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Sunday, April 12, 2015

What is past perfect continuous tense?

It is used to express a continued or ongoing action that began in past and proceeded until at some time in past. (Keep in mind, an ongoing action in past which continued till some time in past) There will be a time reference, for example, "since 1980, for three hours and so on" from which the action had begun. A sense of time reference is found in these sentences which demonstrate that action had begun in past and continued till eventually in past. Such time reference or sense of reference is the identity of Present perfect continuous tense that it tells that action has begun from a specific time in past or for some time period. For example, “He had been reading in this school since 2005”, It means that he had started his education in this school in 2005 and he studied in this school till sometime in past.

Examples:

At that time he had been writing a novel for two months.
I had not been waiting for Karim for one hour.
She had not been playing cards since 7 O’clock.
Had I been living in America since 2003?


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What is Past perfect tense?

The PAST PERFECT TENSE denotes that an action was completed (finished or 'perfected') at some point in the past before something else happened. This tense is consisted with the past tense form of 'to have' (HAD) plus the past participle of the verb (which can be either regular or irregular in form).

*The Past perfect tense describes an action completed before a certain moment in the past; as,

I met him in New Delhi in 1999.I had seen him last five years before.

*If two actions happened in the past, it may be necessary to show which action happened earlier than the other. The Past perfect is mainly used in such situations. The Simple Past is used in one clause and the Past perfect in the other as;

When I reached the station the train had started. (So I couldn’t get into the train)
I had done my exercise when Hari came to see me.
I had written the letter before he arrived.


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Saturday, April 11, 2015

What is Past continuous tense?

*The simple past continuous is used to denote an action going on at some time in the past. The time of the action may or may not be indicated.

We were listening to the radio all evening.
It was getting darker.
The light was out while I was reading.
When I saw him, he was playing chess.

As in the last two examples above, the Past Continuous and Simple Past were used together when a new action happened in the middle of a longer action. The Simple Past is used for the new action.

*This tense is also used with always, continually etc. For persistent habits in the past.

He was always grumbling.


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Monday, April 6, 2015

What is Simple past tense?

The past indefinite tense or past simple, sometimes called the preterit, is the basic form of the past tense in present English. It is used principally to describe events in the past, even though it also has some other uses.

The term ‘simple‘ is used to distinguish the syntactical construction whose basic form uses the plain past tense alone, from other past tense constructions which use auxiliaries in combination with participles, such as the past perfect and past progressive.

*The simple past tense is used to denote an action completed in the past. It often occurs with adverbs or adverb phrases of past time.

The steamer sailed yesterday.
I received his letter a week ago.
She left school last year.

*Sometimes this tense is used without an adverb of time. In such cases the time may be either implied or indicated by the context.

I learnt Hindi in Nagpur.
I didn’t sleep well.
Babar defeated Rana Sanga at Kanwaha.

*The Simple Past is also used for past habits; as,

He studied many hours every day.
She always carried an Umbrella.


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Friday, February 20, 2015

What is Present perfect continuous tense?

The PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE indicates a continuous action that has been finished at some point in the past or that was initiated in the past and continues to happen.

This tense is formed with the modal 'HAVE' or 'HAS' (for third-person singular subjects) plus 'BEEN,' plus the present participle of the verb (with an -ing ending).

*The Present Perfect Continuous Tense is used for an action which began at some time in the past and still continuing; as,

He has been sleeping for five hours (And is still sleeping).
They have been building the bridge for several months.
They have been playing since four o’clock.

*This tense is also sometimes used for an action already finished. In such cases the continuity of the activity is emphasized as an explanation of something.

‘Why are your clothes so wet?’- ‘I have been watering the garden’.


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Tuesday, November 18, 2014

What is Present perfect tense?

The Present Perfect Tense is formed with a present tense form of ‘to have’ plus the past participle of the verb (which can be either irregular or regular in form). This tense indicates either that an action was completed (finished or ‘perfected’) at some point in the past or that the action extends to the present.
 
*The Present Perfect is used:-

(1)To indicate completed activities in the immediate past (with just); as,

He has just gone out
He has just struck ten.

(2)To express past actions whose time is not given and not definite; as,

Have you read Gulliver’s travels?
I have never known him to be angry.
Mr.Hari has been to Japan.

(3)To describe past events when we think more of their effect in the present than of the action itself; as,

Gopi has eaten all the biscuits (i.e., there aren’t any left for you).
I have cut my finger (and it is bleeding now).
I have finished my work (now I am free).

(4)To denote an action beginning at some time in the past and continuing up to the present moment (often with since-and for-phrases); as,

I have known him for a long time
He has been ill since last week.
We have lived here for ten years.
We haven’t seen Padma for several months.

*The following adverbs or adverb phrases can also be used with the present perfect(apart from those mentioned above):never, ever(In questions only),so far, till now, yet(in negatives and questions),already,today,this week, this moment,etc.

Note: The Present Perfect is never used with adverbs of past time. We should not say, for example, ‘He has gone to Kolkata yesterday’. In such cases the simple past should be used (‘He went to Kolkata yesterday’).


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Saturday, November 15, 2014

What is Present continuous tense?

The present continuous tense is formed from the present tense of the verb be and the present participle (-ing form) of a verb.

It is used to express a continued or ongoing action at present time. It expresses an action which is in progress at the time of speaking. For example, a person says, “I am writing a letter”. It means that he is in the process of writing a letter right now. Such actions which are happening at time of speaking are expressed by present continuous tense. Present Continuous tense is also called Present progressive tense.

Use of present continuous tense

We use the present continuous tense for the following reason

(1) For something that is happening at the moment of speaking:

I am just leaving work. I shall be home in an hour.
Please be quiet. The headmaster is coming.

(2) For something which is happening before and after a given time:

At nine o’clock we are usually having breakfast. 
When I get home the students are doing their homework.

(3) For something which we think is temporary:

Karim is at university. He is studying history.
I am working in Canada for the next two weeks.

(4) For something which is new and contrasts with a previous state:

These days most people are using email instead of writing letters.
What sort of dresses are teenagers wearing nowadays? 
What sort of music are they listening to?

(5) To show that something is changing, growing or developing:

The children are growing quickly.
The world is changing rapidly.
Your English is improving.

(6) For something which happens again and again:

It is always raining in Canada.
Rahim is great. He is always laughing.

Note: We normally use always with this use.

 (7) For something which has been arranged or planned:

Harry is going to a new school next term. 
What are you doing next week?  

The following verbs, on account of their meaning, are not normally used in the continuous form:-

(1) Verbs of perception, e.g., see, hear, smell, notice, recognize.
(2) Verbs of appearing, e.g., appear, look, seem.
(3) Verbs of emotion, e.g., want, wish, desire, feel, like, love, hate, hope, refuse, prefer.
(4) Verbs of thinking, e.g., suppose, believe, agree, consider, trust, remember, and forget.
(5) Have (Possess), own, belong to, contain, consist of etc.


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