Tenses of the Verb

The tenses of a verb are the forms that help to show time.

All verbs have four principal parts: a base form, a present participle,
a simple past form, and a past participle.

All the verb tenses are formed from these principal parts.
 Principles Parts of Verb
BASE FORM PRESENT PAST FORM PAST
PARTICIPLE PARTICIPLE
play playing played played
watch watching watched watched
break breaking broke broken
hire hiring hired hired
be being was, were been

Examples:
 Monkeys climb.
 [base or present form]
 Monkeys climbed.
 [past form]
 Monkeys are climbing.
 [present participle with the auxiliary verb are]
 Monkeys have climbed.
 [past participle with the auxiliary verb have]
What is Simple Present Tense?

The simple present tense of the verb indicates present time action. It express
repeated, habitual action, permanent condition, future action, general truth, opinion,
and in giving command or request.

The simple present tense of the verb may be formed by adding –s or –es to the base
form if the subject is singular.

Examples:
 Isaac likes the taste of tea with honey in it.
 [not just this cup of tea but every cup of tea; a repeated action]
 Emily bakes wonderful spice cookies.
 [always; a habitual action]
 Gold is valuable.
 [a general truth]
Simple Present Tense

The present tense can also express an action or a condition

that exists only now.

Examples:
 Krista feels good about her score on the science test.
[not always but just now]
 I see a hummingbird at the feeder.
[at this very moment]
What is Simple Past Tense?

The simple past tense shows that an action started and completed in
the past and has no relevance to the present time at all. It can also be
used to describe how someone felt, what their emotional condition
was, at a point in the past. There are no forms of the verb to be’ or to
have’ (was, were) with this tense as there are with others.

Examples:
 walked
 visited
 decided
 looked
Simple Past Tense with Regular Verbs

Verbs have different forms, called tenses. The tense of a verb tells us
when the action happens.

We use the simple past tense to talk about things that happened in the
past.

Examples:
1. Last Wednesday, we decided to visit the zoo.
2. We walked toward the first exhibits.
3. I looked up at a giraffe as it stared back at me.

For most verbs, the simple past tense is created by adding d, ed or ied
at the end of the word. These are called regular verbs.
The following are some of the rules for regular verbs.

1. For verbs ending in e add d.

Example:
Present Tense Past Tense
live lived
love loved
date dated
agree agreed
care cared
The following are some of the rules for regular verbs.

2. For verbs ending in consonant + y, change y to i and

add ed.

Example:

Present Tense Past Tense

try tried
carry carried
dirty dirtied
hurry hurried
The following are some of the rules for regular verbs.

3. For other verbs just add ed.

Example:

Present Tense Past Tense

cross crossed
jump jumped
lift lifted
allow allowed
Examples of Time Expressions Used with the Simple Past Tense
yesterday hour ago last weekend
last night last Saturday a year ago

Examples:

a. She worked hard last night.

S V time expression
b. The teacher
(ed) dismissed the class early yesterday.

S V time expression
(ed)
Irregular verbs are common verbs in English that do not follow the simple system
of adding “d” or “ed” to the end of the word to form the past tense or past participle.
There are a number of irregular verbs with different forms and you will be studying
some of them in this section.

Examples:
1. The Hare sat down an hour ago.
(verb SIT)
2. The Tortoise won the race.
(verb WIN)
3. He told them to wait in different places along the path.
(verb TELL)

The verbs sat, won, and told are examples of irregular verbs in the past tense.
 SOME OF THE MOST COMMON IRREGULAR VERBS
Base Form Simple Past Past Participle
become became become
begin began begun
buy bought bought
come came come
cut cut cut
do did done
draw drew drawn
fall fell fallen
find found found
get got gotten
go went gone
know knew known
run ran run
throw threw thrown
wear wore worn
What is Simple Future Tense?

The simple future tense indicates an action that is about to happen in the future or
in a later time. It is expressed by using the helping verbs will and shall followed by
the base form of the verb. The common time elements that are used with the future
tense are tomorrow, soon, next year, in a few minutes, among others.

Use the future tense to express an action or a condition that will occur in the future.
You form the future tense of any verb by using the auxiliary verb shall or will with
the base form: I shall study; you will go. Note: In modern American English, shall is
very seldom used except for questions in which I or we is the subject: Shall I call
you? Shall we go now?

Examples:
 Robby will order the supplies.
 I will pack the car in the morning.
Simple Future Tense

There are three other ways to express future time besides using the future tense.
They are as follows:

1. Use going to with the present tense of be and the base form of a verb.
 Robby is going to order the supplies.

2. Use about to with the present tense of be and the base form of a verb.
 Robby is about to order the supplies.

3. Use the present tense with an adverb or an adverb phrase that shows
future time.
 Robby leaves tomorrow.
 Robby arrives on tomorrow’s train.
What is Present Perfect Tense?

The present perfect tense is expressed by using has or have plus the past participle of the verb. Do not be
confused by the word present in the name of the present perfect tense. This tense expresses past time. The
word present refers to the tense of the auxiliary verb has or have.

Examples:
 The living – room clock has stopped.
 They have brought the new couch a day early.

Uses:

 To denote an action which happened at some indefinite time in the past.

Examples:
 I have taken the course.
 She has seen the movie several times.

 To denote an action which started in the past and is still continuing up to the present time.
Examples:
 Mr. Suarez has taught in the university since 1985.
 Meg has maintained her rank in the honor roll since first year.
Present Perfect Tense

The present perfect tense can refer to completed action in past time only in an indefinite way. Adverbs
such as yesterday cannot be added to make the time more specific.

Examples:
 Chandra has completed her project.
 Jack has always wanted to visit Mexico.

To be specifically about complete past time, you would normally use the simple past tense.

Examples:
 Chandra completed her project yesterday.
 Jack wanted to visit Mexico last summer.

The present perfect tense can also be used to express the idea that an action or a condition began in the
past and is still happening. To communicate this idea, you would normally add adverbs (or adverb
phrases or clauses) of time.

Examples:
 The mall has displayed our artwork for two weeks.
 We have kept a spare house key under this rock ever since I left my key at school.
What is Past Perfect Tense?

 expresses the idea that an action happened before another action in

the past
 forms by combining had with the past participle of the main verb
 had + past participle of the main verb (ex. had asked) is called
verb phrase

Formula: had + past participle of the main verb

Examples using the Past Perfect Tense of the verb

1. John had called Ana when Mary asked her to go out.

had + past participle

2. After Anna had set an appointment, Mary called.

had +
past participle
Past Perfect Tense Structure

Past perfect tense is formed by using the word “had + past participle”.

In order to better understand the Past Perfect Tense, you can use “time expression” to emphasize the
completed action.

Some Examples of Time Expressions Used with the Past Perfect Tense
Already Yet For Since
Just After Before Until

Sentences:
1. When Judah went to Palawan, he had written a letter for his Mother.

time expression had + past participle

2. James had arrived at their house before his mother cooked dinner.

had + past participle time expression

3. After Dwight had eaten dinner, he and his brother watched basketball.

time expression had + past participle

What is Future Perfect Tense?

The future perfect tense is expressed by using will or shall have plus the past
participle form of the verb.

Use the future perfect tense to express one future action or condition that will
begin and end before another future event starts.

You form the future perfect tense by using will have or shall have with the past
participle of a verb: will have practiced, shall have flown.

Examples:
 By September I will have saved fifty dollars.
 [The money will be saved by the time another future event, the arrival of
September, occurs.]
 Before Maggie’s baby is born, I will have made a quilt for the child’s crib.
 [The quilt will be made before another future event, the baby’s birth, occurs.]
THANK YOU & GOD BLESS!