1. Tenses, Sequence of Tense & Conditionals

🎯

Why it matters: FPSC examiner reports name sequence of tense as one of the four most common faults across the whole script. Tense errors cost marks directly in grammar and sentence-correction questions, and silently in précis, comprehension and essay.

1. Each Tense — Use & Signal Words

1A. All 12 Tenses — Structure in Every Sentence Form

📌

Helper-verb rule: in negatives and questions, the first helping verb carries not and moves before the subject. Do/does/did appear only in the simple present and simple past. After do/does/did, the main verb is always V1.

🔑 Where does NOT go? Contracted vs full forms

📍

Three placement rules

1. Negative sentence: not comes right after the first helping verb: He has not written. → short form: He hasn't written.
2. Negative-interrogative, contracted: helper + n't stay joined and move before the subject: Hasn't he written?
3. Negative-interrogative, full: the helper moves before the subject, but not stays after the subject: Has he not written?

❌ Has not he written? → wrong. not never comes between the helper and the subject in the full form.

With other subjects (they / you / I)

With be / have as main verbs and with modals

⚠️ Special contractions to remember

• will not → won't (❌ willn't) · shall not → shan't · can not → cannot / can't · am not → I'm not (❌ amn't)
• The question tag and negative-question form for I am is aren't I?: I'm right, aren't I?
• may not is almost never contracted (❌ mayn't).

✍️ When to use which

• Contracted forms: speech, dialogue, informal writing, question tags.
• Full forms: formal writing, i.e. CSS essay, précis, comprehension answers and letters. Avoid contractions in the exam: write does not, cannot, will not.
• The full negative-interrogative (Does he not know?) sounds formal and emphatic, which suits rhetorical questions in essays: Does the nation not deserve better governance?

🟢 PRESENT TENSES

1. Present Indefinite (Simple Present)

2. Present Continuous

3. Present Perfect

4. Present Perfect Continuous

🔵 PAST TENSES

5. Past Indefinite (Simple Past)

6. Past Continuous

7. Past Perfect

8. Past Perfect Continuous

🟣 FUTURE TENSES

9. Future Indefinite (Simple Future)

10. Future Continuous

11. Future Perfect

12. Future Perfect Continuous

📋 One-glance summary (verb: write)

1B. Tense Deep Dive — Every Use, More Sentences & Common Errors

📚

For each tense: all its uses with an example, extra practice sentences in mixed forms, and the errors FPSC tests in sentence correction.

🟢 Present Indefinite

Uses

1. Habit / routine: She offers Fajr prayers every day.
2. Universal truth: Water boils at 100°C.
3. General fact: Pakistan shares a border with China.
4. Timetable / schedule: The CSS written exam starts in February.
5. Headlines: Prime Minister visits flood-hit areas.
6. Future in time and if clauses: I will call you when I reach Lahore.
7. Commentary / narration: Babar drives the ball through the covers for four.
8. Instructions: You take the first left and then go straight.

More sentences

• Honesty pays in the long run.
• He does not believe in luck; he believes in hard work.
• Does the Senate approve the budget? — No, the National Assembly does.
• Doesn't she teach at the Federal Board college?
• How often do you revise vocabulary? — I revise it twice a week.
• Every citizen has the right to education. (has, not have: every = singular)
• Neither of the answers seems correct.

Common errors

• ❌ He go to office daily. → ✅ He goes to office daily.
• ❌ Does he knows the answer? → ✅ Does he know the answer?
• ❌ I will tell you when he will come. → ✅ …when he comes.
• ❌ The news are good. → ✅ The news is good.

🟢 Present Continuous

Uses

1. Action happening now: Look! The children are flying kites.
2. Temporary situation: He is living with his uncle this year.
3. Fixed future arrangement: We are leaving for Skardu on Friday.
4. Changing / developing trend: Pakistan's population is growing rapidly.
5. Annoying habit (with always/constantly): He is always interrupting me.

More sentences

• The government is not considering any new tax at the moment.
• Are you coming to the seminar tomorrow?
• Isn't the weather getting colder these days?
• Why are prices rising so fast?
• More women are joining the civil service every year.
• A new motorway is being constructed between the two cities.

Common errors (stative verbs)

• ❌ I am understanding the lesson. → ✅ I understand the lesson.
• ❌ This book is belonging to me. → ✅ This book belongs to me.
• ❌ She is having a new car. → ✅ She has a new car. (But ✅ She is having dinner.)

🟢 Present Perfect

Uses

1. Just completed action: The results have just been announced.
2. Experience (ever/never): Have you ever met a minister?
3. Result visible now: I have lost my ID card (so I can't enter).
4. Unfinished time period: It has rained a lot this month.
5. With yet, already, so far, recently: She has already submitted her form.
6. Duration with stative verbs: I have known him since school.

More sentences

• Pakistan has hosted many international cricket series recently.
• The committee has not reached a decision yet.
• How many books have you read so far this year?
• Haven't you heard the news?
• He has gone to Dubai. (he is there now) vs. He has been to Dubai. (he went and came back)
• This is the best speech I have ever heard.

Common errors

• ❌ I have seen him yesterday. → ✅ I saw him yesterday. (no finished-time words with present perfect)
• ❌ He has came back. → ✅ He has come back.
• ❌ I know him since 2015. → ✅ I have known him since 2015.
• ❌ When have you arrived? → ✅ When did you arrive?

🟢 Present Perfect Continuous

Uses

1. Action started in the past and still going (duration): She has been teaching since 2012.
2. Recent activity with a visible result: Your eyes are red. Have you been crying?
3. Repeated action up to now: He has been calling me all morning.

More sentences

• The people of Karachi have been facing water shortages for decades.
• I have not been feeling well since Monday.
• Have you been waiting long?
• Hasn't the opposition been demanding early elections for months?
• What have you been doing all day?
• It has been raining since Friday, so the roads are flooded.

since vs for: since + point of time (since 2020, since Monday, since morning) · for + period (for two hours, for ten years)

Common errors

• ❌ I am waiting here since morning. → ✅ I have been waiting here since morning.
• ❌ She has been studying since two hours. → ✅ …for two hours.
• ❌ He has been knowing me for years. → ✅ He has known me for years.

🔵 Past Indefinite

Uses

1. Completed action at a definite past time: Allama Iqbal died in 1938.
2. Series of completed actions: He entered, sat down and opened his laptop.
3. Past habit: In childhood, I walked to school every day.
4. Historical facts: The Lahore Resolution was passed in 1940.
5. Unreal present (in conditionals / wish): If I had time, I would join you.

More sentences

• The Supreme Court did not accept the petition.
• Did the IMF approve the programme last month?
• Didn't you receive my message?
• Where did you spend your holidays?
• The accused was arrested two days ago.
• It was the first time I visited Gilgit. (✅ modern usage also accepts had visited)

Common errors

• ❌ He did not went. → ✅ He did not go.
• ❌ Did you saw the match? → ✅ Did you see the match?
• ❌ I have finished it yesterday. → ✅ I finished it yesterday.
• ❌ He lied on the bed. → ✅ He lay on the bed. (lie–lay–lain = rest; lie–lied = tell a lie)

🔵 Past Continuous

Uses

1. Action in progress at a past moment: At 8 pm yesterday, I was studying.
2. Interrupted action (long + short): I was sleeping when the phone rang.
3. Parallel actions (while): While she was cooking, he was setting the table.
4. Background to a story: The wind was blowing and people were rushing home.

More sentences

• They were not watching the match; they were studying.
• Were you driving when the accident happened?
• Wasn't he living in Quetta at that time?
• What were the protesters demanding?
• The roads were being repaired when the monsoon arrived.

Common errors

• ❌ When I was reaching home, it rained. → ✅ When I reached home, it was raining.
• ❌ He was knowing the answer. → ✅ He knew the answer.

🔵 Past Perfect

Uses

1. The earlier of two past actions: The patient had died before the doctor arrived.
2. With by the time, before, after, when, already: By the time we reached, the film had started.
3. No sooner…than / Hardly…when / Scarcely…when: Hardly had I sat down when the bell rang.
4. Reported speech (backshift): She said she had completed the task.
5. Unreal past (third conditional / wish): I wish I had studied harder.

More sentences

• The thieves had escaped before the police arrived.
• He had never travelled by air until last year.
• Had you finished your paper before the time ended?
• Hadn't they warned the villagers about the flood?
• After he had finished his work, he went home.
• The bridge had been damaged long before it collapsed.

Common errors

• ❌ No sooner did he reach than… → ✅ No sooner had he reached … than…
• ❌ Hardly had he arrived than… → ✅ Hardly had he arrived when…
• ❌ I had seen him yesterday. → ✅ I saw him yesterday. (only one past action)

🔵 Past Perfect Continuous

Uses

1. Duration up to a past point: She had been working there for five years when she resigned.
2. Cause of a past situation: The ground was wet because it had been raining.

More sentences

• They had been negotiating for months before they signed the deal.
• He had not been sleeping well, so he looked tired.
• Had you been waiting long when the bus arrived?
• How long had the protesters been sitting outside the assembly?

Common errors

• ❌ He was waiting for two hours when the train came. → ✅ He had been waiting for two hours…

🟣 Future Indefinite

Uses

1. Prediction: It will rain tomorrow.
2. Promise: I will help you with your essay.
3. Spontaneous decision: The phone is ringing. I'll get it.
4. Offer / suggestion (shall): Shall I open the window?
5. Threat / warning: Stop, or I'll call the police.

Other ways to talk about the future

• be going to (plan / evidence): I am going to apply for CSS. · Look at those clouds; it is going to rain.
• Present continuous (arrangement): I am meeting the principal at 10.
• Present simple (timetable): The flight departs at 7 a.m.
• be about to (immediate future): The match is about to start.

More sentences

• The results will not be announced before March.
• Will the government reduce petrol prices?
• Won't you attend the wedding?
• What will happen if the dam breaks?
• The new policy will be implemented from July.

Common errors

• ❌ I will tell him when he will come. → ✅ …when he comes.
• ❌ If it will rain, we will stay home. → ✅ If it rains…
• ❌ Shall you come? (old-fashioned) → ✅ Will you come?

🟣 Future Continuous

Uses

1. Action in progress at a future time: At 10 tomorrow, I will be taking the exam.
2. Planned or expected future action: The PM will be addressing the nation tonight.
3. Polite question about plans: Will you be using the car this evening?

More sentences

• This time next year, she will be working as an assistant commissioner.
• I will not be attending the meeting tomorrow.
• Won't they be celebrating Eid in their village?
• What will you be doing at this time tomorrow?

🟣 Future Perfect

Uses

1. Action completed before a future time (by / by the time): By 2030, Pakistan's population will have crossed 260 million.
2. Assumption about the past: He will have reached home by now.

More sentences

• By the time you arrive, we will have finished dinner.
• The contractor will not have completed the road before the monsoon.
• Will you have written all your notes by December?
• Won't the results have come out by then?
• The dam will have been completed by 2028.

Common errors

• ❌ By next year I will complete my degree. → ✅ By next year I will have completed my degree.

🟣 Future Perfect Continuous

Uses

1. Duration up to a future point: By next month, I will have been working here for ten years.

More sentences

• By the time the exam starts, you will have been preparing for a whole year.
• By evening, the rescue teams will have been searching for twelve hours.
• How long will you have been living in Islamabad by 2027?
• By June, they will not have been playing together for long.

2. Stative Verbs (normally no -ing)

Mind: know, believe, understand, remember, forget, mean, doubt, suppose, realise · Feelings: love, hate, like, prefer, want, wish · Possession: own, have (= possess), belong, possess · Senses: see, hear, smell, taste (involuntary) · Being: seem, appear, consist, contain, cost, deserve, matter

• ❌ I am having two cars. → ✅ I have two cars. (But ✅ I am having lunch, because have = eat is dynamic.)
• ❌ She is seeming tired. → ✅ She seems tired.
• ❌ This box is containing books. → ✅ This box contains books.

Verbs with two meanings (both forms possible):

• think: I think he is right (opinion) · I am thinking about my future (process).
• see: I see your point (understand) · I am seeing the doctor tomorrow (meeting).
• taste: The soup tastes good (quality) · She is tasting the soup (action).

3. Sequence of Tense

Rule 1: Past tense in the main clause → past tense in the subordinate clause.

• He said that he was busy. · She knew that I had already left. · I thought that it would rain.
• He told me that he could swim. · They hoped that the results would be good.

Rule 2: Present or future in the main clause → any tense the sense requires.

• He says that he was ill yesterday / is ill now / will be fine tomorrow.

Exceptions (subordinate clause stays present):

• Universal truths: The teacher said that honesty is the best policy. · He said the earth revolves round the sun.
• Habitual facts still true: He told me that he goes for a walk every morning.
• Comparison with than/as: He liked you more than he likes me.
• Purpose clauses follow the main verb's time: He worked hard so that he might pass. (past → might; present → may: He works hard so that he may pass.)

Common errors

• ❌ He said that he is ill. → ✅ He said that he was ill.
• ❌ I thought he will come. → ✅ I thought he would come.
• ❌ She asked me where do I live. → ✅ She asked me where I lived.

4. Conditionals — Complete Guide

Overview

Type 0 — General truths

Use: scientific facts and things that always happen. If can be replaced by when/whenever without changing the meaning.

• If you heat ice, it melts.
• If plants don't get sunlight, they die.
• When demand rises, prices go up.
• If you mix blue and yellow, you get green.
• Does iron rust if it gets wet? — Yes, it does.
• If students don't revise, they forget.

Type 1 — Real / likely future

Uses: real possibility, warning, promise, threat, advice

• If you work hard, you will pass the CSS exam.
• If it rains tomorrow, the match will be postponed.
• If the government reduces taxes, investment will increase.
• If you don't hurry, you will miss the train. (warning)
• If you help me, I will help you. (promise)

Variations

• Modal in main clause: If you finish early, you can go home. · If he calls, you should tell him. · If it's cloudy, it may rain.
• Imperative in main clause: If you need help, call me. · If you see him, give him my message.
• Present continuous / perfect in if-clause: If you are going to the market, buy some fruit. · If you have finished, you may leave.
• Unless = if … not: Unless you apologise, he won't forgive you. (= If you don't apologise…)

Type 2 — Unreal present / unlikely future

Uses: imaginary situations, unlikely future, advice with If I were you

• If I were the Prime Minister, I would make education free.
• If I had enough money, I would buy a house in Islamabad.
• If everyone paid taxes, the country could progress faster.
• If I were you, I would take the job. (advice)
• If he studied regularly, he might pass.
• What would you do if you won a lottery?
• If Pakistan had more dams, it would not face water shortages.

Note: use were for all persons in formal English: If I/he/she/it were… (✅ If he were rich · ❌ If he was rich in formal exams)

Type 3 — Unreal past (regret, criticism)

Uses: imagining a different past; regret; criticism

• If we had built dams, we would have avoided the floods.
• If you had told me, I would have helped you.
• If he had taken the medicine, he would have recovered.
• If she hadn't missed the bus, she would have reached on time.
• If the police had acted quickly, the thieves could have been caught.
• He might have won if he had played carefully.
• Would you have passed if you had studied harder?

Mixed conditionals

A. Past condition → present result: past perfect + would + V1

• If I had studied medicine, I would be a doctor now.
• If he hadn't lost his job, he wouldn't be in debt today.
• If we had planted trees ten years ago, the city would be cooler now.

B. Present condition → past result: past simple + would have + V3

• If he were more careful, he wouldn't have had the accident.
• If I knew French, I would have translated the letter for you.
• If she weren't so shy, she would have spoken at the seminar.

Inverted conditionals (formal, and examiners like them)

Other conditional words

Conditionals: negative and question forms

⚠️ Common conditional errors (CSS favourites)

• ❌ If I would be rich, I would buy a farm. → ✅ If I were rich…
• ❌ If it will rain, we will stay home. → ✅ If it rains…
• ❌ If he would have come, I would have met him. → ✅ If he had come…
• ❌ Unless you don't work hard, you will fail. → ✅ Unless you work hard… (unless is already negative)
• ❌ If I was you, I would apologise. → ✅ If I were you…
• ❌ Had I knew, I would have come. → ✅ Had I known…
• ❌ If you will need help, call me. → ✅ If you need help…
• ❌ Take an umbrella if it rains. (when a precaution is meant) → ✅ …in case it rains.

5. Special Structures

6. Exercise A — Correct form of the verb (20)

1. He (live) in Karachi for ten years before he moved to Lahore.
2. Look! The children (play) in the rain.
3. I (not see) him since last Eid.
4. When I reached home, my mother (cook) dinner.
5. If it (rain) tomorrow, the match will be postponed.
6. She said that she (visit) Murree the previous week.
7. By the end of this year, I (complete) my degree.
8. I wish I (be) a doctor.
9. The earth (revolve) round the sun.
10. He (work) on this project since January.
11. It is time we (start) preparing for the exam.
12. Had he (listen) to me, he would not have failed.
13. No sooner (he / reach) the station than the train left.
14. I (know) him for many years.
15. The committee demanded that the report (be/is) made public.
16. He talks as though he (know) everything.
17. This time tomorrow we (fly) to Dubai.
18. She (write) three books so far.
19. He told me that he (will) help me.
20. I am used to (get) up early.

✅ Key: 1 had lived / had been living · 2 are playing · 3 have not seen · 4 was cooking · 5 rains · 6 had visited · 7 will have completed · 8 were · 9 revolves · 10 has been working · 11 started · 12 listened · 13 had he reached · 14 have known · 15 be · 16 knew · 17 will be flying · 18 has written · 19 would · 20 getting

7. Exercise B — Spot and correct (CSS style)

1. I have met him last Friday.
2. She is knowing French very well.
3. If I would be rich, I would buy a farm.
4. He did not came to the office.
5. I will wait here until you will return.
6. We are studying English since 2020.
7. He said me that he was tired.
8. Scarcely had she finished her speech than the audience clapped.

✅ Key: 1 I met him last Friday. · 2 She knows French very well. · 3 If I were rich… · 4 He did not come… · 5 …until you return. · 6 We have been studying English since 2020. · 7 He told me that he was tired. (say takes no personal object) · 8 …when the audience clapped.

8. Exercise C — Conditionals (15)

1. If you (heat) butter, it melts.
2. If she (study) hard, she will pass.
3. If I (be) a bird, I would fly to Hunza.
4. If they (leave) earlier, they would have caught the train.
5. Unless you (hurry), you will be late.
6. (Had / Have) I known the truth, I would have told you.
7. If he had saved money, he (be) rich now.
8. Take a jacket in case it (get) cold.
9. What would you do if you (lose) your phone?
10. If it (not rain), the crops would have survived.
11. (Should / Would) you need anything, just call.
12. But for the doctor's help, he (die).
13. If I were you, I (accept) the offer.
14. You can borrow my car provided you (drive) carefully.
15. If you (mix) red and white, you get pink.

✅ Key: 1 heat · 2 studies · 3 were · 4 had left · 5 hurry · 6 Had · 7 would be · 8 gets · 9 lost · 10 had not rained · 11 Should · 12 would have died · 13 would accept · 14 drive · 15 mix