Tenses and subject–verb agreement

Why it matters

Read these two sentences:

• "The police has arrested the thief yesterday."
• "The police arrested the thief yesterday."

The first one has two errors. The second one is correct. Many grammar questions hide their error in one small place: the verb. Either the verb is in the wrong tense (wrong time), or it does not agree with its subject (singular/plural mismatch).

Plain definitions:

• Tense is the form of a verb that shows when an action happens: present, past or future.
• Subject–verb agreement means a singular subject takes a singular verb and a plural subject takes a plural verb.

Where it appears in the Constable paper: In the English section you will see questions such as spot the error, fill in the blank, improve the underlined part and choose the correct sentence. A large share of these test tenses and agreement. The rules are fixed, so these become some of the fastest marks in the paper.

Core concept

Level 1 — Beginner: the three verb forms and the twelve tenses

Every verb has a base form (V1), a past form (V2) and a past participle (V3).

V1 (base)	V2 (past)	V3 (past participle)
go	went	gone
write	wrote	written
see	saw	seen
take	took	taken
play	played	played

Each time (present, past, future) has four aspects. That gives twelve tenses. Use the verb write as the model:

Aspect	Present	Past	Future
Simple	I write / she writes	I wrote	I will write
Continuous	I am writing / they are writing	I was writing / they were writing	I will be writing
Perfect	I have written / she has written	I had written	I will have written
Perfect continuous	I have been writing / she has been writing	I had been writing	I will have been writing

Simple rule to remember the structure: continuous = be + V-ing, perfect = have + V3, perfect continuous = have been + V-ing.

Level 2 — Intermediate: when to use each tense

Simple present — habits, general truths, fixed timetables.

• Ravi goes to the gym every morning. (habit)
• Water boils at 100 °C at sea level. (general truth)
• The first bus leaves at 6:00 a.m. (timetable)

Present continuous — an action happening now, or a temporary situation.

• Look! The constable is directing the traffic.

Present perfect (has/have + V3) — a past action whose result matters now, with no definite past time.

• Meena has lost her ID card. (She does not have it now.)
• Signal words: just, already, yet, ever, never, so far, recently.

Present perfect continuous — an action that started in the past and is still going on, usually with since or for.

• They have been waiting at the bus stand for two hours.

Simple past — a finished action at a definite past time.

• Signal words: yesterday, last week, in 2019, ago, when I was young.
• The inspector visited the station last Monday.

Past continuous — an action in progress at a past moment, often interrupted by a shorter action in simple past.

• I was reading when the power went off.

Past perfect (had + V3) — the earlier of two past actions.

• The train had left before we reached the station.

Future tenses — will + V1 (simple), will be + V-ing (continuous), will have + V3 (perfect, usually with by + a future time).

• By next June, she will have completed her training.

Since vs for:

• since + a point of time: since Monday, since 2015, since morning
• for + a length of time: for three days, for ten years, for an hour

Level 3 — Intermediate: subject–verb agreement rules

The basic rule: in the present tense, a singular third-person subject takes a verb with -s/-es (he runs, the boy plays), while a plural subject takes the base form (they run, the boys play). The same idea applies to is/are, was/were and has/have.

Rule	Example
Two subjects joined by and → plural	Ravi and Sita are cousins.
and but one person/idea → singular	The secretary and treasurer is present. (one person) / Bread and butter is his breakfast.
each, every, everyone, everybody, nobody, someone → singular	Every student has a hall ticket.
either / neither (alone or with of) → singular	Neither of the answers is correct.
either … or / neither … nor / not only … but also → verb agrees with the nearer subject	Neither the clerk nor the officers were present. / Neither the officers nor the clerk was present.
as well as, along with, together with, with, besides, in addition to → verb agrees with the first subject	The captain, along with his players, was honoured.
one of the + plural noun → singular verb	One of the constables is on leave.
a number of → plural; the number of → singular	A number of cases are pending. / The number of cases is rising.
many a + singular noun → singular	Many a candidate has failed this test.
the + adjective (the rich, the poor, the injured) → plural	The injured were taken to hospital.
Nouns plural in form but singular in meaning: news, mathematics, physics, economics (subject) → singular	The news is good.
Always plural: police, cattle, people, scissors, trousers, spectacles	The police have sealed the area.
A sum of money, distance or time seen as one amount → singular	Five hundred rupees is not enough.
there is / there are → verb agrees with the noun that follows	There are two witnesses. / There is a witness.
fraction / percentage + of + noun → verb agrees with that noun	Half of the milk is sour. / Half of the students are absent.

Collective nouns (team, committee, jury, family, crowd) take a singular verb when the group acts as one unit, and a plural verb when the members act separately.

• The committee has given its report. (one unit)
• The jury were divided in their opinions. (members disagree)

Level 4 — Advanced: traps examiners love

1. No present perfect with a definite past time. "I have met him yesterday" ✗ → "I met him yesterday" ✓.
2. No will after time and condition words (if, when, unless, as soon as, before, after, until, till) for future meaning. "I will call you when he will arrive" ✗ → "…when he arrives" ✓.
3. Stative verbs are not normally used in continuous form: know, believe, understand, like, love, want, prefer, belong, own, seem, contain. "I am knowing the answer" ✗ → "I know the answer" ✓.
4. After did / does / do, use V1. "Did he went?" ✗ → "Did he go?" ✓. "She does not knows" ✗ → "She does not know" ✓.
5. No sooner … than / Hardly … when with past perfect + simple past: "No sooner had the bell rung than the students ran out."
6. Sequence of tenses: if the reporting verb is in the past, the reported verb usually moves to the past too — "He said that he was tired." Exception: universal truths stay in the present — "The teacher said that the earth goes round the sun."
7. Ignore words between subject and verb. "The box of sweets is on the table" — the subject is box, not sweets.

Worked examples

Example 1 — Spot the error
"Each of the candidates (A) / have submitted (B) / the application form (C) / No error (D)"

• Find the true subject: Each (not candidates). Each is singular.
• So the verb must be singular: has submitted.
• Answer: (B). Correct sentence: "Each of the candidates has submitted the application form."

Example 2 — Fill in the blank
"She ______ in Chennai since 2018."
(a) lives (b) is living (c) has been living (d) lived

• since 2018 tells us the action started in the past and continues now.
• That needs the present perfect continuous (or present perfect).
• Answer: (c) has been living. Options (a), (b) and (d) cannot go with since for an ongoing action.

Example 3 — Improve the underlined part
"When we reached the cinema hall, the film already started."
(a) has already started (b) had already started (c) was already starting (d) No improvement

• Two past actions: reaching the hall and the film starting. The film started first.
• The earlier past action takes the past perfect.
• Answer: (b) had already started.

Example 4 — Neither/nor trap
"Neither the driver nor the passengers ______ hurt in the accident." (was / were)

• With neither … nor, the verb agrees with the nearer subject: passengers (plural).
• Answer: were. If the order were "Neither the passengers nor the driver", the answer would be was.

Example 5 — Condition clause
"If it ______ tomorrow, the parade will be cancelled." (will rain / rains / rained)

• If + future meaning → simple present, not will.
• Answer: rains.

Real-world connection

A police officer writes reports every day, and the tense in a report decides the meaning. "The accused was hiding in the shed when the team arrived" tells the reader two actions overlapped. "The accused had left before the team arrived" tells the reader he was already gone. One wrong tense can change the facts of a case.

Agreement matters too. "The evidence shows…" and "The witnesses say…" sound professional and clear. Mistakes like "The witness say" or "The documents was seized" make an official report look careless. The grammar you learn for this exam is the same grammar you will use in FIRs, case diaries and official letters.

How it is asked in the exam

With about 54 seconds per question, a tense or agreement question should take 20–35 seconds, saving time for longer questions.

Common formats:

1. Spot the error — a sentence split into parts (A), (B), (C) and "No error". Check the verb part first.
2. Fill in the blank — choose the right verb form from four options.
3. Sentence improvement — an underlined verb phrase with "No improvement" as one option.
4. Choose the correct sentence — four versions; only one has correct tense and agreement.

Difficulty levels:

• Easy: basic agreement or a clear time word. "My brother ___ in a bank." (work / works) → works.
• Medium: a phrase separates subject and verb, or since/for, or each/one of. "One of my friends ___ a lawyer." → is.
• Hard: neither…nor with mixed subjects, no sooner…than, past perfect sequence, time clauses without will, or collective nouns. "Hardly had he sat down ___ the phone rang." → when.

తెలుగు సారాంశం (Telugu summary)

Tense అంటే ఒక పని ఎప్పుడు జరిగిందో (వర్తమానం, భూతకాలం, భవిష్యత్తు) చూపించే క్రియా రూపం. ప్రతి కాలానికి నాలుగు రూపాలు ఉంటాయి, మొత్తం పన్నెండు tenses.
yesterday, ago, last, in 2019 వంటి నిర్దిష్ట భూతకాల పదాలు ఉంటే simple past మాత్రమే వాడాలి; అక్కడ has/have వాడకూడదు.
రెండు గత సంఘటనల్లో ముందు జరిగిన దానికి past perfect (had + V3) వాడాలి.
since తర్వాత ఒక సమయ బిందువు (since 2018), for తర్వాత కాల వ్యవధి (for two hours) వస్తాయి.
if, when, until వంటి పదాల తర్వాత భవిష్యత్తు అర్థం ఉన్నా will వాడకూడదు; simple present వాడాలి.
Subject–verb agreement అంటే ఏకవచన కర్తకు ఏకవచన క్రియ, బహువచన కర్తకు బహువచన క్రియ రావాలి.
each, every, either, neither, one of, the number of తో ఏకవచన క్రియ; a number of తో బహువచన క్రియ వస్తుంది.
neither…nor లో క్రియ దగ్గరి కర్తను అనుసరిస్తుంది; as well as, along with లో మొదటి కర్తను అనుసరిస్తుంది.
police, cattle, people ఎప్పుడూ బహువచనం; news, mathematics ఏకవచనం.
పరీక్షలో ముందు అసలు కర్తను గుర్తించి, తర్వాత కాల సూచిక పదాలను చూస్తే జవాబు త్వరగా దొరుకుతుంది.

Key terms (English — తెలుగు):

• Tense — కాలం
• Verb — క్రియ
• Subject — కర్త
• Singular — ఏకవచనం
• Plural — బహువచనం
• Present tense — వర్తమాన కాలం
• Past tense — భూతకాలం
• Future tense — భవిష్యత్ కాలం
• Agreement — సమన్వయం / అనుగుణత
• Collective noun — సమూహ నామవాచకం