Verbal Ability - Simple Tenses of Verbs

Quiz

The job of a verb is to mention the action of a sentence. However, an action could have happened in the past, can happen in the present, or can happen in the future too. Depending on the time in which the action takes place, the verb is expressed in tenses.

Actions are of two types - one, where occurrences take place, for example I sleep, I talk, he rides, she falls, etc. The other type of actions is the state of being or status, for example I am, He is, etc. Depending on these two different types of verbs, their tense forms will vary.

Any action has the possibility to occur in three time-zones only. It has either occurred in the Past, occurs in the Present, or may occur in the Future. Based on this, there are three tenses −

Simple Present Tense
Simple Past Tense
Simple Future Tense

Important

Some people argue that there is no Future Tense in English as words like will, shall can be used for many present-time actions.

For Example

He wont help me ever.
Will you just keep quiet and listen to me?

Also, many sentences can also be written talking of future actions without using will, shall.

For Example

The train departs in ten minutes.
It is going to rain.
I am visiting my parents this weekend.

Simple Present Tense

Simple present tense is a form that is used by a verb when it describes an action that happens regularly in the present time.

He goes to meet his parents every month.
It rains heavily this time of the year.
He goes to school every day.

Important

When the action happens regularly in the present, we use the base form of the verb with I, You, We and related plural nouns. For he, she, it cases and related singular nouns, we use s with the base form of verbs.

For Example

I do.
We have.
You talk.
Players practice.
Birds chirp.
He talks.
Rita sings.

If the verb talks about the nature, state of being, or status of some person, we will use the be form.

In this case −

am is used with I
are is used with we, you, they
is is used with he, she, it and related nouns.

For Example

I am happy.
We are tired.
You are impertinent.
They are late.
He is silent.
Roy is boring.
She is a model.

Simple Past Tense

Simple Past Tense is used to talk of actions that started and ended in the past.

For Example

I went to this school as a kid.
He told me that he was ill.
He asked me out tonight.

Important

In most of the cases, the past tense of a verb can be formed by using ed with the main verb, for example, talk- talked. But there are many exceptions like go- went.

For Example

I did.
We had.
You talked.
The players practiced.
The birds chirped.

If the verb talks about the nature, state of being, or status of some person, we will use the be form, but in their past form.

In this case −

was is used with I, he, she, it
were is used with we, you, they.

For Example

I was happy.
You were impertinent.
They were late.
He was silent.

Exceptions to the ed form of the past form

Many verbs dont use ed to change their tense to past. Some use only d in their past form and some use completely different words for their past form, while some dont change at all.

Some of the common words are here −

Base Verb	Simple	Past Participle
Write	Wrote	Written
Win	Won	Won
Wear	Wore	Worn
Understand	Understood	Understood
Think	Thought	Thought
Tell	Told	Told
Teach	Taught	Taught
Take	Took	Taken
Stand	Stood	Stood
Spend	Spent	Spent
Speak	Spoke	Spoken
Sit	Sat	Sat
Set	Set	Set
Send	Sent	Sent
Sell	Sold	Sold
See	Saw	Seen
Say	Said	Said
Run	Ran	Run
Put	Put	Put
Pay	Paid	Paid
Meet	Met	Met
Mean	Meant	Meant
Make	Made	Made
Lose	Lost	Lost
Lie	Lay	Lain
Let	Let	Let
Leave	Left	Left
Lead	Led	Led
Know	Knew	Known
Keep	Kept	Kept
Hold	Held	Held
Hear	Heard	Heard
Have	Had	Had
Go	Went	Gone
Give	Gave	Given
Get	Got	Got
Find	Found	Found
Feel	Felt	Felt
Eat	Ate	Eaten
Drive	Drove	Driven
Draw	Drew	Drawn
Do	Did	Done
Cut	Cut	Cut
Cost	Cost	Cost
Come	Came	Come
Choose	Chose	Chosen
Buy	Bought	Bought
Build	Built	Built
Bring	Brought	Brought
Break	Broke	Broken
Begin	Began	Begun
Be	Was/Were	Been

Simple Future Tense

When talking of actions that may happen in the future, we use will, shall. However, there are many ways in which we can talk of actions that can happen in future without using will, shall. The reader is supposed to understand the meaning of such sentences.

For Example

I will do.
We will have.
You will talk.
The players will practice.
The birds will chirp.

Important

If the verb talks about the nature, state of being, or status of some person, we use will with be form −

For Example

I will be happy.
You will be far.
They will be late.
He will be silent.

If a sentence has two actions that may happen in the future, we use will, shall with only one of them, as that will make the reader understand that the sentence is being spoken for a future action.

For Example

If I go to the market, I will bring you a toffee.
He will win if he continues to practice this hard.

simple_tenses_of_verbs.htm

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