English 1 Week 5: Tenses & Time

1. The 12 Tenses Overview

TenseSimpleContinuous (Ing)Perfect (Has/Have/Had)Perfect Continuous
PresentI eatI am eatingI have eatenI have been eating
PastI ateI was eatingI had eatenI had been eating
FutureI will eatI will be eatingI will have eatenI will have been eating

2. Key Rules & Markers

2.1 Present Perfect (Has/Have + V3)

  • Usage: Action started in past and continues to present, or has effect now.
  • Markers: Since, For, Just, Already, Yet.
    • “I have lived here since 2010.” (Still live here).
    • “Ravi has not been to Europe.”

2.2 Past Continuous (Was/Were + V-ing)

  • Usage: Action happening when something else happened.
  • Pattern: [Long Action] when [Short Action].
    • “The girls were playing (Long) when it started to rain (Short).“

2.3 Future Perfect (Will have + V3)

  • Usage: Action that will be completed by a specific time in future.
  • Marker: By.
    • “Will you have arrived by 7:00 am?”
    • “Suman will not have graduated by then.”

2.4 Simple Present (Facts)

  • Usage: Universal truths, habits.
    • “Nitrogen atoms circle around the exoplanet.”
    • “Avilash rotates the strike well.”

3. Irregular Verbs

Some verbs don’t add -ed.

  • Shut Shut Shut (“I shut the door yesterday.“)
  • Put Put Put
  • Buy Bought Bought
  • Forget Forgot Forgotten

4. Practice Set

  1. “Mridul ____ living in Italy since November.”: Has been (Since Perfect Continuous).
  2. “Yesterday at nine, I ____ dinner.”: Was preparing (Specific time in past Continuous).
  3. “We ____ to Japan every summer.”: Fly (Habit Simple Present).

🧠 Level Up: Advanced Practice

Question 1: Irregular Verbs

Problem: “It was hot, so I ______ the door.”

  • (a) Shutted
  • (b) Shut Answer: Shut. (Shut - Shut - Shut).

Question 2: Future Perfect

Problem: “Suman will not ______ by then.”

  • (a) Have graduated
  • (b) Graduating Answer: Have graduated. (Action completed by a future time).

Question 3: Subject-Verb Agreement

Problem: “Avilash ______ the strike really well.”

  • (a) Rotate
  • (b) Rotates Answer: Rotates. (Singular subject Singular verb with ‘s’).