing a
letter?
Denotes an activity or state that
extends over a period of time that
began in the past and includes the
present and may extend into the
future.
I have been teaching here since
1999.
all day, for 4 years, since 1993,
how long?, the whole week
Simple Past A: He wrote a letter.
N: He did not write a letter.
Q: Did he write a letter?
1. action completed in the past
We gaveher a doll for her
birthday.
2. Situation in the past
I lived in India for 10 years.
(I don't live there anymore).
Time Expression: yesterday, 2
minutes ago, in 1990, the other
day, last Friday
if sentence
type II (If I talked, )
Past Progressive A: He was writing a letter.
N: He was not writing a
letter.
Q: Was he writing a letter.?
1. action going on at a certain
time in the past
The dog was barking.
2. action in the past that is
interrupted by another action
When Bob was painting
windows, it started raining.
3. Actions in progress at the
same time
When I was dancing, she was
playing Chess.
Time Expression: when, while, as
long as
Past Perfect A: He had written a letter.
N: He had not written a letter.
Q: Had he written a letter?
Action happened first in two past
actions.
When I reached their, the bus
had already left.
already, just,
never, not yet,
once, until that day
if sentence type III (If I had
talked, )
Past Perfect
Continuous/
Progressive
A: He had been writing a
letter.
N: He had not been writing a
letter.
Q: Had he been writing a
letter?
Express actions or situations that
were in progress before some
other actions or situations.
Students had been playing for
half an hour when we entered in
the class.

for, since, the whole day, all day
Simple Future A: He will write a letter.
N: He will not write a letter.
Q: Will he write a letter.
When we give information about
the future or predict future events.
I think it will rain.

in a year, next , tomorrow
she will help you.)
assumption I think, probably,
perhaps
Future I Simple
(going to)
A: He is going to write a
letter.
N: He is not going to write a
letter.
Q: Is he going to write a
letter?
We say something is going to
happen when it has already been
planned or decided.
She is going to be a brilliant
student.
in one year, next week, tomorrow
Future I
Progressive
A: He will be writing a letter.

N: He will not be writing a
letter.

Q: Will he be writing a letter?
action that is going on at a certain
time in the future or action that is
sure to happen in the near future
In an hour, I will be sitting in
front of my TV.
To predict or guess about
someone's actions or feelings,
now or in the future:
in one year, next week, tomorrow

Roshan will be getting married
very soon.

Future Perfect A: He will have written a
letter.
N: He will not have written a
letter.
Q: Will he have written a
letter?
action that will be finished at a
certain time in the future
It is often used with a time
expression using by + a point in
future time.
I will have graduated from
university by May.
by Monday, in a week
Future Perfect
Continuous/
Progressive
A: He will have been writing
a letter.
N: He will not have been
writing a letter.
Q: Will he have been writing
a letter?

Express situations that will last
for a specified period of time at a
definite moment in the future.
We also use this tense to express
certainty about the cause of some
future situation.
By 2001 I will have been
living here for sixteen years.
for , the last couple of hours, all
day long ,by tomorrow / 8 o'clock
This year / month / week/ Next
year / month / week