PRESENT TENSE
Present Tense shows the action of the present time.
Eg: 1) I go to college by bus every morning.
2) I am reading a book.
3) He has come just now.
4) We have been living in this house for the last four years.
PRESENT TENSE HAS FOUR FORMS :
They are
1. Simple present Tense (Present Indefinite)
2. Present Continuous Tens
3. Present Perfect Tense
4. Present Perfect Continuous Tense
SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE :
1) To express a certain capability.
Ex: I speak seven languages.(can speak)
2) To express an action going on at the present time.
Ex: Here he comes.
See how it flies.
3) Simple present tense shows a daily action. When the subject is in the third person singular (he, she and it) and the verb is in simple present tense, we must add ‘s’ or ‘es’ to the verb.
4) Simple present tense is used to express habitual actions. It is used with the expressions showing a daily action like
always, daily, regularly, every day, every night, generally, every morning, often, frequently, usually, rarely, seldom etc.,
Eg:1. He drinks tea every morning.
2. I get up every day at 5 O’ clock.
3. We visit the temple every morning.
4. He always makes much noise.
5. They play tennis every evening.
6. She comes late every day.
7. He takes medicine every night.
8. The train arrives at the platform at 6 A.M.
9. He goes to bed at 10 P.M.
10. He usually does home work at night.
11. They seldom come here.
12. He speaks good English.
13. She wears silk sarees.
14. Bharath goes to school.
15. I do workouts every morning.
16.I take coffee every morning
5) . Simple present Tense is used to express general truths or universal truths or proverbs.
Eg: 1. The sun rises in the east.
2. The earth moves round the sun.
3. The sky is blue.
4. Fortune favors the brave.
5. Honey is sweet.
6. Man is mortal.
7. Mother loves her children.
8. Heat expands bodies.
9. Practice makes a man perfect.
10. Necessity is the mother of invention.
11. Speech is silver and silence is gold.
12. The Sun sets in the west
13. All that glitters is not gold.
14. Time and tide wait for none.
6) Simple present tense is used in the verbs expressing possession like have, possess, own, consist, belong to, comprise, contain etc.,
Eg: 1. We have three daughters and two sons.
2. He has two shops.
3. Mr. Pratap owns two shops.
4. I possess a beautiful car.
5. She possesses a good house.
6. The English alphabet consists of 26 letters.
7. This box contains much money.
8. We all belong to India.
9. This book comprises a 100 pages.
7) Simple present tense is used in the verbs expressing the feelings of mind like love, like, hate, dislike, remember, want, wish feel, think, hope, believe, agree, disagree, know, consider, prefer, suppose, taste, smell understand, imagine etc.,
Eg: 1. I love my parents.
2. We like you very much.
3. I hate them.
4. We dislike them.
5. I remember the address.
6. She wants a glass or water.
7. I wish you best of luck.
8. I think that he is a gentle man.
9. I suppose he is a nice man.
10. I agree with you in this matter.
11. Poets imagine that there is heaven above the earth.
12. We believe in God.
13. This flower smells sweet.
14. This cake tastes good.
15. I prefer milk to tea.
16. I understand your problem.
8) Simple present tense is used in the verbs of appearance like appear, look, seem etc.,
Eg : 1. He seems to be a gentle man.
2. She looks like an angel.
3. You appear to be good students.
9) Simple present tense is also used to indicate a future event that is part of a plan or arrangement.
Eg: 1. Our college reopens 15th June.
2. The chief Minister returns from Delhi next Thursday.
3. The Prime Minister visits the U.S.A in June.
4. We dine at the Taj to-night.
5. We go to Hyderabad tomorrow.
10) Simple present tense is used to refer to what happens at the time of speaking.
Eg : 1. Here comes the bus.
2. There goes the ball.
3. See how it files.
11) Simple present tense is also used to express a certain capability.
Eg : 1. He speaks three languages.
2. She cooks food well.
12) .Simple present tense is used in a quotation.
Eg: 1. Shakespeare says, “Love is blind.”
2. Keats says, “A thing of beauty is a joy for ever.”
13. It is used to express the state of things.
Eg: 1. I believe in democracy.
2. India is a poor country.
3. America is the richest country.
14. It is used to narrate an incident of the past. (It is called historical present)
Eg: 1. The king tells the minister to punish the thief.
2. Wordsworth describes the beauty of Nature in his poems.
3. Shakespeare is one of the greatest writers.
15 .Simple present tense is used in clauses of time and condition. When there is future tense in the main clause, we must write the simple present tense in the subordinate clause. Here, subordinate clauses start with if, unless, when, that, before, till, until, as soon as, as long as etc.,
Eg: 1. If you come regularly, you will understand the lessons.
2. Unless you work hard, you won’t pass the examination.
3. I shall meet him, when he comes here.
4. Please see that you attend the meeting.
5. I shall go and see him before he leaves this place.
6. I shall wait here, till you finish your lunch.
7. Please call me, when the dinner is ready.
8. I will tell her, when I see her.
9. Let us wait, until he comes.
10.There will be no troble as long as you work hard.
11. I shall do it, as soon as I come back.
12. We shall go as soon as you are ready.
13. Don’t get off the train till it stops.
14. If it rains, we shall get wet.
15.If you run fast, you will catch the train.
Present continuous tense:
1) Present continuous tense shows an action going on in the present. It is formed with am, is and are followed by the continuous form of the verb.
Eg: 1. I am reading a book.
2. We are going to college.
3. They are going away.
4. She is singing sweetly.
5. He is coming to our house.
6. It is barking loudly.
7. The child is crying.
8. Listen, somebody is knocking at the door.
9. What are you reading ?
10. Where are you going ?
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Present continuous tense is also used to express the near future action.
Eg: 1. I am going to the film to-night.
2. My brother is arriving tomorrow.
3. We are going to visit kashmir.
4. Kiran is joining his new job on the first.
5. They are going to construct a house.
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After the expressions like accustomed to,
habituated to, averse to, addicted to, look forward to, used to, became used to etc., we must use verbal noun or continuous form of the verb.
Eg: 1. She is habituated to singing.
2. They are addicted to drinking wine.
3. I look forward to seeing you.
4. They are averse to fishing .
5. She got fused to coming late.
6. We became used to talking in the class.
The - ing form of the verb or ‘verbal noun’ is used as an object after some verbs like avoid, stop, start, like, love, hate, finish, begin, enjoy, miss etc.,
Eg: 1. She avoided seeing him.
2. I love swimming in the sea.
3. We like singing songs.
4. The children enjoy playing in the park.
5. I hate telling lies.
6. I have finished writing the letter.
7. I have missed seeing the film.
8. We started reading books.
9. They stopped working to take rest.
10. They began dancing.
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The verbs see, hear, feel, notice, watch, find, observe, keep, catch etc., are used with an object followed by ‘ing’ form.
Eg: 1. We saw Gopal crossing the bridge.
2. I heard somebody knocking at the door.
3. He felt his heart beating.
4. They kept her waiting.
5. We observed her dancing.
6. We watched them playing.
7. She found him running on the road.
8. She caught the thief opening the doors.
1) An action that begins at an indefinite time before and is taking place at the present moment.
Ex: He is writing a letter.
They are playing chess.
My mother is cooking food.
2) For a temporary action which may not be actually happening at the time of speaking.
Ex: I am reading a novel by Chalam.
I am studying in Aditya college.
3) For an action that is planned or arranged to take place in the near future.
Ex: He is going to Chennai tomorrow.
They are going to marry on 24thAugust.
I am buying a car next month.
4) Some verbs are often used in the present continuous tense. Though they describe the present actions we use the simple present tense. These are the chief verbs of this type.
a) For mental status and processes: agree,believe,disagree,disbelieve,doubt,find,foresee,forget,imagine,know,mean,recall,recognize,
Recollect, remember, suppose, think, trust,
Understand.
b) For desires: want, wish, desire, need.
c) For sensations: smell, hear, see, notice, taste.
d) For likes and dislikes: detest, like, dislike, love, hate, prefer, mind, object to, please, feel, forgive.
e) Miscellaneous: seem, signify, appear, belong, owe, own, possess, contain, consist, keep, concern, matter.
Present Perfect Tense:
1) It is used to express completed activities in the immediate past.
Ex: I have read the novel.
They have gone to the market.
She has taken her lunch.
2) It is used to express past actions whose time is not given and not definite.
Ex: I have been to Ooty.
I have completed my graduation.
3) It is used to express an action beginning at some time in the past and continuing up to the present moment.
Ex: We haven’t met Latha for several months.
4) It is used to express an action beginning in the past and finishing at the moment of speaking.
Ex: I haven’t seen you for ages. (on meeting someone)
Present Perfect continuous Tense:
1) It is used to denote an action that begins in the past and is still continuing.
Ex: I have been reading the novel for 2 hours.
She has been waiting here for I hour.
I have been hearing unfavorable reports about your work.
Ganesh has been learning English since 2007.