Tenses — SSC General English Notes Ch. 5

Introduction

Tenses show WHEN an action happens. English has 12 tenses — 3 time periods (Present, Past, Future) × 4 aspects (Simple, Continuous, Perfect, Perfect Continuous). This is SSC's highest-weightage grammar topic — master this table completely.

The Complete 12-Tense Structure Table

Tense	Structure	Example
Present Simple	Subject + V1(+s/es)	She writes a letter.
Present Continuous	Subject + is/am/are + V-ing	She is writing a letter.
Present Perfect	Subject + has/have + V3	She has written a letter.
Present Perfect Continuous	Subject + has/have been + V-ing	She has been writing a letter.
Past Simple	Subject + V2	She wrote a letter.
Past Continuous	Subject + was/were + V-ing	She was writing a letter.
Past Perfect	Subject + had + V3	She had written a letter.
Past Perfect Continuous	Subject + had been + V-ing	She had been writing a letter.
Future Simple	Subject + will/shall + V1	She will write a letter.
Future Continuous	Subject + will be + V-ing	She will be writing a letter.
Future Perfect	Subject + will have + V3	She will have written a letter.
Future Perfect Continuous	Subject + will have been + V-ing	She will have been writing a letter.

Signal Words — Instant Tense Identification

Tense	Signal Words
Present Simple	always, usually, often, every day, never
Present Continuous	now, right now, at the moment, currently
Present Perfect	already, just, yet, ever, never, since, for
Past Simple	yesterday, last week, ago, in [past year]
Past Perfect	before, after, by the time, already (in past context)
Future Simple	tomorrow, next week, soon

Since vs For — Key Present Perfect Rule

Word	Used With	Example
Since	A specific point in time (starting point)	since 2015, since Monday
For	A duration/period of time	for 5 years, for two hours

Q. Fill in the blank: "I have lived here ___ 2010."

2010 is a specific point in time → use since

Past Perfect — "Earlier of Two Past Actions" Rule

💡 Golden Rule: When two actions happened in the past, the action that happened FIRST (earlier) uses Past Perfect (had + V3); the later action uses Simple Past.

Q. Choose the correct sentence: (A) When I reached the station, the train left. (B) When I reached the station, the train had left.

The train leaving happened BEFORE reaching the station (earlier action)
Correct: (B) When I reached the station, the train had left.

Common Tense Errors

Q. Choose the correct sentence: (A) If it will rain, we will stay home. (B) If it rains, we will stay home.

The "if" clause of a conditional sentence never uses "will" — use present simple
Correct: (B) If it rains, we will stay home. (covered further in Chapter 15)

✅ Practice Focus: All 12 tense structures memorised cold · Signal words for instant tense recognition · Since vs For · Past Perfect for the earlier of two past actions · "If" clause never takes "will."

← Back to Verbs (Main, Auxiliary, Modals) Next Chapter → Subject–Verb Agreement

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