10th Class Chapter-2 Tenses

CBSE Class 10 English Grammar - Tenses

Question1.
How would you define the term Tense The term Tense denotes the form of a verb which shows the time at which an action happened. So, the tense shows two things?

• (i) the time of the action
• (ii) state expressed by the verb.
• Look at these sentences:
• Reshma goes to school.
• Reshma went to school.
• Reshma will go to school.
• In the above sentences (i) goes (ii) went and (iii) will go are verbs. In sentence (i), the verb goes denotes the present tense and refers to the present time. In sentence (ii), the verb went denotes the past tense and refers to the past time. In sentence (iii), the verb will go denotes the future tense and refers to the future time.
• By Tense we can understand the correspondence between the form of the verb and our concept of time (past, present and future)
• II. Time and Tense are not the same thing. Time is a universal concept. It has three divisions: past, present and future. Tense is related only to the verb
• It is not necessary that if the verb is in the present tense, it will show only the present time. It is also not necessary that if the verb is in the past tense, it will show the past time.
• Look at the sentences:
• The match takes place on Sunday.
• Here the verb takes place is in simple present tense but expresses an action that will take place in the future time.
• Mohan is about to come.
• Here present tense expresses the near future time
• The Sun sets in the west
• It is a universal truth. Here, it stands for all the three times: past, present and future. Note: Modem grammarians believe that there is no future tense in English to express future time. We use the modal auxiliaries shall and will, with the present tense, etc. to express future time. But we are following the traditional grammarians in this book. According to them English has three tenses, (i) Present Tense (ii) Past Tense and (iii)
• 1. The following table shows the different forms of the verb:
• 2. Forms of the present Simple Tense:
• Thus we have seen that the Simple Present Tense is formed by using the plain infinitive. But -s or -es are added to the bare infinitive (i.e. infinitive without to) for the third person singular (He, She) and singular noun (Nitu)
• We form the negative sentences by using doesnt or dont before the main verb
• The interrogative sentences are formed by using do or does before the subject
• The negative interrogative sentences are formed by using do or does before the subject and not after the subject
• But the short forms dont and doesnt come before the Subject.
• You can master in English Grammar of various classes by our articles like Tenses, Clauses, Prepositions, Story writing, Unseen Passage, Notice Writing etc
• We use Present Simple time to talk about things in general. We are not thinking only about now. We use it to say that something happens all the time or repeatedly or that something is true in general. Here it is not important whether the action is happening at the time of speaking
• I take my breakfast every day
• We go to school
• We use Present Continuous tense to talk about something that is happening at or around the time of speaking. The action is not finished. In such sentences is/am/are + verb + ing is used to show continuation
• Girls are playing
• I am watching TV
• Present Perfect tense is used to give information about an action that has recently been completed. It is also used to talk about some action in the past that has a result now. In such sentences verb ends with have/has + verb + ed/t/en/ne forms
• Tom has lost his key
• I have forgotten your name
• Present Perfect Continuous tense is used to indicate an activity that continues from the past until now repeatedly or an activity that has recently stopped. In these sentences have/ has + been + v + ing form is used
• John looks sunburnt. He has been working under the sun since morning
• Your clothes are very dirty. What have you been doing

Past Tense

• I/You/He/She/It/We/They played. - (Affirmative)
• I/You/He/She/It/We/They didnt play. - (Negative)
• Did I/You/She/It/We/They play? - (Interrogative)

All these sentences are in simple past. We use Past Simple for:

• Action completed in the past
• Actions which happened at a specific point in time
• Past habits and past actions that happened immediately after the other

• I/He/She/It was playing. - (Affirmative)
• We/You/They were playing. - (Affirmative)
• I/He/She/It wasnt playing. - (Negative)
• We/You/They werent playing. - (Negative)
• Was/I/He/She/It playing? - (Interrogative)
• Where were/We/You/They playing? - (Interrogative)

All these sentences are in Past Continuous. We use past continuous for:

• An action that was in progress at a stated time in the past
• A past action which was in progress when another action interrupted it
• Two or more actions were happening at the same time

Lets read the following sentences:

• Rohit had already left when we arrived at the party
• He had broken his leg and it was still hurting
• Everything had seemed normal at first
• All these sentences have been written in Past Perfect Tense. We use it to talk about an action which finished before another action in the past
• We use certain time expressions with past perfect: before, already, after, just, when, never, etc
• Now read the following sentences: I had been watching TV for an hour when I remembered I had forgotten to call my friend
• She had been painting her room and her clothes were covered in paint. These sentences have been written in Past Perfect Continuous Tense. We use it to talk
• for a past action which started and finished in the past before another past action, putting emphasis on the duration
• for an action which lasted for some time in the past and the result was still visible in the past
• Time expressions used: for, since, until, etc

11. Future Time Reference

• Let us read the following sentences
• We will go to the zoo tomorrow
• He will be on leave next week
• All these sentences indicate that we use will to talk about an event in progress at some point in future. However, there are different modes in English that can be used to refer to incidents that occur at some time in future. This mode of reference is called as future time reference. Such sentences have constructions based on different structures

They are as follows: Simple Present Tense

• The Commonwealth Games begin from 2nd October
• If he works hard like this, he can pass

Present Continuous Tense: It is used to refer to future events that have been planned before.

• We are expecting the queen to inaugurate the games this month
• Im sorry I cant attend the wedding. Im meeting the director this evening

Use of Going to

• We are going to shift to Shimla very soon
• Suchitra is going to marry Harish

Be + about to + infinitive

• The class is about to start

Use of Will/Shall It is used to make a prediction about future, or in advertisements, etc

• India will win at least one gold in boxing.
• Their souls shall rest in peace

Be + To + V

• The teacher is to deliver a talk on study skills

Exercise (Solved)

1.Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the verbs given in the brackets?

• The police......... four thieves last night, (catch)
• I was.......... food when he came in. (cook)
• It....... at 9 oclock, (rain)
• I certainly........ my colleague if I had been there, (help)
• Stars......... in the sky at night, (twinkle)
• All the students....... the classwork when the teacher came in. (do)
• Mahesh......... tomorrow from Patna, (come)
• The patient....... before the doctor came, (die)
• I saw that the policemen........ the thieves, (chase)
• He is a very rude person, I ....... him. (not help)

• caught
• cooking
• has been raining
• would have helped
• twinkle
• were doing
• will come
• had died
• were chasing
• wont help

Exercise (Unsolved)

2.Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the verbs given in the brackets?

• Water....... on heating. (evaporate)
• Shantanu......... all the chocolates. (eat)
• Farmers......... the field. (plough)
• If I........ you I would not repeat that mistake. (be)
• I....... this book for the last four years. (write)
• I...... you in writing the essay. (help)
• Two aeroplanes......... flying in the sky. (be)
• He...... back yet. (not come)
• While I...... to the music, my younger son was dancing. (listen)
• Some of my friends........... the Taj Mahal last week. (visit)

CBSEClass 10 English Workbook Solutions Integrated Grammar Practice 1

Question 1.
Geetika is learning about China in her Geography classes. She has to give a short talk to her class about Shanghai. Read the notes she has made and then complete the speech she prepares for her class. Do not add any new information. Write only the correct answers against the correct blank numbers in your answer sheets?

Shanghai

• largest Chinese port city
• handles 50% Chinese exports and imports
• most heavy population in the world
• industrial-number of industries present
• 1842-important after Treaty of Nanking
• (a) ........ and 50% of all Chinese exports and
imports
• (b) ........It has also become famous
• (c) ........ in the world. It can be called
• (d) ........ number of industries present here
• (c) ........ after the Treaty of Nanking was signed here.
• (a) (i) is the largest port city of China
• (ii) is a largest port city of China
• (iii) was a largest port city in China
• (iv) was the largest port city in China
• (b) (i) was handled there
• (ii) has been handled here
• (iii) arc handled here
• (iv) are being handled there
• (c) (i) has the more population
• (ii) as the most populous city
• (iii) has the heavy population
• (iv) is the most populated city
• (d) (i) an industrial city because of the
• (ii) the industrial city because a
• (iii) an industrial city as there is the
• (iv) an industrial city that has the
• (e) (i) It has the historical importance
• (ii) It gained historic importance
• (iii) It is an historic importance
• (iv) It has gained historical importance

Answers:

• (a) (i) is the largest port city of China
• (b) (iv) are being handled here
• (c) (ii) as the most populous city
• (d) (iv) an industrial city that has the
• (e) (ii) It gained historical importance

Question 2.
The following passage has not been edited. There is ONE error in each of the first nine lines. Write the incorrect word and the correction as given in the example against the correct blank number in the space provided. Also underline the correct word you have supplied as shown?

• Malaria, caused by the bite of a female Anopheles mosquito will become dangerous if care was not taken
• The bite of the mosquito transfer the parasite into
• the human system. Malaria is accompanied with high
• fever and shivering. This mosquitoes breed in
• stagnant water, in puddles, on coolers etc. It is
• important to take care that water do not collect
• in and around the houses. Garbage can also
• he regularly removed so that mosquitoes will not breed in such damp wastes

Answers:

Error Correction e.g a - the

• (a) was - is
• (b) transfer - transfers
• (e) with - by
• (d) This - These
• (e) on - in
• (f) do - does
• (g) can - must
• (h) will - do

Question 3.
Rearrange the following words and phrases to make meaningful sentences?

Answers:

• always/ the same/ Earths/ climate/ stayed/ hasnt
• 1 Earths climate hasnt always stayed the same
• an/ a period/ periodically/ of/ cold weather/ called /the/ goes through/ especially / Earth/ ice age
• 2 The Earth periodically goes through a period of cold weather especially called an ice age
• an/ during/ ice age,/ polar glaciers/ grow/ the/ bigger
• 3 During an ice age the polar glaciers grow bigger
• an ice age,/ at/ of7 glaciers/ the peak/ may cover/ a third/ as much as/ the Earth/ of
• 4 At the peak of an ice age glaciers may cover as much as a third of the Earth

Question 4
Read the news items given below. Use the information in the headlines to complete the sentences?

Answers:

• 1. Ambala police to hire private detectives Ambala police is hiring private detectives to help the Ambala police force in better investigation
• 2. Plea against IT officer dismissed The Haryana High Court has dismissed the plea filed by Coca Cola India Inc. against the assistant commissioner of income tax, Gurgaon, and other respondents
• 3. Three IAS officers transferred The Haryana government has transferred three IAS Officers and 11 Superintendents of Police, including the Bhiwani SP along with the Deputy Commissioner
• 4. Property dealer shot dead A property dealer was shot dead inside the premises of a hospital by armed gangsters here today

Question 5
Read the following conversation carefully and complete the following passage by filling in the blank spaces appropriately. Do not add any new information. Write the answers in your answer sheet against the correct blank number?

• Patient : Doctor, I have a terrible toothache
• Doctor : Well, sit down. I need to examine your teeth. Please open your mouth wide
• Patient : Is there any serious problem, doctor
• The patient told the doctor (a) ___________. The doctor told him to sit down as (b) ___________. He also requested the patient (c) ___________. The patient then enquired (d) ___________

Answers:

• (a) that he had a terrible toothache
• (b) he needed to examine his teeth
• (c) to open his mouth wide
• (d) if there was any serious problem

Question 7.
Given below is a description of what happened during a fire. One word has been omitted in each line. Mark the place where you think a word has been omitted using / . Write the word you think is missing in the space provided?

Answers: There was a fire / our street yesterday morning. - in When I woke up, I looked / of the window and saw - out smoke pouring out of / house opposite. Then I - the saw fire engines arriving / their sirens - with blaring. First one turned / the corner and stopped outside - round the house. All the firemen dashed / the house and - into ran upstairs to the bedrooms. A woman / screaming - was from an upstairs window. She shouted that she / locked - got in the room and / not get out. By this time a second - could fire engine arrived / and the firemen held a blanket - there for her to jump into. The chief shouted that she / to jump. - had You could see that / was terrified but suddenly she - she made the decision and with / great scream, she jumped. - a She landed safely. Afterwards she said that it had / the - been most frightening experience of / life. - her