TENSES OF

VERB
WHAT DID YOU DO YESTERDAY?

WHAT SPORTS DO YOU PLAY?

WHAT WILL YOU DO THIS
WEEKEND?
WHAT EXOTIC FOOD HAVE YOU
TRIED?
TENSES OF THE VERB

– 1. The Simple Tenses

– 2. The Progressive Tenses
– 3. The Perfect Tenses
– 4. THE PERFECT
PROGRESSIVE TENSES
 THE
SIMPLE
TENSES
SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE

– Indicates an action or condition

that is going on or existing now
ex. The students participate in the
classroom discussion.
– Denotes general truth
ex. Jose Rizal is our national hero.
– Denotes habitual action
ex. I go to school everyday.
– Denotes permanent location
ex. Davao City is in Mindanao.
SIMPLE PAST TENSE

– Indicates an action or condition that

already happened or existed at some
definite time in the past.
ex. Hector bought a new car last year.
My mother baked a cake last
night.
SIMPLE FUTURE TENSE

– Indicates an action or a certain

condition that will take place in the
future.
ex. The students will join the camping
next week.
Robert will visit his grandmother
tonight.
 THE
PROGRESSIVE
TENSES
PRESENT PROGRESSIVE TENSE

– Indicates an action going on at

the time of speaking
ex. The sociologist is examining
the effects that racial
discrimination has on society.
PAST PROGRESSIVE TENSE

– describes a past action which was

happening when another action
occurred
ex. The explorer was explaining the
latest discovery in Egypt when
protests began on the streets.
FUTURE PROGRESSIVE TENSE

– describes an ongoing or
continuous action that will take
place in the future
ex. Dr. Jones will be presenting
ongoing research on sexist
language next week.
 THE
PERFECT
TENSES
PRESENT PERFECT TENSE

–describes an action began

in the past and continues
in the present
ex. Women have voted in
presidential elections since
1921.
PAST PERFECT TENSE

– describes an action that took

place in the past before
another past action
ex. By the time the troops
arrived, the war had ended.
FUTURE PERFECT TENSE

– describes an action that will occur in

the future before some other action
ex. By the time the troops arrive, the
combat group will have spent
several weeks waiting.
THE PERFECT
PROGRESSIVE
TENSES
Present Perfect Progressive

– describes an action that began in

the past, continues in the present,
and may continue into the future
ex. The CEO has been considering
a transfer to the state of Texas
where profits would be larger.
PAST PERFECT
PROGRESSIVE

– describes a past, ongoing action

that was completed before some
other past action.
ex. Before the budget cuts, the
students had been participating
in many extracurricular activities.
FUTURE PERFECT
PROGRESSIVE

– describes a future, ongoing action

that will occur before some specified
future time
ex. By the year 2020, linguists will
have been studying and defining the
Indo-European language family for
more than 200 years.
`
 PAST PRESENT FUTURE

Verb (ed) Verb (/s) will+base form

of the verb
SIMPLE

Was/were + Is/are + verb Will be + verb

PROGRESSIVE verb (ing) (ing) (ing)

PERFECT Had + past Has/have + Will have +

participle past participle past participle
(verb) (verb) (verb)
Had + been + Has/have + Will have +
PERFECT verb (ing) been + verb been + verb
PROGRESSIVE (ing) (ing)
 SIMPLE PAST VS PAST
PROGRESSIVE

Remember- the simple past talks about

something that happened before. It
happened and it finished. Some words
are regular and just have -ed added at the
end like walked, helped, and played.
Others are irregular and have many
variations like ate, began, and slept.
The past progressive talks about something that was
happening before, but for a period of time. It
uses was or were + verb-ing like was eating or were
playing. It gives a background for something that was
happening while a different event happened.
– Example: While I was eating, the telephone rang.

So, during the time I was eating (let's say from 6:30-7:00
p.m.) somebody called my house (let's say they called
at 6:49p.m.) One thing happened (simple past) during
the period of time another thing was happening (past
progressive.)
 SIMPLE PAST VS. PRESENT
PERFECT
Present Perfect Simple Past Simple
•Unfinished actions that •Finished actions:I knew Julie
started in the past and for ten years (but then she
continue to the present:I've moved away and we lost
known Julie for ten years (and
I still know her). touch).

•A finished action in •A finished action in

someone's life (when the someone's life (when the
person is still alive: life person is dead):My great-
experience):My brother has grandmother went to Mexico
been to Mexico three times. three times.
 •A finished action with
•A finished action with a no result in the present:
result in the present: I lost my keys yesterday.
I've lost my keys! (The
result is that I can't get It was terrible! (Now
there is no result. I got
into my house now). new keys yesterday).
•With a finished time
•With an unfinished word (last week, last
time word (this week, month,
this month, today):I've
seen John this week. yesterday):I saw John
last week.
–We use the past simple for past events or
actions which have no connection to the
present.
–We use the present perfect for actions which
started in the past and are still happening
now OR for finished actions which have a
connection to the present.
–We CAN'T use the present perfect with a
finished time word:
–NOT: I've been to the museum yesterday.