English Verb Tense Review

Simple Present Tense

Otherwise known as the

Timeless Present

Simple Present Tense is used:

When you are referring to habitual actions-actions that you always or never do When you are referring to unchanging truths When you are making general statements of fact

Examples
(habit) He always comes late to class. (unchanging truth) The sun rises in the east. (general statement of fact) They are friendly.

simple present tense

Indicators
Always Usually Sometimes never Whenever Often Rarely Everyday Frequently Occasionally

simple present tense

Form
I study You study S/he/it studies We study They study I wait You wait s/he/it waits we wait they wait
simple present tense

Diagram--time on a line

simple present tense

Simple Past Tense

The Simple Past Tense is Used:

When an activity or situation began and ended at a particular time in the past--in other words, when an activity or situation is completed in the past To refer to past habits

Examples
(Completed action in the past) He was late to class yesterday. (Completed action in the past) We arrived three weeks ago. (Past habit) She always wrote a letter to her mother on Sunday night.

Simple Past Tense

Indicators
Last night, week, year, month, Saturday, semester, etc. Yesterday ago

Simple Past Tense

Form
I studied You studied S/he/it studied We studied They studied I waited You waited S/he/it waited We waited They waited
Simple Past Tense

Diagram--time on a line

Simple Past Tense

The Present Perfect

A tense very commonly used in English to refer to the past!

The Present Perfect is Used:

When an activity happened at an unspecified time in the past (before the present) When an activity has been repeated several times before now When an activity was very recently completed before now When an activity is not completed in the past

Examples
(unspecified time before now) They have already seen that movie. (repeated activity before now) We have visited New York City many times. (an action has recently been completed before now) I have just eaten. (action not completed in the past) I have studied Spanish for many years.
Present Perfect Tense

Indicators
Before So far Just since Ever Already Recently Never Yet For

Present Perfect Tense

Form 1
have or has + past participle
I have studied . . . I have seen . . . You have studied . . . You have seen . . . S/he/it has studied . . S/he/it has seen . . . We have studied . . . We have seen . . .

They have studied . . . They have seen . . .

Present Perfect Tense

Form 2
I've walked . . . You've walked . . . S/he/it's walked . . . We've walked . . . They've walked . . . I've grown . . . You've grown . . . S/he/it's grown . . . We've grown . . . They've grown . . .

Present Perfect Tense

Diagram 1--time on a line

Present Perfect Tense

Diagram 2--time on a line

Present Perfect Tense

The Present Progressive Tense

Sometimes called the Present Continuous Tense

The Present Progressive Tense is Used:

When an activity is in progress now at the moment of speaking When an activity began before now and continues into the future without stopping. When an activity is temporary. When an activity is developing and changing.

Examples
Im explaining something to the class right now. Hes taking 16 credits this semester. She is understanding English more and more because she moved into the dorm.

Present Progressive Tense

Indicators
Right now, at this moment Still

This year, week, month, etc.

As we speak

Present Progressive Tense

Form
I am studying You are studying S/he/it is studying We are studying They are studying I'm studying You're studying S/he/it's studying We're studying They're studying

Present Progressive Tense

Diagram--time on a line

Present Progressive Tense

Future Tense

The Future Tense is Used:

To indicate that an activity or event will take place at a time in the future

Examples
When Im retired, Im going to travel. Next week, we will work on punctuation. He is going to get his car fixed tomorrow. Our plane departs at noon next Friday.

Future

Indicators
Tomorrow

Next Saturday, week, month, year, etc.

Future

Form 1
I will stay You will stay S/he/it will stay We will stay They will stay I'll stay You'll stay S/he/it'll stay We'll stay They'll stay
Future

Form 2
I am going to stay I'm going to stay You are going to stay You're going to stay S/he/it is going to stay S/he/it's going to stay We are going to stay We're going to stay They are going to stay They're going to stay
Future

Form 3
Sometimes the simple present tense or the present progressive tense are used to express a future meaning. Usually these tenses are used when scheduled events are being discussed. I arrive I am arriving You arrive S/he/it arrives We arrive They arrive You are arriving S/he/it is arriving We are arriving They are arriving
Future Tense

Diagram--Time on a Line

Future

Other English Verb Tenses

These tenses are combinations of the tenses we have just reviewed

Past Perfect
This tense is not used a lot. It can often be used interchangeably with the simple past because these tenses do not differ much in meaning. The past perfect tense refers to activities that happened before a specific time in the past. Example, He had visited her many times before she died. Form: had + past participle

Past Progressive
This tense is used to refer to activities continuously in progress around a time in the past. Example: They were eating when the taxi arrived. Form: was or were + verbing

Past Perfect Progressive

This tense is used when an activity was continuously in progress before a specific time in the past. Example: I had been thinking about her before she called. Form: had + been + verbing

Present Perfect Progressive

This tense is used to describe actions that have been continuously in progress before now. These actions are not completed. Example: I have been waiting here for the last two hours. Form: have or has + been + verbing

Future Perfect
The future perfect expresses the idea that an activity will occur before some future time. Example: She will have finished dinner before the game starts. Form: will + have + past participle

Future Progressive Tense

This tense is used to refer to activities that will be continuously in progress around some future time. Example: We will be flying over New York at noon tomorrow. Form: will + be + verbing

Future Perfect Progressive

This tense is used to refer to activities that will be continuously in progress before a future time. Example: He will have been working for 3 hours before you arrive. Form: will + have + been + verbing

Overview of the English Verb Tense/Aspect System Simple Perfect

(HAVE + verb+en)

Progressive
(BE + verb+ing)

Perfect Progress-

ive (HAVE
+ BEEN + verb+ing)

Present Past Future

* * *

Acknowledgments
The charts in this presentation were adapted from the work of Betty Schrampfer Azar. She is the author of Understanding and Using English Grammar and many other useful ESL texts.

The End

September 2003