VERB TENSES: SUMMARY

There are seven basic verb tenses used in English:

present

John  works  in New Orleans every summer.

past

John  worked  in New Orleans last year.

present progressive

John  is working  in New Orleans this week.

past progressive

John  was working  in New Orleans last week.

present perfect

John  has worked  in New Orleans for three years.

past perfect

John  had worked  in New Orleans for three years before moving to New York.

future

John  will work  in New Orleans next year.

John  is going to work  in New Orleans next year.

Prof. Junior León

THE PRESENT TENSE

The present tense is generally used to talk about:

 things that happen often, or don't change: “They  play  golf on Saturdays.”

“Derrick  lives  on Fifth Avenue.”

 events which are fixed in the future: “The deadline  is  tomorrow.”

“The World Track and Field Championships  begin  next week.”

 facts: “The Mississippi River  divides  the United States into east and west.”
“Tornadoes only  occur  during the summer.”

 perception, emotion and relationships: “I  am  tired.”

“He  hears  music playing.”
“We  think  you're smart.”
“I  love  chocolate.”
“Bill  owes  me ten dollars.”

 present actions or speech acts (such as sports commentary): “He  catches  the ball at the
twenty yard line and runs to the goal line.”
“I  accept  your invitation.”

In the 3rd person singular, The present tense is formed by adding an “s” to the base form of the
verb. (The “base form” of the verb is the infinitive form without the “to.” For example, “make” is
the base form of “to make.”)

“My father  walks  to work every day.”

“He  lives  in an apartment.”
“She  loves  playing soccer.”

However, the base form of the verb does not change for any other person:

“I  watch  television in the evenings.”

“We  think  he is too young.”
“Those cookies  smell  good!”

For negative sentences or questions, a form of the verb “to do” is used with the base form of the
verb:

“Gerry  doesn't know  her.”

“Do  they  work  on Saturdays?”
“I  don't understand.”
“Do  you  speak  English?”
“We  don't watch  TV very often.”

Prof. Junior León

THE PAST TENSE

The past tense is used to talk about events which have already happened:

“Last night, after he  ate  dinner, Dennis  washed  the dishes.”
“The Gomez family  moved  to Phoenix in 1974.”

The regular form of the past tense is formed by adding “-ed” to the end of the verb:

“I  talked  to him yesterday.”

“Janice  showed  us her photographs.”
“We  visited  our grandparents last week.”
“The children  played  in the snow all afternoon.”

Some verbs do not have past tense “-ed” forms. For example:

Base Past
form tense

though
think
t

come came

begin began

see saw

run ran

THE PRESENT PROGRESSIVE TENSE

The present progressive tense is used to talk about

 current activities: “I'm fixing  the stove right now.”

 events that will not last: “Julie  is staying  at our house for the summer.”

 future plans: “They  are arriving  at six o'clock tomorrow.”

To form the present progressive tense, use the appropriate present form of the verb “to be” in
front of the present participle (the “-ing” form of the verb).

“I  am waiting  for a friend.”

“So, you  are thinking  about quitting.”
“The elephant  is disappearing  from the wilds of Africa.”

Prof. Junior León

“We  are using less paper in our office than we use to.”
“The firemen  are putting  out the fire.”

THE PAST PROGRESSIVE TENSE

The past progressive tense is used to talk about:

 activities in progress at a specific time in the past:

“We  were playing  cards last night at midnight.”

 repetition of some ongoing action in the past:

“I  was sneezing  all morning.”

 a past activity that happens simultaneously with another:

“I  was sleeping  when he got home.”

The past progressive tense is formed in the same way as the present progressive, except the past
tense of the verb “to be” is used.

“I  was waiting  for you at the station.”

“You  were playing  hockey last night, weren't you?”
“Was  Darren  fighting  with his brother when you left?”
“We  weren't expecting  you so early.”
“The trees  were bending  in the wind.”

THE PRESENT PERFECT TENSE & THE PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE

Both the present perfect and the present perfect progressive tenses are used to talk about things
that started in the past, but continue into, or is relevant to the present. For example:

“I  have been playing  hockey all my life.”  (continues)

“Mark  has lived  in Cleveland for three years.”  (continues)
“Dave  has been drinking  all day.”  (relevant to the present)
“They  have solved  the problem!”  (relevant to the present)

However, the present perfect progressive is usually used to stress that the action is not yet
finished.

The past perfect tense also has simple and continuous tenses. They are formed just like the
present perfect tenses, except that they use the past tense of the verb “to have.”

“I  had seen  that movie before he told me about it.”  (simple)
“Had  you  broken  your arm before?”  (simple)
“Stan  had been using  a belt to hold up his pants, but he lost it.”  (progressive)
“We  had dieted  for two months without losing even one pound.”  (simple)
“They  haven't been reading  the books we gave them.”  (progressive)

Both of these tenses are used to say when something happened before something else.

The simple present perfect is formed by putting the present tense of the verb “to have” in front of
the past participle.

Prof. Junior León

“I  have finished  all my work.”
“Have  you  learned  a lot at the university?”
“Our basketball team  has lost  all of its games this year.”

The present perfect progressive is formed by putting the present tense of the verb “to have” in
front of “been” and the present participle (the “-ing” form of the verb.)

“Susan  hasn't been eating  lunch lately.”

“We  have been spending  too much money.”
“They  have been playing  all day.”

THE PAST PROGRESSIVE TENSE

The past progressive tense is used to talk about:

 activities in progress at a specific time in the past:

“We  were playing  cards last night at midnight.”

 repetition of some ongoing action in the past:

“I  was sneezing  all morning.”

 a past activity that happens simultaneously with another:

“I  was sleeping  when he got home.”

The past progressive tense is formed in the same way as the present progressive, except the past
tense of the verb “to be” is used.

“I  was waiting  for you at the station.”

“You  were playing  hockey last night, weren't you?”
“Was  Darren  fighting  with his brother when you left?”
“We  weren't expecting  you so early.”
“The trees  were bending  in the wind.”

THE FUTURE TENSE

The future tense is used when talking about something that will happen in the future, though the
“be going to” form of the “future modal” is usually used for things that have already been decided.

The future tense is formed using two “modals”: “will” and “be going to” (see MODALS in the
Grammar Corner”). For negative and positive sentences, the modal is placed before the base form
of the verb.

“George  will leave  for Paris next week.”

“I  am  not  going to play  golf tomorrow.”

For questions, place “will” or the correct form of “be going to” in front of the subject and the base
form of the verb, after the subject.

“Will  the trees  be cut down  in the spring?”

“Are  Mike and Ryan  going to sing  at the concert?”

Prof. Junior León