Andhra Pradesh BIEAP AP Inter 1st Year English Study Material Intermediate 1st Year English Grammar Time, Tenses, and Aspects Questions and Answers.
AP Intermediate 1st Year English Grammar Time, Tenses, and Aspects
Time, Tenses and Aspect
‘You’ve been fighting again! You lost two of your teeth!” “I haven’t lost them, Mum. They are in my pocket.”
“It makes no sense to worry about the future. By the time you get there, it’s the past!”
Tense is a term that refers to the way verbs change their form in order to indicate at which time a situation occurs or an event takes place. Time and tense are not overlapping concepts. Though tense is related to time, there is no one-to-one correspondence between the two. Tense is a grammatical category: rather than with “reality”, it has to do with how events are placed, seen, and referred to along the past- present-future time line. Thus, a present tense does not always refer to present time, nor a past tense to past time. Actually, the present and past tenses can refer to all three segments of the time line (past, present, and future).
For example, the present tense may be used to speak about a future event (often, but not necessarily, accompanied by a future time adverbial), while the so-called “historic present” -frequently used to convey dramatic immediacy – refers to the past as if it were happening now :
The world cup starts next week.
My mother leaves at 4.30 tomorrow afternoon. The class starts in five minutes.
“There is a famous story of President Abraham Lincoln, taking a vote at a cabinet meeting on whether to sign the Emancipation Proclamation. All his cabinet secretaries vote nay, where upon Lincoln raises his right hand and declares: ‘The a yes have it.'”
By the same token, a past tense can refer to present time. This occurs, for instance, in hypothetical sentences, in reported speech, as well as in other structures;
If I had more money, I would buy a new car. Did you tell him you were/are busy?
It’s time you changed your car.
Future in the. past, i.e. future seen from a view point in the past;
They were just going to punish him, when he escaped.
The priceless tapestry was about to catch fire, but the firemen saved it.
Aspect is a grammatical category that reflects the perspective from which an action/ situation is seen: as complete, in progress, having duration, beginning, ending, or being repeated. English has two aspects, progressive (also called continuous) and perfect (ive).
The following combinations are possible:
Present progressive; past progressive; present perfective; past perfective; present perfective progressive; past perfective progressive:
He is sleeping; He was sleeping. He has slept; He had slept. ’
He has been sleeping; He had been sleeping.
Progressive aspect (Continuous)
The progressive aspect, either in the present or past tense, generally refers to an action/ event (usually of limited duration) in progress at a particular time, to an uncompleted activity, to a temporary state of affairs or a temporary habit.
The present progressive is formed by the present tense of the verb am/is/are + the -ing form of the lexical verb, the past progressive by was/were + the-ing form of the lexical verb:
Look, it’s snowing!
I’m going to bed very late these days. We’re studying German this year.
I was sleeping when I heard a strange noise. I was living in Buenos Aires at the time. The activity may also not be, strictly speaking, continuous, that is to say it may refer to a series of individual acts.
Some of the demonstrators are smashing shop windows.
Needless to say, the progressive aspect does not reflect the length of an action, but the speaker’s view of a certain event. The progressive aspect can combine with the perfective aspect, both present and past, as well as with a modal or a modal and a perfective together. Finally, the infinitive can also be used in the progressive.
I’ve been toiling for hours You must be kidding
He must have been joking It’s too early to be sleeping
Perfective aspect
The perfective aspect is used to refer to a state or action which has taken place before the time of speaking, as well as to a state or action (or series of actions) occurring in a period of time we imagine as continuing until the present or until a certain moment in the past (until now or until then), or that has just ended. Remember the events and situations referred to by the perfective aspect have some relevance to the time of speaking (the present in the case of the present perfective, the past in the case of the past perfective, the future in the case of the future perfective). The perfective aspect is also used to indicate the completeness of an action, to see events as a whole.
I have tidied my room.
I’ve often spent my holidays in South America. She had just found a solution to the problem.
The present perfective is formed by have/has + past participle, the past perfective (statistically less common than the present) by had + past participle, while the future perfective by will have + past participle.
I have had the same car for twelve years! It’s time to get a new one.
I had lived in Paris for two years when I decided to come back home. We will have been together for ten years next month.
The perfective aspect can combine with the progressive aspect, with a modal or with a modal and a progressive together.
I’ve been running.
He had been watching TV all day.
You should have done this more carefully. He must have been kidding.
They seem to have liked the film.
Note that the perfect progressive aspect indicates the possible incompleteness of an action. In the following examples, it is not clear whether the action has been completed or not.
I’ve been repairing my bike.
(I may or may not have finished repairing the bike) They have been cleaning their room for hours (They may or may not have finished cleaning)
English, however, has no future tense, no special future verb conjugation. In English, one way to indicate the future is to use the modal auxiliary verb Will + a main verb in its base form. For example.
He will eat fruits.
You will find your book.
Currently “will” and “shall” are used mainly as the future expression. But originally these were the verbs that indicated the violation of “will” and the obligation of “shall”. They not only express future meaning but also the mood as modal auxiliary. Actually, these are present tense in themselves grammatically.
Will/shall followed by the progressive can be used in a regular way to add the temporary meaning of the will construction.
Don’t call her at eight o’ clock – she will be eating dinner. The train will be arriving soon. The past in the future is expressed by will + perfect infinitive.
Tomorrow, Shyam and Leela will have been married twenty years. She will have typed the letter by the end of the meeting.
He will have gone by the time you reach there.
Another way to talk about the future in English is with the verb GO. In English, this is done with a conjugated form of the verb BE followed by the present participle of the verb GO (going) as a sort of auxiliary verb and then an infinitive; BE + going + infinitive. He is going to eat pizza.
You are going to find your keys. They are going to board train.
I am going to board train.
Since tense relates the meaning of the verb to a time scale, we must give some attention to the different kinds of meaning a verb may have. Broadly, verbs may refer to either an ‘event’ or to a ‘state’. Thus be, live, stay, know, like, want, believe, appear, hate etc may be considered ‘state verbs’ and get, come, leave, hit, write, etc ‘event verbs’.
Event verbs take the progressive aspect but state verbs do not take progressive aspect. Thus we can say:
I see someone through the window, (not* I am seeing….)
I don’t hear what they are saying, (not* I am not hearing….)
Based on the discussion of aspect verbs may be written in five forms.
These verb forms can be shown in the form of a table expressing different aspects of an action/event.
Practice
1. Pratap …………….. TV every day. (watch)
Answer:
Watches.
2. The earth ….. round the sun. (revolve)
Answer:
revolves.
3. I …………….. reading novels. (like)
Answer:
like.
4. The next term ……………….. on Monday. (begin)
Answer:
begins.
5. The sun …. ….n…. In the east. (rise)
Answer:
rises.
6. What ……….. your name ? (be)
Answer:
is.
7. They …….. our relatives. (be)
Answer:
are.
8. Let’s wait till he ……… his work. (finish)
Answer:
finisher.
9. Children ………. chocolates. (like)
Answer:
like.
10. What …………….. snakes eat ? (do)
Answer:
do.
II. Fill in the blanks with the simple past form of the verb given in brackets.
1. The young man ……….. his own life to save the life of his friend. (risk)
Answer:
risked.
2. Siddu …….. another window yesterday. (break)
Answer:
broke.
3. Last year I ………. to Bangalore on holiday. (go)
Answer:
went.
4. Eshaan ………… a hundred rupee note on the road. (find)
Answer:
found.
5. You ……….. at work yesterday morning. (be)
Answer:
were.
6. I …… the dishes last time. (wash)
Answer:
washed.
7. They ……….. each other years ago. (know)
Answer:
know.
8. I ……… busy painting last night, (be)
Answer:
was.
9. Meghana ……… swimming in sixth class. (learn)
Answer:
learnt.
10. We …….. our breakfast half an hour ago. (finish)
Answer:
finished.
III. Fill in the blanks with the simple future form of the verb given in brackets.
1. In two days, I ……. my result. (know)
Answer:
will know.
2. Someday I …….. a novel. (write)
Answer:
will write.
3. I …… help you with your homework. (help)
Answer:
will.
4. Next year …….. exciting. (be)
Answer:
will be.
5. But all this ………. when you are 60 years old. (happen)
Answer:
will happen.
6. The next game ……… hard to win. (be)
Answer:
will be.
7. If you work hard, you ………. a lot of money. (earn)
Answer:
will earn.
8. We ………. pictures in a few minutes. (take)
A. will take.
9. Jim ………. some sweets on the way home. (buy)
Answer:
will buy.
10. If she passes the exam, she ………. very happy, (be)
Answer:
will be.
IV. Fill in the blanks with the present progressive form of the verb given in brackets.
1. Hurryup! We ………. for you. (wait)
Answer:
are waiting.
2. Rudra doesn’t like to be disturbed when she ……….(work)
Answer:
is working.
3. Where ………. you now ? (go)
Answer:
are you going.
4. He ………. Don’t disturb him now. (study)
Answer:
is studying.
5. My mom ………. dinner this evening because we are eating out. (not cook)
Answer:
is not cooking.
6. Look! Andy ………. in the garden. (play)
Answer:
is playing.
7. Don’t make noise. The baby ………. (sleep)
Answer:
is sleeping.
8. The students ………. for their exams which begin tomorrow. (prepare)
Answer:
are preparing.
9. Geetika ………. because she lost her purse. (cry)
Answer:
is crying.
10. He ………. in Bengaluru at the moment. (work)
Answer:
is working.
V. Fill the blanks with the past progressive form of the verb given in brackets.
1. I ……. TV at seven o’clock yesterday evening. (watch)
Answer:
was watching.
2. The phone rang while I ………. dinner. (have)
Answer:
was having.
3. When I entered her room, she ………. the piano. (play)
Answer:
was playing.
4. They ………. the whole time they were together. (fight)
Answer:
were fighting.
5. I tried to tell them the truth but they ………. (not listen)
Answer:
were not listening.
6. My parents ………. in the garden when it suddenly began to rain. (work)
Answer:
were working.
7. I ………. when the lights went out. (read)
Answer:
was reading.
8. Most of the time we ………. to his stories. (listen)
Answer:
were listening.
9. He ………. from fever even before he left for Delhi. (suffer)
Answer:
was suffering.
10. My brother and sister ………. tennis at 5 PM yesterday. (play)
Answer:
were playing.
VI. Fill in the blanks with the future progressive form of the verb given in brackets.
1. This time next week we ………. at the beach. (sit)
Answer:
will be sitting.
2. They ………. for about four hours. Marathons are incredibly difficult. (run)
Answer:
will be running.
3. Unfortunately, I ………. on my essay so I won’t be able to watch the match. (work)
Answer:
will be working
4. The baby ………. soon. (walk)
Answer:
will be walking.
5. At midnight we ………. (sleep)
Answer:
will be sleeping.
6. At three o’clock tomorrow, he ………. for the train. (wait)
Answer:
will be waiting.
7. I ………. in Mumbai for a week. (stay)
Answer:
will be staying.
8. By the time I go home, my children ………. (sleep)
Answer:
will be sleeping.
9. My watchman ………. at 8 pm for night duty. (come)
Answer:
will be coming.
10. Tomorrow at this time, I ………. my English language exam. (take)
Answer:
will be taking.
VII. Fill in the blanks with the present perfect form of the verb given in brackets.
1. She ………. not yet from music class. (return)
Answer:
has not returned.
2. This order ……..to many misunderstandings. (lead)
Answer:
has led.
3. I ………. confirmation of this news. (receive)
Answer:
have received.
4. The clock ………. just ………. 10. (strike)
Answer:
has struck.
5. I ………. Hindi for twenty years. (speak)
Answer:
has spoken.
6. Our class ………. to field trip three times this year. (go)
Answer:
has gone.
7. We ………. eating homemade snacks all our lives. (enjoy)
Answer:
have enjoyed.
8. Raghu and Madhav ………. already, where they are going on vacation. (decide)
Answer:
have decided.
9. I ………. your book several times. (read)
Answer:
have read.
10. You ………. the glass again. (break)
Answer:
have broken.
VIII. Fill in the blanks with the past perfect form of the verb given in brackets.
1. When I arrived at the cinema hall, the film ………. (start)
Answer:
had started.
2. She ………. in Guntur before she went to Anantapur. (live)
Answer:
has lived.
3. We were late for the plane because we ………. our passports. (forget)
Answer:
had forgetten
4. If you ………. to me, you would have got the job. (listen)
Answer:
has listened.
5. When I reached the station, the train ………. (leave)
Answer:
had left.
6. I could not remember the poem that we ………. the week before. (learn)
Answer:
had learnt.
7. The children collected the fruits that ………. from the tree. (fall)
Answer:
had fallen.
8. Sandeep ………. home by the time I arrived. (go)
Answer:
had gone.
9. Preeti was embarrassed because she ………. her dad’s birthday. (forget)
Answer:
had forgetten.
10. Kevin suddenly realized that he ………. his laptop on the train. (leave)
Answer:
had left.
IX. Fill in the blanks with the future perfect form of the verb given in brackets.
1. By the time you returned home, you ………. much time with your grandparents. (spend)
Answer:
you should have spent.
2. She ………. a lot before the dessert arrived. (eat)
Answer:
should have eaten.
3. I ………. writing the novel by the 1st of June. (finish)
Answer:
I should have finished.
4. My dog ………. all of his food by the time I get home. (eat)
Answer:
would have eaten.
5. My brother ………. his military training by the time I graduate. (complete)
Answer:
should have completed.
X. Fill in the blanks with the present perfect progressive form of the verb given in brackets.
1. We ………. in this street for twenty years. (live)
Answer:
should have been living.
2. He ………. in this garden since morning. (work)
Answer:
should have been work.
3. The workers ………. higher wages for a long time. (demand)
Answer:
should have been demand
4. My clothes are wet because ………. the garden, (water).
Answer:
they should have been watering.
5. She ………. to the cinema every weekend for years. (go)
Answer:
should have gone.
XI. Fill in the blanks with the past perfect progressive form of the verb given in brackets.
1. We ………. at the station for one hour when the train finally arrived. (wait)
Answer:
had been waiting.
2. Kousik …………. less than an hour when he ran out of petrol. (drive)
Answer:
has been driving.
3. They were very tired in the evening because they ………. on the farm all the day. (work)
Answer:
had been working.
4. Giridhar felt fit for the marathon because he ………. a lot. (practice)
Answer:
had been practicing.
5. We ………. for a year when we ran out of money and had to return home, (travel)
Answer:
had been travelling.
XII. Fill in the blanks with the future perfect progressive form of the verb given in brackets.
1. Suma ………. our class for five years by 2020. (attend)
Answer:
will have been attending.
2. They….. for three hours by noon. (play)
Answer:
will have been playing.
3. By 5 pm, you ………. for four hours. (dance)
Answer:
will have been dancing.
4. They ………… in Guntur for five years by the end of 2019. (live)
Answer:
will have been living.
5. By next year, I ………. English for five years. (study)
Answer:
will have been studying.
XIII. Fill in the blanks choosing the most appropriate tense of the verb given in brackets. Use auxiliaries where necessary. There may be more than one correct answer for some of the sentences.
Exercise I
1. My friends ………. the Prime Minister yesterday. (see)
Answer:
Saw
2. It started to rain while we ………. tennis. (play)
Answer:
Were playing
3. He often ………. coffee. (drink)
Answer:
Drinks
4. Look there! Somebody ………. into the lake. (jump)
Answer:
Is jumping
5. Sahasra ………. not ………. her homework yet. (complete)
Answer:
Did, complete
6. Mumbai ………. one of the largest cities in the world. (be)
Answer:
Is
7. I ………. everyday to keep myself fit. (exercise)
Answer:
Exercise
8. She ………. guitar when I entered the room. (play)
Answer:
Was playing
9. This house ……. three lakhs in 1980. (cost)
Answer:
Costed/cost
10. Last year we to ………. zoo. (go)
Answer:
Went
11. I ………. seventeen on my next birthday. (be)
Answer:
will be
12. Abdul ………. to be doctor. (want)
Answer:
wants
13. If you start at once, you ………. by six o’clock. (arrive)
Answer:
Will arrive
14. My friend’s family ………. in this house since 2000. (live)
Answer:
Has been living
15. I think that they ………. tomorrow morning. (arrive)
Answer:
Will arrive
16. My father ………. his car every day. (wash)
Answer:
Washes
17. I saw him when I ………. out of window. (look)
Answer:
Was looking
18. Look! The monkey ………. a banana. (eat)
Answer:
Is eating
19. Yashita ………. in Delhi for the next three days. (be)
Answer:
Will be
20. He ………. a new bike last week. (buy)
Answer:
Bought
Exercises II
1. Deepa and Renu ……… late to class yesterday. (be)
Answer:
Were
2. At dinner time out family never ……… TV. (watch)
Answer:
Watches
3. They are not sure if they ……… the next match. (win).
Answer:
Will win
4. By the time I go home, my children ……… still ……… (play)
Answer:
Win-be playing
5. The baby ……… all morning. (cry)
Answer:
Cries/has been crying/cried
6. When he to open the door, he dropped his key. (try)
Answer:
Was trying
7. Pranav never ……… to China. (be)
Answer:
Had never been
8. I ……… for this company for seventeen years. (work)
Answer:
Worked
9. When the weather is fine, we a picnic in our garden. (have)
Answer:
Will have
10. Stop that! Somebody ……… (come)
Answer:
Is coming
11. Sindhu ……… tennis since she was seven. (play)
Answer:
Has been playing
12. They ……… my brother an hour ago. (meet)
Answer:
Met
13. He ……… his hand before every meal. (wash)
Answer:
Washes
14. The butcher ……… several pigs a moment ago. (kill)
Answer:
Killed
15. Cows …………. on grass. (feed)
Answer:
Feed
16. I ……… this film before. (see)
Answer:
Have seen
17. Please don’t make noise! I ……… (study)
Answer:
Am studying
18. Bread and butter ……… her favourite breakfast. (be)
Answer:
Is
19. Let’s hope that the wind ……… away the clouds. (blow)
Answer:
Blows
20. We ……… football at this time yesterday. (play)
Answer:
Were playing
Exercises III
1. I hope the weather…………………….nice. (be)
Answer:
Will be
2. Mom thinks dad …………………. home early to night. (come)
Answer:
Will côme
3. Yesterday I ………………….. up at 5 o’ clock. (get)
Answer:
Got
4. I …………… not ……… him for two days. (see)
Answer:
Did-see
5. She jumped off the bus while it ……………………. (move)
Answer:
Was moving
6. They …………………to Vijayawada tomorrow morning. (drive)
Answer:
Will drive
7. We always ………………… movies on Sunday. (watch)
Answer:
Watch
8. I ………………. a lot of today. (do)
Answer:
Did
9. By this time next year, Meghana ………………….. her university degree. (take)
Answer:
Will have taken
10. can I have some milk before I.. ………….to bed? (go)
Answer:
go