Tenses use verb forms to give an idea of incidental occurrence at the moment of speaking. It explains the continuity or completion of the work. Whether you are a student or preparing for competitive exams, understanding tenses are essential.

This article comprises defined types of tenses, different tenses with examples, and Fill in the blank exercise. Every tense is unique in itself. Knowledge of tenses helps in speaking and being helpful for competitive exams. Various competitive exams pose questions based on the definition of tenses and their types with examples or tenses fill in the blank exercise are given to solve. 

Types of tenses:

There are mainly three types of tenses known to any layman reading the language.  Past, present, and future tenses are the basic three types of tenses.

Descriptive definitions of tenses and their types are as follows:-

1.Past tense:- It mainly describes the things or activities that have already been acted upon or done in the past.

formula —

{subject + verbs 2nd form (past form) + object}

For example, Shama was traveling two days ago.

2.Present tense:- The present tense mainly talks about present actions or future actions.

 formula –

{subject+ verb first form + object}

For example, Shama is traveling to Delhi today 

3.Future tense:- It mainly describes the action that will be acted upon in the future. Moreover, it means the actions are based on prediction and speculation.

Formula – 

{ subject+ shall/will+verb first form+object}

  For example, Shama will be traveling the day after tomorrow.

Overall, 12 defined types of tenses are present. Various verb forms are present in the different tenses.

Three of the main tenses have been explained above, the remaining nine are explained below:–   

  1.  Perfect present tense:- It expresses the action which is completed.

{subject+have/has+verb 3rd form+object.}

  • For example, Sanaya has been to the exhibition twice.

2.Continuous present tense:- It mainly focuses on the thing that is not completed or finished. It describes an action that is happening currently.

{subject+am/is/are+verb+ing+object}

  •  For example, Sonu was cooking when her friend called.

3.Present perfect continuous tense:- Describes the action that started in the past and continued in the present.

{subject+have/has+been +verb+ing+object}

  • For example, Ramya has been to the park earlier.

4.Past perfect tense:- Describes the action that has finished before another time or event in the past.

{Subject+had+verb 3rd form+object}

  • For example, Krish had eaten his lunch before his tuition time.

5.Past continuous tenses:- describes the action going on for a longer duration than other actions in the past.

{subject+was/were+verb+ing+object}

  • For example, Grandpa was playing chess when we came back.

6.Past perfect continuous tense:- describes the action that happened in the past at some time or event and continued to another time in the past.

{Subject+had+been+verb+ing+object}

  • For example, She had been playing when I called.

7.Future perfect tense:- Action which has been finished in another time or event in the future.

{subject+shall/will/have+verb 3rd form+object}

  • For example, By the time food arrives, she would have slept.

8.Future continuous tense:- Actions that have a longer duration in the future than another action.

{Subject+ shall/will+be+verb+ing+object}

  • For example, She will be running when it starts to rain.

9.Future perfect continuous tense:- Actions that will continue until another time or event.

{Subject+ shall/will + have+ been+ verb +ing+object}

  • For example, she shall be leaving soon as she will be late by 1½ hours at 5 pm.

Tenses- Exercise to fill in the blank exercise with the right tenses to let the reader grasp the concept of definition and types of tenses easily.

 She _______ her school work.(simple present)

  1. Ramu _____ leave for his village tomorrow.(simple future)
  2. Reetal ______ tuition lessons for past few months.(past continuous)
  3. Ramcharan _____ ashamed of behavior at family get together.

(Simple past)

  1. Look at that lovely couple; they _____  dancing for so long.(past perfect continuous)

Tenses fill in the blanks examples.

  • She will join from tomorrow.
  • I knew you were going out with friends.
  • We are cooking dinner together.
  • Does she know she is going to be awarded
  • He will have to appear in court today.

All the underlined words are the verb tenses used to help understand the tenses more clearly.

Conclusion

Studying definitions and types of tenses is important to understand language basics. Tenses are also included in the competitive exam. Knowledge of this helps to score high in the competitive examination and helps to improve understanding of the language. This article consists of detailed information about the types of tenses with examples and tenses fill in the blank exercise. It is beneficial for the study and overview of tense. It would help to speak the English language to those who have speaking issues in the English language. These types of tenses help in sentence framing for an individual.