What is the Best Way to Find which Tense It Is

Wondering how to identify tense?

Well, that's very easy.

The key to recognise tense is the verb of a sentence. In a sentence, it is only the verb that can determine tense. 

Remember:- Only the verb of a sentence denotes tense. And when I say 'tense', I mean tense of the verb, not of the whole sentence where the verb is used. Okay?

Hi there,

This is Souvik.

Here you are going to learn about what is the best way to find which tense it is.

So, let's start with Indefinite tense.

Idefinite Tense

 Present Indefinite: 

Take some sentences. Let's say, "I write letters". [Sub + verb + obj.]

Another one, She writes letters.

So, in this sentence "I write letters", the verb is 'write' (V1). And in "She writes letters" the berb 'writes' (V5) is also in present indefinite tense. 

In both cases, the verbs (write and writes) are in present tense.

Whenever you see that the main verb is in 1st form, know that it is in present indefinite tense.

Okay, as you already know that 'Write' is the present form of the verb, you can easily recognise that the tense is present tense. 

Keywords - 

1st form of the main verb. Verb+s/es, do, does, am, is, are.

 Past Indefinite: 

Similarly, for past indefinite tense, you can do the same.

Here the sentence would be like -

I wrote letters.

Again, applying the same process, you can easily find out the same process when you know that 'wrote' is the 2nd form (past) of 'write'.

Keywords - 

2nd form of the main verb, did, was, were.

 Future Indefinite: 

In case of future indefinite tense you must see a shall or will with the present (1st) form of the main verb. 

And the sentence can be written as - 

I shall write letters.

Keywords - 

Shall / will + V1 is the key to identify the tense.

Continuous Tense

 Present Continuous: 

The same sentence can be written as present continuous -

Keywords - 

The keywords to find a present continuous tense are - 

am/is/are + (Verb+ing)

E.g.- I am writing letters.

 Past Continuous: 

Keywords - 

The key-words to find a past continuous tense are - 

was/were + (Verb+ing)

E.g.- I was writing letters.

 Future Continuous: 

Keywords - 

The key-words to find a future continuous tense are - 

shall be / will be + (Verb+ing).

E.g.- I shall be writting letters.

Perfect Tense

 Present Perfect: 

Keywords - 

The key-words to find a present perfect tense are - 

have/has + 3rd form of the Verb

E.g.- I have written letters.

 Past Perfect: 

Keywords - 

The key-words to find a past perfect tense are - 

had + 3rd form of the Verb

E.g. - I had written letters.

 Future Perfect: 

Keywords - 

The key-words to find a future perfect tense are - 

shall have / will have + 3rd form of the Verb

 E.g.- I shall have written letters.

Perfect Continuous Tense

Whenever you find a have/has/had been with verb+ing, stamp it as a perfect continuous tense. As -

 Present Perfect Continuous Tense: 

Keywords - 

When you find have been or has been with verb+ing, know it is present perfect continuous.

Like: I have been writing letters for two hours. 

 Past Perfect Continuous Tense: 

Keywords - 

When you find had been with verb+ing, know it is past perfect continuous.

E.g.- I had been writing letters for two hours.

 Future Perfect Continuous Tense: 

Keywords - 

When you find shall have been or will have been with verb+ing, know it is present perfect continuous.

E.g.- I shall have been writing letters for...

The verbs that are used in present tense are -

Do verb: Do, does

Be verb: Am, is, are, be

Have verb: Have, has

Modal verb: can, may, must, ought to, dare, need.

Action verb: The 1st form (present form) of any action verb.

The verbs that are used in past tense are -

Do verb: did

Be verb: was, were

Have verb: had

Modal verb: could, would, should, may, might, used to

Action verb: The 2nd form (past form) of any action verb.

The verbs that are used in future tense are -

Wherever you see shall/will, know it is future tense. 

Do verb: No do-verb is there. Instead shall and will is used.

Be verb: Shall be and will be

Have verb: shall / will + have.

Modal verb: Shall, should, will, would.

Action verb: Shall/will + action verb.

Okay that's all.

Now its time to test your lesson.

Exercise

Identify the Tense of verbs:

1. She bought a car.

2. Mr. Roy will arrive tomorrow.

3. Jack does not smoke.

4. The man is calling you.

5. The girl had fainted first.

6. She will not be reading.

7. Preetam wants you to leave the room.

8. Dan was a liar.

9. I have requested them to be present.

10. Kriti did not call you.

11. We shall overcome.

12. The boy had been drawing. 

13. Billie is singing a song. 

14. She has been working since morning.

15.  I'll be awaiting you.

16. You have made a mistake.

17. John has a bike.

18. I have two computers.

19. We had a car. 

20. They had a large garden.

Answers:

1. She bought a car. Past Indefinite.

2. Mr. Roy will arrive tomorrow. Future Indefinite. 

3. Jack does not smoke. Present Indefinite.

4. The man is calling you. Present Continuous.

5. The girl had fainted first. Past Perfect. 

6. She will not be reading. Future Continuous. 

7. Preetam wants you to leave the room. Present Indefinite. 

8. Dan was a liar. Past Indefinite. 

9. I have requested them to be present. Past indefinite. 

10. Kriti did not call you. Past Indefinite.

11. We shall overcome. Future Indefinite.

12. The boy had been drawing. Past perfect continuous. 

13. Billie will be singing a song. Present Continuous. 

14. She has been working since morning. Present Perfect Continuous.

15.  I'll be awaiting you. Future Continuous. 

16. You have made a mistake. Present perfect.

17. John has a bike. Present Indefinite.

18. I have two computers. Present Indefinite.

19. We had a car. Past Indefinite. 

20. They had a large garden. Past Indefinite.

Now, you complete the exercises. 

Comment below if any confusion regarding Best Way to Find which Tense It Is arise in your mind.

Thank you...