VERB TENSES

Tenses are tools used by English speakers to express time in your language. You may find that many English tenses do not have direct translation in your language. This is not a problem. In this blog we will study these tenses and you will learn to think like a native English speaker.

In the next entry will begin to study this.


English has 12 verb tenses.

The action of the verb can be in the past, present or future.

Each tense has its own formula and structure and word clues to help identify what kind of action is occurring.

Simple tenses occur either in a single moment, or as a repeated, habitual action.

The simple past is formed by changing the verb in one of these two ways: either adding ‘ed’ to the end or using the past form of the verb.

A continuous or progressive tense (often referred to as the gerund) happens over a period of time.  This tense is always formed with a form of the verb ‘to be’, the main verb and the ending ‘-ing’.  Thus the formula could be written like this: (subject) + (be) + (main verb) + -ing.

The perfect tense is used to compare actions or when the time of the action is not clear.  This tense is always formed with the verb ‘have’ and a special part of the main verb in the past called the ‘past participle’. The formula would be: (subject) + (have) + (past participle of the main verb).

The perfect continuous or progressive tense is when we are thinking of an action that has happened over time in the past, before another action, or an action that begins in the past and continues into the present or future.  It is always formed by combining the formulas of the continuous and perfect tenses: (subject) + (have) + been + -ing.

If time was a line, then all the tenses would look something like this:

Have a look at the chart below to help you.

Activity 1

Identify what tense each sentence belongs to.

1.     I have been working all day.

2.     I went to the supermarket.

3.     I like making cakes.

4.     I have been to Scotland many times.

5.     I will have been studying for five years when I finish my degree.

6.     I had studied French before I went to Paris.

7.     I will go to the beach on Friday.

8.     I eat vegetables every day.

9.     I will have been to ten more cities by the time I leave Europe.

10.  I had been running for three kilometres when I had an accident.

11.  I will be cooking dinner at this time tomorrow.

12.  I was eating dinner when he arrived.