English Class 9 - Tenses Notes

Tenses

Welcome to the chapter on Tenses for Class 9. In this chapter, you will learn about different types of tenses, how to use them correctly in sentences, and how they help us talk about time in English. 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 say whether something happens now, happened before, or will happen later.

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.

Present Tense

• Simple Present: I play. She reads.
• Present Continuous: I am playing. She is reading.
• Present Perfect: I have played. She has read.
• Present Perfect Continuous: I have been playing. She has been reading.

Past Tense

• Simple Past: I played. She read.
• Past Continuous: I was playing. She was reading.
• Past Perfect: I had played. She had read.
• Past Perfect Continuous: I had been playing. She had been reading.

Future Tense

• Simple Future: I will play. She will read.
• Future Continuous: I will be playing. She will be reading.
• Future Perfect: I will have played. She will have read.
• Future Perfect Continuous: I will have been playing. She will have been reading.

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, etc.

Common Mistakes

• Mixing up verb forms (e.g., "He go" instead of "He goes").
• Using the wrong tense for the time mentioned.
• Forgetting to use helping verbs (e.g., "is," "was," "will," "have," "had").

Practice Questions

1. Change to past tense: She writes a letter.
2. Change to future tense: They are playing football.
3. Write a sentence in present perfect tense.
4. Write a sentence in past continuous tense.
5. Change to present continuous: I eat breakfast.

Challenge Yourself

• Write one sentence for each tense using the verb "read".
• Find and correct tense mistakes in these sentences: "He go to school yesterday." "I will eats lunch tomorrow."

Did You Know?

• English has twelve main tenses!
• Tenses help us tell stories and share information clearly.

Glossary

• Tense: The form of a verb that shows the time of an action.
• Verb: A word that shows an action or state.
• Continuous: Shows an action that is happening for some time.
• Perfect: Shows an action that is finished or completed.

Answers to Practice Questions

1. She wrote a letter.
2. They will be playing football.
3. I have finished my homework.
4. She was reading a book.
5. I am eating breakfast.

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Practice using tenses to make your English clear and correct!