COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUES- I ENGLISH GRAMMAR 4. TENSES (PART 2) After having completed lessons one, two and three you will now continue with the different types of Future Tenses in this lesson. The previous knowledge of Verbs, Auxiliaries, Past and Present Tenses along with Future Tense and Verbals (which you will learn in the next lesson) will enable you to construct meaningful sentences. We have given many examples to support the theory along with exercises to improve your understanding.
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Objectives By the end of this unit you will:
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Identify the Simple Future, Future Continuous, Future Perfect, and Future Perfect Continuous Tenses in written and spoken language. Correctly use the appropriate tense in spoken and written language
Introduction In this lesson, you will learn about the variations of the Future Tense. You will also see how the correct use of tenses increases understanding. We have given many examples to support the theory along with exercises to make you practice applying what you have learnt.
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Future Tense As the very name of the tense indicates, Future Tense is used for an activity we propose for a later or future time. The auxiliaries used in future tense are will and shall (or the negative form ‘will not’ (won’t) and ‘shall not’ (shan’t)). The construction of the sentence would be as follows: The subject would be followed by the auxiliary and the verb in present tense form. Let us examine a few examples to understand the rule.
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Ravi will take up a job next month. Meena will not (won’t) agree to the plan. We shall eat dinner at 8.00 pm. I shall participate in the competition. 1
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I shan’t participate in the competition. Will you come to the movie with me? Won’t you come to the movie with me? Shall I make some tea?
Future Continuous Tense This tense speaks of action that is planned in the future for a longer or continuous time. The construction of the sentence would be: The subject followed by either of the auxiliaries WILL BE, SHALL BE (or their negative forms ‘won’t be’ or ‘shan’t be’) followed by the verb in present tense form +ing (e.g. coming, eating, going). Let us look at the examples given below and understand the rule.
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The Queen of England will be arriving tomorrow. The Chief Minister won’t be inaugurating the games. We shall be requesting for more time to complete the work. Manu will be visiting many places during this vacation. The students won’t be going for their picnic tomorrow. Rakesh shan’t be coming back to this school next year. Sonia shan’t be taking singing classes.
Future Perfect Tense The future perfect tense relates to an action that will occur in the future with a certainty of the time when it would be completed. The construction of the sentence would be as follows: The subject will be followed by either of the auxiliaries WILL HAVE, SHALL HAVE (or their negative forms ‘wouldn’t have’, ‘shan’t have’) followed by the verb in the past participle form. Let us look at a few examples in the following sentences and understand the rules of sentence formation.
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I will have completed my studies by March 2006. I shall have reached Nagpur by 6.00 pm., this evening. Our neighbour who is a pilot will have flown 500 hours by the end of this year. I shall have read the novel by this evening. Shyam wouldn’t have reached home as yet. The train wouldn’t have left the station by the time you get there. The milkman shan’t have delivered milk in time for your breakfast.
Future Perfect Continuous Tense
The future perfect continuous tense relates to a future action continuing over a period of time with a certainty of when it will be completed. The construction of the sentence would be as follows: The subject would be followed by either of the auxiliaries will have been, shall have been (or their negative forms ‘wouldn’t have been’, ‘shan’t have been’) followed by the verb in present tense form + ing. Let us understand the rule by looking at the following examples. 1. They shall have been constructing the memorial for twenty years by this December. 2. I will have been studying in this school for eleven years by next March. 3. Sudha shall have been training in music for five years by the end of this year. 4. He will have been studying in the same class for two years by this December. 5. Mohan won’t have been practicing medicine for too long by the year 2009.
Self-Check Questions Change to Future Continuous Tense 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Ram will go to school tomorrow. Sita won’t participate in the play. Shyam will plant two trees tomorrow. The surgeon shall operate on the patient only after his blood sugar is in control. The rocket will take off tomorrow.
Change to Future Perfect Tense 6. Anand will finish his graduation course in 2008. 7. Their parents will go on a vacation for two months. 8. The kids will look forward to more of such tours. Indicate the type of the tense 9. George will go to school from the 5th of this month. 10. Rama will have completed her 21 day course by the 10th 11. The boys will be doing their homework tonight. 12. His mother will not be making dinner tonight. 13. Raj would have been in deep trouble had his friend not arrived in the nick of time. 14. Tim shall not be going to the party till he finishes his homework.
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Summing Up In this lesson you have learnt
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the characteristics of different tenses through example sentences and conversations. the construction of sentences and conversations with different tense variations to make appropriate choice of words from options given to use words that are appropriate for filling in the blanks to change the tenses in sentences from one form to another.
Answers to Self-Check Questions
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Ram will be going to school tomorrow. Sita won’t be participating in the play. Shyam will be planting two trees tomorrow. The surgeon shall be operating on the patient only after his blood sugar is in control. 5. The rocket will be taking off tomorrow. 6. Anand will have finished his graduation course in 2008. 7. Their parents would have gone on a vacation for two months. 8. The kids will have more of such tours to look forward to. 9. Future Tense 10. Future Perfect Tense 11. Future Continuous Tense 12. Future Continuous Tense 13. Future Perfect Tense 14. Future Continuous Tense
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References
Hashemi, Louise and Thomas, Barbara. Grammar for First Certificate. Chennai: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Colonel (Retd) Jayakaran, I. Everyone’s Guide To English Grammar (A New Approach). Chennai: Apple Publishing International (P) Ltd, March 2003. Wren P.C & Martin H. English Grammar & Composition. New Delhi: S.Chand & Company, 2005 Wijesinha, Rajiva. A Handbook of English Grammar. Chennai: Foundation Books, 2004. Werner, Patricia K. and Mary Mitchell Church. Interactions II A Communicative Grammar. New York: Random House, Inc., 1985. Murphy, Raymond. Essential English Grammar. New Delhi: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Azar, Betty Schrampfer and Azar, Donald A. Fundamentals of English Grammar U.S.A : Prentice Hall Regents, 1994. Briggs, Sandra J. Grammar: Strategies and Practice. U.S.A: Scott Foresman and Company. 1994. Fogiel, M. Handbook of English. U.S.A: Research and Education Association. 1994.
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Glossary Tense: A set of forms of a verb that indicates the timing of the action namely past, present or future; tense indicates whether the action has been completed, in the process of getting completed or has yet to be initiated Future Tense: This refers to an activity proposed for a later or future time; auxiliaries used are will and shall; the auxiliary and the verb in present tense form follows the subject Future Continuous Tense: This refers to an action that is planned in the future for a longer or continuous time; the subject is followed by either of the auxiliaries will be, and shall be followed by the verb in present tense form + ing Future perfect tense: This relates to an action that will occur in the future with a certainty of the time when it would be completed; the subject is followed by either of the auxiliaries will have, shall have followed by the verb in the past participle form Future perfect continuous tense: This relates to a future action continuing over a period of time with a certainty of when it will be completed; the subject is followed by either of the auxiliaries will have been, shall have been followed by the verb in present tense forming
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