AN INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH GRAMMAR & LANGUAGE
Structure :                                                              (iv) Will must not be confused with want / wish / would.
     Negative : Sub + was / were + not + V4 (V + ing)                    Will expresses an intention + a decision to fulfill it :
     Interrogative : Was / were + Sub + V4 (V + ing) ... ?               Note : To express determination or intention we use
     (’was’ is used) (‘were’ is used)                              will instead of ‘shall’.
Past Perfect Tense                                                       Want / wish / would like merely express desire. They
     Structure : (Sub + had + V3 + ....)                           do not give any information about intended actions :
     Use :                                                               (v) Structure : Subject + is / are / am / about to / to
     (i) The past perfect is the past equivalent of the present    + V1
perfect or the past perfect describes an action completed          Future Continuous
before a certain moment in the past; as,                                 The Future Continuous is used :
     I had seen her last three years before.                             (i) For an action going on at sometime in future.
     (Indicator : an action completed before a certain mo-               (ii) It is also used for future events that are planned.
ment in the past)                                                  Future Perfect Tense
     (ii) Past perfect is used with ’I wish’, ’as if’, ’as though’       Structure : Subject + Shall / will + have + V3 + ............
to indicate the unfulfilled desire, condition, wish of the past.         Use :
As,                                                                      The Future perfect is used :
     I wish I had passed in civil services Exam.
                                                                         (i) to indicate the completion of an action by a certain
     (iii) Present perfect tenses in direct speech become          future time;
past perfect tenses in the indirect speech provided the in-
                                                                         (ii) indicate the prior information of a person about a
troductory verb is in the past tense :
                                                                   thing.
     He, said, ‘I have been in Darbhanga for ten years’ = He
                                                                         Note : Future Perfect Conti-nuous Tense is not much
said that he had been in Darbhanga for ten years.
                                                                   in use.
     Simple past tense in direct speech usually change simi-
larly :                                                            INFINITIVE, PARTICIPLE & GERUND
     She said, ‘I knew O.P. very well’.                                A Verb may be Finite (limited) or Infinite (unlimited). It is
                                                                   Finite when it is limited by the Number and Person of its
     She said that she had known O.P. Very well.
                                                                   Subject. On the other hand, a Verb which has not Subject
     Affirmative : I had written him a letter.
                                                                   and is therefore not limited by Number and Person, is called
     Negative : I had not writer him a letter.
                                                                   a Verb Infinite.
     Interrogative : Had he written a letter to me.
     Structure :
     Negative : Sub + had not + V3 + ........
     Interrogative : Had + Sub + V3 + ............?
Past Perfect Continuous
     Structure :
     Subject + had + been + V4 (V+ing) + ............. For /
Since + Time
     The past perfect continuous tense is used for :
     An action that began before a certain point in the past
and continued up to that time; as,
     It was now five and she was tired because she had                 For example,
been working since dawn.                                               (i) He is going to school.
                        FUTURE TENSE                                   (ii) They are going to school.
Future Indefinite                                                      In both these sentences going remains going. But is
     Structure : Subject + shall / will + V1 + ............        turns into are. This transformation of is into are is not due
     Negative : Subject + shall / will + not + V1 + ....           to the change of the Tense, but due to the change in the
     Interrogative : Will + Subject + V1 + ...................?    Number. When Subject was Singular, the Verb was is. When
     Use of shall / will                                           Subject becomes Plural (they), the Verb becomes are (Plu-
     ‘Shall’ is used only with ’I’ and ‘we’ and ‘will’ is used     ral). So we find that the form of the Verb is (to be) is changed
with all other numbers and persons :                               with the change in the Subject. It may also be proved that
     But in Interrogative sentences ‘will’ is used with all the    the Verb is (to be) is also changed with the change in the
three persons (I, we, you, he, they).                              Person of the Subject. But the Verb going remains con-
                                                                   stant and it can be changed only when tense is changed.
* Simple Future Tense is used for :
                                                                   So, Verb is (to be) is Finite and going is Non-Finite. Verb is
     (i) an action that has still to take place.
                                                                   has a Subject and is limited by the Number and Person of
     I shall go to Chennai tomorrow.
                                                                   the Subject. But going is not related to any Subject in this
     They will play cricket tomorrow.
                                                                   way.
     (ii) When the future is coloured with intention, the go-
                                                                       As you know, there are three types of Non-Finite Verbs.
ing to + infinitive construction is preferred.
                                                                   (To some grammarians there are four types). The three types
     In case of compulsion.
                                                                   are : Infinitive, Participle and Gerund.
     (iii) Structure : Subject + has / have + to + V 1
                                                               SEE–88