Rules For Tenses

August 31, 2023

Rules for Tenses

Rules For Tenses is one of the most important rules in English Grammar. Tenses are form of verb that reflects the time of action happened or happening or will happen. Tenses are generally divided into three forms:

  • Present
  • Past
  • Future. 

However, they comprise sub-sections to describe the precise time of action. Rules of Tenses aid a student to understand how to use different tenses in a sentence accurately, without making a grammatical error.

On this page we’ll see Rules For Tenses. Let’s take a look at the different tense forms and their bifurcations.

Rules For Tenses

Rules For Tenses

Tenses

Rules for Tenses

Past Simple Tenses Subject + V2 + Object
Past Perfect Tense Subject + had + V3 + Object
Past Continuous Tenses Subject + was + V1 + ing + Object (Singular) Subject + were + V1 + ing + Object (Plural)
Past Perfect Continuous Tense Subject + had been + V1 + ing + Object
Present Simple Tenses Subject + V1 + s/es + Object (Singular) Subject + V1 + object (Plural)
Present Perfect Tense Subject + has + V3 + Object (Singular) Subject + have + V3 + Object (Plural)
Present Continuous Tenses Subject + is/am/are + V1 + ing + object
Present Perfect Continuous Tense Subject + has been + V1 + ing + Object (Singular) Subject + have been + V1 + ing + Object (Plural)
Future Simple Tenses Subject + will/shall + V1 + Object
Future Perfect Tense Subject + will have/shall have + V3 + Object
Future Continuous Tenses Subject + will be/shall be + V1 + ing + Object
Future Perfect Continuous Tense Subject + will have been + V1 + ing + Object

Forms and Rules For Tenses

Let’s discuss in details about their rules for each tense and sight examples for each.

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Rules For Tenses - Simple Tense

Present Tense

Singular:

Rule – Subject + V1 + s/es + Object
Example – The child plays a guitar.

(Here the subject Child is singular ans so we use ‘s’ with the verb ‘play’)

Plural:

Rule: Subject + V1 + object
Example – The children play guitar.

(Here the subject Children is plural and we use the plural form of the verb ‘play’ without an ‘s’)

Past Tense

Rule – Subject + V2 + Object
For past tense, the verb is always plural irrespective of the subject. (without an ‘s’.)

Example – He / They swam across the river.

(Here, the subject “he” and “they” is followed by “swam” , the second form of verb (V2) of “swim”)

Future Tense

Rule: Subject + will/shall + V1 + Object
For future tense, the verb is always plural irrespective of the subject. (without an ‘s’.)

Example – I shall go to the market tomorrow.

(In this example, the subject “I” + shall is followed by the first form of verb (V1) “go”.)

Rules for Tenses - Continuous Tense

Present Tense

Rule: Subject + is/am/are + V1 + ing + object
While employing the tense rules for present continuous, all the verb form for singular or plural subject stays in its first form V1

Example: Mary is dancing / They are dancing

Here the subject “Mary” or “they” is followed by ‘is’ or ‘are’ respectivly. The first form of verb (V1) here is “dance” and we added “ing” to it to make it continuous.

Past Tense

Singular

Rule – Subject + was + V1 + ing + Object

Example –  Mary was cleaning the house

Here, the subject “Mary” + ‘was’ is followed by the first form of verb (V1) “clean” + “ing”


Plural

Rule: Subject + were + V1 + ing + Object

Example: They were cleaning the house

Here, the subject is “They” + were is followed by the first form of verb (V1) “clean” + “ing”

Future Tense

Rule: Subject + will be/shall be + V1 + ing + Object

Example – Mary / They will be coming to my house tomorrow

Here the subject “Mary” / “They” + will be is followed by the first form of verb (V1) “come”+ing

Rules for Tenses - Perfect Tense

Present Tense

Singular

Rule: Subject + has + V3 + Object

Example: Mary has washed the clothes

Here, “Mary” is the subject + has “washed” followed by the third form of verb “wash”

Plural:

Rule – Subject + have + V3 + Object

Example – They have washed the clothes

Here, “They” is the subject + have followed by the third form of verb “wash”

Past Tense

Rule – Subject + had + V3 + Object

Example – Mary had pulled the rope

Here the subject “Mary” + had is followed by the third form of verb (V3) “pull”.

Future Tense

Rule: Subject + will have/shall have + V3 + Object

Example – Mary shall have covered all the notebooks  in brown paper by tomorrow.

Here, the subject is “Mary” + shall have is followed by the third form of Verb (V3) “covered”

Rules for Tenses - Perfect Continuous Tense

Present Tense

Singular:

Rule – Subject + has been + V1 + ing + Object

Example – Mary has been studying since morning

Here, the subject “Mary” + has been is followed the the first form of verb “study” + ing

Plural:

Rule: Subject + have been + V1 + ing + Object

Example – The students have been studying since morning

Here the subject “students” + have been is followed by the first form of verb “study” + ing

Past Tense

Rule – Subject + had been + V1 + ing + Object

Example – Mary had been taking care of her mother from last two weeks.

Here the subject “Mary” + had been is followed the first form of verb (V1) of “take” + ing

Future Tense

Rule – Subject + will have been + V1 + ing + Object

Example – He shall have been living here since 2001

Here, the subject “he” + will have been is followed by the first form of verb “work”+ing

SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Choose the correct form of tenses and fill in the blank.

Question: 1

“She _______ at that company for five years before she got promoted.”

Options:

  1.   worked
  2.  has been working
  3. works
  4. will work

Explanation:

The correct answer is ‘worked’. 

This sentence is in the past simple tense to indicate an action that occurred and was completed in the past.

Rule for simple past tense: Subject + V2 + Object

Question: 2

Choose the correct verb tense to complete the sentence:

“By the time we arrive, they _______ the party.”

Options:

  1.  started
  2. will have started
  3. start
  4. have started

Explanation:

The correct answer is ‘will have started’. 

This sentence is in the future perfect tense to indicate that an action will be completed before a certain point in the future.

Rule for future perfect tense: Subject + will have/shall have + V3 + Object

Question: 3

Fill in the blank with the appropriate verb tense:

“I can’t believe he _______ that song for over an hour!”

Options:

  1.  sings
  2.  has been singing
  3. sang
  4. will sing

Explanation:

The correct answer is ‘has been singing.’

 This sentence is in the present perfect continuous tense to describe an action that started in the past, continued in the present, and may still be ongoing.

Rule for present perfect continuous tense: Subject + has been + V1 + ing + Object



Also Check Out

How to Solve Tenses Quickly
Tenses Question and Answers
Shortcuts, Tips and Tricks for Tenses
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