English with Rehan Saeed

Tenses:

By tenses, I mean the structures which we use to represent the actions in present, past & future.

Main Tenses:
There are three types of Tenses.
1) Present Tense
2) Past Tense
3) Future Tense

And all these three types have 4 sub-types.

Let me start with the present tense.

Present Tense has 4 Types namely,
1)Present simple / Indefinite Tense
2) Present continuous /Progression Tense
3) Present Perfect Tense
4) Present Perfect Continuous Tense

Today, we will go through the Present Simple / Indefinite Tense.

Present Simple Tense:

Why do we use this tense?
We use this tense to represent the actions that we do in our daily life. OR I can say we use it to represent our habits/routine. Moreover, we use this tense to tell the universal truth.

What is the structure of this tense?
To understand tenses, you need to confirm the forms of tenses first. It is easy.
Let me explain to you.

TAKE [First form of Verb (V1)] Aka (Base form)
TOOK [ Second form of Verb (V2)] Aka (Past Form)
TAKEN [Third form of Verb (V3)] Aka (Past - Participle)
TAKING [Fourth form of Verb (V4)] Aka (Present-Participle)
TAKES [ Fifth form of Verb (V5)] Aka (Base form with the addition of "s", "ies" or "es".)

Aka means (As known as)

So, the verbs like
Play (V1) (Base form)
Played (V2) (past form)
Played (V3) (past - participle)
Playing (V4) (Present - participle)
Plays (V5) (Base verb with the addition of "s", "ies" & "es".

Now the structure of Present Simple Tense:

Subject + Verb (1/5)+ Object.
In this structure, you can see I have written a choice between (V1) & (V5).
Now where to use V1 & V5?

We use V1 with these pronouns:
I, WE, YOU, THEY OR ANY PLURAL NOUN.

We use V5 with tense pronouns:

HE, SHE, IT OR ANY SINGULAR NOUN.

EXAMPLES OF THIS TENSE.

°Garelt wins all the battles.
Here, Geralt is the singular noun, so I have used (V5) here.

°I read comics daily.

Here, the pronoun "I" is the subject. And, according to the above instructions, we use (V1) with it.

Consider some more examples:

°Sophie rides a bicycle every evening.
°Arya likes fries very much.
°He writes very well.
°My father sleeps at 10.00 Pm every night.
°My mother makes mutton cubes for my birthday.
°The sun rises in the east.
°The earth revolves around the sun.
°Water boils at 100°c.
°Virtue never goes unrewarded.
°They always cheer him up.
°You speak Persian so well.
°I go to the library every evening.

These were the few examples of the Present Simple tense.
But where do we need to add "S", "IES" or "ES" in V5.

We usually add "S" into verbs to make (V5).
Take: V1 > Takes: V5
Bake: V1 > Bakes: V5
Smile: V1 > Smiles: V5
Excercise: V1> Exercises: V5
Work: V1 > Works: V5
Swim: V1 > Swims: V5

The verbs which end on "SS" "Ch", "Sh", "X", "Z" usually take "ES" to make V5.
MISS: V1> MISSES: V5
PRESS: V1 > PRESSES: V5
Search: V1 > Searches: V5
Watch: V1 > Watches: V5
Smash: V1 > Smashes: V5
Splash: V1 > Splashes: V5
Relax: V1 > Relaxes: V5
Fix: V1 > Fixes: V5
Coax: V1 > Coaxes: V5

We usually add "IES" after verbs which end on "Y" to make V5.
Fly: v1 > Flies: V5
Spy: V1> Spies: V5
Cry: V1 > Cries: V5
Try: V1 > Tries: V5
Copy: V1> Copies: V5

Note: We do not add "IES" after those verbs, which contains a vowel sound before "Y".
SAY: V1 > SAYS: V5
In this example, we can see that the verb ends on "y", but I did not add "ies" to makes V5. Rather, I have added "s".
The reason behind it, that there is a letter (A), a vowel sound, before "Y" in this verb. So, that's why we can't add "ies" into it.
Vowels (A, E, I, O, U)
These words give vowel sounds. Though, there are 20 vowel sounds in the English language.
But for our ease, we can say these letters represent vowels.
Apple (A sound vowel)
Egg (E sound vowel)
Ink ( I sound vowel)
Owl ( O sound vowel)
UMBRELLA ( IF "U" GIVES THE SOUND OF "A" THEN IT IS CONSIDERED VOWEL. AS IN THIS CASE IT IS GIVING THIS "A" SOUND. SO, IT IS A VOWEL)
But in words like ( University, Europe) it is giving (y) sound, hence it is not giving vowel sound.

Back to the verbs :
Verbs that end at "Y", but have vowel sound before it are not eligible to add "ies" into them to make V5.
Pay: V1> Pays:V5
Slay: V1 > Slays :V5
Play : V1 > Plays : V5

So, the structure of Present Simple Tense is
Subject + Verb (1\5) + Object.

Now let's make it negative.

For negative we use helping verbs: Do & Does.
And we also use not.
Structure :
SUBJECT + DOES /DO+ NOt+VERB(V1)+OBJECT.
where to use Does & Do?
"Does" is used with these pronouns :
HE, SHE, IT AND WITH SINGULAR NOUN.
HE DOES NOT OBEY HIS GRANDFATHER.
SHE DOES NOT DANCE IN FRONT OF THE PUBLIC.
IT DOES NOT WORK ANYMORE.
SAM DOES NOT LIKE THIS KIND OF BEHAVIOR.

"Do" Is used with these pronouns,
I, We, They, You & with plural nouns.
I do not know him.
We do not tease her.
They do not take part in games.
You do not come here anymore.
People do not believe in such stories.

Note: Difference Between Does not and Doesn't; Do not and Don't is that uncontracted forms shows more stress in the sentence.

Interrogative Sentence :
Structure: Do/Does +Subject +First form of Verb +Object?
Does she sing?
Does he speak Dutch?
Do you call him "Scarecrow"?
Do I know you?
Do parrots talk?
Do they still work together?

Note : There is a WH-Family in the English language which is used in Interrogative Sentences.
Like : When, Where, What, Why, How, Which, etc.
The structure would be
WH- +Does/Do +Subject +V1+Object?
Why do you care about him too much?
Where does she live?
Which country do you belong to?

Moreover, we also add not in Interrogative Sentences.
Do not you know her?
Don't you know her?
Doesn't she live here anymore?
Why don't you believe them?