Verb
Tenses
There are 12 verb tenses in English. The verb action can take
place in the past, the present or the future. There are usually word clues
that give a guide as to when the verb action occurs. Within each of these
times, there are four different situations that occur. Simple tenses occur at
a point in time, or on a repeated or habitual basis. A progressive or
continuous tense indicates that the action takes place over time and these
tenses always use part of the verb “be” as the first part of the verb phrase
and end with the main verb + ing. A perfect tense always uses part of “have”
as the first part of the verb phrase and ends with the past form of the main
verb. A perfect progressive tense starts with the relevant part of the verb
“have” followed by “been” and ends with the main verb + ing. If you remember
these basic rules, you can always identify the verb tense being used, or use
the verb tense you need without having to continually refer to a text book or
table. Meanwhile, a chart like the one given here, can provide a quick and
easy reference until you feel comfortable using the various verb tenses. Also
pay attention to the time clues in the following chart; while some of them
can be used with more than one verb tense, they do restrict the number of possibilities
and help you to understand which verb tense is being used, or which verb
tense you should use. |
Chart—Active Verb Tenses
Past
|
Present
|
Future
|
|
Simple
|
An action that ended at a point in the past.
|
An action that exists , is usual, or is repeated.
|
A plan for future action.
|
cooked
|
cook / cooks
|
will cook
|
|
(time clue)*
|
e.g. He cooked yesterday.
|
e.g. He cooks dinner every Friday.
|
e.g. He will cook tomorrow.
|
Progressive
be + main verb +ing |
An action was happening (past progressive) when another action
happened (simple past).
|
An action that is happening now.
|
An action that will be happening over time, in the future,
when something else happens.
|
was / were cooking
|
am / is / are cooking
|
will be cooking
|
|
(time clue)*
|
e.g. He was cooking when the phone
rang.
|
e.g. He is cooking now.
|
e.g. He will be cooking when you come.
|
Perfect
have + past participle |
An action that ended before another action or time in the
past.
|
An action that happened at an unspecified time in the past.
|
An action that will end before another action or time in the
future.
|
had cooked
|
has / have cooked
|
will have cooked
|
|
(time clue)*
|
e.g. He had cooked the dinner when the
phone rang.
|
e.g. He has cooked many meals.
|
e.g. He will have cooked dinner by the
time you come.
|
Perfect Progressive
have + been + main verb + ing |
An action that happened over time, in the past, before another
time or action in the past.
|
An action occurring over time that started in the past and
continues into the present.
|
An action occurring over time, in the future, before another
action or time in the future.
|
had been cooking
|
has / have been cooking
|
will have been cooking
|
|
(time clue)*
|
e.g. He had been cooking for a long
time before he took lessons.
|
e.g. He has been cooking for over an
hour.
|
e.g. He will have been cooking all day
by the time she gets home.
|
*Time
clues: these are words that give some information about when an action
occurs. Some examples are:
| yesterday every day tomorrow while now |
simple past
simple present simple future past progressive present progressive |
.
There are many words that are time clues;
some can be used to indicate a number of tenses, for instance that something
happened in the past or that it will happen in the future. If you learn to
recognize these time clues, you will find them very helpful. Note that some
time clues can be used with more than one verb tense and also that this table
is not a complete listing of all the time clues that can be used with all of
the tenses
|
Chart—Time Clues
and Verb Tense
Past
|
Present
|
Future
|
|
Simple
|
Simple Past
|
Simple Present
|
Simple Future
|
| yesterday last year/ month/ etc. before for five weeks/days/etc. one year/ month ago |
every morning / day / etc.
always usually frequently sometimes |
tomorrow
tonight next week/month/etc. soon in the future |
|
Progressive
|
Past Progressive
|
Present Progressive
|
Future progressive
|
while
when |
now
right now this week/minute/etc. |
when
after as soon as before |
|
Perfect
|
Past Perfect
|
Present Perfect
|
Future Perfect
|
before
already by the time until then/last week/etc. after |
until now
since ever never many times/ weeks/years/etc. for three hours/ minutes/etc/ |
by the time you go (somewhere)
by the time you do (something) already |
|
Perfect Progressive
|
Past Perfect progressive
|
Present Perfect Progressive
|
Future Perfect Progressive
|
before
for one week/hour/etc. since |
for the past year/ month/ etc.
for the last 2 months/ weeks/etc. up to now for 6 weeks/hours/etc. since |
by the time
for ten days/weeks/etc. by |
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