Key Points

 In English, the three basic verb tenses are past, present, and
future.
 Verbs in past tense express what happened in the past.
 Verbs in present tense express actions that are currently
happening, or occur over a period of time that includes the present.
 Verbs in future tense express actions that will happen in the future.
 All verbs have both tense and aspect. Because there are three
verb tenses and four verb aspects, there are twelve possible
combinations of tense and aspect.
Key Terms
 tense: Any of the forms of a verb that distinguish when an action or
state of being occurs or exists. The three simple tenses are past,
present, and future.
 verb: A word that indicates an action, event, or state.
 aspect: A grammatical category that expresses how a verb relates
to the flow of time.

I eat everyday
Aspect He ate last night Tense

He will eat in the

mountains

“Verbal aspect” refers to the timing of the Tense indicates when the action expressed
verb. More specifically, it addresses by a verb takes place. The three simple
whether the action occurs in a single block tenses are past, present, and future.
of time, continuously, or repetitively. All
Different tenses take different verb forms,
verbs have both tense and aspect. Verbal
either by changing the word itself or by
aspect consists of simple, progressive, adding helping verbs. There is no single
perfect, or perfect progressive, where formula for how to change verb tenses
each refers to a different fabric of time.

Simple Progressive Perfect Perfect Progressive

Past Tense Present Tense Future Tense

The progressive aspect The perfect aspect is Present tense expresses Future tense expresses an action
The simple aspect is The perfect progressive Past tense is used for actions that
is used to talk about used to discuss unchanging actions and states of or event that will take place in the
used to express a single combines the perfect started and finished in the past.
continuous events. completed actions. It is being. It is also used with future.
action, a repeated and the progressive to
often formed by the verb recurring actions and with
action, or a permanent refer to the completed
have combined with a universal or widespread truths.
state. portion of a continuous
past tense verb. action.

 I walked  I walk  I will walk

 The news crew had  She ran  She runs  She will run
 Permanent state:  Dr. Jones was  My family had
lecturing about grammar. left before the flooding been working for more than
David lives in Raleigh, North
reached our home. twelve hours to provide full
Carolina.  Jane is reading a novel.
 She has coverage of the event.
 Repeated or habitual
visited their mountain  I have been living in this
action: He runs every
home. house for 40 years.
morning.
 Single action:
He graduated from the
University of North Carolina.