English Class 8 - Tenses Notes

Tenses

Welcome to the chapter on Tenses for Class 8. In this chapter, you will learn about the different types of tenses in English, how to use them correctly in sentences, and how they help us talk about time. By the end of this chapter, you will be able to identify and use present, past, and future tenses with confidence!

Introduction

Tenses show the time of an action or event. They help us know whether something happens now, happened before, or will happen later. There are three main tenses: Present, Past, and Future. Each tense has different forms.

Types of Tenses

• Present Tense: Shows actions happening now or regularly.
• Past Tense: Shows actions that happened before.
• Future Tense: Shows actions that will happen later.

Forms of Each Tense

• Simple: Basic form of the tense.
• Continuous: Shows ongoing actions.
• Perfect: Shows completed actions.
• Perfect Continuous: Shows actions that were ongoing and are now complete.

Examples

• Simple Present: She writes every day.
• Present Continuous: She is writing now.
• Present Perfect: She has written a letter.
• Present Perfect Continuous: She has been writing for an hour.
• Simple Past: She wrote yesterday.
• Past Continuous: She was writing when I called.
• Past Perfect: She had written before lunch.
• Past Perfect Continuous: She had been writing for an hour before lunch.
• Simple Future: She will write tomorrow.
• Future Continuous: She will be writing at 5 PM.
• Future Perfect: She will have written by evening.
• Future Perfect Continuous: She will have been writing for two hours by 6 PM.

How to Use Tenses Correctly

• Choose the tense based on when the action happens.
• Use the correct verb form for each tense.
• Pay attention to time words like now, yesterday, tomorrow, already, since, for, etc.

Common Mistakes

• Mixing up verb forms (e.g., "He go yesterday" instead of "He went yesterday").
• Using the wrong tense for the time word.
• Forgetting to use helping verbs in continuous and perfect tenses.

Fun Activity: Tense Time Machine!

Write three sentences about what you do every day (present), what you did last week (past), and what you will do next week (future). Share with your friends!

Summary

• Tenses show the time of actions.
• There are three main tenses: Present, Past, and Future.
• Each tense has four forms: Simple, Continuous, Perfect, and Perfect Continuous.
• Use the correct tense to make your sentences clear.

Practice Questions

1. Write one sentence in the simple present tense.
2. Change this sentence to past tense: "I eat breakfast."
3. Write a sentence in the future continuous tense.
4. Fill in the blank: She ______ (write) a letter yesterday.
5. Write a sentence in present perfect tense.

Challenge Yourself

• Write a short paragraph using all three tenses.
• Find five verbs and write their forms in present, past, and future tense.

Did You Know?

• English verbs can have more than 12 tense forms!
• Using the right tense helps your writing make sense.

Glossary

• Tense: Shows the time of an action.
• Verb: An action word.
• Present: Happening now.
• Past: Happened before.
• Future: Will happen later.

Answers to Practice Questions

1. I play football.
2. I ate breakfast.
3. I will be reading a book.
4. wrote
5. She has finished her homework.

---

Practice using tenses every day to make your English perfect!