Tense, Voice & Narration

Snapshot

• Tenses show when an action happens (past, present, future) and how it unfolds (simple, continuous, perfect, perfect continuous). CUET tests them through gap-fills, error-spotting and sentence-improvement.
• English has 12 tense forms (3 times × 4 aspects). You do not need grammar jargon to score — you need to match the time markers in the sentence (already, since, yesterday, by the time, while) to the right form.
• The method is to read the time clue, decide the time and aspect it signals, and pick the matching verb form. Most errors are simple-past vs present-perfect confusion and sequence-of-tense slips.
• Exam reality: +5 / −1. Let the time markers choose the tense; don't mix tenses without reason.

Part 1 — The 12 tenses at a glance

Each column has a job: simple = a fact or habit; continuous = an action in progress; perfect = an action completed before a reference point; perfect continuous = an action that ran up to a point and stresses duration.

Part 2 — Time markers → tense (the key skill)

Learning this column is 70% of tense questions: the marker almost always names the tense.

Part 3 — The rules that get tested most

1. Simple past vs present perfect. Use simple past with a finished time (yesterday, in 2019, last year): "He came yesterday." Use present perfect for unfinished time or recent relevance (just, already, ever, since): "He has just come." Never mix: has come yesterday is wrong.
2. Sequence of tenses (past perfect). When two past actions occur, the earlier one takes past perfect: "The train had left before we reached."
3. Universal truths stay simple present even in past reporting: "The teacher said the earth revolves round the sun."
4. Conditionals. Type 1 (real): If it rains, we will stay. Type 2 (unreal present): If I were rich, I would travel. Type 3 (unreal past): If he had studied, he would have passed.
5. "Since" needs a perfect tense. "I have known him since 2010" (not I know him since).

Part 4 — Worked examples

1. "He ___ (write) the letter already." → has written.
2. "When I reached, the bus ___ (leave)." → earlier past → had left.
3. "She ___ (read) when the lights went out." → background action → was reading.
4. "Water ___ (boil) at 100°C." → universal truth → boils.
5. "I ___ (live) here since 2015." → have lived / have been living.
6. "If I ___ (be) you, I would resign." → unreal present → were.
7. "By next year he ___ (complete) his degree." → will have completed.
8. "They ___ (play) cricket yesterday." → finished time → played.
9. "If he had worked harder, he ___ (pass)." → type 3 → would have passed.
10. "Look! It ___ (rain)." → now → is raining.

Part 5 — Common traps

• Present perfect + finished time — has come yesterday is wrong; use came.
• Since with simple present — I know him since 2010 is wrong; use have known.
• Missing past perfect — failing to mark the earlier of two past actions.
• Tense shift without reason — switching past to present mid-sentence.
• "Would" in the if-clause — "If I would be rich" is wrong; "If I were rich".
• Universal truth changed in reported speech — keep it simple present.

Part 6 — Why time markers are your compass

The whole apparatus of twelve tenses can feel intimidating, but in practice the sentence almost always plants a time marker that points straight at the answer, and learning to read that marker is the single most efficient tense skill. Already, just, yet, ever, never, since, for pull you towards the perfect tenses; yesterday, ago, last, in [past year] lock you into the simple past; now, at the moment, currently, Look! demand a continuous form; by the time, before, after in a past context call for the past perfect on the earlier action. Train yourself to scan for these words first, before you even think about the verb. The second great skill is consistency: within a sentence, do not drift between tenses unless the meaning genuinely shifts time — narrative that starts in the past should stay in the past. The third is the conditional family, which trips many students; memorise the three templates (real → present + will; unreal present → past + would; unreal past → had + would have) as fixed shapes and you will never put would in the if-clause. With these three habits — read the marker, stay consistent, know the conditionals — the twelve tenses collapse into a small set of decisions you can make in seconds.

Part 7 — Conditionals & reported speech quick table

Part 8 — Rapid-fire practice (choose the form)

1. "She ___ (not see) him since Monday." → has not seen.
2. "We ___ (wait) for an hour before the bus came." → had been waiting.
3. "By 2030, scientists ___ (find) a cure." → will have found.
4. "He always ___ (forget) his keys." → habit → forgets.
5. "While she ___ (cook), the phone rang." → was cooking.
6. "I wish I ___ (know) the answer." → unreal → knew.
7. "They ___ (live) in Pune for five years now." → have been living.
8. "The match ___ (start) before we arrived." → had started.
9. "Listen! Someone ___ (knock) at the door." → now → is knocking.
10. "If you heat ice, it ___ (melt)." → general truth → melts.
11. "He said he ___ (finish) the work the previous day." → had finished.
12. "This time tomorrow I ___ (fly) to Delhi." → will be flying.

Part 9 — Irregular verb forms (V1 / V2 / V3 you must know)

Errors with these forms (had went, has wrote, have ate) are favourites in error-spotting; the past participle (V3) is what follows have/has/had, never the simple past (V2).

Part 10 — The deeper logic of perfect tenses

Students lose more marks on the perfect tenses than on any other, so it is worth understanding why they exist rather than just memorising forms. A perfect tense always links two points in time: the present perfect connects a past action to now ("I have finished — so it is done as of this moment"), while the past perfect connects an earlier past action to a later past one ("the film had ended before we arrived"). The keyword test makes this practical. Since and for with a result that still holds demand the present perfect, because the action stretches from the past into the present. Already, just, yet, ever, never all describe experience up to now, again present perfect. The instant a finished time word appears — yesterday, last year, in 2010, ago — the link to now is broken and you must drop to the simple past. And whenever a sentence narrates two past events, ask which came first; that earlier event wears the past perfect to mark its earlier-ness. Hold these three ideas — connection to now, finished-time breaks it, earlier-of-two-pasts takes past perfect — and the perfect tenses stop being a source of error and become a reliable source of marks.

Part 11 — How to use this page

Learn the 12-tense grid (Part 1) and, above all, the time-marker table (Part 2). Drill the most-tested rules in Part 3, the conditionals in Part 7, the irregular forms in Part 9, and the rapid-fire set in Part 8. Practise gap-fills by first underlining the time marker, then choosing the tense it signals.

One-line revision: the time marker names the tense — perfect for already/just/since, simple past for yesterday/ago, continuous for now/while, past perfect for the earlier of two past actions; never mix tenses without a reason.