Tenses for Class 10 (001)

 

Tenses Exercises for Class 10 CBSE With Answers

Tenses at a Glance

♦ Sequence of Tenses:

1. According to the Sequence of Tenses the tense of the verb in a subordinate clause follows the tense of the verb in the Principal Clause.

2. There are two main rules for the Sequence of Tenses.
Rule No. 1. If the verb in the Principal Clause is in the Present or Future Tense, the verb in the Subordinate Clause may be in any tense, according to the sense; for example:

Rule No. 2. If the verb in the Principal Clause is in the Past Tense, the verb in the Subordinate Clause must also be written in the corresponding Past Tense, for example:

1. I knew he was telling a lie.
2. He worked hard so that he might pass.
   There are, however, some exceptions to this rule.

(i) If the verb in the Subordinate Clause expresses some universal truth or habitual action, it is always in the Present Tense, even if the verb in the Principal Clause is in the Past Tense; for example:

1. The old father told his sons that union is strength.
2. I was sorry to hear that he has a bad temper.

(ii) If the verb in the Subordinate Clause is introduced by the conjunction of comparison ‘than’, the verb may be of any tense, even though there is Past Tense in the Principal Clause, for example:

1. She liked him more than she likes you.
2. He helped us more than he helps his relatives.

Note 1. If the comparison is expressed by “as well as” instead of “than”, the same rule holds good. Any tense may be followed by any tense, according to the sense intended by the speaker. For example,

1. He likes you as well as he liked me.
2. He will like you as well as he has liked me.

Note 2. If no verb is expressed after “than” or after “as well as”, the tense of the verb understood in the subordinate clause is the same as that of the verb expressed in the principal clause. For example,

1. He liked you better than (he liked) me.
2. He will like you as well as (he will like) me.

Note 3. The word “lest”-“that not”. The only auxiliary verb that can be used after “lest” is should, whatever may be the tense of the verb in the principal clause. For example,

(iii) If the Subordinate Clause is an adverbial clause of place or reason, sequence of tenses may be in any tense according to the tense/sense implied, for example:
He failed because he has weak health.

Rule No. 3. The conjunctions ‘as if and ‘as though’ always take ‘were’ in the subordinate clause, whatever the tense in the Principal Clause, for example:

1. He talks as if he was mad.
2. He worked as though he were a giant.