Present Indefinite Tense & Its Uses
āύāĻŋāϤā§āϝ āĻŦā§°ā§āϤāĻŽāĻžāύ āĻāĻžāϞ
Prepared by Sri Rupjyoti Goswami PGT (English)
Bhogeswar Hazarika Girls' Higher Secondary School, Bebejia, Nagaon, Assam.
Uses: (a) Universal Truths and Scientific Facts (āĻāĻŋā§°āϏāϤā§āϝ āĻāĻāύāĻžā§° āĻā§āώā§āϤā§ā§°āϤ) : There are certain facts or truths that never fail to happen. These can be related to death, birth, planetary movements and Scientific Facts established by experiments. These facts are invariably expressed in the Present Indefinite Tense.
Examples: Man is mortal.Milk is white. The Sun rises in the East. The Earth moves round the Sun.
The Earth is round. Ice floats on water. Water boils at 100° Celsius.
(b) Habitual Actions (āĻ āĻā§āϝāĻžāϏāĻŦāĻļāϤ āĻā§°āĻž āĻāĻžāĻŽ) : Certain actions take place on a regular day-to-day basis due to practice and habit. These are also expressed in the Present Indefinite Tense.For example,
He always gets up early in the morning and goes for a morning walk.
She always goes to school on foot.
(c) Routine Affairs/Scheduled Activity (āϏāĻŽā§āϏā§āĻā§ āĻ āύā§āϏ⧰āĻŋ āύāĻŋā§āĻŽā§ā§āĻžāĻā§ āĻā§°āĻž āĻāĻžāĻŽ) : Some actions take place according to an official timetable or routine Present Indefinite Tense is used to express such actions.
The Rajdhani Express always arrives on this platform at 5 PM.Our school starts at 9 am. The summer vacation in Assam starts in July.
(d) In the Subordinate Clause of a Conditional Sentence where 'shall/will' is used : The
"Subordinate Clause" is that part of a sentence which cannot express complete meaning in isolation.If "shall/will"is used in one part of the sentence, the other part is written in the Present Indefinite Tense.(If, till, until, unless āĻĨāĻāĻž āĻā§°ā§āϤāϏāĻžāĻĒā§āĻā§āώ āĻŦāĻžāĻā§āϝāĻŦā§ā§°ā§° āĻāĻāĻž āĻ āĻāĻļāϤ āϝāĻĻāĻŋ shall,will āĻŦā§āĻ¯ā§ąāĻšāĻžā§° āĻšā§, āϤā§āϤāĻŋā§āĻž āĻāύāĻā§ āĻ āĻāĻļ āĻ ā§°ā§āĻĨāĻžā§ āĻā§āĻŖ āĻāύā§āĻĄāĻŦāĻžāĻā§āϝāĻā§(Subordinate Clause) āĻĨāĻāĻž āĻ āĻāĻļāĻā§āϤ Present Indefinite Tense āĻŦā§āĻ¯ā§ąāĻšāĻžā§° āĻā§°āĻž āĻšā§āĨ¤) For example,
If it rains, I shall not go out. Unless he works hard, he will fail.I shall wait until you come back.
(e) If two incidents are mentioned in a sentence written in the Future Perfect Tense, Present Indefinite Tense will be used for the event/action which is expected to take place later. (āĻĻā§āĻāĻž āĻāĻāύāĻž āĻŦāĻž āĻāĻžā§°ā§āϝ⧰ āĻāϞā§āϞā§āĻ āĻĨāĻāĻž Future Perfect Tense ā§° āĻŦāĻžāĻā§āϝāϤ āĻĒā§ā§°āĻĨāĻŽā§ āĻš'āĻŦāϞāĻā§ā§āĻž āĻāĻžā§°ā§āϝā§āϝāĻā§ā§° āĻŦāĻžāĻŦā§ shall/will have+3rd form āĻŦā§āĻ¯ā§ąāĻšāĻžā§° āĻā§°āĻŋ āĻĒāĻžāĻāϤ āϏāĻŽā§āĻĒā§ā§°ā§āĻŖ āĻš'āĻŦāϞāĻā§ā§āĻž āĻāĻžā§°ā§āϝā§āϝāĻā§āĻ āĻŦā§āĻāĻžāĻŦāϞ⧠Present Indefinite Tense āĻŦā§āĻ¯ā§ąāĻšāĻžā§° āĻā§°āĻž āĻšā§āĨ¤)
Example:I shall have reached home before it rains. (āĻŦā§°āώā§āĻŖ āĻĻāĻŋā§āĻžā§° āĻāĻāϤ⧠āĻŽāĻ āĻā§° āĻā§ āĻĒāĻžāĻŽāĨ¤)
The old man will have divided his property before he dies.
(f) With Non-Conclusive Verbs denoting an Ongoing Action(āĻ āϏāĻŽāĻžāĻĒāĻŋāĻāĻž āĻā§ā§°āĻŋā§āĻžā§° āĻā§āώā§āϤā§ā§°āϤ):The verbs which are associated with our five sense organs and our mental activity are generally classified as 'Non-Conclusive Verbs'.Present Indefinite Tense is used for such verbs that denote an action of the Present time.(āĻŦā§°ā§āϤāĻŽāĻžāύ āĻāϞāĻŋ āĻĨāĻāĻž āĻāĻžā§°ā§āϝā§āϝ āĻāĻāĻžāĻ āĻĒā§ā§°āĻāĻžāĻļ āĻā§°āĻŋāĻŦāϞ⧠āϏāĻžāϧāĻžā§°āĻŖāϤ⧠āĻāĻ am/is/are+Verb-ing formāĻā§ āĻŦā§āĻ¯ā§ąāĻšāĻžā§° āĻā§°āĻž āĻšā§āĨ¤āĻāĻŋāύā§āϤ⧠āĻāύā§āĻā§ā§ąāĻž āĻāĻŋāĻā§āĻŽāĻžāύ āĻā§ā§°āĻŋā§āĻžāĻĒāĻĻ (Verb)āĻāĻā§ āϝāĻŋāĻŦāĻŋāϞāĻžāĻāĻ āĻāϞāĻŋ āĻĨāĻāĻž āĻāĻžā§°ā§āϝā§āϝ āĻāĻāĻžāĻ āĻŦā§āĻāĻžāĻŦāϞā§āĻ Verb+ing formāϤ āĻĒā§ā§°āĻāĻžāĻļ āĻā§°āĻŋāĻŦ āύā§ā§ąāĻžā§°āĻŋāĨ¤āĻāĻ Verb āϏāĻŽā§āĻš āϏāĻžāϧāĻžā§°āĻŖāϤ⧠āĻāĻŽāĻžā§° āĻĒāĻā§āĻ āĻāύā§āĻĻā§ā§°āĻŋā§ (five sense organs)āĻā§°ā§ āĻŽāĻžāύāϏāĻŋāĻ āĻāĻžā§°ā§āϝā§āϝāĻāϞāĻžāĻĒ(mental activity)ā§° āϞāĻāϤ āĻā§āĻŋāϤāĨ¤āĻāĻ āϏāĻŽā§āĻš Verb āĻ āĻ āϏāĻŽāĻžāĻĒāĻŋāĻāĻž āĻā§ā§°āĻŋā§āĻž āĻŦāĻž Non-Conclusive Verb āĻŦā§āϞāĻž āĻšā§āĨ¤āĻŦā§°ā§āϤāĻŽāĻžāύ āĻāϞāĻŋ āĻāĻžāĻŽāĻ āĻŦā§āĻāĻžāĻŦāϞ⧠āĻāĻ VerbāϏāĻŽā§āĻšāĻ Present Indefinite Tense āϤ āϞāĻŋāĻāĻž āĻšā§āĨ¤)
For example, I see a bird. I feel a headache. I hear a strange sound.
The continuous form of these verbs is not used in spite of the fact that the action is going on at the moment of speaking.
(g) If two incidents of the Present time show a" cause and effect relationship" in a sentence one incident is written in the Present Perfect Tense and the other is written in the Present Indefinite Tense(āĻāĻžā§°ā§āϝā§āϝ āĻāĻžā§°āύ āĻŦā§āĻā§ā§ąāĻž āĻŦā§°ā§āϤāĻŽāĻžāύ āĻāĻžāϞ⧰ āĻĻā§āĻāĻž āĻŦā§āϝāĻžāĻāĻžāĻāĻļāĻ āĻāĻāĻž āĻŦāĻžāĻā§āϝāϤ āĻĒā§ā§°āĻāĻžāĻļ āĻā§°āĻŋāĻŦāϞ⧠āĻāĻāĻž āĻ āĻāĻļāϤ Present Perfect āĻŦā§āĻ¯ā§ąāĻšāĻžā§° āĻā§°āĻŋ āĻāύāĻā§ āĻ āĻāĻļ Present Indefinite Tense āϤ āϞāĻŋāĻāĻž āĻšā§āĨ¤).For example:My father is not at home;he has gone out.
He cannot play in the match as he has injured his foot. He cannot apply for the post as he has not got his certificate yet.
(c) Certain words and phrases denote the Present time and the sentences that contain these words are written in the Present Indefinite Tense on most occasions.(āϏāĻŽā§āĻŦāĻžāĻāĻ āĻāĻŋāĻā§āĻŽāĻžāύ āĻļāĻŦā§āĻĻā§° āϞāĻāϤ āĻĒā§ā§°āĻžā§ā§āĻ Present Indefinite Tense āĻŦā§āĻ¯ā§ąāĻšāĻžā§° āĻā§°āĻž āĻšā§āĨ¤āĻāĻ āĻļāĻŦā§āĻĻāĻŦā§ā§° āĻš'āϞ--always, usually, generally, never, sometimes, often, regularly, frequently, rarely, barely, seldomāĨ¤) Some of these words are:always, usually, generally, never, sometimes, often, regularly, frequently, rarely,barely,seldom etc.
Formation:1.Subject+1st Form of the verb-Object.e.g.I eat rice.He plays tennis.
2.Do/Does+Subject+verb1+Object.-e.g;Do you play chess ?
3.Subject+am/is/are+Noun(preceded by a,an)/Adjective.-e.g;He is a doctor.She is beautiful.
4.Am/Is/Are+Subject+adjective/Noun(preceded by a, an).-e.g;Is he a doctor ?Is she beautiful?
5.Do/does+Subject+Not+Verb1?-e.g; Do they not work hard?Does she not go to school?
6. Don't/Doesn't+Subject+Verb1?-e.g; Doesn't she have any friend?
7. Am/Is/Are+Subject+not+Adjective/Nouns (preceded by a,an) ?e.g;Is she not happy? Is he not a good person? Is she not tall?
8. Subject+have/has+complement.-e.g;I have many friends here.She has several diplomas.
9. Do/Does+Subject+have+Noun plus other appropriate words?--e.g; Do you have a car?
Does she have a laptop?
10. Sub+have/has+nobody/nothing+to+verb1.--e g;She has nobody to talk to.I have nothing to do.
11.How many+Countable Noun+are there+preposition+appropriate phrase?-e.g;How many students are there in your school?
12. How much+Uncountable Noun+is there+preposition+appropriate phrase?-e.g;How much milk is there in the glass?
13.There is+Singular Countable Noun+Preposition+appropriate phrase.--e.g;There is a potato in the basket.
14. There is+little/a little/much+Uncountable Noun+Preposition+appropriate phrase.-e.g; There is a little milk in the pot. There is little kindness in this world.
15. There are+few/a few/many+Countable Noun+Preposition+Appropriate phrase.-e.g; There are many people in the market.
16. There is+not+much/a little+Uncountable Noun+Preposition+Appropriate Phrase.-e.g; There is not much honesty in the world.
17. There are+not+many/a few+Countable Noun+Preposition+Appropriate Phrase.-e.g; There are not many students in the school.
18. Wh-word+do/does+Subject+Verb1?-e.g; Where does the man live? What do you eat at breakfast? Where do you want to go? Whom do you want to meet?
19. Why+am/is/are+Subject+Adjective ?-e.g;Why is he angry? Why is she so sad? Why is he so thin?
20. Why+is/are/am+Subject+not+Adjective?e.g; Why are you not attentive in the class?
Homework: Write 5 sentences using each of the patterns given above.
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13. Click here for Unseen Passage
14. Click here for Usage Present Indefinite Tense
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Bhogeswar Hazarika Girls' Higher Secondary School, Bebejia, Nagaon, Assam.
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7 Comments
Click here for CommentsYour hard work is helping the students a lot. Keep it up
ReplySir, thanks for being so dedicated and hard-working.
ReplyThank you so much for your inspiring feedback
ReplyExtensive and Well prepared to learn about tense.
ReplyThank you very much for pinpoint observation.
ReplyDetailed and Very good explanation on Present Indefinite tense. Thank you so much.
ReplyUseful to learn about the present indefinite tense. It is really good about the tense.
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