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What Is A Verb Tense
What Is A Verb Tense
Past tenses
The past tenses use verbs to say that something happened in the past, meaning any time before
this moment right now. There are four variations of past tenses:
Simple past: describes events that began and ended in the past.
Past continuous: describes events that began in the past, continued for a length of
time, and ended in the past.
Past perfect: describes a past event that occurred before another past event.
Past perfect continuous: describes an event that began in the past, continued for a
length of time, and was in progress when another past event happened.
Simple past
The simple past tense describes events that have already happened and are completely finished.
Most verbs can be made past tense by adding -ed, –d, or sometimes the variant –t at the end of a
present tense verb, as in liked and watched.
However, many irregular verbs have unique past tense forms. For example, go becomes went,
and think becomes thought.
Simple past is usually used to write about historical events, like so:
Galileo observed the stars.
In this example, the verb tense indicates that the astronomer Galileo completely finished the act
of observing the stars at some point in the past.
Past continuous
The past continuous tense describes an ongoing activity that occurred in the past. It is formed by
combining the past tense verb to be (which must be correctly conjugated to agree with the
subject) and the present participle of a verb (ending in –ing):
The planet was moving along an elliptical orbit.
In this example, the verb tense says that the planet began moving sometime in the past and
continued to do so for a period of time (in the past).
Establish the different times to use was vs. were so you won’t have any mistakes again.
Past perfect
The perfect tenses involve more complex time relationships. They build upon simple tenses by
combining a verb with has, have, or had.
The past perfect tense, also called the pluperfect tense, describes a past event in relation to
another event that occurs closer to the present. It is formed by combining had and the past
participle of the verb.
The girl bought the telescope her teacher had recommended to her.
The girl bought (simple past) what the teacher had recommended (past perfect tense). One action
occurred (had recommended) before the other (bought).
Past perfect continuous
The past perfect continuous tense describes an ongoing action that—like the past perfect—was
performed in relation to another event that occurs closer to the present. It is formed by
combining had been with the present participle of the verb.
He had been studying for his astronomy final when the doorbell rang.
The above example uses the verb tense to indicate that he was studying for a length of time
before another event (the doorbell ringing) interrupted or stopped his act of studying.
Present tenses
Generally speaking, we use the present tenses to say that an event is happening right now in the
present time. Like the past tenses, there are four variations of present tenses:
Simple present: Describes an event as happening in the present.
Present continuous: Describes an event as being in progress in the present and
likely continuing into the future.
Present perfect: Describes an event that occurred in the past but has some
connection to the present.
Present perfect continuous: Describes an event that began in the past but still
continues to happen in the present.
Simple present
The simple present tense describes events happening now. It’s also useful for describing a direct
action that’s not exclusive to the past or future.
Sentences in present tense often have the most straightforward structure because they use the
root form of the verb or a conjugation of the verb to be. The root form of the verb is the form
you will find if you look up a verb in our dictionary.
We often use the simple present tense to state facts:
Cats eat mice and birds.
In this sentence, the simple present tense is used to state the fact that cats regularly eat mice and
birds.
When you use the verb be in the simple present tense, it must agree with the subject of the
sentence. For example:
I am tall.
You are my best friend.
She is my older sister.
We are hungry.
They are late for work.
Present continuous
The present continuous tense describes an ongoing activity that is happening now, in the present.
It is formed by combining the verb to be and the present participle of the verb (ending in –ing):
The baby is laughing at Shelly’s monkey puppet.
In this example, the verb tense is used to state that the baby is currently in the process of
laughing at Shelly’s silly puppet and will likely continue to do so for a while yet.
Present perfect
The present perfect tense describes a past event that’s still happening in the present. It is formed
by combining the word has or have (depending on the subject) with the past participle of the
verb.
Let’s look at this sentence:
Future tenses
We use the future tenses to say that an event will happen sometime in the future. Like past and
present tenses, there are four variations of future tenses:
Simple future: Describes an event that will begin and end in the future.
Future continuous: Describes an event that will begin in the future and continue for
a length of time.
Future perfect: Describes a future event that will happen before another future
event.
Future perfect continuous: Describes a future event that will begin, continue for a
length of time, and still be in progress when another future event occurs.
Simple future
The simple future tense describes events that haven’t happened yet. It’s useful for describing an
intended action or a prediction. It’s typically formed by combining the word will or, less
commonly, shall with a root verb.
For example: