2. Present Continuous 

Structure: subject + ‘be’ verb (am, is, are) + present participle (-ing form) of the main verb (‘be’ is

 an auxiliary verb)


Uses of the present continuous:

A. Actions taking place at the present moment

· Ravi and his friends are playing chess.

· Sugunya’s father is buying vegetables.


B. Actions taking place now, but not at this moment

· Ram is feeding his children. He is doing a project for Ambuja Cements. 

C. Personal Plans

· My aunt is visiting the dentist next Tuesday.

D. Actions, usually unpleasant ones, happening despite your protest or disapproval

· Varun is always taking my stationery without my knowledge.


3. Present Perfect

Structure: subject + 'have' verb (have, has) + past participle (-ed form) of the main verb (‘have’ is

 an auxiliary verb)


Uses of the present perfect:

A. Actions which have just finished (immediate past)

· Vimal has just entered the house.

· We have just had tea. 

B. Time of the past action is unknown or indefinite

· We have met him once. (We don’t remember when it was.) 

· Sujatha’s uncle has told me about this place many times. 

C. When something refers in some manner to the present moment

· My father has bought me five hundred books so far. (And he may buy me more in the future.)

D. Action finished, but its effect is felt in the present

· Tharun has failed in Maths. He is attending remedial classes.


4. Present Perfect Continuous 


Structure: subject + ‘have’ verb (have, has) + been + present participle (-ing form) of main verb

 (‘have’ and ‘be’ are auxiliary verbs)


Uses of the present perfect continuous:

A. Actions which started in the past and are continuing

· Vimal has been whitewashing the fence since four this afternoon.

B. Action has finished, but its effect is felt in the present (the same situation is expressed using

 present perfect, also)

· We look tired perhaps because we have been working in the sun all day.



5. Simple past or past indefinite

Structure: subject + V2 (past) form of the verb

Exception: the verb 'be' (was, were) – I/he/she/it was; you /we/they were

Uses of the simple past tense:

A. A state in the past or a completed action

· Sudha’s uncle was a teacher. 

· Suresh turned this place into a busy shopping centre a few years ago.

B. Past habit

· When we were in Bangalore we read The Times of India.


6. Past Continuous 


Structure: subject + 'be' verb (was, were) (-ing form) of main verb

Uses of the past continuous:

A. Time when an action was in progress in the past 

· Vaaruni was playing chess with her brother at 7:00 last evening.

B. Past continuous and simple past – when a brief action happens during a longer past action

· Yesterday, when Seema was cleaning the sofa, she found a coin under one of the cushions.


7. Past Perfect 


Structure: subject + 'have' verb (had) + past participle (-ed form) of the main verb

Use of the past perfect:

A: The first of two successive actions in the past

· Latha’s father had spoken to her about life in a city before he took her to the train station.

· When we reached the theatre the film had started.


8. Past Perfect Continuous


Structure: subject + 'have' verb (had) + been + present participle (-ing form) of the main verb

Use of the present perfect continuous:

An action started before a certain time in the past and which continued 

· When I visited Ramya yesterday she had been listening to music for half an hour.

· Last Tuesday Suman and his uncle had been writing letters for just over an hour when 

they received the telegram from Delhi.


9. Simple Future

Structure: subject + will (shall for I and We) + V1 (dictionary form) of the verb

Use of the simple future:

An action or state in the future over which we do not have any control

· Mrs Armstrong will meet us tomorrow. (She has just called us)

· They will become doctors next year.

· David will be seventeen next Sunday.


10. Future Continuous


Structure: subject + will /shall + be + present participle (-ing form) of the main verb

Use of the future continuous:

The time in the future when something will be in progress

· Ranjith will be reading his newspaper at six this evening.


11. Future Perfect


Structure: subject + will /shall + have + past participle (-ed form) of the main verb

Use of the future perfect: 

To show completion of a task in the future

· Veeraraghavan will have taken these chairs to his grandmother’s by 3 PM tomorrow.


12. Future Perfect Continuous


Structure: subject + will /shall + have + been + present participle (-ing form) of the main verb

Use of the future perfect continuous.

An action starting at a certain point in the future and continuing to another point 

· Immanuel will have been working for this company for four years by July 2012.