Grade 10 English Tenses Explained: Rules, Use & Practice

Study the picture below (all the actions were completed yesterday) and describe each one’s action using their names.  

Encourage to create more sentences from the picture and change them into present and future tense.  

For Example:

One of the sentences describing the action in the picture can be:

• Adela sat on a bench and was playing guitar yesterday. 

The verbs (sat, was playing) in the above sentence are past tense. 

• Adela sat on a bench and was playing guitar yesterday. 

The verbs (sat, was playing) in the above sentence are past tense. 

Now, the above sentence can be rewritten in present tense as:

• Adela sits on a bench every day and plays guitar everyday (habitual action) 

The verbs (sits, plays) are present tense.  

Let’s try using Adela’s action in future tense as:

• Adela will sit on a bench tomorrow and will be playing guitar (Future action) 

The verbs (will sit, will be playing) in the above sentence are future tense. 

 In the above sentences, an action or a state of being is denoted by the verb.  

Hence, tenses are directly related to verbs. 

Definition: The word ‘Tense’ is derived from the Latin word ‘tempus’. It indicates the time of the occurrence of an action or an event. 

In any sentence, an action or a state of being is denoted by the verb. Hence, tenses are directly related to verbs. 

Therefore, Tense is nothing but “TIME”. 

There are Three Main Tenses Namely: 

1. Present Tense (time that is now) 
2. Past Tense (time that has passed) 
3. Future Tense (time that is yet to come) 

The Present Tense 

1. Present simple: Describes an event as happening in the present. 
2. Present progressive: Describes an event as being in progress in the present and likely to continue. 
3. Present perfect: Describes a completed event or action that has some connection to the present. 
4. Present perfect progressive: Describes an event that began in the past but continues to happen in the present. 

The Past Tense 

1. Past simple: Describes events that began and ended in the past. 
2. Past progressive: Describes events that began in the past, continued for a length of time, and ended in the past. 
3. Past perfect: Describes a past event that occurred before another past event. 
4. Past perfect progressive: Describes an event that began in the past, continued for a length of time, and was in progress when another past event happened. 

The Future Tense 

1. Future simple:  Describes an event that will begin and end in the future. 
2. Future progressive: Describes an event that will begin in the future and continue for a length of time. 
3. Future perfect: Describes a future event that will happen before another future event. 
4. Future perfect progressive: Describes a future event that will begin, continue for a length of time, and still be in progress when another future event occurs. 

Now we shall discuss the Time-words for the following tenses 

1. Simple present: Every day, month, week, year; always; sometimes; never; frequently 

Example: Jennifer works every day, so she can  help Francis with his report. 

2. Simple past: Yesterday; years, weeks, months, days, hours ago; in (last year); last (month, week, year) 

Example: Jennifer worked yesterday, so she could help Francis with his report. 

3. Simple Future: Tomorrow; in (future year, month, week); on (future day); next (month, week, year, name of day); days, months, weeks, years from now; this month, week, afternoon, year; someday 

Example: Jennifer will work tomorrow, so she will  help Francis with his report 

4. Present progressive: Now; right now; at this moment. 

Example: Jennifer is working at this moment, so she can help Francis with his report. 

5. Future progressive: At this time tomorrow

Example: Jennifer will be working at his time tomorrow, so she can help Francis with his report. 

6. Present perfect: For; since; yet; never; always; so far; times; many times; lately; recently; already 

Example: Jennifer has worked many times, so she can help Francis with his report. 

7. Present perfect progressive : For; since; lately; recently 

Example: Jennifer has been working for two years, so she can help Francis with his report