Linked table of contents:

• Introduction

• Present Tense

• Past Tense

• Future Tense

• Conclusion

• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Introduction

In this article, the English Tenses for class 4 have been given in detail like the Simple Present tense for class 4 and CBSE class 4 English tenses. As we go further into English grammar and its basics, we need to understand the tenses which are basically of three categories – present, past, and future.

The present tense is used to describe something that is happening at the moment. It could either be simple or continuous. The past tense is used for referring to the action or the activities that had already taken place as well as they have been completed in the past itself. It could either be simple or continuous in nature. The future tense is used for describing something that has neither happened in the past nor is happening at the moment of speaking or writing. Let us read further to understand the English Tenses For Class 4 and the subcategories of the tenses and the basics of class 4 English Grammar Tenses.

What are Tenses?

The tenses are important for specifying the time of an activity and to express whether the activity has happened already, is happening right now, or will happen later in the time as we speak and write. Tenses have three divisions with several forms of expressing the verb in each of the tenses. The English Tenses for Class 4 are elaborated further in this article so read below.

Different time needs to be expressed differently or else the action and its time will not have a clear concept. We need to know whether an action has already taken place, is taking place right now, or will happen later. The completion of action needs to be expressed correctly to add meaning to the sentence.

Present Tense

Simple Present Tense - The present tense is used for describing an action that is happening right now. It is used for expressing an indefinite action or activity and usually ‘s’, ‘es, or ‘ies’ are added at the end of the verb in its base form. This is done in the case of simple present tense where the action is indefinite. When we want to state facts or general truth or express habits and customs, we use the simple present tense.

Examples of the simple present tense:

1. Johny stops the thief and takes him to the police.

2. I take my dog to the park daily.

3. I sleep late on weekends.

Present Continuous Tense – the present continuous tense is also called the present progressive tense because of the nature of the activity that is happening. It is happening constantly, right at the moment in a continuous way. There is often confusion regarding the use of present continuous tense and whether it should actually be used to describe an action that is incomplete. The action is in progress at the moment and is continuing to happen.

Examples with Present Continuous Tense:

1. We are cooking my favorite meal at the moment.

2. My dog is playing with his toy.

3. My team is dancing on the stage right now.

Past Tense

Simple Past Tense – simple past tense is used for describing something that has already happened in the past and the action or activity is complete. It can range from a few moments ago to several years ago when the incident took place and was completed. The action started, it stopped, and by now it has been completed and is no longer happening. The expression of the time in this case happens either at the end of the sentence or at the beginning and usually does not occur in the middle. We usually add ‘d’ or ‘ed’ at the end of the verb.

Examples of simple past tense:

1. Radha walked to school yesterday.

2. My dog slept late last night.

3. He drove his car at high-speed last week.

Past Continuous Tense – because of its constant nature, ‘ing’ is added to the verb along with ‘were’ or ‘was’ depending on whether the one doing the action is singular or plural. The sentences can either be positive or negative and the action or the verb needs to be adjusted accordingly by adding ‘was not’ or ‘were not’. The past continuous tense is used for referring to an action that started and continued in the past and was stopped for some reason in the past itself. The word order can be changed as per the preference of the writer or the speaker and whether it needs to be positive or negative.

Examples of past continuous tense:

1. I was preparing ice cream when my parents were away.

2. They were playing in the rain yesterday.

3. She was sleeping when I called her for the homework.

Future Tense

Simple Future Tense – simple future tense is generally used at the end of the sentence and is for referring to actions or activities that are set to happen after the time of writing or speaking. There are several ways to express time for the different forms of the future tense of which the most common ones are tomorrow, next, week, the day after tomorrow, etc. Like the other tenses, the negative and positive nature of the sentences can also be used in the simple future tense as well as future continuous tense. ‘will’ is added before the verb for referring to the event to happen later.

Examples of the simple future tense:

1. She will write her assignment after she gets home.

2. Soham will not come to the party.

3. You will hurt yourself if you jump from here.

Future continuous tense – the future continuous tense is also known as the future progressive tense for its continuous action and will continue to happen. In the future continuous tense, the action of the verb will start to happen in the future and will end in the future with or without a fixed time of the event ending. With the continuous nature of the future continuous tense, we state that the action will start in the future and will continue to happen. For this tense, we add ‘will be’ before the verb or the action and ‘ing’ at the end of the verb with a little spelling change.

Examples of future continuous tense:

1. I will be going to church tomorrow.

2. The college will be opening next year.

3. We will be jogging tomorrow morning.

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Conclusion

The above guides for class 4 English grammar tenses have been elaborated for the students of every level.

Tenses are important for specifying the time of an event or an activity, which is the verb in English grammar, and its time reference. The present, the past, and the future are the different time zones that we experience. Because of this, it is important to be able to specify the time of activity and express it in the correct form or manner. Each tense needs to be expressed differently to mark the time of an occurrence. So, this article has covered the topics for CBSE class 4 English Tenses as per the requirement for class 4 students. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. How do you define tense in English grammar?

   Ans: When the verb changes its form and indicates the time of its activity, it is called tense. Tense indicates the time of an action, whether it happened in the past, is happening now, or will happen in the future. The start or end of any activity is dependent on the tense used to describe the timing.

2. What are the subcategories of the three tenses?

  Ans: a) Simple Past tense, Perfect past tense, Past Continuous tense, and Perfect Continuous Past tense.

           b) simple Present Tense, Present Perfect Tense, Present Continuous Tense, and Present perfect continuous tense

           c) Simple Future Tense, Future Perfect Tense, future Continuous Tense, and Future Perfect Continuous tense.

      3.   Which of the tenses does not give a definite time of completion of action but is happening at the moment?

  Ans: Simple Present Tense indicates an indefinite action which does not indicate any limited time of completion of an action. When we speak of an action happening at the present moment, we mean that the action is in progress and the exact time of the completion of the action is not guaranteed.

4. In which of the tenses do we add the words “will be” before the verb?

  Ans: among the tenses, the Simple Future Tense requires the words “will be” to be added before the verb as the action has not happened yet and is expected to take place later in time in the future.  

5.  Which of the three tenses indicates the completion of an event or action?

  Ans: Among the three tenses, the Past Tense and its subdivisions like the Past Continuous, the Past Perfect Tense, and the Past perfect continuous tense indicate the completion of an action. The Past tense shows the completion of action unlike the present and future tense wherein the action’s completion is either incomplete or the action has not happened yet.

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