The bilingual sentence-wise translation in learning English tenses always remains elusive for the students of English as a second language. I frequently quote sentences to expose the incompatibility of syntax and grammar of two languages: 'Wo 1980 se mujay janta hey.' As per the formulas of tenses ingrained in students' minds, the Urdu sentences ending with 'ta hey, tii hey, tey hein' belong to the first tense, present indefinite, while the time marker '1980 se' seduces the young learners of English to translate it under the rules of present perfect continuous. However, the sentence belongs to neither. It is translated according to the present perfect tense. Mechanical search for a single Urdu marker cannot make grammar learning easier. Urdu markers become a misleading compass when learning of tenses is targeted.

Such disparities perplex the students because they have been taught grammar as a separate entity. In early classes, teachers don't have sufficient time to explain which tense and why it has been used in the text they are teaching. Or,........

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