How can we know when the tense is in simple form , continuous form or perfect form ?

Tanusree P.A0Kwiziq community member

How can we know when the tense is in simple form , continuous form or perfect form ?

Asked 6 years ago
Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

I am not sure I understand the question completely but I'll give it a try. In French there is no distinction between simple and continuous form. These are peculiar to English. In French you would just use the simple form:

Je mange. = I eat. = I am eating.

I don't know what you mean by "perfect form"?

Tanusree P.A0Kwiziq community member
I mean to say present perfect form as in " I have returned from office"
Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

The perfect tense is constructed with avoir/être + past participle.

I return from the office. = I am returning from the office. = Je rentre du bureau.
I have returned from the office. -- Je suis rentré du bureau.

If you wanted to say "I have been returning from the office." (i.e. present perfect continuous form) you'd use the imparfait in French:

I have been returning from the office. -- Je retournais du bureau.

Tenses in English and French don't always match 1:1.

Tanusree P.A0Kwiziq community member
Merci!!!:)
Tanusree P. asked:

How can we know when the tense is in simple form , continuous form or perfect form ?

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