Present Tense | Present Indefinite, Present continuous, Present Perfect, and Present Perfect Continuous

In this article, you will learn about present tense and its types Present Indefinite, Present continuous, Present Perfect, and Present Perfect Continuous.

Nowadays, it is quite common that people to use the present tense. There are many people who use the present tense all the time, but it is not good to use this form all the time because it will make your writing clumsy. Sometimes, if you use present tense you might not have to write ‘to be’. You will just write ‘is’ or ‘has’.

This article will tell you about the usage of the present tense. You will learn why and when you should use it and what are the differences between the present tense and other tenses.

Present Indefinite Tense:

The tense is used to refer to events, actions, and conditions that are happening all the time or exist now. 

By understanding the basic rules behind the tense

Sentence Structure

Assertive Sentences:

            S  + 1^st form of verb + ( s, es)  + O

Subject	Main Verb	Object
I/ we/ you/ they	1st  form of the verb	Object
He/ she/ it	1st form of verb + s/ es	Object

Examples:

• He goes to school.

According to the above table,

“He” is the subject.

“Go” is the first form of the verb with which es has been added because ‘es or s’ will be added with (He, She or It).

“School” is the object here.

More examples

• He attends the lecture.
• I play cricket.
• They eat meals.
• We solve the questions.
• She reads a book.

Negative:

     S + Do/ Does not + 1^st form of verb + O

Subject	Helping Verb	Main Verb	Object
I/ we/ you/ they	Do not	1st  form of the verb	Object
He/ she/ it	Does not	1st form of the verb	Object

Examples:

• She does not like mangoes.

In this example,

“She” is the subject.

“Does” is a helping verb

“Like” is the first form of the verb with which es has been added because ‘es or s’ will be added with (He, She or It). Because it is a negative sentence, not will be added with a helping verb.

“School” is the object here.

• They do not play cricket.
• We do not pluck the flower.
• Ali does not help others.
• He does not eat food.

Interrogative:

            Do/ Does + S + 1^st form of verb + O

Helping Verb	Subject	Main Verb	Object
Do	I/ we/ you/ they	1st form of verb	Object
Does	He/ she/ it	1st form of verb	Object

In interrogative sentences helping verb will be coming at the start of a sentence and a question mark will be added at the end of a sentence.

Examples:

• Does he go to school?

In the sentence “Does” id is the helping verb.

“He” is the subject.

Go is the first form of the verb. The verb is the action of the subject.

“School” is the object here.

Interrogative and Negative:

         Do/ Does + S + Not +1^st form of verb + O

Helping Verb	Subject	Main Verb	Object
Do	I/ we/ you/ they	1st form of the verb	Object
Does	He/ she/ it	1st form of the verb	Object

In Interrogative and Negative sentences helping verb will come at the start of the sentence “not” will be used with the subject and a question mark will be added at the end of the sentence.

Do you not play hockey?

In the above example “Do” is the helping verb.

“You” is the subject, “play” is the main verb and hockey is an object.

• Does she not read books?
• Does he not use Facebook?

Present Continuous:

The ‘Present Continuous Tense’ describes an action that is taking place at the time of speaking. In this tense after the helping verb (Is, am, are a) fourth form of the verb will be used.

Sana is learning her lesson.

It is raining heavily.

To describe the work, which is being done currently. E.g.  She is pressing the clothes.

Sometimes it is used to describe the future work.

e.g. We are going to Multan tomorrow.

Affirmative:

 S + is/ am/ are + 1^st form of verb ( ing) + O

Subject	Helping Verb	Main Verb	Object
we/ you/ they	Are	1st  form of verb + ing	Object
He/ she/ it	Is	1st form of verb + ing	Object
I	am	1st form of verb + ing	Object

Examples:

• He is going to school.
• She is reading.
• They are playing hockey.
• I am reading a novel.
• We are eating breakfast.
• He is watching TV.

Negative:

S + is/ am/ are + not + 1^st form of verb ( ing) + O

In negative sentences not is placed after helping verb.

Examples:

• He is not playing hockey.
• She is not listening to the music.
• My sister is not cooking dinner.
• We are not eating food.
• The man is talking on the phone.

Interrogative:

is/ am/ are + S + 1^st form of verb ( ing) + O

To make interrogative sentences, the helping verb (is, am, are) is placed before the subject and a question mark (?) will be added at the end of sentences.

Examples:

• Is he playing hockey?
• Is she cooking Food?
• Are you enjoying the party?
• Is he plucking the flowers?
• Are they listening to the teacher?

Interrogative and Negative:

Is/ am/ are+ S + not + 1^st form of verb ( ing) + O?

In negative and interrogative sentences the helping verb (is, am, are) are placed before the subject and not will be added after the helping verb.

Examples:

• Are you not earning money?
• Is he not speaking English?
• Are they not going to the zoo?
• Am I not going to school?
• Are boys not playing hockey?

Present Perfect Tense:

Present Perfect Tense indicates an action that is completed in a given time.

Affirmative Sentences:

S + has/have + 3^rd  form of verb + O

in this Tense third form of the verb will be used with the helping verb (has and have).

Subject	Helping Verb	Main Verb	Object
I/ we/ you/ they	have	3rd   form of the verb	Object
He/ she/ it	has	3rd form of the verb	Object

Examples:

• He has gone.
• Ayesha has written a letter.
• I have finished my lunch.
• We have taken coffee.

Negative:

To make negative sentences not will be used after helping verb (has and have)

S + has/have + not + 3^rd  form of verb + O

Examples:

• They have not played football.
• He has not passed the exam.
• She has not broken the glass.
• They have not spent all the money.

Interrogative:

Has/have + S + 3^rd  form of verb + O?

To make interrogative sentences, the helping Verb (has and have) will be used at the start of a sentence, and at the end question mark (?) will be added

Subject	Helping Verb	Main Verb	Object
Have	I/ we/ you/ they	3rd   form of the verb	Object?
Has	He/ she/ it	3rd form of the verb	Object?

Examples:

• Has she finished her lunch?
• Have they celebrated the party?
• Has he bought a new car?

Interrogative and Negative:

Has/have + not + 3^rd  form of verb + O

Examples:

• Have you not done the work?
• Have you not bought a ticket?
• Has she not cleaned the room?

Present Perfect Continuous Tense:

This is the state, which tells that a part of the work has been completed while the remaining work is continuing in the present time.

In this tense helping verb (has been and have been) will be used after the subject and fourth form of the verb will be used after the helping verb

Sentence Structure:

Affirmative:

 S + has been /have been + 1^st  form of verb+ ing + O + since/for

I/ we/ you/ they	Have been	1st  form of verb + ing	Object
He/ she/ it	Has been	1st form of verb + ing	Object

The boys have been watching TV since 7 pm.

Arslan has been playing hockey for two days.

He has been reading for thirty minutes.

We’ve been studying since 9 o’clock.

Negative:

In negative sentences, not will be added after the helping verb.

S + has /have +  not + been + 1^st  form of verb+ ing + O + since/for

Examples:

Ali hasn’t been feeling well for four weeks.

We have not been making a noise since morning.

Interrogative:

Has / have + S + been + 1^st  form of verb+ ing + O + since/for?

In interrogative sentences, the helping verb (has and have) is placed before the subject, and then been will be added. At the time will mention with since or for. Lastly question mark (?) will be added at the end.

Examples:

Has Ali been studying since morning?

Has she been planting for two hours?

Have they been traveling for two days?

Has the farmer been working the fields?

Interrogative and Negative:

Has /have + S + not + been + 1^st  form of verb+ ing + O + since/for?

Examples:

• Has he not been eating since 2 o’clock?

Read related article:

• What are Tenses?
• Past Tense
• Future Tense