General English
Name: ……………………………………………
Lyceum – Nugegoda.
Adm No: ……..…..
ZEG – 11T
Session Leader : Upul Grero – 077 3610391
We can teach from our experience, but we can’t teach experience.
Verb Tenses
Verb Tenses are an attribute of verbs that show time. So when we use different verb tenses, we
are showing the different times that these actions took place.
Verb tenses are divided into two parts as Active Voice & Passive Voice.
Verb Tenses
( Active Voice )
Present
(1)
(2)
Future
(3)
(4)
Simple Continuous Perfect
(1)
Perfect
(2)
(3)
(4)
Simple Continuous Perfect Perfect
Continuous
Continuous
Past
(1)
(2)
(3)
Simple Continuous Perfect
(4)
Perfect
Continuous
(1)
Simple
Present Simple
Plural
Singular
I
We
You
They
Any Plural
Noun
(2)
eat
He
She
It
Any
Singular
Noun
Continuous
Present - is, am, are
Past
- was, were
Future - shall be, will be
Past Simple
eats
(3)
eating
Any Noun
(no
difference
either
Plural or
Singular)
Future Simple
I
shall
We eat
ate
Perfect
has, have
had
shall/will have
(4)
eaten
You
He
She
It/ They
Any other
Noun
will eat
Perfect Continuous
has/have been
had been
shall/will have been
eating
Useful “be” stem verbs and “has, have, had” to make the above Tenses.
Present Tense
Past Tense
Future Tense
is, am, are
has, have,
has been, have been
was, were
had
had been
shall be, will be
shall have, will have
shall/will have been
Upul Grero - (Page No: 01)
Upul Grero - (Page No:02)
I eat.
I am eating.
I have eaten.
I have been
eating
I ate.
I was eating.
I had eaten.
I had been
eating
I shall eat.
I shall be
eating.
I shall have
eaten.
I shall have
been eating.
Present Simple
Present Continuous
Present Perfect
Present Perfect Continuous
Past Simple
Past Continuous
Past Perfect
Past perfect Continuous
Future Simple
Future Continuous
The verb must agree
with its subject in
Number and Person.
Future Perfect Continuous
Future Perfect
TABLE
Plural
OF
He will eat.
He will be eating.
You will eat.
You will be
eating.
You will have
eaten.
You will have
been eating.
We shall eat.
We shall be
eating.
We shall have
eaten.
We shall have
been eating.
He – She - It
or any other
Singular Noun
He will have
eaten.
He will have been
eating.
He ate.
He was eating.
He had eaten.
He had been
eating.
He eats.
He is eating.
He has eaten.
He has been
eating.
Singular
Plural
They will eat.
They will be
eating.
They will have
eaten.
They will have
been eating.
They ate.
They were eating.
They had eaten.
They had been
eating.
They eat.
They are eating.
They have eaten.
They have been
eating.
03rd Person
TENSES
You ate.
You were eating.
You had eaten.
You had been
eating.
You eat.
You are eating.
You have eaten.
You have been
eating.
Singular / Plural
02nd Person
ACTIVE
We ate.
We were eating.
We had eaten.
We had been
eating.
We eat.
We are eating.
We have eaten.
We have been
eating.
01st Person
Singular
VERBS
Active and Passive Voice
Refer the following two sentences and they express the same meaning.
(1) Shama scolds Rama. (Active )
(2) Rama is scolded by Shama. ( Passive )
In the 1st sentence the verb ( scolds ) shows that the person denoted by the subject does something.
The object receives the action of the verb.
In the 2nd sentence the verb (is scolded) shows that something is done to the person denoted
by the subject.
The subject receives the action of the verb.
When the subject of the sentence is the agent or doer of the action we say that
the sentence is in the Active Voice.
When the subject receives or suffers the action, it is in the Passive Voice.
The main verb of the Passive Voice sentence is always in Past Participle.
The object of the Active verb becomes the subject of the Passive verb.
Passive Voice = Subject + auxiliary verb (be) + main verb in Past Participle.
Passive voice is used when;
e.g.
(a) We want to emphasize the Passive subject.
1. President R. Premadasa was killed in a May day rally. (President R. Premadasa – Affected subject)
e.g.
(b) We don’t want to show the Active subject.
2. The stolen car was found.
The teacher (Performing Subject) explained the lesson. (Affected Subject)
The lesson (Affected Subject) was explained by the teacher. (Performing Subject)
A Table Of Active Tenses And Their Passive Equivalents.
Active
Passive
Present Simple (Plural)
Present Simple(Singular)
Past Simple
Future Simple
scold
scolds
scolded
shall/will scold
are scolded
is scolded
was/were scolded
shall be/will be scolded
Present Continuous
Past Continuous
Future Continuous
is/am/are/ scolding
was/were scolding
shall be/will be scolding
is/am/are being scolded
was/were being scolded
------------- No -------------
Present Perfect
Past Perfect
Future Perfect
has/have scolded
had scolded
shall/will have scolded
has/have been scolded
had been scolded
shall/will have been scolded
Present Perfect Continuous
Past Perfect Continuous
Future Perfect Continuous
has/have been scolding
----------------No-------------had been scolding
----------------No-------------shall/will have been scolding ----------------No-------------Upul Grero - (Page No: 03)
MAIN VERB TENSES IN
ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE
Simple Present Tense
Active
1st Person
2nd Person
3rd Person
-
Passive
I scold
You scold
He scolds
-
I am scolded.
You are scolded.
He is scolded.
Mainly used to convey habitual actions, general incidents, eternal truths …etc;
They show actions that happen regularly or that are permanently happening.
It can be used with adverbs such as;
normally, usually, often, frequently, always, sometimes, occasionally, seldom, rarely, scarcely, now and then,
daily, weekly, monthly, on Sundays, once a week, every other day, once in a fortnight, ever, never…..etc,
e.g.
1. We normally go to Kandy by bus.
2. She usually writes very clearly.
- “is, am or are” are used as helping verbs.
For Passive Voice
Notes : ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
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Simple Past Tense
Active
1st
Person
2nd Person
3rd Person
-
I scolded
You scolded
He scolded
Passive
-
I was scolded.
You were scolded.
He was scolded.
Used to convey habitual actions in the Past and for actions already completed at a definite time.
It can be used with ;
last night, last Sunday, two days ago, a fortnight ago, before previously, recently…..etc,
e.g.
1. We went to Kandy last night.
2. She wrote very clearly last Sunday.
For Passive Voice
-
“was or were” as helping verbs.
Notes : …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
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Simple Future Tense
Active
1st Person
2nd Person
3rd Person
-
I shall scold
You will scold
He will scold
Passive
-
I shall be scolded.
You will be scolded.
He will be scolded.
Used to convey future habitual actions and the actions still to take place.
Add either will or shall to the main verb (infinitive).
Upul Grero - (Page No: 04)
It can be used with;
tomorrow, next week, next month, in two days time, again…etc,
e.g.
1. We shall go to Kandy tomorrow.
2. She will write very clearly next week.
For Passive Voice
Future Action –
“shall be or will be” as helping verbs.
“ going to ”
+
We use “going to” when we have already decided to do something.
Don’t come. I am going to clean the house next week. (not I will clean)
+
We use “will or shall” when we decide to do something at the time of speaking.
The speaker has not decided before.
We will get our results next week.
e.g.
e.g.
-
Notes : …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
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Present Continuous Tense
Active
1st
Person
2nd Person
3rd Person
-
I am scolding.
You are scolding.
He is scolding.
Passive
-
I am being scolded.
You are being scolded.
He is being scolded.
It represents an action as going on at the time of speaking and an action to take place near future.
e.g.
1. We are going to Kandy .
2. She is writing very clearly.
Action happening now.
3. I am taking my exam next month.
4. We are going to eat in a restaurant tonight.
Action happening in the future.
( In these two (3) & (4) sentences we have a firm plan or a programme before speaking ).
Active Voice
Passive Voice
-
“is, am or are” + Main verb in Present Participle.
“is, am or are” + being + main verb in Past Participle.
Notes : …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
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Past Continuous Tense
Active
1st Person
2nd Person
3rd Person
-
I was scolding.
You were scolding.
He was scolding.
Passive
-
I was being scolded.
You were being scolded.
He was being scolded.
It represents an action as going on at some point in the past.
e.g.
1. We were going to Kandy.
2. She was writing very clearly.
Upul Grero - (Page No: 05)
Active Voice
Passive Voice
“was or were” + main verb in Present Participle.
“was or were” + being + main verb in Past Participle.
-
Notes : …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
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Future Continuous Tense
1st Person
2nd Person
3rd Person
-
Active
Passive
I shall be scolding.
You will be scolding. He will be scolding. -
------------No----------------------No----------------------No-----------
It represents an action as going on at some point in future.
e.g.
1. We shall be going to Kandy.
2. She will be writing very clearly.
Active Voice
Passive Voice
-
“shall be or will be” + main verb in Present Participle.
Cannot be formed.
Continuous tenses are only for Actions and Happenings.
e.g.
1. He is speaking. (Action )
2. It is raining. ( Happening )
It’s incorrect to say
( correct way )
I am wanting to sleep now.
I want to sleep now.
She is knowing me very well.
She knows me very well.
( incorrect )
( correct )
want, know, need, seem, like, understand, belong, remember, prefer…..etc,
are not used in Continuous Tenses as they are not Action Verbs.
Notes : …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
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Present Perfect Tense
Active
1st Person
2nd Person
3rd Person
-
I have scolded.
You have scolded.
He has scolded.
Passive
-
I have been scolded.
You have been scolded.
He has been scolded.
Used to indicate completed activities in the immediate past.
Also used, instead of a Past tense, to represent a past action as continuing to the present.
e.g.
1. We have gone to Kandy.
2. She has written very clearly.
Upul Grero - (Page No: 06)
Active Voice
Passive Voice
-
“has or have” + main verb in Past Participle.
“has or have” + been + main verb in Past Participle.
Notes : …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
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Past Perfect Tense
Active
1st Person
2nd Person
3rd Person
-
I had scolded.
You had scolded.
He had scolded
Passive
-
I had been scolded.
You had been scolded.
He had been scolded.
Used to indicate an action completed at some point in Past tense before another action was commenced.
e.g.
1. We had gone to Kandy.
2. She had written very clearly.
Active Voice
Passive Voice
-
“had” + main verb in Past Participle.
“had” + been + main verb in Past Participle.
Notes : …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
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Future Perfect Tense
1st Person
2nd Person
3rd Person
-
Active
Passive
I shall have scolded.
You will have scolded. He will have scolded.
-
I shall have been scolded.
You will have been scolded.
He will have been scolded.
Used to indicate the completion of an action at some point in future time.
e.g.
1. By tomorrow, we shall have gone to Kandy.
2. By evening, she will have written very clearly.
Active Voice - “shall have or will have” + main verb in Past Participle.
Passive Voice - “shall have or will have” + been + main verb in Past Participle.
Notes : …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
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Present Perfect Continuous Tense
Active
1st Person
2nd Person
3rd Person
-
I have been scolding.
You have been scolding.
He has been scolding.
Passive
-
------------No----------------------No----------------------No----------Upul Grero - (Page No: 07)
Used for an action that began at some time back in the past & is still continuing.
e.g.
1. We have been going to Kandy.
2. She has been writing very clearly.
- “have been or has been” + main verb in Present Participle.
- Cannot be formed.
Active Voice
Passive Voice
Notes : …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
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Past Perfect Continuous Tense
Active
1st
Person
2nd Person
3rd Person
-
Passive
I had been scolding.
You had been scolding.
He had been scolding.
-
------------No----------------------No----------------------No-----------
Used for an action that began before a certain point in the past and continued up to that point.
e.g.
1. We had been going to Kandy.
2. She had been writing very clearly.
Active Voice
Passive Voice
-
“had been” + main verb in Present Participle.
Cannot be formed.
Notes : …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
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Future Perfect Continuous Tense
Active
1st Person
2nd Person
3rd Person
-
Passive
I shall have been scolding. - ------------No----------You will have been scolding.- ------------No----------He will have been scolding. - ------------No-----------
Used to indicate the completion of an action by a certain future time.
e.g.
1. We shall have been going to Kandy.
2. She will have been writing very clearly.
Active Voice - “shall have been or will have been” + main verb in Present Participle.
Passive Voice - Cannot be formed.
Notes : …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
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For and Since
For
- to talk about a period of time.
5 minutes, 2 months, 10 year …etc,
e.g.
I have worked as a teacher for 10 years.
Since - to talk about a point in past time.
8.00 o’ clock, 1995, I left school..etc,
e.g.
I have been here since 8.00 o’clock.
Upul Grero - (Page No: 08)