Past Tense
We use the past tense to describe an action that has happened the time before the present. This tense has four aspects that talk about to what extent action has been completed.
Structure:
Subject ( I/ You/ We/ They ) + V2 (second form of verb) + Object
Example:
- I went to school.
- He played football.
- They read books.
Use:
- to describe a completed action in the past. Adverbs of the past like yesterday, ago, last week, etc. are used in such sentences. (e.g. Prateek received the experience letter last week)
- to describe the old habits. (e.g. Rita always carried an umbrella with her.
Structure:
Subject ( I/ You/ We/ They ) + was/were + Verb+ing + Object
Example:
- I was going to school.
- He was playing football.
- They were reading books.
Use:
- to show a progressive action of the past (e.g. I was watching the flower pots during the coffee break)
- to show the old persistent habits (e.g. Shravan was always complaining)
Structure:
Subject ( I/ You/ We/ They ) + had + V3 (past participle) + Object
Example:
- He had played football.
- They had read books.
Use:
- to describe an action that had been completed way before a particular moment in the past (e.g. We had seen the man, for the last time, three years before)
- used along with simple past tense to show the action that happened first in the series (e.g. The patient had died before the doctor reached)
Structure:
Subject ( I/ You/ We/ They ) + had + been + Verb+ing + Object
Example:
- He had been playing football.
- They had been reading books.
Use:
- to indicate that an action started in the past and continued up to a point in the past. (e.g. When Alfred joined the company, Robin had been working there for 5 years)
What is Tense? Types, Definitions & Examples
Tenses
Earlier we have already discussed how important tenses are in English Grammar as the very basis of English Grammar is built on tenses. Once you complete the tenses then you will understand every part and use of tenses.
You already know that there are three tenses- past, present, and future; and four kinds of each tense, i.e. indefinite, continuous, perfect, and perfect continuous. Now, the present tense has been explained in the first part of the article, and now here we are going to cover the past and future tense.
Table of Content
- What is Tense in English Grammar?
- Tense Definition
- Why Tenses are Important to Learn?
- Types of Tenses in English Grammar
- Tenses And Their Usage
- Present Tense
- Past Tense
- Future Tense
- Examples of Verb Tenses
- FAQs on Tenses
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