Tense may be defined as that form of the verb which indicates the time and the state of action or events. Tense को क्रिया के उस रूप के रूप में परिभाषित किया जा सकता है जो समय और क्रिया या घटनाओं की स्थिति को इंगित करता है।
In other words we can say that tense is the study of the form of the verb. दूसरे शब्दों में हम कह सकते हैं कि काल क्रिया के रूप का अध्ययन है।
Tense denotes
(A) Time of an action/event.
for example:--
(I) He goes to school. (present time of action.)
(II)He went to school. (past time of action)
(III) He will go to school. (future time of action)
from the above sentences, it is clear that there are three main tenses.
(I) Present Tense
(II) Past Tense
(III) Future Tense
(B) State of an action/Progress of Action or event.
(i) I write a letter regularly. (Simple Present tense)
(ii) I am writing a letter . (Present Continuous tense)
(iii) I have written a letter. (Present Perfect tense)
(iv) I have been writing a letter for some time.
(Present perfect continuous tense)
These sentences show the state of an action.
For example:-
in sentence (i) the action mentioned denotes habit/practice.
in sentence (ii) the action menttioned is still in progress at the time of speaking.
In sentence (iii) the action reffered to is described as complete or perfect.
In sentence (iv) the action is continuing from the past into the present.
Difference between Time and Tense :
Time and Tense are two different words.Time is a non-gramatical term. it is free from the language and grammar. Time shows the exact time of action.
but Tense is a fully grammatical term. It is not free from language and grammar. Tense shows the form of verb.
The tense also gives a sense of time to work, but sometimes not.
Time और Tense दो अलग-अलग शब्द हैं। समय एक गैर-व्याकरणिक शब्द है। यह भाषा और व्याकरण से मुक्त है। समय action का सही समय दिखाता है। लेकिन Tense पूर्ण रूप से व्याकरणिक शब्द है। यह भाषा और व्याकरण से मुक्त नहीं है। Tense क्रिया के रूप को दर्शाता है। Tense भी काम करने का समय देता है, लेकिन कभी-कभी नहीं।
Kinds of Tense
There are three types of Tense
(I) Present Tense
(II) Past Tense
(III ) Future Tense
On the basis of the stage of progress or completness of the action represented by the verb , Tenses can further be categorised into four parts as aspects:--
1. Simple /Indefinite
2. Continuous
3. Perfect
4. Imperfect/ Perfect Continuous
(I)Types of Present Tense
(II) PRESENT CONTINUOUS TENSE
(A)This tense is normally used for an action happening at the time of speaking. On action in progress.
For example:
Ram is not working. Sita is swimming in the river.
(B) present continuous tense is also used to represent future action or a definite arrengement in the future e.g.
I am going to cenema tomarrow.
She is coming to night.