It is important not to confuse the name of a verb tense with the way we use it to talk about time.

For example, a present tense does not always refer to present time:

• I hope it rains tomorrow.
  "rains" is present simple, but it refers here to future time (tomorrow)
  I hope it rains අදහස් වන්නේ වර්ථමාන කාලයයි නමුත් අප කියන්නේ හෙට tomorrow ගැනයි.

Or a past tense does not always refer to past time: අතීත කාලය යනු සැමවිටම අතීතය නොවේ

• If I had some money now, I could buy it.
  "had" is past simple but it refers here to present time (now)

The following examples show how different tenses can be used to talk about different times.