TENSES

PREPARED BYSASIGARAN MONEYAMTHILAGA RAVINTHAR

Simple Present Tense

Simple Past Tense

Simple Future Tense

Simple Present TenseThe simple present tense is used for events or situations that exist always,usually,or habitually in the past,present and future. Example:• Regular habits and daily routines

- I usually exercise at 5.30 in the morning.- Angela Lam always goes for shows with

her friends.- When does he usually come for a visit?

• General statements of fact- Birds fly.- The earth moves around the sun.- Water turns to ice at 0 celcius.

Verbs used in the simple present tense have a specified form for the first, second and third person. Person here illustrates who or what does the action.

• 1 person or the self (e.g. I,we)• 2nd person or the person spoken to(e.g. you)• 3rd person or a person who is or are not present (e.g. he,she,it,they)

The following table shows how the verb form changes according to the person

involved :

Person Pronouns Verbs1 st person singular

I Eat Arrive 1st person plural We

2nd person singular & plural

You listen

3rd person singular HeSheIt

EatsRunsHides

3rd person plural They read

Simple Past TenseThe simple past tense is used to describe activities which began and ended at a specific time in the past. Regular verbs in the simple past are formed by adding ‘-ed’(e.g. walked,talked). Irregular verbs in the simple past have various forms(e.g. went,ate). The following time expressions are examples of a specific point in time.• Last year•ago•in…(a year or month)•yesterday•when…(I was a boy, you were young)

Example :

i. we watched National Geographic last week.

ii. My father joined the company many years ago.

iii. Dato’ Khalid bought a Ferrari for his wife in july.

iv. She talked to her friend through SKYPE yesterday.

v. I drove the go cart when I was a teenager.

We use the simple future tense to talk about

things that will happen later.

The simple future tense is formed by adding ‘will’

to the main verbs e.g.will dance,will jump,will

shout.

The simple future tense is used in the following

situations :

Simple Future Tense

Situation Example

To promise- I will take you to watch Azlan Iskandar play in the Malaysia Open Final.

To talk about an unplanned action

- It’s starting to shine.I will hang my clothes to dry.

To make predictions based on experience or intuition

- Things will get better after sometime.

To describe habits - Tony will bite his fingernails when he is nervous.

Shall can also be used in the Simple Shall can also be used in the Simple Future TenseFuture Tense

Example :i. I shall never surrender!ii. We shall ensure that the victims will get appropriate treatment.iii. We shall support the national team when they play against Liverpool next Sunday.iv. I shall invite the opposing team for tea after the game.