Tenses Made Easy — Present, Past, Future
✨ IN SHORT — THE WHOLE LESSON IN 20 SECONDS
Tense only tells WHEN work happened: now (present), before (past), later (future). Learn the 'helping verb' signal and every tense question becomes a 5-second answer.
1. The 3 Big Families
Present = habit/now (He plays. He is playing. He has played.). Past = finished time (He played yesterday.). Future = later (He will play tomorrow.). First find the time word — yesterday, daily, tomorrow — half the answer hides there.
📌 'She goes to school daily' — daily = habit = Present Simple. 'She went yesterday' — Past Simple.
2. The Helping-Verb Signals (memorise!)
is/am/are + verb-ing = happening now (continuous). has/have + verb-3rd-form = just completed link to present (perfect). will/shall + verb = future. did + verb-1st-form = past question/negative (Did he go? — never 'Did he went').
💡 Trick: After did/do/does, verb returns to base form. Does he plays ❌ → Does he play ✔. This single rule answers a huge share of Clerkship/SSC errors.
3. Since vs For (the examiner's favourite trap)
Since + point of time (since Monday, since 2020, since morning). For + period of time (for 2 hours, for 5 years). Both pair with has/have been + verb-ing: She has been reading since morning / for 3 hours.
📌 He has been ill ___ Sunday. Answer: since (Sunday is a point). He has been ill ___ 3 days. Answer: for (3 days is a period).
⚡ Now Practise — 10 Questions
Tap an answer. Right or wrong, we explain why instantly. Learn from every tap!
Q1. She ___ to school every day.
Q2. Did he ___ the letter?
Q3. They ___ cricket now. Don't disturb them.
Q4. He has been suffering from fever ___ Monday.
Q5. We ___ in this town for ten years.
Q6. The train ___ before we reached the station.
Q7. Tomorrow, we ___ the results.
Q8. Choose the correct sentence:
Q9. I ___ my homework just now.
Q10. In 1947, India ___ independent.