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English Grammar Essentials
1
The Sentence
When we speak or write we use words and a group of words which makes complete sense is
called a sentence. E.g. where do you live? Be quite. He is playing.
There are four major kinds of sentences
 Declarative or Assertive sentences
 Interrogative Sentence
 Imperative Sentences
 Exclamatory Sentences
Declarative or Assertive Sentences
A sentence which makes statement or assertion is called Declarative or Assertive Sentences
E.g. Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. The Sun rises in the east. Pakistan is in Asia.
Interrogative sentence
A sentence which asks a question is called an Interrogative sentence.
Where do you live? What is your name? How old are you?
Imperative Sentence
A sentence which expresses some command, request or entreaty is called an Imperative Sentence.
Be quiet. Shut the door. Put your pens down. -------------Command.
Have mercy upon us. Help me please. ----------------------Request
Exclamatory sentence
A sentence which expresses some strong feelings is called an exclamatory sentence.
What a shame! How cold the night is! How beautiful the rainbow is!
Subject and Predicate
Every sentence has at least two parts the subject and predicate.
When we make a sentence, we
 We speak about some person, thing or place and
 We say some thing about that person, thing or place
The person, thing or place which we are speaking about is called subject of the sentence.
The part which tells something about the subject is called the predicate of the sentence.
E.g. Aslam is eating. The Book is on the table.
Here “Aslam” and “book” are subjects while “is eating” and “is on the table” are predicates
In most cases the subject of a sentences comes first (as in the above two examples) but some time
it may also come after predicate.
E.g. Here comes the bus. Sweet are the days of childhood.
In imperative sentences the subject may be left out
E.g. Sit down (here the subject you is understood).
Thank you (here the subject you is understood)
Phrase and Clause
Group of words, which make sense, but not complete sense, is called a Phrase. In the following
sentence the groups of words in italic are phrases.
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The sun rises in the east.
There came a giant to my door.
Show me how to do it.
Remember phrase does not have its own subject and usually have no predicate too. (See above
examples)
Group of words which have its own subject and a predicate is called a Clause. In the following
sentence the groups of words in italic are Clauses.
People who pay their debt are trusted.
I think that you have made a mistake.
We cannot go while it is raining
Parts of Speech
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Noun
Pronoun
Adjective
Verb
Adverb
Article
Preposition
Conjunction
Interjection
Noun
Noun is a word used as the name of a person, place, thing or situation. The words thing and
situation includes all object that we can touch, taste, smell, imagine, hear or see and things that
we can think of but can’t perceive by the sense.
E.g. Hassan was a great king, Gul is a brave boy.
Proper Noun
A noun that is used for a specific person, place, thing etc like:
Allah, Ali Sayyed, Holy Quran, Pakistan: It must begin with capital letter in any case.
Common Noun
A noun that can be used for any person, any places or any things like:
Man, Cow, Horse, Parrot, Radio, House It must only begin with capital letter, when in the
beginning of a sentence.
Common nouns have two types called Collective Nouns and Abstract Noun.
Collective Noun
A noun that is used for the collection of some persons, places, things etc like:
Army, Team, Dozen, Library, Crowd, Police, Jury etc
It must only begin with capital letter, when in the beginning of a sentence.
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Abstract Noun
Such nouns that can’t be touched, seen, smelled or have any material existence. They can only be
imagined and felt like: Health, Headache, Cold, Fever
There is another form of noun called Material Noun which is used for raw material, i-e which is
used to produce other things like: Iron, Wood, and Cotton etc
Two other types of Noun are Countable Nouns and Uncountable Nouns
E.g. book, pen and boys etc are Countable and milk, honesty, beauty are Uncountable Nouns
Three uses of a Noun
Nominative Case
When a noun is used as a subject it is called Nominative case like:
Boys in “Boys go to school” and mother in “Mother loves us”
Possessive or Genitive case
When a noun is used to show some relation, possession or ownership with other noun like:
Shah in “Shah’s Father is ill” and Hussain in “Hussain’s dog is barking”
Objective or Accusative Case
When a noun is used as an object like:
Car in “She has bought a Car” and Sweets in “You like Sweets”
The Noun - Gender
A noun that denotes a male is said to be of the Masculine gender like: Boy, Hero, Father etc
A noun that denotes a female is said to be of the Feminine gender like: Girl, Lioness, Mother etc
A noun that denotes either a male or a female is said to be of the Common gender like: Parent,
Child, Student, Person, Friend, Enemy, Neighbour etc
A noun that denotes a thing that is neither male nor female is said to be of the Neuter gender like:
Book, Pen, Room, Tree etc
In modern English the gender of a noun is entirely a matter of sex or the absence of sex. It has
nothing to do with the form of a noun, which determines its gender in many other languages
including Urdu.
Objects without life or inanimate things are often personified, that is, spoken of as if they were
living beings. In such situation masculine gender is often applied to objects known for strength
and violence like: The Sun, summer, winter, Time, Death, and Fire etc. feminine gender is
sometime applied to objects known for beauty, gentleness and gracefulness like: The Moon, The
Earth, Spring, Autumn, Nature, Liberty, Mercy, Charity, Hope and Justice etc
Pronoun
A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun to avoid its repetition.
Pronouns are of seven types
 Personal pronouns
 Relative pronouns
 Reflexive pronouns
 Indefinite pronouns
 Demonstrative pronouns
 Distributive pronouns
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 Interrogative pronouns
Personal Pronoun
It is used for the person who is speaking (First person) or for the person spoken to (Second
Person) or for the person spoken of (Third Person) like:
In Nominative case these pronouns can be “they, it, she, he, you, thou, we, I”
In Objective case these pronouns can be “them, it, her, him, you, thee, us, and me”
In Possessive case these pronouns can be “their, its, her, his, your, thy, our, and my”
Relative Pronouns
A pronoun that is used as a pronoun and also adds two sentences like:
I met Shah Khalid who is fond of eating.
They are five in numbers (which, that, whom, whose, who)
Who and whom is only used for humans and God.
Which is used for living and non living things except humans.
That and Whose can be used for all
Pronouns formed by adding ever, so, or soever to who, which and what are called Compound
Relative pronouns; as, take whichever you like; I will take with me whomsoever you chose
Reflexive Pronouns
These are also called compound personal pronouns. These pronouns are used to emphasize more
on a pronoun or to show that a pronoun has done something himself. These are itself, herself,
myself, himself, yourself, yourselves, themselves. These are called Reflexive when the action
done by the subject turns back (reflects) upon the subject; as,
I shall post these letters myself.
And when used for the sake of emphasize, are called Emphatic pronouns; as,
The town itself is not very large, they themselves admitted their guilt.
Indefinite Pronouns
These pronouns are not used for specific person, place or thing. Like:
Somebody, nobody, one, anyone, many etc like:
Many were injured and many were died; One should obey one’s elder.
If one is used like in the above sentence one’s must also be used.
Demonstrative Pronouns
These pronouns are four only; This, These, That, Those
They refer to a particular person, place or thing.
Distributive Pronouns
These are three only; Neither, Either, Each
Each of these boys knows how to swim; these men received each a reward; those horses cost
5000Rs each.
Either of your servant is a liar. Neither of these rooms is airy.
Interrogative Pronouns
These are five only and used for asking questions
Who, whom, what, which, whose
These are actually relative pronouns but are differently used (for asking questions)
Of whom did you speak?
Whose is that pen?
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What did you see there?
Adjective
An adjective is a word that adds something extra to the meaning of a noun or a pronoun like:
Rich, Large, Hot, Lazy, Hot, That boy is very lazy; Sita is a very clever girl.
There are seven types of adjective
 Adjective of quality
 Adjective of quantity
 Demonstrative adjective
 Interrogative adjective
 Possessive adjective
 Numeral adjective
 Proper adjective
Adjective of Quality
These explain some quality or kind of a noun or pronoun like:
Rich Man, Hot Coffee, Dirty Room, foolish old crow, large city
Adjective of Quantity
These explain quantity or amount of a noun or pronoun like:
Some milk, little hope, enough money, no sense and sufficient rain
Demonstrative Adjective
These adjectives point out which person or thing is meant. These are four only and are this, these,
that, those
This boy is stronger than Hussain. These mangoes are sour.
Interrogative Adjective
These adjectives together with noun ask questions. These are three whose, which and what
Which pen is yours? Whose son is he?
Possessive Adjectives
These are actually pronouns which combine with other nouns and work as adjectives.
These are their, its, her, his, your, our, my
My father, their goods, her ornaments
Numeral Adjectives
These show the number or rank of noun or pronoun like;
Six rooms, fifth boy, All Men, No pictures
Definite numeral Adjective shows the exact number of a noun like one, two, fifth, tenth etc
Indefinite numeral Adjective doesn’t shows the exact number of a noun like some, few, many
Proper Adjective
These adjectives are always made of proper nouns like:
Chinese, Pakistani, Caribbean etc
Emphasizing Adjective
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The words own and very are called Emphasizing Adjectives
I saw it with my own eyes. He is his own master. That is the Very thing we want.
Comparison of Adjectives
There are three degree of comparison namely positive degree, Comparative degree and
Superlative degree.
Positive degree always shows quality of a noun without any exaggeration. It denotes the mere
existence of some quality of a noun without any comparison like:
A good pen, an old house
Comparative degree always compares two nouns like:
This girl is wiser than her, Mangoes are sweeter than Apples.
Superlative degree compares a noun with a plural noun; means it is used when more than two
things are compared like:
Lahore is the largest of all. This boy is the strongest in the class.
 If we place “the” before a positive degree then there is no need to place a noun after it
like: The Poors, The Blinds
 If we use a comparative degree then we must place than after it like: He is richer than his
neighbors. He is more beautiful than me.
 If there is ‘r’ at the end of a comparative degree then we can’t place more before it like;
He is more wiser than me (wrong). He is more beautiful than me (correct)
 If the word “comparatively” is used in a sentence then we can’t use comparative degree
in it like: I have bought a comparatively easier book for you. (Wrong). I have bought a
comparatively easy book for you. (Correct)
 We must always use “the” before a superlative degree.
Each and every: - Each and every are similar in meaning, but every is stronger word than each.
Each is used in speaking of two or more things; every is used only in speaking of more than two.
Every seat was taken.
Five boys were seated on each bench.
Every one of these chairs is broken.
It rained every day during my holidays.
Little, a little, the little:Little = not much or hardly any; it has a negative meaning
There is little hope of his recovery, i-e He is not likely to recover
A little = some though not much, a little has a positive meaning
There is a little hope of his recovery, i-e He may possibly recover
The little = not much, but all that is there
The little information he had was not quite reliable.
Few, a few, the few
Few = not many, hardly any, it has a negative meaning
Few persons can keep a secret; few men are free from faults
A few = some, it has a positive meaning and is opposed to none
A few words will convince him.
The few = not many, but all that is there
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The few friends that he has are all very poor.
Later, Latter, Latest, Last
Later and latest refer to time; Latter and last refer to position.
Ahmed is later than I expected. I have not heard the latest news.
The latter chapters are very difficult. Ours is the last house in the street.
Farther, Further
Both are used to express distance. Further is used to mean additional
Swat is Farther/Further form Karachi than Lahore. After this Hassan made no further remarks.
Gul must have a reply without further delay.
Nearest, Next
Nearest means the shortest distance away. Next refer to one of a sequence or things coming one
after the other like: Khalid shop is next to the Post Office. Where is the nearest phone box?
Karachi is the seaport nearest to Europe.
The Article
Articles are three in number (a, an, the). They have no special meaning they just make a noun
common or say proper. They are of two types.
 Indefinite Articles (a and an)
 Definite Articles (the)
A and an also work as numeral adjective and give meaning of one. It also makes a noun common
or indefinite. e.g. I gave him a rupee, we met a beggar.
Words that begin with a vowel sound like hour, honest and heir, as the initial consonant h is not
pronounced also accompany an with them e.g. an hour, an heir, an honest man, an hotel
The make a noun, proper, it point out some particular person or thing like:
The doctor was not at home, he has returned the book.
The Verb
Verb is a word which describes or narrates something. A sentence can’t be formed without a verb.
E.g. Eat, Sing, Come in, Go away, He plays Football. Verbs are of two types
 The intransitive verb
 The transitive verb
The Intransitive Verb
A verb that can provide complete meaning by only combining with subject is called intransitive
verb. Like: He runs, She laughed, He weeps.
The Transitive Verb
A verb that can’t provide his complete meaning by only combining with subject but it also need
an object for its full representation is called transitive verb. Like:
The cow eats, We bought.
The cow eats grass, We bought Oranges.
Some verbs are transitive as well as intransitive like:
He was flying a kite. (TRANSITIVE VERB)
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Birds fly. (INTRANSITIVE VERB)
Some verbs, e.g. come, go, fall, die, sleep denote action which can’t be done to anything; they
can therefore, never be used transitively.
Most transitive verb takes a single object. But such transitive verbs as give, ask, offer, and tell
etc take two object after them—an indirect object which denote the person to whom something
is given or for whom something is done, and a direct object which is usually the name of
something, as, His father gave him (Indirect) a watch (Direct); He told me (Indirect) a secret
(Direct).
Present: - First from of a verb is called Present or Present form. E.g. run, walk, and go.
Present participle: - First from of a verb with “ing” at the end is called Present Participle.
E.g. running, walking, moving etc
Past: - Second form of a verb is called Past or Past form. E.g. ran, wrote, told, went etc
Past Participle: - Third from of a verb is called Past Participle. Written, gone, torn etc
Infinitive: - First from of the verb with to at the beginning is called Infinitive. E.g. to go; to
write; to err is human.
Gerund: - A present participle used as a noun – has the force of noun and a verb, is called
Gerund E.g. Giving is better than receiving. Riding is a good sport. She is fond of singing
 Placing a word between the “to” and the “verb” of an infinitive is strictly prohibited.
 If you use “lest” in a sentence “should” must always follow it and “not” must not be
used in that sentence.
The verbs be, am, is, was, have and do etc when used with ordinary verbs to make tenses, passive
forms, questions and negations are called auxiliary verbs or auxiliaries.
The verbs can, could, may, might, will, would, shall, should, must and ought are called model
verbs.
The Adverb
This is a word used to modify the meaning of a verb, adjective or other adverb. It has mostly “ly”
at the end. E.g. He runs fast, You sang very sweetly Adverbs are of three types
 Simple Adverb
 Relative Adverb
 Interrogative Adverb
Simple Adverb
 These when talk about time are called Adverb of Time
E.g. ago, before, now, late, soon, again, never, since, already, formerly, daily etc
I have heard this before; Mr. Ali formerly lived here.
 When talk about place are called Adverb of Place
E.g. here, there, everywhere, above, aside, around, backward, away, out, within etc
stand here; walk backward; come in; my brother is out
 When talk about reasons or causes are called Adverb of Cause or Reason
E.g. how, what, why, therefore etc; he therefore left school
 When talk about results are called Adverb of Consequence
E.g. Therefore, Hence etc; he is hence unable to refute the charge
 When talk about quantity are called Adverb of Quantity or Degree e.g. Little, much,
too, very, etc; he was too careless; I am rather busy; you are partly right
 When talk about state or behavior are called Adverb of State or Manner
E.g. clearly, certainly, badly, slowly; slowly and sadly we laid him down
 When talk about rank or number are called Adverb of Number or Frequency
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E.g. always, once, twice, often, seldom, again etc; he seldom comes here; I have told you
twice.
Relative Adverb
Which refer back to a noun; as, I remember the house where I was born.
E.g. how, then, when, where, while, why, Whereas etc
Interrogative Adverb
These are actually relative pronouns but are used to ask questions. E.g. how, how many, why, how
far, whence, how long etc
The preposition
A word that shows the position of one word with regard to another word and has no special
meaning by itself is called preposition. e.g. in. on, up, off etc
In and Into: - “in” is used in rest situation and “into” is used to show some motion
E.g. there was no money in his pocket; He jumped into the river to save the drowning child.
The conjunction
It is a word which joins words or sentences to each other. E.g. Boys and girls go to School; She is
poor but honest; He is so old that he can’t walk. There are three types of conjunctions
 Coordinating Conjunction
 Subordinating Conjunction
 Correlative Conjunction
Coordinating Conjunction
These conjunctions can add two words as well as two independent sentences. e.g.
They have bought apples and Oranges.
These conjunctions are: and, but, yet, still, while, however, whereas, so, hence, for, too, else,
moreover, as well as, both…and, neither…nor, otherwise, either…or
Subordinating Conjunction
These are used to combine dependant and independent sentence. e.g.
I shall go to bed when my father returns home; We take exercise so that we may keep fit.
These can also be placed at the beginning of sentences like:
When you need my help, ring me up; If he speaks the truth, mother will forgive him.
To express time these are: when, after, before, till, until, as soon, as long
To express cause or reason these are: as, because
To talk about condition these are: if, unless, provided that
To compare things these are: as, than
Correlative Conjunction
A pair of conjunctions used in a single sentence is called Correlative Conjunction. e.g.
Either you or he is guilty. (Either…or)
He is not only poor but also honest. (Not only….but also)
He was both a poet and singer. (Both….and)
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Either…or: - verb will always be according to the last subject. e.g. either you or he is guilty.
Neither…Nor: - same as above e.g. neither I nor my uncle is ready to go there.
Both…and:-verb will always be plural e.g. both my uncle and your aunt are going.
Whether…or:-where there comes “whether” there will be “or”
No sooner…than: - e.g. no sooner did we step out of our house than it began to rain.
Rather…than: - e.g. I would rather resign than take bribes.
Unless:-When unless is used in sentence no negative word can be used there
e.g. Unless he comes, you can’t go (Correct). Unless he doesn’t come, you can’t go (Wrong).
Lest:-“lest” must always be followed by “should” e.g. Run fast lest you should miss the train.
As if:-“as if” must always be followed by “were” e.g. He talked as if he was ill.
As well as:- verb must always be according to the first subject e.g.
He as well as I is going to Murree, She as well as I has made a mistake.
The Interjection
These words are merely used to express some sudden feeling. Like:
Oh! Alas! Ha! etc
It always comes at the beginning of sentences and must be started with capital letter. There is
always a mark of exclamation after it. The word after exclamation mark always begins with
capital letter. e.g.
Alas! We have lost the keys; Hello! What are you dong there;
Punctuation
Punctuations derived from the Latin punctum, a point means the right use of putting in points or
stops in writing. The following are the principal stops in English.
 Full stop or period (.)
 Comma (,)
 Semicolon (;)
 Colon (:)
 Question Marks (?)
 Exclamation Marks (!)
 Dash ( -- )
 Hyphen (-)
 Parentheses ( )
 Apostrophe (‘)
 Inverted Commas or quotation Marks (“”)
 Dots (…) or ellipsis
 Slash (/)
Full Stop
It represents the greatest pause and separation.
 It is used to mark the end of the declarative or imperative sentences e.g. He has gone.
 It is also used in abbreviations, but they are often omitted in modern style. e.g. M.A. or
MA
Comma
It represents the shortest pause and is used
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 To separate a series of words in the same construction as; it was a long, dull and
wearisome journey.
 To separate words in a list, though they are often omitted before and: e.g. a pencil, book,
sharpener and a hot chocolate.
 To separate each pair of words connected by words e.g.
High and low, rich and poor, wise and foolish, must all die.
 To mark off words used in addressing people. e.g. Here are you, Ali.
 Before and after words, phrases, or clauses, let into the body of a sentence.
e.g. He did not, however, gain his object.
 To indicate the omission of a word, especially a verb
e.g. He will succeed; you, never; He was a Sayyed; you, a Memon.
 To separate short coordinate clause of a compound sentence
e.g. The way was long, the wind was cold; The rain descended, and the flood came.
 Before certain coordinative conjunction e.g. To act thus is not wisdom, but folly.
Semicolon
It represents a pause of greater importance than that shown by comma. It is used to separate
loosely related clause or to separate the clauses of a compound sentence
e.g. He was brave, large-hearted man; and we all honoured him. Her court was pure; her life
serene;
Colon
Colon marks a still more complete pause than that expressed by the semicolon. It is used often
with a dash after it like (:--)
 It is used to introduce a quotation as Shah says: -- “Practice makes a man perfect”.
 It may also be used before enumeration, examples, etc
The principal parts of a verb in English are: Present Tense, the past tense, and the past
participle
 It can also be used b/w sentences grammatically independent but closely connected in
sense. e.g. study to acquire a habit of thinking : no study is more important.
Question Marks
 It is used instead of the full stop, after a direct question; e.g. how do you do? What is your
name?
 It is used with a date, to express doubt. e.g. John Marston (?1575-1634)
The Exclamation Mark
It is used after interjections and after phrases and sentences expressing sudden emotions or wishes
e.g. Alas! Oh Dear! What a terrible fire this is! Long live the king!
Dash
 To indicate an abrupt stop or change of thought e.g. If my husband were alive — but why
lament the past?
 To resume a scattered subject e.g. Friends, companions, relatives—all deserted him.
Hyphen
 It is a shorter line than a dash and is used to connect the parts of a compound word. e.g.
Passer-by, man-of-war, Quid-e-Azam.
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 In British English to separate a prefix ending in a vowel from a word beginning with a
same vowel. e.g. co-operate, pre-eminent
 After the first section of the word that is divided between one line and the next. e.g. PakiStan is our homeland.
Parentheses
These are used to separate from the main part of the sentence a phrase or clause which doesn’t
grammatically belong to it. It is used to separate some extra information. e.g. He gained from
heaven (it was all he wished) a friend.
Apostrophe:- It is used
 To show the omission of a letter or letters as, Don’t, we’re, I’ve etc
 In possessive case on noun as, Shah’s, Ali’s
 To form the plural of figures and letters as, T’s , I’s , 5’s etc
Inverted Commas
These are used to enclose the exact words of a speaker.
e.g. “I would rather die”, he exclaimed, “than join the oppressors of my country”.
Dots or ellipsis (…)
Dots are used to indicate that words have been omitted, especially from a quotation or at the end
of a conversation.
Slash or oblique (/)
 To separate alternative words or phrases. e.g. Have a pudding and/or cheese.
Tenses
The use of is, am and are as a principal verb
Urdu:
‫ھے ۔ ھو ۔ ھیں‬
Verb: Mostly there is no other verb
e.g. You are fool; He is a brave man.
The use of was and were as a principal verb
Urdu:
‫تھے ۔ تھا ۔ تھیں‬
Verb: Mostly there is no other verb
e.g. He was at the tail of class; He was an intelligent boy.
Present Indefinite Tense
This tense is used
 To express a habitual action, he drinks tea every morning; My watch keep good time; I
get up every day at five o’clock.
 To express general truth; The sunrises in the east; Fortune favours the brave.
 To express a future event that is part of a fixed timetable; The next flight is at 7:00
tomorrow morning; The train leaves at 5:20 PM
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Urdu:
‫تےھیں ۔ تاھے ۔ تی ھے‬
Verb: First form, with ‘s’ or ‘es’ for singular pronoun with do or does
Present Continuous Tense
This tense is used
 For an action going on at the time of speaking; she is singing; they are playing Hockey.
 For a temporary action which may not be actually happenings at the time of speaking; I
am reading ‘he said’
 For an action that has already been arranged to take place in the near future; I am going to
the cinema tonight; My Uncle is arriving tomorrow.
Urdu: ‫رھا ۔ رھاھے ۔ رھےھو ۔ دھی ھے‬
Verb: First form + ing and is, am, are
Present Perfect Tense
This tense is used
 To indicate completed activities in the immediate past; He has just gone out;
 To express past action whose time is not given and not definite; Mr. Hussain has been to
France; I have never known him to be angry.
 To describe past events when we think more of their effects in the present than of the
action itself; He has eaten all food; I have cut my finger; I have finished my work
 Some time to denote an action beginning at some time in the past and continuing up to
the present (With ‘since’ and ‘for’) ; I have known him for a long time
Urdu: ‫ئی ھے ۔ یاھے ۔ چکاھے ۔ چکی ھے ۔ لیا ھے ۔ لی ھے‬
Verb: Third form and has or have
Present Perfect Continuous Tense
This tense is used
 To denote an action which began at some time in the past and is still continuing (‘since’
and ‘for’ is must); He has been sleeping for five hours; they have been playing since
four o’clock Since is used for exact time like; since 1982, Saturday, 4:00PM, morning
and for as for one hour, six days, three months, 11 years
 This tense is also some time used for an action already finished e.g. Why are your clothes
so wet?—‘I have been watering the garden’.
Urdu:
‫رھاھے ۔ رھی ھیں‬
Verb: First form and has been or have been
Past indefinite Tense
This tense is used
 To indicate an action completed in past; I received this letter a week ago; she left school
last year; the streamer sailed yesterday.
 Without an adverb of time. In such cases the time may be either implied or indicated by
the context; I learnt Pashto in Peshawar; I didn’t sleep well (last night)
 For past habits; he studied many hours everyday; she always carried an Umbrella.
Urdu: ‫تا تھا ۔ تےتھے ۔ یا تھا ۔ یے تھے ۔ لیا ۔ گئے ۔‬
Verb: Second form and did for interrogative and negative
By Ali Sayyed (www.KhpalSwat.com)
English Grammar Essentials
14
Past Continuous Tense
This tense is used
 To denote an action going on at some time in the past. The time of action may or may not
be indicated; it was getting darker; we were listening to the radio;
 With always, continually, etc for persistent habits in the past; he was always grumbling.
Urdu:
‫رھاتھا ۔ رھےتھے ۔ رھی تھی‬
Verb: First form + ing and was or were
Past Perfect Tense
This tense is used
 To describe an action completed before a certain moment in the past; I met him in
Islamabad in 1996; I had seen him last five years before.
 If two actions happened in the past, it may be necessary to show which action happened
earlier than the other. The simple past tense is used in one clause and the past perfect in
the other; I had done my exercise when Ali came to see me; I had written the letter before
he arrived; when I reached the station the train had started.
Urdu: ‫چکا تھا ۔ چکےتھے ۔ لیاتھا ۔ گیاتھا‬
Verb: Third form and had
Past Perfect Continuous Tense
This tense is used for an action that began before a certain point in the past and continued up to
that time; He had been writing a novel for two months; Ali had been teaching there for five years.
Since is used for exact time like; since 1982, Saturday, 4:00PM, morning and for as for one
hour, six days, three months, 11 years
Urdu:
‫رھاتھا ۔ رھےتھے ۔ رھی تھی‬
Verb: First form + ing and had been
Future Indefinite Tense
This tense is used
 To talk about thing which we can’t control; it will be Eid in a week; I shall be twenty next
month; we will know our exam result in May.
 To talk about what we think or believe will happen in future; I think Pakistan will win the
match; I’m sure he will get a first class.
 When we decide to do something at the time of speaking; it is raining, I will take an
Umbrella; you very busy at the moment, all right, I’ll wait.
 When we decide to some thing before taking about it (be going to + base of the verb). I
am going to resign the Job; I am going to buy a car.
 Going to can also be used to talk about things that are likely or certain; it is going to
rain; she is going to have a baby; the boat is going to sink.
 Going to can also be to express an action which is on the point of happening; Look! The
cracker is going to explode; let’s get into the train, its going to leave.
 Be about to + base form can also be used for the immediate future; don’t go out, we are
about to have a lunch; let’s get into the train. It’s about to leave.
Urdu: ‫ئیگی ۔ ئے گا ۔ کریگا ۔ کریگی‬
Verb: First form and shall or will
By Ali Sayyed (www.KhpalSwat.com)
English Grammar Essentials
15
Future Continues Tense
This tense is used
 When we talk about action which will be in progress at a time in the future. This time
tomorrow, I will be sitting on the beach in France; I suppose it will be raining when we
start; I will be watching the Tennis match on TV at 5:00PM.
 To talk about action in the future which are already planned or which are expected to
happen in the normal course of things; I will staying here till Sunday; the postman will be
coming soon. He will be meeting us next week.
 By using be to + base form to talk about official plans and arrangements; the CM is to
visit America next month; the conference is to discuss “Nuclear Test”.
Urdu: ‫رھاھوگا ۔ رھی ھو گی ۔ رھیں ھونگیں‬
Verb: First form + ing and shall be or will be
Future Perfect Tense
This tense is used to talk about actions that will be completed by a certain future time; I shall
have written my exercise by then; he will have left before you go to see him.
Urdu: ‫چکاھوگا ۔ چکی ھوگی ۔ ئی ھوگی ۔ یاھوگا‬
Verb: Third form and shall have or will have
Future Perfect Continues Tense
This tense is used for action which will in progress over a period of time that will end in future;
I’ll have been teaching for twenty years next July; by next March we shall have been living here
for four years. Since is used for exact time like; since 1982, Saturday, 4:00PM, morning and for
as for one hour, six days, three months, 11 years
Urdu: ‫رھاھوگا ۔ رھی ھو گی ۔ رھیں ھونگیں‬
Verb: First form + ing and shall have been or will have been
By Ali Sayyed (www.KhpalSwat.com)