Making Sense With Tense - 1

Helping verbs/auxiliaries . Be – form Verbs The form of be ( to be) Examples: am, is , was, are, were I am a dentist ( Here, ‘am’ is a form of ‘be/being’) Have, Has, Had Here, have, has and had are used to denote the time of the action. Have and has is present perfect and had in past perfect. Have, has and had do not indicate possession in tenses. They may hold the position of the main verb. Ex: I have had my dinner just now. Main verbs / finite verbs Finite verbs are the main verbs of a sentence. Ex: I go to piano classes on Sundays. The action is clearly expressed. Non- finite verbs shouldn’t be mistaken for main verbs Ex: My teacher told me to read the poem. Here ‘told’ is the main verb and ‘read’ is the infinitive (to read) More examples - Reading is fun. Read is a verb. In this sentence ‘Reading’ functions as noun, called ‘Gerund’ - Give me the writing pad. Though writing is a verb, in this sentence, it functions as adjective, called the participle. Verbs and their forms There are three main forms of verbs The present – as in – take The past – as in – took The past participle – taken In order to master tense, one has to master the verb forms too. Subject of a sentence Whatever/Whoever we speak about is the subject of the sentence. Ex: The car is sent for repair. In the above sentence, we are talking about ‘The car’. Therefore, it is the subject of the sentence. Why do we need to learn what subject is? Because the subject decides which verb form we use in the sentence. It has to agree with the verb. Subject – Verb Agreement Madhav has/have a race car. He like/likes to drive it. “One day I will/does become an F1 motorist,” says/said Madhav often. The dancing troupe is/are ready for yet another show. They will travel/travelled Europe this time and perform/performed in many countries. Rahul Dravid throw/threw the ball at the batsman. The batsman is/was ready and hit the ball with full force. But alas! He cannot/could not make a run. The spectators cheer/cheered Rahul. “I remember I has/had send/sent him a letter long back. I hasn’t/haven’t receive/received any reply from him yet. “Do you think he must have/had forgot/forgotten me?” The verb we use in a sentence depends on the subject of the sentence. Singular subject (He/any name) – singular verb – is, was, has, begins, shows Plural subject (They/The children) – plural verb – are, were, have, began, showed etc. Joining words like ‘and’ – plural verb Joining words like ‘either-or’, ‘neither-nor’ – singular verb Collective nouns like ‘bundle/troupe’ - Singular verb Titles of movies or books – singular verb Words like – All, most, much – plural verb Words like each, every – singular verb The bird _________(perch/perched) itself on the tree. It ______(is/was) _______(scared/scare) of the hunter. When the hunter _______(went/gone) away, the bird ______(flew/flown) away into the sky. Everyone _____(get/got) up and _____(pay/paid) a standing ovation to the speaker. “She ____(has/had) ______(made/make) a wonderful speech,” said many. Indeed she ______(has/had) ______(spellbind/spellbound) the audience with her words. When Riya reached the theatre, she ____(saw/seen) that many people ____(are/were) ______(waited/waiting) in a queue. They ____(are/were) eager to watch the movie. Inside the theatre, the crowd ____(was/were) enjoying the movie. By this time, next week, I _____(will have/had) ______(gave/given) this gift to my friend and she will ______(have/had) ______(say/said), ‘thank you’. I might come to your house if I ____(get/got) a chance to visit Chennai. Then we _____(can/could) visit the Central Library,” ______(says/said) Radha. “___(Do/Did) you ____(know/knows) where he _____(live/lives)?” _______(asks/asked) Shalini. “ I ___(am/was) not sure. I think he ____(has/have) _______(shifted/shifting) to Kerala,” _______(replies/replied) Aarav. Annie and her brother _________ at school. (is/are) Either Ram or Shyam ________ coming to the meeting. (is/are) George and Lara _____________ want to watch the movie. (doesn’t /don’t ) One of my sisters _______ going on a trip to Paris. (is/are) Each of the passengers in the flight _______ given a complimentary snack. (was/were) My friend and I usually __________ once a week. (meet/meets) Oil and water _____ not mix. (do/does) Oil _______ not mix with water. (do/does) Neither Bheema nor Gowri ________ gone to the field today. (has/have)