Shree Ganeshay Namah
Uses of tenses with examples in daily life
Table of Contents
Introduction
Tense is nothing time of action. Every sentence is related to or according to the time. So the uses of all English tenses are very important and we are going to learn all 37 important uses of tenses in English language grammar here.
What is tense
A form of verb that shows the time of action is called tense. We can call tense time and in every language uses of tenses are almost the same.
There are three main tenses in English.
1)Present tense
2)Past tense
3)Future tense
There are four subtypes of three main tenses.
1)Simple or indefinite
2)Continuous or progressive
3)Perfect
4)Perfect continuous or progressive
So altogether there are 12 tenses in the English language.
Now we will see the uses of every tense in English language grammar. They are highly important in our day-to-day speaking and writing.
Uses of tenses with examples in daily use
Here are the 37 important uses of all the 12 tenses in English language grammar.
1)uses of Simple present tense
The important uses of simple present tense are as follows. Generally, we use simple present tense for actions taking place regularly or after a fixed time interval
1)simple present tense is used to give a daily routine that the things that we do on regular basis.
For example
1)I get up at 6.00 a.m.
2)I go to bed at 11.00 p.m.
Learn here how to tell my daily routine in English and how to tell my friend’s or any third person’s daily routine.
2)We use simple present tense to tell universal truths.
For example
1)The sun rises in the East.
2)The sun sets in the West.
3)The Earth revolves around the sun.
3)Simple present tense is used for the narration of film or drama.
4)Commentary of live events or sports matches like cricket, football, and hockey matches.
For example
Virat Kohli hits the ball to the midwicket boundary and gets four runs.
5)Simple present tense is commonly used in the headlines of newspapers to catch the attention of the readers. All the other details of the news are given in the past tense as most of the news is about past happenings.
For example
1)The prime minister visits America.
2)Heavy rains disturb normal life in London.
3)India wins the ICC cricket world cup.
6)Simple present tense is used to give nature and habits of the people.
For example
1)He always speaks the truth.
2)She never complains about her problems.
3)Sam takes exercises daily.
7)Simple present tense is used for telling the proverbs and idioms.
For example
1)Slow and steady wins the race.
2)Try try but don’t cry.
3)Don’t cross the bridge until you reach it.
8)Simple present tense is used to give general truths which occur daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, or after the fortnight.
For example
1)He goes to school daily.
2)We go to a picnic weekly.
3)They visit their native place yearly.
These are all important uses of the simple present tense in English language grammar.
2)Uses of Present continuous (Progressive) tense
1)Present continuous tense is used to denote the action taking place right now.
For example
1)I am learning the uses of tenses.
2)It is raining now.
3)She is reading a book.
2)Present continuous tense is used as an equivalent to simple present tense.
For example
1)My friend learns music. (simple present tense)
-My friend is learning music. (Present continuous tense equivalent to simple present tense)
2)She worships God nowadays.
-She is worshipping God nowadays.
3)Present continuous tense is used for the planned future. Actually, such actions take place in the simple future tense but when it is a planned future, we can use going to of present continuous tense.
For example
1)I will learn English. (Simple future tense)
-I am going to learn English. (Present continuous tense)
2)She will help me.
-She is going to help me.
3)Uses of the present perfect tense.
1)Present perfect tense is used to show actions completed just now.
For example
1)I have just reached home.
2)They have finished their project just now.
2)Present perfect tense is used for the past action having its effect in the present. If there is no effect in the present then simple past tense is used.
For example
1)My brother has met with an accident. Now he is in the hospital. (Past action having effects in the present)
–My brother met with an accident. Now he is all right. ( no effect of past action. So simple past tense is used)
3)present perfect tense is also used for the past action that is likely to take place in the present or future.
For example
1)Kishor Kumar sang many songs. (Past action is not likely to take place in the present or future. So simple past tense.)
—-Kumar Sanu has sung many songs. (Past action likely to take place in the present or future)
4)We use the present perfect tense for the long-term action going on right now. If it is not going on right now then use simple past tense.
1)I have learned in this school. (You are learning in school at the time of speaking)
2)I learned in this school. (You are not learning in school at the time of speaking. So simple past tense is used)
4)uses of Present perfect continuous tense
1)Present perfect tense is used for the action started in the past and going on in present and will go on in the future.
For example
1)It has been raining since yesterday.
2)He has been working for 8 hours.
3)They have been playing since morning.
5)uses of Simple past tense
1)Simple past tense is used for telling what happened or what did you do?
For example
1)I watched the latest movie yesterday.
2)He reached home safely.
3)We discussed the problem.
2)simple past tense is also used for narration, storytelling, report writing
3)simple past tense is used for past habitual actions. Normally we use used to or would but simple past tense can be used.
For example
1)I always played cricket in my childhood.
-I used to play cricket in my childhood.
-I would play cricket in my childhood.
2)She always studied in her school days.
-she used to study during her school days.
-She would study during her school days.
4)If past action is going on in the present or it has an effect in the present then use present perfect but if it is not going on in the present or it does not have effects in present then use simple past tense.
6)uses of Past continuous tense
1)Past continuous tense is used for the actions going on in the past for short time.
For example
1)He was reading a book.
2)She was waiting for the bus.
3)Students were learning new things.
2)past continuous tense is also used for the past action taking place slowly.
For example
1)The sun was rising in the East.
2)He was walking towards the hills.
3)past continuous tense is used in the following condition.
When one action was going on in the past, another action took place. In such conditions, past continuous tense is used for the action going on, and simple past tense is used for another action that took place during the first action going on.
For example
1)When I was watching TV, the Electricity got failed.
2)When we were making noise, our teacher entered the class.
3)He fell down while he was riding his bike.
7)uses of Past perfect tense
1)Past perfect tense is used for stressing your speech or what you want to say.
For example
1)I told you. (Simple past no stress)
-I had told you. (Past perfect to stress your speech)
2)When two actions took place in the past and there was a time difference between them then the first action is given in past perfect tense and the second action is given in the simple past tense.
For example
1)When I reached the airport, the flight had already taken off.
Here, the first action is in past perfect, and the second action is given in the simple past.
2)When Virat had scored a century, fans started jumping.
3)When the doctor reached the hospital, the patient had become well already.
Note -when two actions take place at the same time or one after another without any time difference then simple past tense is used,
Eg. when the teacher entered the class, all the students stood up.
8)uses of Past perfect continuous tense
For example
1)Past perfect continuous tense is used for the actions taking place in the past for a long time.
For example-
1)It had been raining for 5 days in the last month.
2)She had been playing for 4 hours.
9)Uses of simple future tense-
1)simple future tense is used for future plans or ideas.
For example-
1)I will become a doctor.
2)They will start a new company.
2)simple future tense is used for telling what will happen or what will you do.
For example-
1)It will rain today.
2)I will meet her tomorrow.
3)Simple future tense is also used for taking opinions or suggestions from others.
For example-
1)Shall I buy this car?
2)Shall we go on foot?
3)Shall we wait here?
10)Uses of future continuous tense-
1)future continuous tense is used for the action taking place for a short time in the future.
For example-
1)He will be reading a book.
2)They will be playing.
2)Future continuous tense is also used for telling the possibility of future action.
For example-
1)It will be raining tomorrow.
2)She will be waiting for us.
11)Uses of the future perfect tense.
1)Future perfect tense is used for the action taking place in the future in a fixed time.
For example-
1)He will have finished his study by 5.00 p.m.
2)I will have completed the reading of this book by next Monday.
2)Future perfect tense is also used for expressing the possibility of action completed in the future.
For example-
1)He will have reached home by now.
2)They will have won the match.
12)Uses of future perfect continuous tense
1)Future perfect continuous tense is used for the action going on for a long time in the future.
For example-
1)It will have been raining since June.
2)They will have been playing since morning.
These are the important uses of all the 12 tenses in English language grammar.
Conclusion
You can easily master all the 37 important uses of 12 tenses in English language grammar with the help of the above-given article.
Do let me know what you think through your comments.
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