Verbs & Tenses

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Master Verbs & Tenses | Complete English Grammar Notes (Part 1)

Verbs and Tenses are the foundation of English Grammar. Every sentence requires a verb to express an action, state, or occurrence. Understanding verbs and their different forms is essential for speaking and writing grammatically correct English.

In this lesson, you will learn:

• Meaning of Verb
• Main Verb & Helping Verb
• Verb Forms (V1, V2, V3 & Ving)
• How Helping Verbs work
• Examples with explanation

In This Series

1. Verb Basics ✔
2. Main & Helping Verbs ✔
3. Verb Forms ✔
4. Simple Tenses
5. Continuous Tenses
6. Perfect Tenses
7. Perfect Continuous Tenses
8. Important Grammar Rules
9. Practice Questions

What is a Verb?

A Verb is a word that expresses an action, occurrence, or state of being. It tells us what the subject of a sentence does.

Examples

• I go to school.
• She writes a letter.
• Birds fly in the sky.
• He speaks English.
• They play cricket.

Without a verb, a sentence is incomplete.

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Main Verb

A Main Verb carries the actual meaning of the sentence. It describes the action performed by the subject.

Examples

• I write a letter.
• She plays badminton.
• They study English.
• We watch television.

The words write, plays, study, and watch are Main Verbs because they express the actual action.

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Helping Verbs (Auxiliary Verbs)

Helping Verbs support the Main Verb and help express tense, mood, voice, or possibility. They cannot usually express the complete meaning alone. :contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0}

Helping Verb	Used For
am / is / are	Present Continuous
was / were	Past Continuous
have / has / had	Perfect Tenses
shall / will	Future Tense
be	Continuous Forms

Examples

• I am studying.
• She is cooking.
• They have completed the work.
• He will come tomorrow.
• We were playing.

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Verb Forms

Every English verb has four commonly used forms.

V1	V2	V3	Ving
Go	Went	Gone	Going
Come	Came	Come	Coming
Speak	Spoke	Spoken	Speaking
Write	Wrote	Written	Writing
Study	Studied	Studied	Studying
Teach	Taught	Taught	Teaching
Give	Gave	Given	Giving
Take	Took	Taken	Taking

Remember

• V1 = Base Form
• V2 = Past Form
• V3 = Past Participle
• Ving = Present Participle

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Difference Between Main Verb & Helping Verb

Main Verb	Helping Verb
Shows action	Supports Main Verb
Has actual meaning	Shows tense
Can stand alone	Usually cannot stand alone
Examples: Go, Write, Eat	am, is, are, has, have, will

Example

I am writing a letter.

• am → Helping Verb
• writing → Main Verb

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Quick Revision

• A verb expresses an action or state.
• Every sentence requires a verb.
• Main Verb gives the actual meaning.
• Helping Verb supports the Main Verb.
• English verbs have four important forms: V1, V2, V3 and Ving.

1. Simple Present Tense (साधा वर्तमान काळ)

Formula: Subject + V1 / V1+s/es

वाक्यात कर्त्यानंतर (Subject) जर क्रियापदाचे पहिले रूप (V1 किंवा V1+s/es) आले असेल, तर ते वाक्य साधा वर्तमान काळा (Simple Present Tense) चे असते.

Subjects	Rule	Examples
I, We, They, You, Plural Noun	Use V1 (Base Form)	I go to class. They come to class.
He, She, It, Singular Noun	Use V1 + s/es	She speaks English. Rohit works hard.

Negative Sentences (नकारार्थी वाक्ये)

Formula: Subject + don't / doesn't + V1

लक्षात ठेवा: Negative करताना Subject नंतर don't किंवा doesn't आले असेल तर त्यांच्यानंतर येणारे Verb हे नेहमी Singular (V1) चं असते, त्याला s/es प्रत्यय लागत नाही.

Examples:

• I don't study.
• She doesn't work. (NOT doesn't works)
• He doesn't play.

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2. Simple Past Tense (साधा भूतकाळ)

Formula: Subject + V2

यात क्रियापदाच्या दुस-या रूपाचा (V2) वापर केलेला असतो.

Examples:

• She went to class.
• India won the match.
• We took dinner.
• I woke up late today.

Negative Sentences (नकारार्थी वाक्ये)

Formula: Subject + didn't + V1

लक्षात ठेवा: साध्या भुतकाळात कर्त्यानंतर (V2) वापरले जाते. पंरतू Negative वाक्यात didn't नंतर कियापदाच्या पहिल्याचं रूपाचा (V1) वापर करावा लागतो.

Examples:

• She didn't go. (NOT didn't went)
• He didn't come.
• I didn't pass.

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3. Simple Future Tense (साधा भविष्यकाळ)

Formula: Subject + Shall/Will + V1

या काळात Shall / Will चा उपयोग केलेला असतो तसेच कियापदाचे पहिले (V1) रूप वापरलेले असते. (Note: I आणि We नंतर नेहमी Shall वापरतात).

Examples:

• She will pass.
• You will support him.
• I shall go to Mumbai.

Negative Sentences (नकारार्थी वाक्ये)

Formula: Subject + Shall/Will + not + V1

Examples:

• He will not pass.
• I shall not fail.

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Master Verbs & Tenses | Continuous & Perfect Tenses (Part 3)

Welcome to Part 3 of our English Grammar series! In the previous lesson, we mastered the Simple Tenses. Today, we are going to learn about the tenses that show ongoing actions (Continuous) and completed actions (Perfect).

In This Series

1. Verb Basics ✔
2. Simple Tenses ✔
3. Continuous Tenses (You are here)
4. Perfect Tenses (You are here)
5. Perfect Continuous & Important Rules

Continuous Tenses (चालू काळ)

Continuous Tenses indicate that an action is, was, or will be going on at a certain time. We always use the Ving (Present Participle) form of the main verb in these tenses.

1. Present Continuous Tense (चालू वर्तमान काळ)

Formula: Subject + am/is/are + Ving

Examples:

• I am going to home.
• He is working.
• She is cooking.
• Rahul is studying.
• They are playing.
• It is getting hot.

2. Past Continuous Tense (चालू भूत काळ)

Formula: Subject + Was/Were + Ving

Examples:

• I was going.
• She was crying.
• We were teaching.
• You were watching t.v.

3. Future Continuous Tense (चालू भविष्य काळ)

Formula: Subject + Shall be/ Will be + Ving

Examples:

• I shall be teaching.
• We shall be learning.
• You will be watching t.v.
• They will be chatting.

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Perfect Tenses (पूर्ण काळ)

Perfect Tenses are used to express actions that are already completed.

लक्षात ठेवा: Perfect Tense मध्ये नेहमी have / has / had चाचं वापर केला जातो. तसेच, या काळात नेहमी क्रियापदाचे तिसरे रूप (V3) वापरले जाते.

1. Present Perfect Tense (पूर्ण वर्तमान काळ)

Formula: Subject + have/has + V3

Examples:

• I have written to you.
• You have passed exam.
• They have gone to Mumbai.
• She has told you.
• Sunil has watched T.V.

2. Past Perfect Tense (पूर्ण भूतकाळ)

Formula: Subject + had + V3

Examples:

• She had told me.
• We had gone there.
• You had wasted time.
• They had won.
• He had not read paper.

3. Future Perfect Tense (पूर्ण भविष्य काळ)

Formula: Subject + Shall have/Will have + V3

Rule: Shall/Will नंतर सामान्यपणे has/ had चा वापर केला जात नाही.

Examples:

• I shall have passed.
• We shall have travelled by plane.
• They will have done.
• He will have reached there.

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Master Verbs & Tenses | Perfect Continuous Tenses & Rules (Part 4)

Welcome to the final conceptual part of our series! Now that we have covered Simple, Continuous, and Perfect tenses, let's explore the Perfect Continuous Tenses and dive into the most important grammar rules that frequently appear in exams.

In This Series

1. Verb Basics ✔
2. Simple Tenses ✔
3. Continuous & Perfect Tenses ✔
4. Perfect Continuous Tenses & Rules (You are here)

Perfect Continuous Tenses (रिती काळ)

1. Present Perfect Continuous Tense (रिती वर्तमान काळ)

Formula: Subject + have/ has + been + Ving........ Since / For

Examples:

• I have been studying since 2015.
• I have been studying for three months.
• Sunil has been playing since March.
• Sunil has been playing for four years.

2. Past Perfect Continuous Tense (रिती भूतकाळ)

Formula: Subject + had + been + Ving............ Since / For

Examples:

• You had been coming to class since April.
• You had been coming to class for three months.

3. Future Perfect Continuous Tense (रिती भविष्य काळ)

Formula: Subject + Will / Shall have + been + Ving

Examples:

• I will have been working for reliance.
• I shall have been teaching.

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Important Grammar Rules

RULE NO-1: 'If' with Simple Present
If + Simple Present Tense ➔ Simple Future Tense.
जर वाक्याची सुरूवात if ने होत असेल व त्यानंतर Simple Present Tense चा वापर झालेला असेल तर त्यानंतरचे वाक्य हे Simple Future Tense चे असते. (यात अगोदर भविष्यकाळ देखील येवू शकतो व if वाक्याच्यामध्ये येवू शकते त्याने वाक्याचा अर्थ बदतल नाही.)

Examples:

• If you study, you will pass.
• You will pass if you study.

RULE NO-2: 'Unless' Rule
Unless + Simple Present Tense.
Unless नंतर नेहमी Simple Present Tense चा वापर केला जातो.

Examples:

• Unless you study, you will not pass.
• You will not pass, unless you study.

RULE NO-3: Keywords for Simple Present
Always, Everyday, Daily, Twice, in a day, Hardly, Seldom, Rarely, Sometimes, Every Sunday, on Sundays हे सर्व Simple Present Tense मध्ये use होतात.

Examples:

• She always comes here.
• He seldom studies.

RULE NO-4: 'If' with Simple Past
If + Simple Past Tense (V2) ➔ Would/Should/Could/Might + V1.
If नंतर Simple Present Tense (Subject + V2) असेल तर पुढे would/should/could/might या शब्दांचाच वापर करतात. (यात will चा वापर केला जात नाही म्हणून हे वाक्य चुकीचे आहे.)

Examples:

• If he studied, he would pass.
• If she ran, she could win.

RULE NO-5: 'It is time' Phrases
It is time / It is high time / It is right time / It is about time ➔ या शब्दांच्यानंतर Simple Past Tense (Subject + V2) चा वापर केला जातो.

Examples:

• It is time she went to class yesterday.
• It is high time film started.

RULE NO-6: Keywords for Simple Past
Yesterday, yester night, ago, before, last night, last Sunday, last month, last year.
वरील शब्द हे वाक्याच्या मधे आलेत तर त्या वाक्यातील कियापद हे V2 असले पाहिजे. म्हणजेचं ते वाक्य Sub + V2 (Simple Past tense) चे असते.

Examples:

• She came to school last Sunday.
• I studied yester night.

RULE NO-7: Verbs NOT used in 'ing' form
Liking, feeling, loving, adoring, seeming, smelling, knowing, appearing, preferring, reminding, identifying, remembering, understanding.
शेजारील शब्दांना कधीच ing लावत नाहीत. खालील सहा tenses मध्ये ing चा वापर केला जातो परंतू जरी या शब्दांना ing लावलेले असले तरी ते चुकीचे ठरते.

RULE NO-8: 'This is the first time' Rule
This is the first time that / This is the second time that / This is the last time that ➔ या शब्दांच्यानंतर Present Perfect Tense (Sub + have/has + V3) चा वापर केला जातो.

Examples:

• This is the first time that she has come.
• This is the second time that she has gone.

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