Tenses and sequence of tenses

For LDC General English, tenses should be mapped as a working system of time, aspect, auxiliary control and clause sequence, not as twelve isolated labels.

Tense tells when an action, state or event is placed in time. Aspect tells how the action is viewed: complete, continuing, habitual, connected with the present, or continuing up to a point. For LDC General English, this topic matters beyond one isolated grammar heading because Paper II includes tenses and sequence of tenses, and the same control is needed in correction of sentences, narration and transformation. A candidate should therefore learn tenses as a working system, not as twelve names memorised separately.

The Rajasthan Staff Selection Board official LDC Grade-II/Junior Assistant syllabus states that Paper II carries 100 marks.

English uses three broad time zones: present, past and future. Each time zone combines with four aspects. The simple aspect shows habit, fact, single completed event or scheduled action: I write, I wrote, I will write. The continuous aspect shows an action in progress around a time: I am writing, I was writing, I will be writing. The perfect aspect connects one time point with another: I have written, I had written, I will have written. The perfect continuous aspect combines duration with connection to a reference point: I have been writing, I had been writing, I will have been writing. In exam questions, the chosen tense is usually forced by a time marker, a second clause, or the meaning of completion and duration.

The form of every tense can be checked through four items: auxiliary, main verb, time expression and sentence type. A simple present affirmative normally uses the base verb or s/es form: She reads. Its negative uses do/does not plus base verb: She does not read. Its question uses do/does before the subject: Does she read? A present continuous sentence uses am/is/are plus verb-ing: She is reading. Its negative is She is not reading, and its question is Is she reading? This pattern of auxiliary control is central: once the auxiliary is chosen correctly, negation and interrogation become mechanical.

The main verb form must match the structure. Simple tenses use base, s/es, past form or will plus base. Continuous tenses use verb-ing after the be auxiliary. Perfect tenses use the past participle after have, has or had. Perfect continuous tenses use been plus verb-ing after have, has or had. Wrong options often mix these parts: She has went is wrong because has requires the past participle gone; They are play is wrong because are requires playing; Did he went is wrong because did requires the base verb go.

Time expressions are strong clues, but they must be read with context. Always, usually, often, every day and generally often point to simple present. Now, at present and at this moment usually point to present continuous. Yesterday, last week and in 2020 normally point to simple past. Already, yet, just, ever and never often occur with present perfect when the result is connected to the present. Since and for may point to perfect or perfect continuous, depending on whether the emphasis is state, completion or duration. By the time, before and after often create a relationship between two actions, which is the core of sequence of tenses.

A useful exam method is to mark the time point first, then the aspect. Ask: Is the sentence about a habit, an action in progress, a completed past event, an earlier action before another past action, a result up to now, or a duration continuing up to a point? Then build the form. In correction questions, do not rely only on how familiar the sentence sounds. Check whether the auxiliary belongs to the subject, whether the main verb has the required form, whether the time expression allows that tense, and whether a subordinate clause changes the required tense. This four-part check catches most tense errors quickly.