Tense
Tenses indicate time. We need to convey when a verb takes place – if it happened in the past, it is going on in the present or it will happen in the future. (काल समय का संकेत देते हैं। हमें यह बताना होगा कि कोई क्रिया कब घटित होती है – यदि यह अतीत में घटित हुई है, तो यह वर्तमान में चल रही है या यह भविष्य में घटित होगी।)
There are three main tensens: i) Past, ii) Present, iii)Future these are each further divided into simple, continuous, perfect and perfect continuous forms to give more meaning. (तीन मुख्य काल हैं: i) अतीत, ii) वर्तमान, iii) भविष्य, इनमें से प्रत्येक को अधिक अर्थ देने के लिए सरल, निरंतर, पूर्ण और पूर्ण निरंतर रूपों में विभाजित किया गया है।)
They can be summarized in the table below
Tense | Simple | Continuous | Perfect | Perfect continuous |
Present | Habit, regular actions or facts. Format: Subject + verb/(v5) + object | Ongoing activity Form: Subject + is/am/are + (v4) + Object | Recently completed Form: Sub + has/have + (v2) + Object | An action that started in the past but continues in the present Form: Sub + has/have + been +v4 + obj |
Past | Action took place in the past. Format: Subject + v2 + object | Ongoing activity in the past Format: Subject + was/were + v4 + obj. | Action completed before another action in the past Format: Subject + had + v2 + object | Action that had been going on in the past but not anymore Format:Sub + had + been + v4 + obj. |
Future | Action that will occur in the future Format: Subject + will + v1 + object | Ongoing actions in the future Format: Sub + will be + v4 + Object | An action that will be completed in the future Format: Sub + will have + v2 + object | An action that will go on into the future. Example: Sub + will have been + v4 + object |
Tense | Simple | Continuous (Progressive) | Perfect | Perfect Continuous |
Present | She plays the piano. | They are studying for the exam. | I have visited that museum before. | I have been reading this book for hours. |
Past | He walked to the store. | They were playing soccer when it rained. | By the time I arrived, they had left. | I had been working on the project for months. |
Future | We will go to the beach. | I will be studying at 9 PM tomorrow. | By the time you arrive, I will have finished my work. | By this time next year, I will have been working here for a decade. |