In this blog, I will summarize some of the basics of English grammar that I wished I knew when I was in school...
Tenses
Simple Present Tense - John eats an apple.
The verb ‘eats’ refers to the action of eating ‘right now’ or in the present time.
verb play = plays
Present Continuous Tense - John is eating an apple.
The verb ‘is eating’ refers to the action of eating, is still going on in the present time.
verb play = is/are playing
Present Perfect Tense - John has eaten an apple.
The verb ‘has eaten’ refers to the action of eating that has just been completed.
verb play = have/has played
Present Perfect Continuous - It has been raining and the street is still wet.
A continuous action that started in the past and has ended in the past but has some relation with the present time.
Simple Past Tense - John ate an apple.
The verb ‘ate’ refers to the action of eating which is completed in the past time.
verb play = played
Past Continuous Tense - John was eating an apple.
The verb ‘was eating’ refers to the action of eating, was going on for sometime in the past.
verb play = was/were playing
Past Perfect Tense - John had eaten an apple.
The verb ‘had eaten’ refers to the action of eating that was completed in the past.
verb play = had played
Past Perfect Continuous - It had been raining and the street was still wet.
A continuous action in the past that was completed before another past action.
Simple Future Tense - John will eat an apple.
The verb ‘will eat’ refers to the action of eating that has yet to take place in future.
verb play = will/shall play
Future Continuous Tense - John will be eating an apple.
The verb ‘will be eating’ refers to the action of eating, will be happening over a period of time.
verb play = shall be/will be playing
Future Perfect Tense - John will have eaten an apple.
The verb ‘will have eaten’ refers to the action of eating that will be completed at some point in the future.
verb play = will have/ shall have played
Future Perfect Continuous - By tonight it will have been raining several hours, and the street will be very wet.
A continuous action that will be completed in the future.
- Verb - action or a state of being.
- Nouns - person, place, thing or idea.
- Pronouns - Replaces a noun. For ex, Instead of writing John several times, you may write he, his etc. Similarly she, her, they, we, it, you, them, themselves, ourselves etc.
- Adjectives - Describe or modify nouns. Like a ‘red’ box. Red is the adjective.
- Adverbs - Modifies a verb, an adjective or an adverb. verb - it is raining heavily. adjective - The coffee is extremely hot. adverb - It rains very hard.
- Prepositions - words that link noun, pronoun to other parts of sentences. Like on, at, in, of, to, for
- Conjunctions - joins words or group of words in a sentence. Like and, but, or, so, for etc.
Tenses
Simple Present Tense - John eats an apple.
The verb ‘eats’ refers to the action of eating ‘right now’ or in the present time.
verb play = plays
Present Continuous Tense - John is eating an apple.
The verb ‘is eating’ refers to the action of eating, is still going on in the present time.
verb play = is/are playing
Present Perfect Tense - John has eaten an apple.
The verb ‘has eaten’ refers to the action of eating that has just been completed.
verb play = have/has played
Present Perfect Continuous - It has been raining and the street is still wet.
A continuous action that started in the past and has ended in the past but has some relation with the present time.
Simple Past Tense - John ate an apple.
The verb ‘ate’ refers to the action of eating which is completed in the past time.
verb play = played
Past Continuous Tense - John was eating an apple.
The verb ‘was eating’ refers to the action of eating, was going on for sometime in the past.
verb play = was/were playing
Past Perfect Tense - John had eaten an apple.
The verb ‘had eaten’ refers to the action of eating that was completed in the past.
verb play = had played
Past Perfect Continuous - It had been raining and the street was still wet.
A continuous action in the past that was completed before another past action.
Simple Future Tense - John will eat an apple.
The verb ‘will eat’ refers to the action of eating that has yet to take place in future.
verb play = will/shall play
Future Continuous Tense - John will be eating an apple.
The verb ‘will be eating’ refers to the action of eating, will be happening over a period of time.
verb play = shall be/will be playing
Future Perfect Tense - John will have eaten an apple.
The verb ‘will have eaten’ refers to the action of eating that will be completed at some point in the future.
verb play = will have/ shall have played
Future Perfect Continuous - By tonight it will have been raining several hours, and the street will be very wet.
A continuous action that will be completed in the future.