Verb Tense Review

The Importance of Time

Verb tense expresses the time of an event or

action.

The English language has twelve different

tenses. In this lesson, we will review the
meaning of each verb tense.

 The Simple Present Tense

Expresses a habit or often repeated action.
Adverbs of frequency such as, often, seldom,
sometimes, never, etc. are used with this tense.

She goes to work everyday.

They always eat lunch together.

 The Simple Present Tense

This tense also expresses general truths or
facts that are timeless.

Snow falls in the December in Minnesota.

Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius.

 The Present Progressive

This tense is used to describe an action that
is occurring right now (at this moment, today,
this year, etc.). The action has begun and is
still in progress.

She is typing a paper for her class.

He can’t talk. He is fixing the sink right now.

 The Present Progressive

The present progressive can also be used to
describe an action that is occurring in the
present, but is temporary.

John is living in Modesto, but he might move

soon.

 The Simple Past
We use the simple past to indicate exactly
when an action or event took place in the past.

I visited my sister yesterday.

We went out to dinner last night.

 The Simple Past

The simple past is used to describe actions
and/or events that are now completed and no
longer true in the present.

I attended MJC in 1998. (I no longer attend MJC.)

I saw a movie every weekend when I was a
teenager. (I don’t see movies very much
anymore.)

 The Past Progressive

The past progressive is used to talk about
an activity that was in progress at a specific
point of time in the past. The emphasis is on
the duration of the activity in the past.

I was studying for an exam while my mother

was cooking dinner.
We were walking in the park around 7 p.m. last
night.

 The Past Progressive

The past progressive is often used with the
simple past to show that one action was in
progress when another action occurred.

I was taking a bath when the doorbell rang.

They were eating dinner when the neighbors
stopped by for a visit.

 The Present Perfect

The present perfect is used to talk about an
event that began in the past and continues up
to the present.

He has lived in Modesto for two years.

(He began living in Modesto two years ago and he still
lives there.)

 The Present Perfect

The present perfect is also used to talk
about an event that was completed in the past,
but the specific time of the event is not
important.

I have seen that movie before.

He has already visited Vietnam.
(Specific dates and times are not mentioned.)

Present Perfect Progressive

This tense is used to describe the duration
of an action that began in the past and
continues into the present.

He has been studying grammar for an hour.

She has been cooking all day.
(He is still studying and she is still cooking.)

Present Perfect Progressive

This tense is also used to describe events
that have been in progress recently and are
rather temporary.

She has been living in Taiwan for the last two

months, but she plans to move soon.

 The Past Perfect
This tense describes completed events that
took place in the past before another past
event.

had received it hit

had eaten my friend stopped by

The Titanic had received many warnings before it

hit the iceberg.
I had already eaten when my friend stopped by to
visit.

 Past Perfect Progressive

This tense is used to emphasize the duration
of an action that was completed before another
action or event in the past.

had been
driving she found the right office

She had been driving around the city for three hours
before she finally found the right office.

 The Future
Will and be + going + to are often used to
describe future actions.

Thomas will graduate in June.

Maria is going to go to Mexico next week.

 The Future
The simple present and present progressive
are also used to express future time. These are
often used used in connection with schedules.

She is meeting a new client at eleven o’clock.

The train leaves at 6:00 a.m. tomorrow.

 The Future Progressive

This tense is used to describe an event or
action that will occur over a period of time at a
specific point in the future.

at 10 a.m. tomorrow
by the time you arrive

I will be teaching ESL 40 at 10 a.m. tomorrow.

They will be moving their furniture out of the house
by the time you arrive tomorrow.

 The Future Perfect

This tense is used to describe an event or
action that will be completed before another
event or time in the future.

will have finished the exam class ends

We will have finished the exam by the time class

ends tomorrow.

 Future Perfect Progressive
This tense describes an action that has been
in progress for a duration of time before
another event or time in the future.

finishes law school

will have been living in the

U.S. for eight years

By the time he finishes law school, we will have

been living in the U.S. for eight years.

PRESENT SIMPLE
 PRESENT SIMPLE

WE USE THE PRESENT SIMPLE TO DESCRIBE

HABITS, FACTS, STATES AND REGULAR
ACTIONS.

IT IS THE MOST COMMON TENSE IN ENGLISH.

 It ‘s always like this

always

on
never
Mondays

onc
sometimes
a week

every day often

usually

 Time expressions Adverb of Frequency

Beginning or end of Before the main verb
sentence After family Be

every.. once a.. always never sometimes

On Sundays twice a..

usually often seldom

They go to ballet lesson She always walks to school

once a week. He is often late for school
They don’t usually read.

 First:

WE WILL DIVIDE THE PRONOUNS

INTO 2 GROUPS.

I YOU WE THEY
HE SHE IT

 POSITIVE SENTENCES-

Subjec
+ +
verb1 Rest of the
I
sentence
You We They

THE BOYS GO TO THE POOL.

t

 Subjec verb1+s
+ +
e rest of the
He She It ies sentence

The boy goes to the pool.

s

 Rules For Adding S To

He She It

1) WE ADD ES TO THE BASE FORM

WHEN THE VERB ENDS WITH
CH, SH, S, X, Z, O

WATCH WATCHES
S Sh Ch X Z O





2) WHEN THE VERB ENDS WITH Y AND THERE IS A
CONSONANT BEFORE , WE WILL DROP IT AND ADD
IES

F LY FL FLIES

3) WHEN A VERB ENDS WITH Y AND THERE IS A

VOWEL BEFORE, WE WILL NOT DROP THE Y AND
ADD JUST S
P L AY P L AY S

LET’S PRACTISE

FILL IN :
1) MY BROTHER SOMETIMES _____ (GO)
FISHING.
2) THE DOLLS _____ (SIT) ON THE SHELF.
3) THE BOYS ______ (PLAY) ON THE BEACH
EVERY SUMMER.
4) THE GIRL ______ (BRUSH) HER HAIR
TWICE A DAY.

LET’S CHECK

FILL IN :
1) MY BROTHER SOMETIMES GOES
FISHING.
2) THE DOLLS SIT ON THE SHELF.
3) THE BOYS PLAY ON THE BEACH
EVERY SUMMER.
4) THE GIRL BRUSHES HER HAIR
TWICE A DAY.

PAST SIMPLE
 Meaning & Use

WHEN DO WE USE THE SIMPLE PAST TENSE?

WE USE THE SIMPLE PAST TO EXPRESS THE IDEA THAT AN
ACTION STARTED AND FINISHED AT A SPECIFIC TIME IN
THE PAST.
WHAT ARE SOME COMMON TIME EXPRESSIONS USED WITH
THE PAST TENSE?

YESTERDAY LAST YEAR AGO LAST MONTH LAST WEEK

 I S AW M A R I A Y E S T E R D AY

L A S T F R I D AY, T H E S T U D E N T S T O O K T H E I R S P E L L I N G A N D
V O C A B U L A RY T E S T S

THEY GOT MARRIED TWO YEARS AGO

THESE ACTION
ARE OVER, FINISHED!
.

 How do we form the simple past tense . . .?

English has two types of

verbs in the past tense: ● taugh irregular
● walke
regular
■
Regular verb ● studie
regular
■ Irregular verbs ● gav
irregular
Look at the following ● becam
list of past tense ● crie
irregular
verbs… ● live regular
which verbs are ● did regular
regular, and which are
irregular
irregular?
d

 Regular verbs are verbs that ….

…end with –ed

Simple Form Past Tens

Wal walk ed

Study
studi ed
Cr
cri ed
Live
liv ed
y

 Irregular verbs are verbs that . . . .

…DON’T end with –ed

some irregular verb

Have a vowel change in the past tense:

Simple Form Past Tens

becom becam
Examples

giv gav
driv drov
forge forgot
e
e
t
e
s

 other irregular verbs


Have a different kind of change:

Simple Pas
teac taught
bring brought
Leave left
Hear heard
Buy bought

Celia bought a new computer last weekend.

h
t

 List of irregular verbs that do not change

• hit—hit—hit • cut—cut—cut
• fit—fit—fit (as intransitive verb) • put—put—put
• split—split—split • hurt-hurt—hurt
• bid—bid—bid • let—let—let
• outbid—outbid—outbid • set—set—set
• cast—cast—cast • bet—bet—bet
• forecast—forecast—forecast • wet—wet—wet
• broadcast—broadcast—broadcast

For negative sentences, USE

DiD Not
verb,
+ base
or Form
(Infinitive)
didn't

I went to work yesterday.

I didn’t go to work
yesterday.

 Exception = 

VERB BE!

The verb be is special.

Never use DID NOT or DIDN’T with the verb BE.
Instead, just use:

Was
or + not
were
 For Yes/No questions, USE

verb,
DiD + subject + base
Form
(Infinitive)

Did you go to work

yesterday?
Did you come yesterday?
FUTURE
SIMPLE
 I. Future Simple Tense
- definitions/1 -

❖ Predictions, offers, promises, requests, suggestions:

E.g.: Will you help me?
E.g.: Shall I get you some coffee?

❖ ‘On –the-spot’ decisions:

E.g.: A: Your clothes are dirty
B: Are they? I will wash them.





 Future Simple Tense

- definitions/2 -

❖ When it is not certain whether something will

happen:
E.g.: If they come, I’ll buy a cake.

❖ Opinions, hopes, fears with think, expect, suppose:

E.g.: I think he’ll pass his test.

 II. Future Continuous Tense

- definitions -

❖ action in progress at a given point in future:

E.g.: I will be flying to Paris this time tomorrow.

❖ Logical assumption about the present:

E.g.: He will be sleeping now. (it’s midnight)



 ‘Going to’ Future

- definitions/1-

❖ Intention:
E.g.: She is going to take her driving test in a month.

❖ Planned actions:
E.g.: I am going to travel to Paris next week.

 ‘Going to’ Future

- definitions/2-

❖ When there is a certain evidence that something will

definitely happen:
E.g.: She is going to have a baby.

❖ Actions seen as a result of something else in the

future:
E.g.: He cannot light a fire. He is going to burn
himself.

Will ● Going to
❖ Future actions planned
❖ Future actions decided at the
before the moment of
momen speakin
❖ A decision made at the moment ❖ A decision before the
of speakin moment of speakin
❖ A prediction based on opinio ❖ A prediction based on
something we can se
❖ A future fac
❖ Future action when there
❖ A promise/requests/ refusals /
are signs or evidence that is
offer likely to happe
❖ Rapid decision ❖ Used for fuure action that
❖ Far future action
will happen soo
s

 Future Simple Tense

- positive -

●I (SHALL)
● You
● He/She/It + WILL + verb1
● We (SHALL)
● You
● They
E.g.: They will be at the party tomorrow.

 Future Simple Tense

- question forms -

I
You
He/She/It
WILL + We + V1?
You
They

 Future Simple Tense

- negative -

● I (SHALL)
● You
● He/She/It + WILL NOT + verb1
● We (SHALL)
● You
● They
!! Will not = won’t
Shall not = shan’t !!

 ‘Going to’ Future

- positive -

● I AM
● You ARE
● He/She/It IS
● We ARE + GOING TO + V1
● You ARE
● They ARE

E.g.: I am going to visit him next week.




 ‘Going to’ Future

- question forms -

● AM I
● ARE You
● IS He/she/it
● ARE We + GOING TO + V1
● ARE You
● IS He/she/It
E.g.: Are you going to travel next month?

 ‘Going to’ Future

- negative -

●I AM
● You ARE
● He/She/It IS
● We ARE + NOT + GOING TO + V1
● You ARE
● They ARE

E.g.: I am not going to visit him next week.




PRESENT
PERFECT
 USE

We use the present perfect to describe an event or

personal experience in the past without a specific
time.
-to talk about things that have happened up to now
● JUST
● EVER
● NEVER
● ALREADY
● YET /?/
● NOT YET

● SINCE/when/ FOR /a length of time/

-1995, -five years,
-last month, - two months,
-Monday, - a week,
-ten o’clock - an hour,
-three days…

 AFFIRMATIVE

● We form the affirmative form with

the helping verb have/has+past
participle .
 ☺ HAVE/HAS V3

●I have helped/gone we have helped/

gone
● You have helped/gone you have helped/
gone
● He has helped/gone they have helped/gone
● She has helped/gone
● It has helped/gone

 INTERROGATIVE

● We form questions with regular and

irregular verbs in the present
perfect with have/has+ past
participle .
 HAVE/HAS ☺ V3 ?

● Have I helped/gone? Have we helped/

gone?
● Have you helped/gone? Have you helped/
gone?
● Has he helped/gone? Have they helped/
gone?

 NEGATIVE

● We form the negative form of

regular and irregular verbs in the
present perfect with have/has
+not+past participle.
 ☺ HAVE/HAS NOT V3

● I have not helped/gone we have not helped/

gone
● You have not helped/gone you have not helped/
gone
● He has not helped/gone they have not helped/
gone
● She has not helped/gone
● It has not helped/gone