OpenStax-CNX module: m38628 1

The Six Tenses of Simple and

Perfect

Gayle Griggs
This work is produced by OpenStax-CNX and licensed under the

Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0

Abstract

This module focuses on six tenses within two verb tense areas: The simple and the perfect tenses.

The simple tenses consist of the present, the past, and the future. The perfect tenses are the present
perfect, the past perfect, future perfect.
and the

Verbs are conjugated to show the time an action or idea is expressed. The time conveyed by a verb

is its tense. A verb tense shows the particular time in which an action took place and its relationship to

when the action was spoken or written.

Each of the six tenses covered in this module has its own usage and form of conjugation.

1 The Six Tenses:

1.1 The Simple Tense
Simple tenses indicate simple time relationships.
The present tense expresses an action in the present or one that occurs always, repeatedly, or habitually.
Example: The horses eat the hay every day.
The past tense conveys a denite completed action in the past.
Example: The horses ate the hay last week.
The future tense communicates an action that has not yet occurred but will take place in the future.
This tense uses  will  or  going to  with the past participle.

Example: The horses will eat / are going to eat the hay tomorrow.
The Past Participle
The past participle of a verb usually indicates a completed action and generally has the same form as the
past tense. Regular forms of the past participle usually end in d, -ed, -n, -en, or -t.
The following hand out lists the present, past, and past participle for common irregular verbs: Irregular
1
Verb tense list

1.2 The Perfect Tense

A verb in the perfect tense expresses an action that was or will be completed at the time of another action
or a specic occasion. The perfect tense of an action uses have or has with the past participle.

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1 http://academic.uprm.edu/ggriggs/SixTenses/Irregular%20Verb%20List.pdf

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The presentperfect tense expresses an action that is completed at the present time or is continuing into
the present. This tense uses have or has + the past participle of a verb.
Example: The horses have eaten all the hay this morning.
The horse has eaten all the hay this morning.
The pastperfect tense conveys an action that was completed before a time in the past. This tense uses
had + the pastparticiple of a verb.

Example: The horses hadeaten all the hay before it rained.

The horse hadeaten all the hay before it rained.
The futureperfect tense expresses an action that has not yet occurred but will take place in the future.
This tense uses will orgoing to + have + the pastparticiple of a verb.
Example: The horses willhave eaten / are going to have eaten the hay before it rains.
The horse will have eaten / is going to have eaten the hay before it rains.

2 Objectives
Students will learn that verb conjugation depends on the time in which an action or idea is expressed.
The students will learn that the two basic forms of verb tenses for the present, past, or future times are
the simple tense and the perfect tense. They will also learn that in the present tense, a singular subject
takes a singular verb and that singular verbs end with s. Furthermore, a plural subject takes a plural verb,
which does not end with s.
Students should also learn that the perfect tense always ends with the pastparticiple of a verb.
Additionally, students should consider whether a verb is regular or irregular. If it is irregular, the verb
2
must be conjugated appropriately based on the following list: Irregular Verb tense list

3 Teaching strategies:
The instructor should review the present, past, and future simple tense with the students. When reviewing
emphasize that in the present tense, the verb form of a singular
these tenses, the instructor should
subject takes an s at the end of the verb. A plural subject does not take the s at the end of
the verb.
The instructor should also review the rules to the perfect tense, and highlight that the perfect tense
always takes a past participle of the verb.
The following slides provide denitions and tips included in the PowerPoint presentation for Subject-Verb
Agreement:

3.1 The Present and Present Perfect Tenses

(Slide 2)

2 http://academic.uprm.edu/ggriggs/SixTenses/Irregular%20Verb%20List.pdf

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Figure 1

3.2 The Present Tense: Singular and Plural Subjects

(Slide 4)

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Figure 2

3.3 The Past Tense

(Slide 8)

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Figure 3

3.4 The Future Tense

(Slide 12)

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Figure 4

The instructor should review all material prior to teaching this lesson. In the slide show, denitions and
examples of each of the six tenses are provided. Students should learn to dene and discriminate between
the correct tenses in each example.
In the PowerPoint presentation, four interactive practice slides (# 5, # 6, # 10, and # 14) oer in-class
activities for the instructor to review with the class. Each slide provides individually animated sentences
with areas in blank for students to complete. After students respond, with a mouse click, the correct answer
appears.
The following general rules to the six tenses are emphasized in the nal slides of the PowerPoint presen-
tation (slides # 15, # 16, and #17):

1. The present tense is used for actions in the present or actions that occurs repeatedly
2. Third person singular takes a singular verb (with s)
3. Third person plural takes a plural verb (without s)
4. The present perfect tense indicates an action completed in the present or continuing into the present
5. The present perfect tense uses  have  or  has  with the past participle of the verb (regular verb ending
in -ed, -d, -t, -en, or n)
6. The past tense indicates that an action was completed in the past
7. Add d or ed to regular verbs in the past tense
8. Irregular verb tenses are tricky and must be learned

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9. The past perfect tense indicates that an action was completed before a stated or known time in the
past
10. The past perfect tense uses  had  + the past participle of the verb (regular verb + -ed, -d, -t, -en, or
n)
11. The future tense indicates an action that has not yet occurred but will take place in the future
12. The future tense uses  will  or the proper present tense of  be  with  going to  and the verb
13. The future perfect tense indicates an action that will be complete before a known time in the future
14. The future perfect tense uses  will have  + the past participle of the verb (regular verb + -ed, -d, -t,
-en, -n)
15. For irregular verbs, see the irregular verbs handout

4 Materials:
In order to oer this lesson, instructors need a computer and a multi-media projector.
The following materials and handouts are provided with this module:

3
1. PowerPoint slide show: Six Tenses
2. A hand-out of the slide show for students after they receive the lesson: Handout-SixTenses
4

3. A handout sheet with a list of irregular verb tenses in the present, past, and past participle: Irregular
5
Verb List
6
4. Two practice sheets with subject-verb agreement exercises: Practice I-S-V Agreement ; Practice II-S-V
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Agreement
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5. Answer sheets for the two practice exercises: Answers-Practice I-S-V Agreement and Answers-Practice
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II-S-V Agreement

5 Assessment:
The authors recommend that the instructor distribute one or both of the practice sheets to the students as a
pre-test prior to receiving the lesson. After completing the lesson, students should answer the practice sheets
again as a post-test. In this way, instructors may determine whether the students master this objective or
require additional instructional support.
References
Hacker, D. (2008). Rules for writers (6th ed.). Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's.
Maimon, E. P., Peritz, J. H., & Yancey, K. B. (2007). A writer's resource: A handbook for writing and
research (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Walsh, J. M., & Walsh, A. K. (1972). Plain English handbook (6th ed.). Cincinatti: McCormick-Mathers
Publishing Co., Inc.
Willis, D. (1991). Collins cobuild: Student's grammar. London: HarperCollins.

3 http://academic.uprm.edu/ggriggs/SixTenses/Six%20Tenses.ppsx
4 http://academic.uprm.edu/ggriggs/SixTenses/Handout-SixTenses.pdf
5 http://academic.uprm.edu/ggriggs/SixTenses/Irregular%20Verb%20List.pdf
6 http://academic.uprm.edu/ggriggs/SixTenses/Practice%20I-S-V%20Agreement.pdf
7 http://academic.uprm.edu/ggriggs/SixTenses/Practice%20II-S-V%20Agreement.pdf
8 http://academic.uprm.edu/ggriggs/SixTenses/Answers-Practice%20I-S-V%20Agreement.pdf
9 http://academic.uprm.edu/ggriggs/SixTenses/Answers-Practice%20II-S-V%20Agreement.pdf

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