Grammar: Complex Tense Form – SS1 English Lesson Note (Second Term)

Meaning Of Tense And Complex Tense

Tense is the form of the verb used to indicate the time of the action, the continuance of the action or the completeness of the action.  The time of the action in the present – I see, past – I saw, future – I shall see.

Tenses do not just tell us whether something is in the past, present or future. They also tell us whether the action is habitual, completed or going. That’s the aspect part of tense.

Complex tenses

Complex tenses are those in which English combines aspects. For example, the perfect and progressive but other aspects are also combined. They are represented by the main verb in some of its forms (a participle sometimes) and the auxiliary verb. They are made up of more than one verb.

Recognizing and using various complex tense form in English 

To recognize the complex tense form in English, the students should know the examples of main verbs and auxiliary verbs we have and the formation of tenses.

The main auxiliary verbs are to be, to have and to do. They appear in the following forms.

1. To be: am, is, are, was, were, being, been, will be.

2. To have: has, have, had, will have.

3. To do: does, do, did, will do.

There’s another kind of auxiliary verb called a modal auxiliary verb (or modal verb). The modal auxiliary verbs are can, could, may, might, must, ought to, shall, should, will, and would.

The main verbs are sit, stand, walk, move, forget, eat, write, build etc.

To form tenses, the students should combine main verbs with auxiliary verbs depending on the type of verb form, whether the action expressed by the verb is continuous or still in progress (progressive) or whether it has been completed (perfective).