Tense: Present Tense

Definition:

Grammatically Tense refers to the conjugation or form of a verb to reflect the time of the action or state -that is, when the action occurred.

Verbs in their basic form inherently describe the time.

There are three main types of tenses in English:

Tense type	Indicates
Present	Something happens now or regularly
Past	Something that has already happened
Future	Something that will happen later

 Each of these is further divided into 4 subtypes:

 Present Tense (Now)

Tense	Use	Example
Simple Present	Habit, fact, routine	I play football.
Present Continuous	Action happening now	I am playing football.
Present Perfect	Action completed recently or still relevant	I have played football.
Present Perfect Continuous	Action started in the past, still continuing	I have been playing football.

 Present Simple/ Indefinite Tense:

The Present Indefinite Tense is used to express habit, facts, and timetables.

Structures of the present simple tense:

Affirmative: subject + base verb (+s/es)+ object

Examples:

·       “I go to work every day.”

·       “He works in finance.”

·       " The sun rises I the east".

"    "Rabindranath’s stories often have surprise endings".

 Noted that, we add -s/ -es to the verb only when the subject is he, she, it, or a singular noun.

Question: To ask a question, use the auxiliary verb do (or does for the third-person singular) before the main verb.

Structure: Do/ Does + subject + base verb + object?

Examples:

“Do you eat breakfast every morning?”

Do you play football?

Does she cook biryani well?

Negative: To make ‘negative’, use do not (contracted as don’t) or does not (contracted as doesn’t) before the main verb.

Structure: Subject + do/ does +not+base verb +object

Examples: I don’t like tea.

“I don’t go out very often.”

"He doesn’t eat meat".

          "The sun doesn’t rise in the west".

·       “It doesn’t leave from platform 12.”

 With the verb be

The linking verb be has three different conjugations for grammatical person in the present tense: am (first person singular), are (first person plural, second person, and third-person plural), and is (third-person singular). Be does not need do when making questions or negative statements in the present simple tense.

Present Continuous Tense

The present continuous tense (also called the present progressive tense) is used for something in progress at the moment of speaking; it describes something that is happening in the present moment and also for expressing future arrangements. It can only be used with action verbs.

Structure of the Present Continuous Tense:

Affirmative: Subject + The auxiliary verb ‘be’  (am/ is/ are) + verv (-ing)+ object.

For example, "It’s 10 a.m. now".

 "The sun is shining in the eastern sky".

"John is sleeping at the moment.”

 The team is working on the new project.

 Question: Invert be with the subject of the sentence.

For example:

Am I wearing the right uniform?"

Question: Are you still reading the book?

Negative: Use ‘not’ after auxiliary be (contracted as isn’t or aren’t, am not normally contracted) before the present participle of the main verb.

Examples: "Rahim isn’t coming to the meeting with us."

"Mita is not living in Florida anymore."

 Future Arrangement:

Affirmative: We’re flying to Spain tomorrow.

Question: Are you meeting James for lunch on Saturday?

Negative: they’re not having the party on Friday anymore.

Present Perfect Tense:

The present perfect tense is used to convey general information about an event that occurred at an unspecified point in the past. We also use the present perfect with the prepositions 'for' and 'since' when speaking about something that started in the past and remains true now.

Structures of the Present Perfect Tense:

Affirmative: subject + the auxiliary verb have/has + the past participle of the main verb(v3) + (rest of sentence).

Examples: "The boy has done the work."

"Mr. Rahman has come from Dhaka."

Question: have/has + subject + past participle (v3) +?

Type	Structure	Example
Yes/ No question	Have/has+subject+v3+?	Have you eaten? Has she arrived?
WH-Question	Whword+have/has+subject+v3+?	Where have you been? What has he done?

 Negative: Subject+have/has not+ past participle(v3) + (rest of sentence).

Examples:

·       I have lived in China for many years.

·       She has been here since 8 o’clock.

·       I’ve lost my pen.

·       I have seen this movie already.

·       Have you ever tried Indian food?

·       She has never flown on an airplane before.

 Present Perfect Continuous Tense:

The present perfect continuous tense is used to show that an action started in the past and is still continuing in the present or was continuing recently and has an effect on the present.

 Structure of the Present Perfect Continuous Tense:

Affirmative Sentence:

Subject+ has/have + been + verb(-ing) + (object/time reference)

Examples:

I have been studying for two hours

She has been working at the office since 2009.

They have been playing football all day.

Negative Sentence:

Subject+ have/ has+ not+ been+ verb( -ing) +object

Examples:

He has not been sleeping well lately.

We haven’t been watching TV since morning.

Interrogative Sentence:

Have/has +subject + been+ verb(-ing) + object+?

Examples:

Have you been reading this book?

Has she been crying?

Have they been practicing since last week?