Time and tense: the twelve tenses, irregular verbs and tense in legal drafting

LUG-105 English and Legal Language, Unit II: Time and tense. · LLB · 60 min

Tense is the verb's way of showing time. The lecture sets out the three times and four aspects that make the twelve tenses, each with its form, its use and a legal example; the three forms of the verb and the irregular verbs the papers ask (come, learn, put, feel, read and the rest); the sequence of tenses and the conditional sentences; and the tense conventions of legal writing - the present tense of a statute, the past tense of a pleading, the "shall" of a deed. The 2025-26 "change the tense" items are worked. Examined as "describe the types of tenses with examples" (5 marks) and "give the past tense and past participle of ..." (3.5 marks).

Objectives

Name the twelve tenses and give the form and the use of each with a legal example
Give the past tense and past participle of the common irregular verbs
Apply the sequence of tenses and form the three kinds of conditional sentence
Change a sentence from one tense to another as directed
Use the right tense in a statute, a deed, a pleading, an affidavit and a judgment

Slides

What tense is: three times, four aspects
The present tenses
The past tenses
The future tenses, shall and will
The three forms of the verb and the irregular verbs
Sequence of tenses and conditional sentences
Tense in legal drafting
Changing the tense as directed: the 2025-26 items
Common tense errors in Indian legal English
Exercise with answers
How the examiner asks it

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