Verbs and Tenses
Chapter Eighty
Syllabus topic 4.2.1, "Tenses"
Pages 378 to 382 of 406
In one line
Tense is the form of the verb that shows the time of an action and whether it is complete, and English has three times crossed with four aspects, which gives twelve forms.
The grid
Learn it as a grid rather than as twelve separate items. Take the verb "to write", first person singular.
| Simple | Continuous | Perfect | Perfect continuous | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | I write | I am writing | I have written | I have been writing |
| Past | I wrote | I was writing | I had written | I had been writing |
| Future | I shall write | I shall be writing | I shall have written | I shall have been writing |
The four aspects, in one line each. Simple: the action as a whole. Continuous: in progress. Perfect: completed, with a result that matters now. Perfect continuous: continuing over a period up to now.
Present tenses, and what each is for
Simple present. Four uses, and only the first is what students expect.
- A habit: he attends court every morning.
- A universal or permanent truth: water boils at a hundred degrees; a minor's agreement is void.
- A planned future event on a timetable: the term begins on 15 June.
- Narration of a story or of the facts of a case, called the historic present: Soapy hears the anthem and resolves to reform.
Note the second use particularly. Statements of law are written in the simple present because they are treated as permanently true: "Section 11 provides", "the rule is", "a contract without consideration is void". This is why law reports read as they do.
Present continuous. An action going on now: the court is hearing the matter. Also a definite arrangement for the near future: I am appearing in the Sessions Court tomorrow. Not used with verbs of state, which is the commonest error and is dealt with below.
Present perfect. A completed action with a present consequence, or an action in a period not yet over: he has filed the reply; the court has delivered four judgments this week. The rule that decides most questions: the present perfect is never used with a finished past time. Not "he has filed it yesterday" but "he filed it yesterday".
Present perfect continuous. An action that began in the past and continues: he has been waiting since eleven o'clock; she has been practising for six years. Since takes a point of time, for takes a period.
Past tenses
Simple past. A finished action at a definite past time: the court dismissed the appeal in March. Also a past habit: he read the reports every evening.
Past continuous. An action in progress at a past moment, often interrupted: he was arguing when the court rose; while she was reading, the telephone rang.
Verbs and Tenses
Past perfect. The earlier of two past actions: the suit had been filed before the notice was served. The test: if a sentence has two past actions and their order matters, the earlier goes into the past perfect.
Past perfect continuous. An action continuing up to a point in the past: he had been practising for ten years when he was appointed.
Future tenses
Simple future. Shall with the first person, will with the second and third, in the traditional rule that MU still follows: I shall attend; he will attend. Reversing them expresses determination or a promise: I will attend, whatever happens.
Modern usage note. In current English "will" is normal in every person, and "shall" survives chiefly in legal drafting, where it imposes an obligation: "the tenant shall pay the rent on or before the fifth day". For MU's grammar questions, follow the traditional rule; in a letter or a report, write naturally.
Going to. For an intention or a prediction from present evidence: he is going to appeal; the case is going to collapse.
Future continuous. In progress at a future time: this time tomorrow I shall be sitting in the examination.
Future perfect. Completed before a future time: by June I shall have completed the first year.
Future perfect continuous. Continuing up to a future point: by next month he will have been practising for twenty years.
Auxiliary verbs
Primary auxiliaries, which help form the tenses: be, have, do.
Modal auxiliaries, which add meaning rather than time: can, could, may, might, shall, should, will, would, must, ought to, need, dare, used to.
| Modal | Chief use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| can | Ability, informal permission | He can read Marathi. |
| may | Permission, possibility | The court may grant leave. |
| might | Remote possibility | The appeal might succeed. |
| must | Obligation, strong inference | The plaint must be verified. |
| should | Duty, advice | You should file within thirty days. |
| would | Past habit, politeness, condition | He would sit in the last row. |
| ought to | Moral duty | An advocate ought to assist the court. |
| used to | A discontinued past habit | He used to appear in the City Civil Court. |
The distinction MU asks about. "May" gives permission or states a possibility; "can" states ability. In statutes the distinction is a large one, because "may" ordinarily confers a discretion and "shall" imposes a duty, which is a question of interpretation you will meet in later years.
Sequence of tenses
The general rule. A past tense in the main clause is followed by a past tense in the subordinate clause.
He said that he was ready. Not "is ready". The court held that the agreement was void.
Four exceptions, and MU tests them.
- A universal truth stays in the present. The teacher said that the earth moves round the sun. Our teacher told us that water boils at a hundred degrees.
- A statement of law that continues in force stays in the present. The court observed that a minor's agreement is void.
- A habitual fact that is still true may stay in the present. He said that he takes the seven o'clock train.
- A comparison with "than" is not affected. He liked you more than he likes me.
Verbs and Tenses
And one more. After the conjunction "since", the tense follows the sense rather than the rule: it is ten years since he left the bar.
Conditional sentences
Three types, tested every year in some form.
| Type | Condition | Result | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| First, real | Simple present | Simple future | If he files the appeal, the court will hear it. |
| Second, unreal present | Simple past | would + verb | If he filed the appeal, the court would hear it. |
| Third, unreal past | Past perfect | would have + past participle | If he had filed the appeal, the court would have heard it. |
The error to avoid. Never "If he will file", and never "If he would have filed". The condition clause does not take "will" or "would".
The errors that lose marks
Continuous with verbs of state. Verbs of perception, emotion, thought and possession are not ordinarily used in continuous forms. Not "I am knowing the answer" but "I know the answer". Not "She is having two brothers" but "She has two brothers". The list: know, believe, understand, remember, mean, like, love, hate, want, prefer, see, hear, smell, taste, seem, appear, belong, own, possess, contain, consist.
"Have" in the sense of taking a meal or an experience is an exception, and is used in the continuous: they are having lunch; we are having trouble with the printer.
Present perfect with a finished past time. Not "I have met him last week" but "I met him last week".
Since and for. Since a point: since Monday, since 2019, since he joined. For a period: for three days, for a year.
Past perfect used where the simple past will do. The past perfect exists to mark the earlier of two past events. In a single past narrative it is wrong: not "Yesterday I had gone to court" but "Yesterday I went to court".
Sequence broken after a past reporting verb. Not "He said that he is coming" but "He said that he was coming".
"Yet" and "already" with the wrong tense. They go with the present perfect: has he filed it yet; she has already replied.
Two verbs in one predicate with different subjects. "He was reading and dismissed the appeal" has two different agents and needs recasting.
Verbs and Tenses
A worked answer
Question type. "Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the verb given in brackets."
| Sentence | Answer | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| He ______ (wait) since ten o'clock. | has been waiting | An action begun in the past and continuing; "since" takes a point of time |
| She ______ (file) the reply yesterday. | filed | A finished past time takes the simple past, never the present perfect |
| The court held that a minor's agreement ______ (be) void. | is | A statement of law in force is an exception to the sequence of tenses |
| Before the notice was served, the suit ______ (be) filed. | had been | The earlier of two past events takes the past perfect |
| If he ______ (apply) in time, he would have been admitted. | had applied | Third conditional: past perfect in the if-clause |
| By June we ______ (complete) the first year. | shall have completed | Completed before a future point |
| I ______ (know) him for ten years. | have known | A verb of state, so no continuous form, and "for" plus a period takes the perfect |
| While she ______ (read), the telephone rang. | was reading | An action in progress interrupted by another |
Quick revision
Three times, four aspects, twelve forms. Learn the grid, not the list.
Simple present for habits, universal truths, timetabled future and narration. Statements of law are in the present.
Present perfect never with a finished past time. Since takes a point, for takes a period.
Past perfect only for the earlier of two past actions.
Shall with the first person, will with the second and third, for MU's grammar questions; in drafting, shall imposes an obligation.
Sequence of tenses: past follows past, except universal truths, statements of law, still-true habits, and comparisons with than.
Conditionals: present plus will; past plus would; past perfect plus would have. Never will or would in the if-clause.
Verbs of state take no continuous form, except have in the sense of taking a meal or experiencing something.
Test yourself
1. What is the difference between "He has filed the reply" and "He filed the reply"? The present perfect reports a completed action whose result matters now, or one in a period not yet finished, and cannot be used with a finished past time. The simple past states a finished action at a definite past time, so "he filed the reply yesterday" is right and "he has filed it yesterday" is wrong.
2. Give the rule for since and for, with an example of each. Since takes a point in time from which the action has continued: he has been waiting since eleven o'clock. For takes a length of time: she has been practising for six years.
3. State the sequence of tenses and its four exceptions. A past tense in the main clause is followed by a past tense in the subordinate clause. The exceptions are a universal truth, which stays in the present; a statement of law still in force, which stays in the present; a habit that is still true; and a comparison introduced by "than".
Verbs and Tenses
4. Why is "I am knowing the answer" wrong? Because "know" is a verb of state, and verbs of perception, emotion, thought and possession are not ordinarily used in continuous forms. The correct form is "I know the answer". The exception is "have" in the sense of taking a meal or undergoing an experience, as in "we are having lunch".
5. Complete and justify: "If he ______ (file) the appeal in time, the court would have heard it." "Had filed". This is the third conditional, about an unreal past, in which the if-clause takes the past perfect and the result clause takes "would have" with the past participle. Neither "will" nor "would" may appear in the if-clause.
The rest of this subject
These notes are cut from the University's printed syllabus. Open the syllabus itself, or the past papers, for the same subject.