Sunday, May 5th, 2019
Verbs and Tenses are the basic parts of English Grammar. We all have studied about verbs and tenses in our school days. But what does verb tenses refer to? If you recollect, the actions words- verbs take various forms depending upon the time frame (present, past, future) as well as state/aspect (simple, perfect, progressive). Hence the name ‘verb tenses’. But how are verb tenses relevant to CAT? Well, questions based on sentence correction check your knowledge of verb tenses.
The usage of verb tenses varies according to tense, person, and number. As you know, verbs form an essential part of the sentence structure. So, you need to be aware of the fundamental rules of verb tenses to gain hold of sentence correction questions in CAT grammar. Well, as you would expect, each of the present, past and future verb tense is subdivided into simple, progressive/continuous, perfect continuous/progressive and perfect types. The different kinds of verb tenses are:
Let’s discuss the various types of verb tenses with examples:
As the name states, the simple present tense refers to the present state of something/someone or a habitual action. In case of habitual actions, the sentences are often accompanied by words like sometimes, always, often, usually, seldom, never, on Sundays, rarely, every day, etc. Examples:
How do you state an activity that is currently in progress? Here comes the use of present continuous/progressive tense. The activity may have started in past and is expected to continue in the future. The keywords to identify this tense are: right now, now, this quarter, etc. Let’s understand with the help of examples:
An interesting thing about the above two forms is that both can be used to refer to the future scheduled events. Examples:
You may have started/completed something in the past and it still holds relevance or continues in the present. Well, that’s the meaning of a present perfect tense. Let’s explore with the help of examples:
You will often find the following words in such sentences: yet, recently, already, just, never, since + a particular time, ever __ times, for + a duration of time, etc. Sometimes, the present perfect verbs are indicative of the future and describe an infinitive.
Example: I hope to have begun preparing for CAT by July.
As the name suggests, this kind of verb tense refers to an activity that began in the past, continues in the present and is likely continue into the future. Well, you may find it similar to the present perfect tense. Let’s see the difference with the help of few examples:
Well, now you know that it’s a combination of perfect and progressive tense in the present form of verb. You will often find words like for, lately, since, etc. in such kind of sentences. Further, the perfect progressive type of verb tenses rarely feature in sentence correction questions of MBA entrance exams, yet you need to know about these to learn the between perfect and perfect progressive forms.
Similar to simple present tense, the simple past tense refers to the simple form of verb to denote something that occurred in the past. This kind of action has already been finished in the past itself. You will come across words like last week, yesterday, this morning (the one that is gone), last month, etc. in such sentences. Examples:
As the name says, this kind of verb tense refers to an activity that was in progress at a particular time in the past. In other words, it makes use of ‘was/were’ along with a present participle form of verb. You will find words like when, while, etc. in such sentences. Examples:
As you would expect, the past perfect tense refers to an event that happened before another event of the past. Accordingly, the form of verb used is ‘had’ along with a past participle. The indicator words found in such sentences are: before, already, by the time, etc. Examples:
Combination of past perfect and progressive, this kind of tense refers to the activity that was in progress before another event/activity of the past. Putting it other words, it began, continued and concluded in the past itself. Usually, such sentences are accompanied by words like for, since, etc. Let’s understand with the help of a few examples:
As you would know, this kind of tense simply tells about events that will happen or are likely to happen in the future. Accordingly, the indicator words used in future verb tenses are: tomorrow, next month, next week, etc. Examples:
As you would guess, future continuous tense refers to an activity that will be in progress at a particular time in future. This kind of verb tense is generally used in the form of ‘shall be/will be’ along with the present participle. Examples:
As the name states, this kind of verb tense refers to an action/event that will be completed by a specific time or before another activity in future. Accordingly, it uses verbs like ‘will have’ along with a past participle. You will usually find words like by the time, when, etc. in such sentences. Let’s discuss with the help of examples:
As the name says itself, this type of tense is the combination of future perfect and progressive/continuous verb tense. So, this tense describes the action/activity that will be in progress in future before some other activity. Here, the ‘will have been’ form of verb is used along with a present participle. The indicator words used in such sentences are: by the time, for, etc. Examples:
Now, you know about various kinds of verb tenses and related rules for formation of each type. This will greatly help you spot the verb tense error in Sentence correction questions. Given below is a stepwise approach to handle the related questions:
Well, now you are all set to tackle sentence correction questions. Invest a good amount of time in practicing from previous year CAT papers and mock tests.
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