Tenses

As the “movers and shakers” of language, verbs drive language and give it life. They are the
energetic part of speech. Because they are so important, mistakes involving verbs really stand out.
They can make or break the outcome of an exam, essay, or business letter. The booklet will help you
learn- how to avoid the most common errors involving these important words.

We use words to establish our credibility. Few things cast doubt on our believability as much as
misusing words—especially verbs. Incorrect verb forms call special attention to us and bring our
education and intelligence into question. Furthermore, exams often test your knowledge of how to
use verbs and avoid errors involving verbs.

Principal Parts of Verbs

Verbs have three principal parts:

■ Present—the form of the verb that would complete
the sentence, “Today, I .”
■ Past—the form of the verb that would complete
the sentence, “Yesterday, I .”
■ Past participle—the form of the verb that would complete the sentence, “Often, I have .”

For most verbs, it’s easy to form the three principal parts if you know the present form. Take the
verb
look, for example. Today, I look. Yesterday, I looked. Often, I have looked. For regular verbs, the past
and past participle forms both add -ed to the present form. But English is full of irregular verbs that
form the past and past participle in some other way.

Tips for Learning Irregular Verbs

Did you know that about 70% of the time when we use a verb in English, it is an irregular one? That
means that learning and using irregular verbs is essential for learning English!

The English language has so many irregular verbs that it can make you go crazy… but even
irregular verbs follow some patterns. In this lesson, you’ll learn “groups” of irregular verbs that
can make it easier to memorize them.
Don’t just study this list – try to create your own sentences and use all the verbs you know! This will
help you remember them much better.
Ready? Let’s go!

Verbs with all 3 forms identical

Let’s begin with the easiest group of irregular verbs. These verbs are the same in the present, the
past, and the past participle. They include:
bet, burst, cast, cost, cut, fit,* hit, hurt, let, put, quit, set, shut, split, spread

Verbs with identical Present and Past Participle

These verbs are the same in the present and the past participle. Only the simple past form is
different:
Present Past Past Participle
come came come
become became become
run ran run

With “o” in the past and “o” with “n” in the past participle
Present Past Past Participle
break broke broken
choose chose chosen
forget forgot forgotten

With “o” in the past only

Present Past Past Participle
drive drove driven
ride rode ridden
rise rose risen

Past with -ew, past participle with –own

Present Past Past Participle
blow blew blown
fly flew flown
grow grew grown

Other irregular verbs with past participle ending in –n

Present Past Past Participle
bite bit bitten
see saw seen
shake shook shaken

Verbs with vowel changes

Long “e” changes to short “e”

Present Past Past Participle
keep kept kept
sleep slept slept
feel felt felt

“ea” is pronounced differently

Present Past Past Participle
deal dealt dealt
dream dreamt dreamt
mean meant meant

Long “i” changes to “ou”

Present Past Past Participle
bind bound bound
find found found
grind ground ground

Short “i” changes to “u”

Present Past Past Participle
dig dug dug
stick stuck stuck
spin spun spun

-ell changes to –old

Present Past Past Participle
sell sold sold
tell told told

-ought and –aught endings

Present Past Past Participle
catch caught caught
fight fought fought
seek sought sought

Verbs with 3 different vowels!

Are you ready for a challenge? These irregular verbs have different vowels in each form.
Fortunately, they do follow a pattern.

Vowel changes from “i” to “a” to “u”

Present Past Past Participle
begin began begun
drink drank drunk
ring rang rung

The Dhamaka verbs

Now let us see the verbs – the ones that don’t fit into any of the categories above!

These Dhamaka Verbs are the most commonly used verbs in the English language, so make sure to

memorize them in all their crazy irregular forms!

Present Past Past Participle

is (be) was been

am (be) was been

are (be) were been

be was / were been
do did done
did done
does
go went gone
have had had
has had had
make made made

Write the correct verb forms in the chart below.

1. listen
2. run
3. write
4. stand

Present Past Past Participle

Did you know?

The word “Google” started as a noun, the company’s name. Today people use it as a verb:
“I’m going to google the Civil War to get more information about it.”

Helping Verbs
Verbs like has, have, had are used to help the main verbs to show an action in the past. These verbs
are called helping verbs.

Rule Example
singular subject + has (he, she, it) The chef has cooked the dinner.
plural subject + have (I, you, we, they) The assistants have helped.

singular / plural subject + had The customers had complained to the manager.

Introduction

Tenses play a crucial role in the English language. It denotes the time an action takes place,

whether sometime in the past, in the present or will take some time in the future.

Understanding Tenses by using a Timeline

The following line is called a timeline. The midpoint is the present, marked as now. All actions
taking place now are marked in the midpoint and are in the present tense. All actions that have
been completed are marked on the left of the midpoint and they indicate past tense. All actions that
are going to take place after some time (time not specified) are marked on the right side of the
midpoint as they indicate future time of action and hence future tense.

However, sometimes a speaker or examinee must show that an action occurred at another time
regardless of the tense in which the passage was begun. To allow this, each of these three tenses has
three subdivisions: progressive/continuous, perfect, and progressive/continuous perfect.
Do you find English verbs confusing? Take a look at this chart of English verb tenses to help you
understand when to use each one:

Simple Continuous Perfect Perfect

Continuous

Present speak / am/is/are have/has have been

speaks speaking spoken speaking

Past spoke was/were had spoken had been

speaking speaking

Future will speak will be will have will have

going to speak speaking spoken been speaking

From a general view of tenses, this module will go on to discuss each tense in detail with examples.

This booklet explains how to use verbs correctly and highlights a few of the most common mistakes
we make. See how many of the seven errors in verb usage you can find in the Problem version of
the passage on the following page. In the Solution column, the paragraph is rewritten with the
correct verb forms. As you go through the lesson, try to apply the rules you learn to these
corrections.

Task 1
Objective of the session- Correction
Pooja circles five advertisements in last Sunday’s newspaper. She had been looking for a job for
three months, and she is starting to get nervous about finding one. The money her mother had gave
her was starting to run out and she knows she couldn’t asked for more. If she was more qualified,
she would received a job offer already. However, she had very little work experience, and the job
market was particularly competitive at this time of year. As she start to write cover letters for this
week’s jobs, she wondered if she should meet with a career counselor for advice.

Correction

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.
6.

7.

Solution
Pooja circled five advertisements in last Sunday’s newspaper. She had been looking for a job for
three months, and she was starting to get nervous about finding one. The money her mother had
given her was starting to run out and she knew she couldn’t ask for more. If she were
(hypothetical) more qualified, she would have received a job offer already. However, she had very
little work experience, and the job market was particularly competitive at this time of year. As she
started to write cover letters for this week’s jobs, she wondered if she should meet with a career
counselor for advice.

Writing Tip: Consistent Verb Tense

It’s important to keep verb tenses consistent as you write. A passage that begins in present tense
should continue in present tense. If it begins in past tense, it should stay in past tense. Do not mix
tenses.

PRESENT TENSE

Present Tense is used to describe an action that is taking place at the moment of speaking, with no

connection to the past or future. In other words, Present Tense is used to describe events that are

happening at that very moment.

Present tense verbs

Rule
Present tense verbs have the following rules when you use verbs with third person singular
subjects:
1. Add ‘s’ to most verbs.
2. Ad ‘es’ to verbs that end in sh, ch, zz, ss, s and x.

3. Change ‘y’ to ‘i’ and add ‘es’ to verbs that end in ‘y’.

Do not ADD ‘s’ or ‘es’ when you use verbs with plural subjects.

Activity
Choose the correct verb forms:
I ___________________ cricket with my family i 1. n the evening. (watches/watch)
2. We sometimes ____________________ toys with our friends. (share/shares)
3. The planets in the solar system ______________________ around the sun. (travels/travel)
4. My friends ____________________________ the bus to the college. (takes/take)

5. Penguins _________________________ in the arctic region where it is very cold. (live/lives)

Present Tense Forms

1. Simple Present Tense

The Simple Present Tense is used to describe habits, unchanging situations, fixed events, universal

truths. The Simple Present Tense is used:

 To express habits, universal truths, repeated actions or fixed events. For example,

The school bus picks up the students at 6 am.

Honesty is the best policy.

 To express fixed arrangements, present or future. For example,

The exam begins at 10 am.

 To give instructions or directions. For example,

You must finish the work if you want to go to the market.

 With future constructions. For example,

He will meet you before he leaves

2. Present Continuous Tense

An action that has started now and is still in progress and has not been completed yet is denoted by
present continuous tense. The following timeline shows this.

--------- action in continuity while speaking or for the given period

The Present Continuous Tense is made from the present form of the verb ‘be’ and the -ing form of a

verb. It is used:

 To describe an action that is happening at the moment of speaking. For example,

The children are playing in the field.

 To describe future plans or arrangements. For example,

Where are you going next month?

 To describe an action that is going on during the time of speaking. For example,

Are you still playing for the same team?

Writing Tips: The signal words for the present progressive are:

 at the moment
 now, just now, right now
 Listen!
  Look!

Note: present continuous: verb + ‘ing’ (present)

Practice

Conjugate Verbs in the Present continuous Tense

The table provides an overview of the conjugation of verbs in positive, negative and interrogative

sentences in the present progressive tense.

Positive (Yes) Negative (No) Interrogative
I I am speaking I’m not speaking Am I speaking?
he, she, it He is speaking He’s not speaking Is he speaking?
you, we, they You are speaking You’re not speaking Are you speaking?

Writing Tips:In written English, the contracted form of are can only be used after pronouns and
not after nouns or names.
Example:

They’re travelling around Australia.

(but not: The tourists’re travelling around Australia.)

3. Present Perfect Tense

An action that has been completed in the past but not long ago, is marked just before the midpoint
and is called the present perfect tense.

I---I⇨ACTION COMPLETED IN JUST PAST

The Present Perfect Tense is used to indicate a link between the present and the past. It is used to

describe:

 An action that started in the past and continues in the present. For example,

He has worked in this company since 2004.

 An action performed during a period that has not yet finished. For example,

She has visited the market twice this week.

 A repeated action done several times in the past and continues in the present too. For
example,

He has visited Spain several times.

 An action that has been completed in the recent past. For example,
The train has just left the station.

Language Note: The ’s in he’s, she’s, it’s, and there’s can mean has or is. The word following the
contraction will tell you what the contraction means.
He’s working. = He is working.
He’s worked. = He has worked.

For a short yes answer, we cannot make a contraction.

Has Hari lived in the U.S. all his life? Yes, he has. (Not: he’s)

4. Present Perfect Continuous Tense

The Present Perfect Continuous Tense is used for an action that started in the past and has

continued up to the present moment. It is used:

 To describe an action that started in the past and has continued up to the present. For
example,

She has been singing for over two hours.

 To describe an action that has just finished. For example,

It has been raining.

Writing Tips
Remember that “state” verbs are never used in continuous form
“I’ve been knowing my best friend since elementary school.”
“I’ve known my best friend since elementary school.”
“She’s been understanding everything in the advanced class so far.”

“She’s understood everything in the advanced class so far.”

Review and Answer: All the above present tense forms can be used together without constituting
a shift in tense.

Look at the following paragraph and complete the paragraph with the verbs that are highlighted,
and the brackets which identify the tense.

I write [present progressive] to protest the condition of the Kaveri River, from which our
city draw [present] its drinking water. For years, industrial waste pollute [present perfect] its
waters, and officials pay [present] little attention to the problem. People who live near the river
lobby [present perfect progressive] for protective legislation, but their efforts fail [present perfect].
I want [present] safe water to drink.

Solution
I am writing [present progressive] to protest the condition of the Kaveri River, from which our
city draws [present] its drinking water. For years, industrial waste has polluted [present perfect]
its waters, and officials pay [present] little attention to the problem. People who live near the river
have been lobbying [present perfect progressive] for protective legislation, but their efforts have
failed[present perfect]. I want [present] safe water to drink.

Activity

Directions inside a Building

Objectives

1. ask directions inside a building.

2. ask questions using what, when, where, who, which, and how.

3. ask “to do” questions.

4. use the contraction don’t.

Responsibilities and Activities

Objectives

1. say my responsibilities.

2. use helping verbs + infinitives to say responsibilities, wishes, likes, and needs.

3. create small sentences.

4. use the words- usually, often, frequently, typically, almost always, most of the time

Making a Doctor’s Appointment

Objectives

1. make a doctor’s appointment.

2. answer questions about a calendar, such as dates and months.

3. express common actions using present progressive tense.

Buying Shoes

Objectives

1. say the type of shoes I want to buy.

2. express how I feel.

3. ask and answer questions using the verb to do.

 4. use the verb to be + doing to express how I am doing.

5. use the words- supermarket, discount, special, color, perfect, athletic

Example

X: May I help you?

Y: Yes, we’re looking for some shoes.

How Is the Weather?

Objectives

1. say what the weather is like.

2. use verbs to say how I feel and who or what I visit.

3. use the verbs to get and to begin to describe daily events.

4. use the verb to do to emphasize a wish or an action.

Example

X: It’s a beautiful day.

Y: It sure is, nice and cool. I

Past Tense

Past Tense refers to actions that take place in the past. In addition, they are used to talk about

hypothesis and for politeness.

Examples

Examples of Past Tense are as follows:

 He went to the market.

 He was working as a teacher.
 He had been living in that house since August

Past tense verbs

Rules
1. Add ‘ed’ to most verbs: looked, talked
2. Drop the ‘e’ and add ‘ed’ to verbs that end in ‘e’: smiled, danced
3. Change ‘y’ to ‘í’ and add ‘ed’ to verbs that end in ‘y’: carried, buried
4. Double the last consonant and add ‘ed’ when the word ends in CVC: dragged, stopped.
Past Tense Usage

1) It is used to denote an action performed within a period of time which is already over. The time
of the action is indicated by the adverbial of past time: ago, last year, yesterday, the other day, in
1995, etc. =a complete past action
e.g. Last night my neighbours celebrated their wedding anniversary.

2) It is used to denote repeated, habitual past actions or states.

e.g. Every week he took his girl out. When I was a child I usually went to bed at 9.
When a habitual past action or state is in contrast with the present, the expression ―used
to+Infinitive‖ is used. e.g. He used to like comedies (but he doesn‘t now) We didn‟t use to go to
concerts (but we do now).
The construction ―would+Infinitive‖ is also used to describe repeated past actions (but not states).
It is more common for written language and often occurs in reminiscences. e.g. On Sundays, when I
was a child, we would get up early and go fishing.

3) It is used to denote a succession of single past actions (events, facts) or states.

e.g. He got out of bed, opened the window and lay down again.

4) It is used to denote reported present-time actions (according to the rules of Sequence of Tenses).
e.g. Kate said to me: ―I‘m a first-year student‖. (direct speech)
Kate told me (that) she was a first-year student. (indirect/reported speech)
Jane asked: ―Do you have dinner at home as a rule?‖
Jane wondered if I had dinner at home as a rule.

5) It is used to denote an action occupying a period of time in the past, when the fact that the action
took place is more important than its duration.
e.g. He lived in Minsk for 2 years and then moved to Moscow.

Practice

Open the brackets using the Past Indefinite tense-forms.

1. First I (meet) Jill in the foyer, then we (go) into the hall to find our seats.
2. In those days Paul (look) young and handsome.
3. I (meet) Peter at the university. We (be) both in the same year. He (study) law, but he (not/be)
very interested in it and (spend) most of his time practicing the flute.
4. Yesterday evening I (go) to Jack‘s house but (not/find) him in. His mother (say) that she
(not/know) where he (be) and she (think) he probably (be) in the library.
5. This bicycle has been in our family for fourteen years. My father (use) it for the first five years,
my brother (ride) it for the next five and I have had it for the last four.

Past Tense Forms

i. Simple Past Tense-

Indicates an action took place before the present moment and that has no real connection with the

present time.
For example, "He danced in the function." (The action took place in the past, is finished and is

completely unrelated to the present)

"He flew to London yesterday."

Note

a. the form of Simple Past Tense is - verb + ed

Conversation Tip: Many conversations begin with a question in the present perfect, and then
continue with more specific questions about the experience in the simple past:
• “Have you ever taken dance classes?”
• “Yes, I have. I took 6 weeks of lessons before my wedding last year.”
• “Wow! So did you dance well on the big day?”
• “No, I didn’t – I forgot everything I’d learned in the classes, and I stepped on my wife’s feet many
times!”
• “Oh no! Was she angry?”
• “No – she said she still loved me!”

ii. Past Continuous Tense-

Indicates an action going on at some time in the past or an action in the past that is longer in

duration than another action in the past.

For example, "It was getting darker."

"The light went out while they were reading."

Note

The form of Past Continuous Tense is- was/were + verb + ing

Practice

Conjugate Verbs in the Past Continuous Tense

The table provides an overview of the conjugation of verbs in positive, negative and interrogative

sentences in the past progressive tense.

Positive (Yes) Negative (No) Interrogative
I I was speaking I wasn’t speaking Was I speaking?
he, she, it He was speaking He wasn’t speaking Was he speaking?
you, we, they You were speaking You weren’t speaking Were you speaking?

Simple Past and Past Continuous

The past continuous is often used together with the simple past to show that one thing happened

while another thing was in progress:

I was talking (action in progress in past) on the phone when my sister arrived (action
happened in past).
He was drinking beer when he suddenly felt sick.
She took a photo as we were getting out of the bus.
We were waiting for the bus when we saw a car accident.

Writing Tips: Be careful! Some verbs are never used in the continuous form: like, want, need,
believe.
I was needing to find a job.
I needed to find a job.
She was believing that he loved her.
She believed that he loved her.

iii. Past Perfect Tense-

Indicates an action in the past that had been completed before another time or event in the past.

For example, "He had exercised before it started to rain."

"He had slept before I came back from the market."

Note

The form of Past Perfect Tense is- had + verb (past participle form or the 3rd form of the verb)
iv. Past Perfect Continuous Tense-

Indicates an action in the past that took place before another time or event in the past and

continued during the second event/time point in the past.

For example, "At that time, he had been writing a novel for two months."

"He had been exercising when I called."

Note

The form of Past Perfect Continuous Tense is- had + been + verb + ing

Writing Tips: For / Since

The present perfect is also used with for and since to talk about actions that began in the past and
continue to the present.
• “I’ve lived here since 2004.”
• “I’ve lived here for 8 years.”

Since is used with a point in time, and means “from that point in time until the present.” Use since
with dates (2011, January, Tuesday, etc.), times (6:15, noon, this morning, etc.), and past events (I
was a child, he graduated from college, etc).

Since is always used with the present perfect, and not the simple past:
“I’ve gone to the beach every year since I was a child.” (repeated action that continues until today)
“I went to the beach when I was a child.” (finished action at a specific time in the past; I don’t go to
the beach nowadays)

For is used with a time period, and means “for that period of time until the present.” Use for with
times of any length (five seconds, eight hours, two days, six weeks, nine months, ten years, a decade,
centuries, etc.)

Be careful with for, because using the present perfect or the simple past can change the meaning:
“We’ve lived in Jodhpur for 6 months.” (and we live in Jodhpur now)
“We lived in Jodhpur for 6 months.” (and we don’t live in Jodhpur now)

Editing Advice- Present and Past

1. Don’t confuse the -ing form and the past participle.

taking
She has been taken a test for two hours.
given
She has giving him a present.

2. Use the present perfect, not the simple present, to describe an action or state that started in the
past and continues to the present.
had
He has a car for two years.

have worked
How long do you work in a factory?

3. Use for, not since, with the amount of time.

for
I’ve been studying English since three months.

4. Use the simple past, not the present perfect, with a specific past time.
came
He has come to India five months ago.
did
When have you come to India?

5. Use the simple past, not the present perfect, in a since clause.
came
He has learned a lot of English since he has come to the U.S.

6. Use the correct word order.

never seen
He has seen never a French movie.
ever gone
Have you gone ever to France?

7. Use the correct word order in questions.

have you
How long you have been a teacher?

8. Use yet for negative statements; use already for affirmative statements.
yet
I haven’t eaten dinner already.

9. Don’t forget the verb have in the present perfect (continuous).

have
I ⇧ been living in New York for two years.

10. Don’t forget the -ed of the past participle.

ed
He’s listen ⇧ to that CD many times.

11. Use the present perfect, not the continuous form, with always, never,
yet, already, ever, and how many.
gone
How many times have you been going to Paris?
visited
I’ve never been visiting Paris.

12. Don’t use time after how long.

How long time have you had your job?

Past Tense Challenge

Review and Answer: All of the following past tense forms can be used together in writing a
passage without constituting a shift in tense. Look at the following paragraph and complete the
paragraph with the correct verbs that are highlighted, and the brackets which identify the tense.

Last year, local officials cite [simple past] a manufacturing company in our county for improperly
disposing of hazardous waste. The company ignore [simple past] the action and continue [simple
past] to dump its waste as they do [past perfect progressive]. They dump [past perfect] waste the
same way for years and plan [simple past] to continue. Several months later, the residue seep
[simple past] into the drinking water supply. A local environmentalist, who track [past perfect
progressive] the company’s dumping procedures, alerted local officials. They fined the company Rs
2000000 for damages, but the company pay [past perfect, never] the fine.

Solution
Last year, local officials cited [past] a manufacturing company in our county for improperly
disposing of hazardous waste. The company ignored [past] the action and continued [past] to
dump its waste as they had been doing [past perfect progressive]. They had dumped [past
perfect] waste the same way for years and planned [past] to continue. Several months later, the
residue seeped [past] into the drinking water supply. A local environmentalist, who had been
tracking [past perfect progressive] the company’s dumping procedures, alerted local officials. They
fined the company Rs 2000000 for damages, but the company had never paid [past perfect] the
fine.

Talk
How your life was
You came to this college/school?
You were a small boy/girl?
You were in a small house?
Without a mobile?
You were with your school mates?
Or
Write a composition on Past Tense Challenge

FUTURE Tense

Future Tense depicts an action that happens in the future or is likely to happen in the future. It may

also express the speaker’s attitude to a future event.

Examples

Future Tense may be used in various situations such as:

 Prediction: There will be rain tomorrow.

 Arrangements: I am visiting his house tomorrow.
 Plans: I am going to do an internship in May.
 An action in progress: This time next month, I will be in London.
 Fixed Routine: He shall attend the lecture tomorrow, right?

1) It is used to denote a pure future action (which is inevitable and out of anybody‘s control).
Reference to the future is indicated by the adverbials of future time tomorrow, in a week, next year,
etc.
e.g. It will snow a lot in winter. She‘ll be 30 next Friday.

2) It is used to denote decisions taken at the moment of speaking (an action which is not part of a
plan). = a spontaneous decision.
e.g. It is cold in here. I‘ll turn on the heating.

3) It is used to denote actions or predictions (hopes, fears, threats, offers, promises, warnings,
requests, comments, etc.) which may or may not happen in the future. = a probable future action.
e.g. I think they will easily win the match. I‘m sure you‘ll enjoy your visit to the Zoo.

4) It is used to denote things we are not yet sure about or we haven‘t decided yet.
e.g. Maybe I‘ll buy a car.

5) It is used in object clauses to denote future actions.

e.g. She is anxious to know if they will manage to enter the hall before the performance begins.

6) It is used to denote refusals, resistance, reluctance to do smth (with will in the negative form)
and typical behaviour (in the affirmative sentences with will for all persons).
e.g. The door won‟t open. She‘ll sit for hours.

Note
Shall is used with I/We in questions for an instruction, recommendation, advice or to offer help.
e.g. Shall we do it right now? Shall I send him a fax? Shall I help you? Shall we play tennis?
but : Will you be quiet, please? Will you get me a paper?

Use the “will” form with I/We

For promises, offers, predictions, and decisions made in the moment of speaking:
Promise: I‘ll call you later.
Offer: We‘ll give you a ride home.
Prediction: I have a feeling that this new singer will become very popular.
Decision made in the moment: I‘ll have the spaghetti and a side order of salad.

Use the “going to” form with I/We

For plans, arrangements, and predictions:
After I graduate from college, I’m going to study for a Masters degree.
We’re going to move to a different city next year.
I think the current president is going to be reelected.

FUTURE TENSE
i. Simple Future Tense-

Indicates an action that will take place after the present time and that has no real connection with

the present time.

For example, "She will visit her ailing grandmother soon."

"He will walk home."

Note

The form of Simple Future Tense is- will/shall + verb

Signal Words: English Future Tense

Signal words help us to recognise the tense being used in a sentence. Below is a list of signal words
for the simple future tense:

 I think
 probably
 perhaps

ii. Future Continuous Tense-

Indicates an action in the future that is longer in duration than another action in the future.

For example, "He will be walking when it starts to rain."

Note

a. The form of Future Continuous Tense is-will/shall be + verb + ing

Signal Words: English Future Progressive Tense

Signal words can help us to recognise the tense in a sentence. The signal words for
the future progressive are:

 at 4 o’clock tomorrow
 this time next week

iii. Future Perfect Tense-

Indicates an action in the future that will have been completed before another time or event in the

future.

For example, "By the time we arrive, he will have studied."

Note

a. The form of Future Perfect Tense is- will/shall have + verb(past participle form or 3rd form of the

verb)

Signal Words: English Future Perfect Tense

Certain expressions can help us to recognise the tense in a sentence. Some examples of signal words
or expressions for the future perfect are:

 by Monday, in a week

iv. Future Perfect Continuous Tense-

Indicates an action in the future that will have been continuing until another time or event in the

future.

For example, "He will have been exercising an hour at 2:00."

Note

a. The form of Future Perfect Continuous Tense is- will/shall have been + verb + ing

Note

When using the future perfect progressive in English, we usually include a reference to a specific
time such as next year, by this time, last week.

Example:

By this time tomorrow, you will have been driving for 24 hours!

Practice
Conjugation of English Future Tense with Will

The conjugation of the future with will is that same for all forms. The table below provides an
overview of the positive, negative and interrogative conjugation of the English future tense.

Positive Negative Interrogative

Simple Future I /We/He/She/It/You/They I won’t speak Will I speak?
will speak
Future Progressive I’ll be speaking I won’t be speaking Will I be speaking?
Future Perfect I’ll have spoken I won’t have spoken Will I have spoken?
Future Perfect I’ll have been speaking I won’t have been Will I have been
Progressive speaking speaking?
Future Tense Challenge
Review and Answer: All the future tense forms on the following table can be used together in writing a
paragraph. They do not constitute a shift in tense. Look at the following paragraph and complete the
paragraph with the correct verbs that are highlighted, and the brackets which identify the tense.

Starting next week, we reduce [simple future] the money we spend on waste disposal. We do
[simple future] this because our public relations costs have skyrocketed during the year. Since no one in
the community sell [simple future] land to us to use for waste disposal, we relocate [future progressive]
in a new community with a better business environment. This move put [simple future] over
three hundred employees out of work. It reduce [simple future] the amount of consumer dollars
spent at local businesses. By this time next year, nearly one thousand people lose [future perfect] their
jobs. Your business leaders look [future perfect progressive] for ways to replace lost revenue.

Furthermore, legislators meddle [future progressive] in our local affairs, and the news media
portray [future perfect] us all as fools.

Solution
Starting next week, we will reduce [future] the money we spend on waste disposal. We will do
[future] this because our public relations costs have skyrocketed during the year. Since no one in the
community will sell [future] land to us to use for waste disposal, we will be relocating [future
progressive] in a new community with a better business environment. This move will put [future] over
three hundred employees out of work. It will reduce [future] the amount of consumer dollars
spent at local businesses. By this time next year, nearly one thousand people will have lost [future
perfect] their jobs. Your business leaders will have been looking [future perfect progressive] for ways to
replace lost revenue.

Furthermore, legislators will be meddling [future progressive] in our local affairs, and the news media
will have portrayed [future perfect] us all as fools.

Conclusion
Listen, write, and speak carefully to people today. Do you hear common errors such as “I could of
gone out if I had done my work”? Once you make it a habit to listen for verb choice errors, you’ll
realize how many people make them. Some mistakes are so accepted that they might not sound
strange at first. The more sensitive you are to grammatical errors, the less likely you’ll be to make
them yourself—in both writing and speaking.

Activity

Directions Outside

Objectives

1. ask for directions.

2. give basic directions.

3. use the future tense.

4. say likes and dislikes.

5. use the words- bus stop, taxi, office, vacation, grocery store, north, end of the street

Example

New Person: Excuse me, can you please tell me where the post office is? And where is a good place
to eat? I like pizza.

Buying a Dress for Bride/Groom

Objectives

1. use contractions for will.

2. talk about buying a dress.

3. use the words- try on, size, appearance, receipt, dressing room, medium, credit, debit, cheque

Practice
Circle the correct verb form in each of the following sentences.
1. They (had won, won, win) five competitions before qualifying for Nationals.
2. By the time I get to Phoenix, he will (read, have read) my good-bye letter.
3. The scientist explained why Saturn (is, was) surrounded by rings.
4. I would ask for a transfer if I (was, were) you.
5. Just this past August, the interest rate (drops, dropped, had dropped) 2%.
6. The doctor took my pulse and (measures, measured) my blood pressure.
7. The president wishes he would (of, have) taken a stock option rather than a salary increase.
8. Alister wishes he had ordered a bigger sweatshirt because his (is, was) too small.
9. Ms Geetha announced that the floor manager (is,was) responsible for work schedules.
10. We could cut transportation costs if the plant (was, were) closer to the retail outlets.

ANSWER
1. had won
2. have read
3. is
4. were
5. dropped
6. measured
7. have
8. is
9. is
10. were

Test Yourself

Q1. Choose the correct verb from those in brackets:

a. The earth _____ round the sun. (move, moves, moved)

b. My friends _____ the film yesterday. (see, saw, have seen)

c. It started to rain while we _____ tennis. (are playing, had played, were playing)

d. I _____ English for five years. (have been studying, study, am studying)

e. The train _____ before we reach the station. (arrives, will have arrived, had arrived)

f. Don't disturb me. I _____ my work. (do, did, am doing)

g. Fortune _____ the brave. (is favouring, will favour, favours)

h. I _____ the letter before you arrived. (had written, wrote, will write)

i. He _____ us next week. (will have met, will have been meeting, will be meeting)

j. Perhaps we _____ Delhi next month. (visit, will visit, visited)

Q2. Complete the dialogue.

Rashid: Rahul! Your friend Manas has sent you a postcard. It’s from Kerala. It ____ (look) nice.

Rahul: I bet it does!

Rashid: He ____ (write) that it’s very hot there. There ___ (be) a lot of tourists. The hotels ____ (be)

full. He ____ (say) the restaurants ____ (be) always full!

Rahul: Yes. I’m sure it is. The papers____ (say) that the temperature there is 30C.

Rashid: Then he ___ (write) that he has learnt a bit of Malayalam, and that he ____ (get on) well with

the people there, especially the women!

Rashid: Look, didn’t the newspaper ____ (say) that there’s another strike in Kerala.

Rahul: Yes, it did Manas won’t mind having to stay in Kerala longer!

Answer Key

Q1.

a. moves
b. saw

c. were playing

d. have been studying

e. will have arrived

f. am doing

g. favours

h. had written

i. will be meeting

j. will visit

Q2.

a. looks

b. has written

c. are

d. are

e. says

f. are

g. say

h. writes

i. gets on
j. say