GRAMMAR

TENSES
ACTIVE PASSIVE VOICE
 TENSES
Tense of a sentence gives you an idea of the
time when the incident mentioned in a
statement takes place.
Simple Present Tense
A sentence is presented in simple present tense when it is used to
describe an action that is happening at present and does not
indicate when the action is expected to end. Simple present tense is
used when:

The action that is taking place is in general.

The action is not only occurring now; it repeats after regular

intervals of time.

To indicate facts those are generally true.

The action for relating habits and routines that happen all the time,
be it in the future, past or present.
Some Examples

The sun sets in the west.

All the cars stop at this crossing.

Michael teaches social studies in a school.

That notice reads, No parking.

Rajdhani leaves at seven in the morning.

Present Progressive Or Present
Continuous
Though the simple present and present continuous tenses
are used interchangeably, present continuous usually
defines an act that is going on at the time of speaking.

The sentences with present progressive tense are used

when:

Something is taking place now, while speaking and has a

definite end as well.

When something is already decided and arranged as well to

perform it.
Examples
Please wait for a moment, Shyam is talking to Mary.

We are late; he will be waiting for us at the restaurant

now.

Mom, I am playing football.

Are they still living here?

She is having her breakfast now.

Present Perfect Tense
Its probably the most used tense form in
English Grammar and is also considered
difficult to understand. The Present Perfect
Tense explains the incident that has happened
in the past and that continues until the
present time.
Examples
For almost five generations, my family
members have been engineers.

In order to avoid delays in my work, I have

been doing it regularly.

I have always wanted to ride on this vehicle.

Present Perfect Continuous Tense
Usually, Present Perfect Continuous Tense is
used for a situation that has started in the
past and which continues until that moment.
Examples
I have been studying since morning.

You have not been working for the past

month.

We havent been talking to Mary since long.

Simple Past Tense
Simple past tense is used to narrate an action
of the past. The verb in the past tense ends
with an -ed and hence, there are seven ways
of marking the irregular verbs in the past
tense. The most common being the change of
the vowel as in drink - drank.
Examples
Katie worked in that office for almost four years.

He passed away in 1999.

We went for the movie yesterday.

Three years ago, I studied at the Canada

University.
Past Continuous Tense
This from of tense indicates activities that
have already happened in the past and have
been completed

before the time of mention. These sentences

are formed with the help of an auxiliary verb
and giving the main verb an ing ending.
Examples
He was washing the dishes, while she was
cooking dinner.

I was working at 11p.m yesterday.

We were playing football when it started to rain.

She was reading a thriller novel when I called her.

What were you doing when Sam arrived?

Past Perfect Tense
This tense refers to a non-continuous action
that was already completed in the past. Such
sentences are formed by using the Simple Past
form of the auxiliary verb to have, followed
by the past participle form of the verb.
Examples
I had never seen such a beautiful painting before.

She understood the movie only because she had

read the book.

Clara had never been to a club before last night.

We didnt get the ticket because we had not

booked in advance.
Past Perfect Continuous Tense
A continuous action that was completed
sometime in the past falls under Past Perfect
Continuous tense.

Such sentences are framed by using the

modal, had + been + the present participle
of the verb (-ing).
Examples
I had been playing the guitar all morning.

I had been sleeping all the way from the

beginning of the class.

He had been trying to call her.

Until this year, Neha had been going to a village

school.
Simple Future Tense
This tense is used for those sentences which
refer to the actions which will occur later, in
future.
Examples
She will not come tomorrow.

Will you come to play with me after school?

I will keep in touch with you.

I will reach home by 7p.m.

Future Continuous Tense
This tense defines those acts which will be
continued at a future point of time. In order to
form a future continuous tense sentence, a
future auxiliary verb is required followed by a
main verb that ends with -ing.
Examples
Today, she will be walking all the way to her
house from her office.

I will be watching the new movie next week.

By this time tomorrow, I will be at home

watching T.V.
Future Perfect Tense
This tense is used to express an act that is
predicted to be finished within a certain span
of time in the future. Such sentences are
formed by will + have + past participle of
the verb.
Examples
By the end of the year, he will have saved enough
for his sisters wedding.

You will have left for London by the time this

bridge gets renewed.

Calvin will have gone by the time you reach there

by bus.

I will have walked 15 kms by this time.

ACTIVE-PASSIVE VOICE
 Active voice : subject (doer) + verb + object
Ex : Ram wrote an essay.

Passive voice : object + is/are/was/were/will

be/would be + verb (past participle) + subject
(doer)
Or object + verb
Ex : An essay was written by Ram.
WHY use the passive voice in formal
writing and speaking?
Often in writing or speaking, we dont want to
focus on who is doing an action, but on who is
receiving or experiencing the action. The passive
voice is thus extremely useful because it allows
you to highlight the most important participants
or events within sentences by placing them at the
beginning of the sentence. The passive
construction is preferable because you want
readers to focus on the result of an action rather
than the person doing the action.
Example
Active: Scientists classify glass as a solid.

Passive: Glass is classified as a solid.

The passive sentence focuses on how glass is

classified, rather than on who classifies glass.

My car was cleaned today. (The focus is on the car

in this situation)
 In addition, sometimes it is obvious, irrelevant
or repetitive to state who the doer of the
sentence is: thus the passive voice is a useful
way to construct these types of sentences. It is
also a way that the use of informal personal
pronouns can be avoided.
Examples
The number of seeds found in ant nests were
counted. The passive allows you to avoid using a
personal pronoun (...by us).
Fresh fruits are brought ever week from the
market. (by me)
 Sometimes, it might be expedient to use the
passive voice in order to avoid naming the
doer of an action so that the message of your
text is less inflammatory.
Example
Women have been traditionally confined to
the domestic sphere and excluded from the
outside world. (The identity of the doer in this text
could be interpreted as society or males.)
A law was proposed to protect the rights of
the people. (We know that the government
proposed it)
Theory
The passive voice is formed with the verb to
be + the past participle of the verb:

Ex : Many new roads were built during the last

years in my hometown.

The verb should always be changed into the

correct tense to make passive voice.
Lets consider the verb to eat, look how it changes in
passive voice:
The soup is eaten every day (present simple)

The soup is being eaten right now (present continuous)

The soup has been eaten this week (present perfect)

The soup was eaten yesterday (past simple)

The soup was being eaten for 1 hour yesterday (past continuous)

He told me the soup had been eaten the day before (past perfect)

Note :

We can include the subject by adding by + the person/group of people; when we need to do so.

For example: We were told to do so by our parents.

Practice
Choose the correct sentence in each pair. If both are correct, pick only the one with passive voice:

This car was bought on a sale.

This car was buy on a sale.

You have been told this many times.

You been told this many times.

The teacher told to prepare for an emergency.

The teacher was told to prepare for an emergency.

This museum was being funding by the government.

This museum was being funded by the government.

Smoking does not allow on the airplane.

Smoking is not allowed on the airplane.

 Complete the sentences with passive voice using
the words in brackets:
6. New textbooks_______________at the moment by the local University.
(to sell)

7. Mike_______________by his friends last week. (to visit)

8. Paris______________for its museums. (to know)

9. When we called the airport, we found that our

flight_______________due to the bad weather. (to cancel)

10. Your car___________this afternoon. (to repair)

Use of passive voice in writing
process :
These steps use the active voice.

First, put three tablespoons of oil in a large pot.

Then, heat the oil on a high flame until one kernel
of popcorn pops when you drop it into the hot
oil. Now, pour a quarter cup of popcorn into the
pot and cover the pot with a lid. Reduce the
flame and gently shake the pot. Continue shaking
until the corn has popped. Finally, empty the
popcorn into a large bowl and add melted butter
and salt.
 These steps use the passive voice.

First, the coffee beans are picked from the trees

and dried in the sun. Then, the beans are roasted
and then cooled rapidly before being ground. The
beans are then mixed with hot water and the
mixture is strained before it is frozen. Finally, the
frozen mixture is ground and then dried in
vacuum before it is packed into jars. The coffee is
now ready to be sold in shops.
Manufacturing of bricks :
 The diagram explains the way in which bricks are made for the building industry.

To begin with, the clay used to make the bricks is dug up from the ground by a
large digger. This clay is then placed onto a metal grid, which is used to break up
the clay into smaller pieces with the help of a roller. Following this, sand and water
are added to the clay, and this mixture is turned into bricks by either placing it into
a mould or using a wire cutter. Next, these bricks are placed in an oven to dry for
24 48 hours.

In the subsequent step, the bricks go through a heating and cooling process. They
are heated in a kiln at a moderate and then a high temperature (ranging from 200c
to 1300c), followed by a cooling process in a chamber for 2 3 days. Finally, the
bricks are packed and delivered to their destinations.

Overall, there are seven stages in the process which makes it simple yet lengthy,
where clay is the main ingredient used and heating the bricks at a particular
temperature is the most significant step.