Understand English Language Tenses

TENSES

TIME AND TENSE:

Time is a universal non-linguistic concept with three divisions.

1.      The present

2.      The past

3.      The future

Why do we consider time as a non-linguistic concept?

Time is not a linguistic concept because it is within the society and it’s the way people use to perceive actions, ie. It must be represented time in language.

TENSE

Tense is the change of the verb to show time or correspondence of time within the tense.

TYPES OF TENSES

1.      The present tense (the now/ today tense)

2.      The past tense (the yesterday tense)

3.      The future tense (the tomorrow tense)

NB: Tense tells us when certain things happened.

VERBS

What is a verb?

A verb is a word which expresses an action or a state of being.

1.      A verb appears in the base form in the dictionary before making any malnutrition.

2.      “s” form in simple present and “ies” form.

3.      “ing” form in participle form and present continuous form.

4.      “ed” form to form the past tense.

a)      An action

Examples.

(i)                 She teaches in their school.

(ii)               They are cultivating a farm.

(iii)             We are standing up.

(iv)             The moving car crushed him.

b)      A state of being = verbs which are not doing verbs, but being verbs that is verbs which describe states.

Examples.

(i)                 The food is very cold.

(ii)               The athletes are here.

(iii)             Her beautiful dress become dirty.

FORMS OF VERBS

The makes up of verbs. What makes a verb?

There are two ways in which verbs can be formed. So verbs formed from:

a)      Main verbs – these shows an action.

Examples. Walk, eat, play, run, dance, sing, laughs, sees, slides, sleeping, read, take, etc.

b)      Auxiliary verbs (Helping verbs)

Examples. Am, is, was, are, be, been, being, have, has, had, having, were, do, does, done, did, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would, ought, etc.

They help us to know/ locate the time when the action takes place, took place or will take place. In short, they are indicators of time. Also they show us how many times the action is being done.

VERB TENSE

(Change in verb according to time)

Verb tense helps us to talk about time when an action takes place, took place or will take place.

EXERCISE:

Use verbs from the box to fill the blanks.

Sing   cover     patrol Drink     play    set

1.      He never ____________ coffee at night.

2.      The children __________ in the yard every Sunday afternoon.

3.      Her grandmother _________ herself with at least two blankets every day.

4.      We _______ the National Anthem every Friday morning.

5.      Police officers ________ this area every night.

6.      The teacher _________ an exam every term.

TENSES

TYPES OF VERBS

Verbs can be divided into Regular and Irregular verbs according to how they inflect.

1.      REGULAR VERBS (weak verbs).

The regular verbs are a class of verbs that form their past tense and past participle by adding “d”, “ed” or “ied”.

Examples:

a)      We add “d” to the verbs ending with “e”

Verb	Past Tense	Past Participle
like	liked	Liked
die	died	Died
cause	caused	Caused
force	forced	forced
arrange	arranged	Arranged
live	lived	Lived
Unite	united	United
Love	loved	Loved
Agree	agreed	Agreed
Side	sided	Sided
smoke	smoked	Smoked

b)      By adding “ed”

Verb	Past Tense	Past Participle
Clean	cleaned	Cleaned
report	reported	Reported
Wash	washed	Washed
suggest	suggested	suggested
Wait	waited	Waited
Want	wanted	Wanted

c)      By doubling the last consonant and adding “ed”.

Verb	Past Tense	Past Participle
Bag	bagged	Bagged
Fit	fitted	Fitted
Stop	stopped	Stopped
travel	travelled	Travelled
Plan	planned	Planed
prefer	preferred	Preferred
permit	permitted	permitted
occur	occurred	Occurred
Omit	omitted	Omitted

d)     By changing the last “y” into “i” and adding “ed”

Verb	Past Tense	Past Participle
Cry	cried	Cried
Dry	dried	Dried
supply	supplied	Supplied
Apply	applied	Applied
Reply	replied	Replied

2.      IRREGULAR VERS (Strong verbs)

Irregular verbs are verbs which change completely when forming their past tense and past participles. Irregular verbs change internally or do not use “ed” in the expected places. They do not have specific formula or principle in forming their past tense and past participle.

Therefore due to this reason the past tense of irregular verbs often leads to errors either because of pronunciation difficulty.

Example. “sang / sung” or because of confusion of the last “d” sound in the inflictive with the past “d” which is expected. Thus ‘added’ correct because “add” is a regular verb, but “builded” or she “build” are wrong  because “build” is an irregular verb which already ends in “d” and makes its past form by using “built”. Another problem is with send and sent and the special cases where the past tense is the same as the infinitive like “put” and “cast”.

Verb	Past Tense	Past Participle
Arise	arose	Arisen
Be	was /were	Been
Begin	began	Begun
Beat	beat	Beaten
Bite	bit	Bitten
Bleed	bled	Bled
Break	broke	Broken
Breed	bred	Bred
Bring	brought	Brought
Burst	burst	Burst
Build	built	Built
Burn	burned	Burned
Catch	caught	Caught
Cast	cast	Cast
Choose	chose	Chosen
Come	came	Come
Cost	cost	Cost
Creep	crept	Crept
Cut	cut	Cut
Deal	dealt	Dealt
Dig	dug	Dug
Do	did	Done
Draw	drew	Drawn
Dream	Dreamed/t	Dreamed/t
Drink	drank	Drunk
Drive	drove	Driven
Eat	ate	Eaten
Fall	fell	Felt
Feed	fed	Fed
Feel	felt	Felt
Fight	fought	Fought
Find	found	Found
Flee	fled	Fled
Fly	flew	Flown
Forbid	forbade	forbidden
Forget	forgot	forgotten
Forgive	forgave	Forgiven
Freeze	froze	Frozen
Gate	got	Got
Go	went	Gone
Grow	grew	Grown
Hang	hung	Hanged
Hang	hanged	Hanged
Have	had	Had
Hear	heard	Heard
Hide	hid	Hidden
Hit	hit	Hit
Hold	held	Held
Hurt	hurt	Hurt
Keep	kept	Kept
Kneel	knelt	Knelt
Know	knew	Known
Lay	laid	Laid
Lead	led	Led
Learn	learned/t	learned/t
Leave	left	Left
Lend	lent	Lent
Lie	lay	Lay
Light	lit	Lit
Load	loaded	Loaded
Make	made	Made
Mean	meant	Meant
Meet	met	Met
Melt	melted	Melted
Mistake	mistook	mistaken
Pay	paid	Paid
Put	put	Put
Read	read	Read
Rid	rid	Rid
Ride	rode	Ridden
Ring	rang	Rung
Rise	rose	Risen
Run	ran	Run
Say	said	Said
See	saw	Seen
Sell	sold	Sold
Send	sent	Sent
Set	set	Set
Sew	sewed	Sewn
Shake	shook	Shaken
Shed	shed	Shed
Shine	shone	Shone
Show	showed	Shown
Shut	shut	Shut
Shrink	shrank	Shrunk
Sing	sang	Sung
Sink	sank	Sunk
Sit	sat	Sat
Sleep	slept	Slept
Smell	smelled	Smelled
Sow	sowed	Sown
Speak	spoke	Spoken
Speed	speeded	Speeded
Spell	spelled/spelt	spelled/spelt
Spend	spent	Spent
Spread	spread	Spread
Stand	stood	Stood
Steal	stole	Stole
Stick	stuck	Stuck
strike	struck	Struck
Swear	swore	Sworn
Sweep	swept	Swept
Swim	swam	swum
Take	took	Taken
Teach	taught	Taught
Tear	tore	Torn
Tell	told	Told
Think	thought	Thought
Throw	threw	Thrown
Wake	woke	woken
Wear	wore	Worn
Weep	wept	Wept
Win	won	Won
Write	wrote	Written

Some irregular verbs do not change in the past tense and past participle.

Examples.

Verb	Past Tense	Past Participle
Burst	burst	Burst
Put	put	Put
Cut	cut	Cut
Cost	cost	Cost
Hit	hit	hit
Hurt	hurt	Hurt
Let	let	Let
Read	read	Read
Set	set	Set
Shed	shed	Shed

EXERCISE 2 (Verbs)

Fill in the blanks with the correct verbs.

One day, Peter (i) w ______ hunting in the forest. There he (ii) s _____ a big lion. Peter (iii) r _____ very fast. He quickly (iv) cl ______ a tree. He then (v) lo _____down at the lion. It was looking at him angrily. He was very frightened. He (vi) c _____ higher up the tree, but suddenly he saw a big snake on a branch above him. Juma did not know what to do. He (vii) c _____ for help.After a short time he (viii) h ______ a car coming fast towards his direction.the car stopped a few meters from the lion, one of the two men in car got out and (ix) k ______ the lion with his gun. Peter quickly climbed down and (x) po ______ at the snake. The men with the gun (xi) ai ______ at it and shot it down. The boy (xii) th _____ the men and (xiii) r _____ home as fast as he could.

THE PRESENT TENSE (The now tense).

The present tense is used into several forms to express actions which occur at present time.

The forms include:

(i)     The simple present tense

(ii)   The present continuous tense

(iii) The present perfect tense

(iv) The present perfect continuous tense

THE SIMPLE PRESSNT TENSE

This tense is commonly used when referring to an action which happens every day, always, weekly, monthly, generally etc. it is used to express HABITUAL actions or events. Normally its verbs take “s/ es/ ies” when the third person singular (he/she/it) takes the position of the subject.

We use the Simple Present Tense for:-

(i)                 Facts, including scientific facts.

Example:             -A magnet attracts metals.

                 -The earth rotates on its own axis.

(ii)               Repeated actions, habits and customs.

Example: -James picks his nose a lot.

                 -My father gets up at five o’clock every morning.

                 -She seldom goes to school.

(iii)             Abilities

Example: -My sister all dance every day well.

                 -Anna sings beautifully.

In order to make a sentence using simple present tense, the following must be observed.

a)      Singular subject.

He

She                 + “s”, “es” or “ies” added to the verb.

It

John

Example:

1.      Aminagoes to school every day (go).

2.      It rains at our village every day (rain).

3.      John smokes too much on called days (smoke).

4.      She normally visits her uncle on Sunday (visit).

5.      Our cat catches one hundred rats every day (catch).

6.      The baby likes crying (like).

7.      Always she beats other children (beat).

8.      She eats too much when it is meat and rice (eat).

9.      She never collects homework (collect).

10.  This insect disturbs us oftenly (disturb).

11.  He knows the answer (know).

Words used when making simple present tense.

1.      Every day

2.      Often

3.      Always

4.      Normally

5.      Usually

6.      Frequently

7.      Weekly

8.      Generally

9.      Daily

10.  Sometimes

11.  Monthly

12.  He/she/it/never

b)     Plural subject.

When the subject is plural, the main verb remains as it is regardless of its nature. For example whether it ends with “o” or a consonant.

Examples:

(i)                 Pupils normally come to school by bus (come).

(ii)               We go to church every day (go).

(iii)             Teachers normally work very hard to help their students (work)

(iv)             I speak Germany (speak).

NB: This tense can also be used when expressing universal truth.

What are universal truths?

These are actions known worldwide and have been scientifically proved to have truth and will exist the way they are.

Examples:

(a)    Light travels on a straight line (travel)

(b)   The sun sets in the west (set).

(c)    Water boils at 100  (boil).

(d)   Metals expand on heating (expand).

Main verb doesn’t change when you use the following subjects.

            -They

            -We

            -You

            -I

            -John and Hamis

Examples:

1.      I like mangoes. (like)

2.      We normally speak French. (speak)

3.      Children always come back from school late. (come)

4.      You sometimes wake up very early. (wake)

5.      They usually arrive home accompanied by their friends. (arrive)

GROUPWORK:

Complete the following gaps by using words in the brackets.

i.                    She              to me once a week. (write)

ii.                  Bashir          English very well. (speak)

iii.                You always            church service. (attend)

iv.                I              maths to science. (prefer)

v.                  They normally           meat on Sunday. (eat)

vi.                Her uncle          blue shirts. (like)

vii.              We         Biology once a week. (learn)

viii.            Neema, Halima and John            playing along the road every evening. (like)

ix.                They         their grandmother every weekend. (visit)

x.                  John           the answer. (know)

EXERCISE:

Choose the correct answer by writing its letter in the box provided.

1.      I never ………… to school on foot.

A.    go

B.     goes

C.     gone

2.      Eva and Mushi normally ……….. in doing homeworks.

A.    help

B.     helps

C.     helped

3.      It ………… frequently at our village.

A.    rain

B.     rained

C.     rains

4.      She ……….. too much.

A.    talking

B.     talk

C.     talks

5.      We always ……… to church on Sunday.

A.    have gone

B.     go

C.     going

6.      My mother ………. rice as food every day.

A.    cooks

B.     cooking

C.     cook

7.      The sun ………… in the east.

A.    raises

B.     raised

C.     raise

8.      They normally            ………… home late from school.

A.    Arrive

B.     arriving

C.     have arrived

9.      He …………. to eat today.

A.    doesn’t want

B.     do not want

C.     they do not want

10.  Where …………. she normally go every weekend?

A.    does

B.     do

C.     done

Negative form

do/does + not + verb which is in present tense

Formula

 Example:      I go to school every day.

                        I do not go to school every day.

He goes to school.

He does not do go school.

Interrogative form

We use do/does at the beginning of the sentence.

Example:       I go to school every day.

                        Do I go to school every day?

                        He likes music

                        Does he like music?

 PRESENT CONTINUOUS TENSE

Present continuous tense is the tense which is used to express actions which are taking place now and they are still going on.

Words which are used as key words are:-

Ø  now

Ø  at the moment

Ø  at present

Ø  this time

Ø  today

Rules governing this tense:-

            I                             am + verb + ing.

             We

           You                       are + verb + ing.

           They

           He

            She                          is + verb + ing.

            It

Kamara

Example:

1.      She is cooking now.

2.      At the moment, Bashir is eating an apple.

3.      I am going to school now.

4.      My father is driving to his office at present.

5.      It is raining today.

6.      I am late now

7.      At the moment, the Headmaster is writing a letter.

8.      You are walking to school right now.

9.      The people are celebrating outside.

10.  They are playing on the ground at the moment.

Am/is/are + not + verb + ing

Negative form

We use;

Example:       I am not cleaning my bedroom.

                        She is not cooking now.

                        They are not singing at the moment.

Interrogative form

We use am, is, are, at the beginning of a sentence to make a question of present continuous tense.

Example:         Am I cleaning my bedroom?

                        Is she cooking now?

                        Are they singing now?

GROUPWORK:

Rewrite the following sentences in present continuous tense.

1.      Musoke buys milk from the milkman.

-Musokeis buying milk from the milkman.

2.      The children fetch water.

-The children are fetching water.

3.      He collects all our books.

-He is collecting all our books.

4.      The farmer harvests his crops.

-The farmer is harvesting his crops.

5.      My brother makes pots out of clay.

-My brother is making pots out of clay.

6.      The market vendors don’t sell clothes.

-The market vendors are not selling clothes.

PRESENT PERFECT TENSE

This is a tense which deals with events which have just taken place few minutes ago/past.

It shows an action in the past which is closely connected with the present.

Example:         I have just eaten my breakfast.

Rules governing this tense:-

                I

You                have + past participle

            We

            They

                He

She                 has + past participle

It

Have/has + past participle

Musa

We use

Key words used in Present perfect tense.

            -already

            -yet

            -since

            -for

            -ever

            -never

            -just

            -today

Examples:      Tom has never been to school.

                        I have already finished my work.

                        He has come back today.

                        We have already finished our task.

have/has + not + past participle.

Negative form;

We use                       

Example:             - I have eaten.

-          I have not eaten.

have/has at the beginning of a sentence

Interrogative form;

We use                       

EXERCISE

Change the following sentences into present perfect tense.

1.      Moses is preparation some mud for his house.

-Moses has prepared some mud for his house.

2.      She is teaching English.

-She has taught English.

3.      The pastor preaches to his congregation.

-The pastor has preached to his congregation.

4.      The pupils are having lunch.

-The pupils have had lunch.

5.      He is sweeping the school compound.

-He has swept the school compound.

6.      We are bathing.

-We have bathed.

7.      We take the books to the teacher.

-We have taken the books to the teacher.

8.      She cleans the blackboard.

-She has cleaned the blackboard.

9.      The trader is selling salt.

-The trader has sold salt.

10.  Otai rides a bicycle.

-Otai has ridden a bicycle.

PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE

has/have + been + verb + ing.

It shows the length of time taken to complete a certain action.

Formula;      

           

I

You

We                              have + been + verb + ing

They

Lisa &Kanoral

                He

            She                  has + been + verb + ing

            It

            John

Key words;

            -for

            -since

For: Is used to show a length or period of time taken.

Since: Shows a point or particular period of time from which an action started taking place.

Example:          - Nine o’clock, Monday, last week, last term.

-           We have been learning English since morning.

-          She has been eating for half an hour.

has/ have + not + been + verb + ing.

Negative form:-

Formula        

Example:       I have not been reading a book.

                        He has not been reading my book.

Interrogative form:-

We start with has/ have at the beginning of a sentence.

Examples:      Have I been reading a book?

                        Has he been reading my book?

Have they been working since Monday?

Examples:

(i)     Mhoro has been helping me till now.

(ii)   They have been staying with us since 2006.

(iii) He has been working in the bank for 3 years.

(iv) They have been speaking to their parents.

(v)   Clara has been wearing a nice dress.

EXERCISE:

Using the words in brackets complete each of the sentences in present perfect continuous tense.

1.      They have been dancing since morning. (dance)

2.      She has been being a soldier since she left the university. (be)

3.      I have been waiting for my brother for three hours. (wait)

4.      AIDs has been killing people since 1980’s. (kill)

5.      She has been suffering from malaria since Monday. (suffer)

6.      We have been being in the United States for ten years. (be)

7.      They have been shopping for the last one hour. (shop)

PAST TENSE

This refers to the past events which are not related to the present. The time when these actions took place or occurred is specifically mentioned.

The past tense is divided into four forms namely:-

(i)     The simple past tense.

(ii)   The past continuous tense.

(iii) The past perfect tense.

(iv) The past perfect continuous tense.

THE SIMPLE PAST TENSE.

The simple past tense is used to show an action which has been completed in the past. This tense is formed by using the second part of the verb. The simple past tense is formed by adding  “d”, “ed” or “ied” to the root of the verb for the regular verbs.

Since it is difficult to distinguish the verbs that form the simple past tense by adding “d”, “ed” or “ied” from which do not obey this rule, it is advised that any English learner should take each verb individually and learn how its simple past tense is formed.

Key words/ words associated with this tense.

-ago

-yesterday

-the day before

-last week, month, year, century, June, Easter, Christmas, day, night, Friday, evening, Monday, etc.

Examples:

1.      I saw an elephant at Mikumi National park yesterday.

2.      The dog barked at the young boy yesterday.

3.      My balloon burst yesterday.

4.      Her daughter improved in her studies last year.

5.      He wrote many letters yesterday.

6.      I visited my friend during Eidd –el Fitr last year.

7.      She came here a week before you.

8.      You walked to school yesterday.

NB: 1. All persons use the same form of the verb.

                Example:         I

                                   You

                                   He

                                   She                  walked to school last Friday

                                   It

                                   We

                                   They

       2. This tense is formed by using the second part of the verb.

3.      No any auxiliary or helping verb is used before the main verb in a sentence.

N /P + did + not + present verb

Negative form.

Formula.

Example:            -He did not see a car yesterday.

                        -I did not buy a car yesterday.

Interrogative form (question).

We use did at the beginning of the sentence.

Example:       -Did he see a car yesterday?

                        -Did I buy a car yesterday?

NB: Don’t change the main verb into past when the word did has been used in a sentence.

EXERCISE:

Change the verbs from the brackets into the simple past tense.

1.      He ………….. (do) not speak very slowly. Few ………….. (understand) him.

2.      She ……..… (drive) this car carefully. We ………… (arrive) safely.

3.      My mother ………. (prepare) good juice. We …………. (like) it.

4.      Why ……… (do) not wake up in time? This ……….. (give) more time for your work.

5.      The dog …………. (bark) yesterday night. The dog ………….. (meet) Juma at the door.

Change the following sentences into past tense.

1.      We have eaten food.

= we ate food.

2.      I like milk.

= I liked milk.

3.      We have finished our work.

= we finished our work.

4.      John is going to school.

= John went to school

PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE

This tense is used to show that an action was in progress or incomplete in the past. This tense is used in the following:-

(i)     To show that two events were taking place/happening at the same time in the past.

Example: - We were cleaning the school compound while the teacher was supervising.

-          They were sleeping when the teacher was teaching.

-          Bakari was playing while I was reading.

-          While I was going to school, Juma was playing at home.

(ii)   To show that an activity was going on when another event happened (one event carried out first and the other followed later).

Example: - As I was going to school, it started raining.

-          He was talking to his sister when his uncle came.

-          While we were talking, our teacher entered the class.

-          When Juma entered the room, Asha was reading a book.

-          As she was going to school, Annett met her uncle.

-          Juma was still writing letter when Eva left.

(iii)  To show that an activity was continuous over a certain period of time in the past.

Example: - My sister was arranging books all day.

-          We were reading through our notes all night.

Key words.

            -while

            -when

            -as

            -still

Formula

            I

            He                   was + verb + ing

She

            It

                We

You                were + verb + ing

They

Example:       I was reading my notes.

                        You were reading my notes.

EXERCISE:

Change the verbs in brackets into past continuous tense.

1.      I fell down while I                 to school. (run)

2.      As we                 the visitors left. (dance)

3.      When I met her, she                a basket. (carry)

4.      The teacher came into the class when we                 . (shout)

Note: The past continuous tense is very often used to show that an action was on (or continuing) at a time when something else happened. The thing that suddenly happened is expressed by using the simple past tense.

Example:

	Past Continuous Tense (action going on)	Simple Past (for new action)
01.	As I was coming to school this morning .……..	I saw a car run into a bus.
02.	The teacher was giving us a lesson,	when a little dog walked into the room.
03.	While we were having supper,	all the lights went out.
04.	The fire was still burning	when I passed the house the next day.
05.	While the man was looking in the shop window,	the thief picked his pocket.
06.	When I was walking to school,	it started raining.
07.	When I was walking to school this evening,	I saw a snake.

Sometimes the sentences may be the other way around, i.e we may mention the new action first before mentioning the action that was going on.

	Simple Past	Past continuous
01.	All the lights went out,	while we were having supper.
02.	When I passed the house today,	the fire was still burning.
03.	Harry did his homework	while the other boys were playing football.
04.	When a little dog walked into the room,	the teacher was giving us a lesson.

Affirmative sentences.

(i)                 Singular form

a)      I was writing a letter when it started raining yesterday morning.

b)      You were writing a letter when we arrived.

c)      She was cooking the evening meal when I went to her house.

d)     He was cleaning the blackboard when the teacher came in.

e)      It was barking when we arrived.

(ii)               Plural form

a)      We were writing letters when it started raining yesterday morning.

b)      You were writing letters when we arrived.

c)      They were cooking the evening meal when we went to their house.

d)     They were cleaning the blackboard when the teacher came in.

e)      They were barking when we arrived.

Negative form

N /P + was / were + not + verb + ing

Insert “NOT” immediately after was / were of your affirmative sentence and add “ing” form to their verb of the first action.

Thus:

Example:

Singular form.

a)      I was not writing a letter when it started raining yesterday.

b)      You were not writing a letter when we arrived.

c)      She was not cooking the evening meal when I went to her house.

d)     She was not cleaning the blackboard when the teacher came in.

e)      It was not barking when we arrived.

Plural form

a)      We were not writing letters when it started raining yesterday morning.

b)      You were not writing letters when we arrived.

c)      They were not cooking the evening meal when we went to their house.

d)     They were not cleaning the blackboard when the teacher came in.

e)      They were not barking when we arrived.

Interrogative / Questions form

Questions start with the modal auxiliary was/were and end up with a question mark.

Examples:

Singular form

a)      Was I writing a letter when it started raining yesterday morning?

b)      Were you writing a letter when we arrived?

c)      Was she cooking the evening meal when I went to her house?

d)     Was he cleaning the blackboard when the teacher came in?

e)      Was it barking when we arrived?

Plural form

a)      Were we writing letters when it started raining yesterday morning?

b)      Were you writing letters when we arrived?

c)      Were they cooking the evening meal when we went to their house?

d)     Were they cleaning the blackboard when the teachers came in?

e)      Were they barking when we arrived?

PAST PERFECT TENSE

This tense is used to show that one event took place before another, but in the past. It is also used to indicate that an event took place before a certain fixed time.

Points to remember:

(i)                 The only helping verb used in this tense is “had”.

(ii)              

N/P + had + verb in past participle

The main verb is written or said in the past participle.

Formula        

Example:- He had left for India when my father died.

    - The students shouted after the teacher had left the class.

    - I had written three letters when she arrived.

    - You had taken the breakfast when I came to your house.

    - She had broken the glass when you came.

    - He had bought a car when you met him last year.

    - The bus had left for Dodoma when we arrived.

    - We had written three letters when they arrived.

    - You had taken breakfast when we came to your house.

    - They had bought car when you met them last year.

    - They had bought two cars when you met them last year.

    - They had broken the glasses when you came.

    - The buses had left for Dodoma when we arrived.

PAST PERFECT TENSE

Normally, this tense shows actions which took place. One action must have been completed before the other action was completed.

Formula:

(i)                 Singular

I

You

He                                    had + verb in past participle

She

It                          auxiliary

Subject + had + past participle

A cow

Or

(ii)               Plural

We

You                      had + verb in past participle

They

Cows                    auxiliary

Uses;

It is used to show a past action that has been completed at a certain time. One action was completed first before the second.

Key words.

            - before

            - after

            - already

            - yet

Examples:

1.      (a) It rained ……………………… (1)

(b) We second seeds …………….. (2) ………. (had)

It is clear that rain fell first before sowing took place. If we join together these sentences into one sentence, it would be.

(a)    We sowed seeds when it had rained, or

(b)   It (had) rained before we sowed seeds.

2.      (a) She ate two bananas ………….…...(2)

(b)She bought seven bananas ……….. (1) …….. (had)

Sentence (b) took place before sentence (a).

Sentence (b) use the past participle tense.

We can re-write these sentences using these alternatives.

(i)                 After she had bought seven bananas, she ate two of them.

(ii)               She ate two bananas after she had bought seven bananas.

(iii)              Before she ate two bananas, she had  bought seven bananas.

NB: Instead of using after, before can replace it.

First Action		Second Action
After	After he had eaten an egg After we had written a letter	He wanted more We posted it
	Second Action	First Action
Before	Before he wanted more eggs, Before we posted a letter	He had eaten an egg We had written it

Past Perfect tense with

a)      already

b)      yet

Examples:

1.      She had already learnt how to read and write when she started standard one.

2.      She had not yet learnt how to read and write when she started standard one.

N /P had + not + past participle

Negative form

Formula

Example:

Singular form

i)                    I had not (hadn’t) written any letters when she arrived.

ii)                  You had not taken the breakfast when I came to your house.

iii)                She had not broken the glass when you came.

iv)                She had not bought a car when you met him last year.

v)                  The bus had not left for Dodoma when we arrived.

Plural form

i)                    We had not written any letters when they arrived.

ii)                  You had not taken the breakfast when we came to your house.

iii)                They had not broken any glasses when you came.

iv)                They had not brought any cars when you met them last year.

v)                  The buses had not left for Dodoma when we arrived.

Had + N/P + past participle

Interrogative form.

Formula

Singular form

i)                    Had I written any letters when she arrived?

ii)                  Had you taken the breakfast when I came to your house?

iii)                Had he bought a car when you came?

iv)                Had he bought a car when you met him last year?

v)                  Had the bus left for Dodoma when we arrived?

Plural form

i)                    Had we written any letters when they arrived?

ii)                  Had you taken the breakfast when we came to your house?

iii)                Had they broken the glasses when you came?

iv)                Had they bought any cars when you met them last year?

v)                  Had the buses left for Dodoma when we arrived?

EXERCISE

1.      Change these sentences into the past perfect tense.

a)      A donkey carries a lot of maize.

b)      You shot a lion and a zebra.

c)      I shall brush my shoes.

d)     They rarely open the gate for the poor.

e)      A dog barks.

2.      Re-write these sentences in the past perfect tense using the verbs from the brackets.

a)      A hen                   (lay) an egg daily.

b)      They                     (give) people a lot of help.

c)      The story                     (begin) already.

d)     You                      (not see) in your life a Punjabis.

3.      Join these sentences by using after or before.

a)      Neema cook food. We ate it.

b)      The family sold a cow. They paid school fees.

c)      We took medicine. We felt better.

d)     He warned Adam. He misbehaved

e)      They scored many goals. They played well.

PAST PERFECT TENSE

This is a tense that indicates an completion of the action in the past before another action started.

Example:

a)      He had washed his clothes before my arrival.

b)      They had gone home before the bell rang.

c)      When the President arrived, ht rebels had already kidnapped two girls.

d)     She had come.

Subject + had + past participle

Formula for making sentences.

PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE / PAST PROGRESSIVE TENSE

This tense is used to show that an action had been in progress up to another action began.

It is used to express a linkage between two actions, one denoting a previous action which had been taking place in this tense. The later action uses the simple past tense.

NB:     -The first auxiliary verb is “had” in all persons.

            - The second auxiliary verb is “been” in all persons

            -The verb has – ing form showing a continuous action.

Key words used with tense are:-

            -when

            -before

            -because

Subject + had + been + verb + ing

Formula for making sentences.

Examples:      Singular

1.      He had been dancing for seven minutes.

2.      The workman had been making a lot of noise.

3.      I had been drinking juice.

4.      You had been drinking juice.

5.      He had been drinking juice.

6.      She had been drinking juice.

7.      It had been drinking juice.

Plural

1.      We had been drinking juice.

2.      You had been drinking juice.

3.      They had been drinking juice.

FIRST (PREVIOUS ACTION)		SECONDARY (LATER ACTION)
a.	He had been crying three days	When he came here.
b.	We had been studying since Monday	Before the examination started.
c.	They had been training	Before they were tired in the evening.
d.	They had been training	When the coach praised them afterwards.
e.	Teachers had been correcting	Because students did their test school at 2:30 am.

REFERENCES 1

Sesnan, B. (2003). How to Teach English: Oxford University Press (Pg. 68-74)

Forrest, R. (2005). Revision English.New Edition.Longman (pg. 1).

Ogundipe, P.A., et al. (2006). Brighter Grammar Book 2 (New Ed. Pg. 34-38). Longman.

Murthy, J.D. (2015). Contemporary English Grammar. Book Palace: New Delhi-India (pg.101).

Kinunda, J.E. (2010). English Language For Secondary Schools Book Three; NyambariNyangwine Publishers. Dar Es Salaam-Tanzania.

REFERENCES 2.

Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary, (2013). Fourth Edition (pg. 1855-1857).

Fitikides, T.J. (2006). Common Mistakes in English; Longman (pg. 198-201).

Forrest, R. (2005). Revision English.New Edition. Longman (pg. 169-173).

Murthy, J.D. (2015). Contemporary English Grammar. Book Palace: New Delhi-India (pg.99-108).

Mwanga, A.K. (2004). Tenses and Their Uses.Ruvu Publishers Co. Ltd. DSM (pg. 129-133)

Nchimbi, B.R. (1991). The Structures of the English Tense Book Two. O & ES. Dodoma (pg. 83-86).

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The History of South Africa Part II

The Hottentots/Khoi/KhoiKhoi

• The Hottentots originally call themselves “KhoiKhoi” that is “Men of Men” meaning real people / people people, the term used to show their pride in themselves. Europeans called them Hottentots and their language Hottentot.
• –The Hottentots are taller than the Bushmen, but like the Bushmen, they are yellow skinned and their language is full of clicks.
• The Hottentots are also another indigenous people in South Africa who came from Botswana. They moved from Botswana to occupy South Africa around 500 BC.
• – Archaeological evidence shows that the Khoikhoi entered South Africa through two distinct routes:

• travelling west, dodging the Kalahari to the west coast, then later, down to the Cape, and

• travelling south-east out into the Highveld and then southwards to the south coast

• – When the Portuguese arrived in Southern Africa in 1487, they found the Hottentots living at Table bay(west coast)and Mossel bay(east coast). By the mid of the 17th century they were living around the Cape, along the banks of the Orange river and Natal.

Economy

• The Hottentots kept large herds of cattle and flock of sheep, which formed the basis of their life and economy.
• Since they were cattle keepers, the Hottentots had to move from place to place with their herds of cattle and flock of sheep in search of fresh pasture and water.
• Although they kept numerous animals, the Hottentots rarely killed them for food, except when there was an important function such as a ceremony.
• The Hottentots also fed on honey, wild fruits and roots and fish. Thus, like the Bushmen, the Hottentots were hunters and gatherers. They did not grow any food crops.

Social and political organization

• The Hottentots had a large and more efficient social and political organization than the Bushmen.
• They lived in large groups or camps, each of which consisted of several related clans.
• Each camp was therefore a large village. The camp also enclosed all the herds of its inhabitants.
• The Khoi society was the earliest unequal society in South Africa. This means that some people managed to accumulate wealth as they owned large herds of cattle than others.
• As a result, they developed a social hierarchy, for example chieftaincy, that is some people became rulers because of their wealth, hence leadership was based on wealth and seniority.
• It was in this ground that each camp had a chief who ruled with the help of the head of clans comprising his territory, that is a camp village.
• Since they were animal keepers who moved from one place to another, they sometimes became competitors with the San.
• The Khoikhoi were more centralized and lived in large communities than the San. At a later stage, the San were in cooperated by the Khoikhoi through intermarriage.
• The Khoikhoi were religious people. They had few religious ceremonies as such, but they believed in the existence of a supreme God. This supreme God was responsible for bringing thunderstorms which refreshed the pasture.
• The Khoi also believed that the spirits of their ancestors inhabited natural features of the landscape such as valleys, rivers, and mountains.

The Bantu

• Until at least the 1960s, South African historians and white politicians had a very distorted view of South African early history:
• –They believed that black Bantu- speaking, iron working farmers were fairly recent immigrants into South Africa.
• –Furthermore it was claimed that, these Bantu migrations first crossed the Limpopo between 1500 and 1600AD, and certainly not earlier than 1000AD.
• –The Blacks were said to have swept into South Africa from the North in large successive, and conquering waves of migration.
• However, since the 1970s, archaeological research, linguistics evidence and the use of carbon 14 dating have totally overturned this distorted and biasedversion of Southern Africa history.

The new evidence suggest that:

1. The first Bantu speaking people seem to have crossed the Limpopo into Southern Africa by about 200AD. Therefore, the Bantu were not recent immigrants of South Africa as suggested by colonial historians and politicians.
2. By 300 AD they had pushed Southwards into the present day Natal and by 400AD their settlement were evident in the Transvaal. However, there is no evidence of large scale migrations as suggested by colonial historians. The Bantu travelled and settled in small, and fairly sized groups.

• What does the above arguments imply? –The Bantu entered in South Africa earlier than the period suggested by Europeans / colonial scholars (1500-1600AD) –The Bantu did notenter in South Africa in large successive and conquering wave of migrations as suggested by these scholars, but rather in small and fairly sized groups

3. Archaeological evidence recovered very few skeletal remains of the early Bantu in South Africa. This little evidence shows that the Bantu were larger than the Khoikhoi and the San.

4. This archaeological evidence further suggests that, these early Bantu were of a definite Negroid racial type though with signs of intermixing with the local Khoikhoi and San population.

5. Linguistic evidence further suggests that, the earliest iron age immigrants (who are believed to be the Bantu) into Southern Africa were probably speakers of early forms of the Bantu family language. There are today more than 300 Bantu languages between Cameroon in West Africa and the Southern coast of South Africa.

• –By studying similarities and differences between them, linguists have concluded that probably all stem from an original parent language somewhere in the region of modern Cameroon.
• –The iron age farmers, therefore, were almost certainly the earliest ancestors of the Black Bantu speaking people who forms the vast majority of the population of Central and Southern Africa today.

Economy

• The Bantu were mixed farmers; their economy was more advanced, combining agriculture with pastoralism and their standard of living was a great deal higherthan that of their predecessors ( the San and the Khoi).
• They grew millets, sorghum, melons, and beans.
• They kept sheep, goat, and cattle.
• They also hunted a wide range of animals of all sizes and gathered wild plantsespecially fruits.
• From rivers they obtained fish and those near the coast collected shell fish.
• The Bantu managed to do all these because:
• –They knew and introduced the art of iron working. With their efficient tools, they could clear the forests and bushes and cultivate the soil on a large scale. Thus , their growing population could be sustained by food from the soil and cattle products
• –They kept many herds of cattle. Cattle were greatly valued as a source and form of wealth. Cattle were used for important functions such as payment of bride wealth and they valued for their milk , meat and skin.
• Because the Bantu kept cattle and also grew food crops, their population increased fast. The mixed economy of cattle keeping and agriculture supported a fairly high population by contemporary standards. People had enough to eat, more important they had rich and balanced diet.
• The arrival of the Bantu had a negative impact on the Bushmen and the Hottentots economic, social, and political life ways. They were conquered and dispossessed of their favorite hunting grounds by the Bantu.As a result:
• –They were pushed into the remote areas of the country where game and foodwere scarce and life difficulty, and many of them even had to flee to the Kalaharidesert for refuge
• –Some were absorbed by the Bantu, living among them as people without their own independence, identity and intermarrying with them.
• –A few other had a worse fate/destiny. They were either killed in clashes with the Bantu or died as a result of social and economic hardship following their defeat and dispossession.
• The third major group of the Bantu is represented by the Herero and Avambo. These live in Namibia and are generally called the South Western Bantu.
  Particularly, all these Bantu groups have been influenced by the Bushmen and Hottentots with whom they came into contact. This is why the Nguni languages have clicks, just like the languages of the Bushmen and the Hottentots.
  – Each tribe had its own territory, central clan, central family and a chief. The chief always came the central family and clan.
• –In addition the chief was the head of the tribe in all matters relating to religion, administration of justice, government and welfare. –Appeals could be made from small courts to his court served as the country’s supreme court and was the only competent to try murder cases.
• –In both tribes the chief was very powerful, but an autocratic and unpopular chief could not last longer, his people could desert him and join a friendly and just ruler. –The chief was highly respected as the symbol of tribal unity and the focus of loyalty in the tribe. 

Administration.

• To enable the chief do his duties properly:
• –The whole territory was divided into several subdivisions. The most important of these were the provinces and below them, were the districts.
• –The system of administration was strengthened through the appointment of Indunas. These were special state officials in various fields, both military and civil. They were permanent and assisted the chief in his duties.
• The most important was the chief Induna:
• He could deputize for the chief in his absence
• He could give orders and instructions in the chief’s name.
• He had the responsibility of keeping the chief well informed about public opinions and about any dangerous developments such as rebellion.
• No wonder the chief Induna came to be regarded as the eyes of the chief. –Head of districts took the title of Izikhulu. These had the responsibility of trying cases at lower levels, and they also received tributes and fines from the inhabitants of the districts they administered within the kingdom. Thus the king ruled in conjunction with this men.
• –Both the king and the Izikhulu formed the council of state. This was called the Ibandia, that is the highest administrative organ in the kingdom.
• –Among the Nguni speakers there was a rigid age group system and sexual division of labor. One of the results of such social organization was that, the king was able to have control over the institution of marriage.
• No youth would get married until he/she had gone through all the tasks demanded of his or her age group.
• For example, boys were called upon to herd the king’s cattle. Politically, this was referred to as “drinking the King’s milk”
  Thus, this meant that one could enter into marriage in an advanced stage of adulthood(when they were already adult).
  –The restriction of marriage: •Allowed the king to divert labor power from individual homesteads to his own service (this process allowed the king to get enough labor power for his own use) •This also allowed the king to have control over the process of reproduction ( birth rate) in his kingdom. By delaying marriage in this manner, the king was able to control the rate of population growth.

Source

Social formation

• Among the Bantu, Crop production and livestock keeping were the major economic activities.
• Trade or exchange transactions involved bulls while cows were retained for the purpose of maintaining and increasing wealth.
• The basic unit of production was the homestead.
• The homestead was made up of small segments or units and a homestead head.
• Each segment comprised of the wife and her children
• Each segment was supposed to provide for its own means of subsistence and to be self sufficient
• Majority of the homestead were made up of the homestead head, two or three wives and children
• The essential goods that could not be produced by the home stead were obtained through barter.
• Land on which the society depended for its production and reproductionbelonged to the king. Individuals gained rights over land on the condition that they remained loyal (trustworthy) to the king.
• –Occasionally individuals would be called upon to render services to the king or his officials. These services would be in the form agricultural labor, herding the king’s cattle or direct military service.
• Thus theoretically, all adult men were members of the state army, although in practice the standing army was composed of youth. –The army was used to forcibly appropriate and accumulate wealth for the king.
• Internally this took the form of tribute and fines for offences (the army was used in the collection of fines and tributes). Thus irrespective of the nature of the offence, part of the fine imposed had to remain in the king’s court.
• Externally, all the wealth plundered and brought to the state as a result of raidingor war fare, belonged to the state. This practically meant that such wealth was at the disposal or under the control of the king.

The Newcomers

• Towards the end of the 17th century, South Africa received newcomers from outside the continent. These were:

Europeans;

• This group is divided into two sections:
• The Afrikaners, that is, the people of Dutch origin who first settled in the Cape in 1652. Another name used to describe the Afrikaners is “Boers”, which should be used more strictly to refer to an “Afrikaner farmer”.
• The other major European group is English speaking group and has been associated with South Africa since the beginning of the 19th century (1806)

The people of mixed racial origin.

• These are called the “Coloreds”. Nearly all of them occupied the Cape province. They were of a mixed race, being the result of the union between the Boers and the slaves (imported from outside i.e. Indonesia and Madagascar), Hottentots,Bushmen, and Xhosa

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