Verb Tenses

VERB TENSES
1. Simple or Basic Tenses

2. Progressive or Continuous Tenses
3. Perfect Tenses
4. Perfect Progressive Tenses
SIMPLE / BASIC TENSES
SIMPLE PRESENT – used to convey:
1. an action, state of being, or a fact that is happening at present
• I truly understand your concerns.

• Razelle enjoys watching psychological thriller movies.
2. a habitual or repeated action
• Trisha rides the LRT to school every morning.

• Wendy reads a few pages of her book before she goes to bed.
3. a general truth
• Snow crystallizes from water droplets.

• Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System.
4. events occurring in the definite and close future
• Spring begins tomorrow.
5. Used to retell a past event or to review books to create a more vivid and more interesting narrative or description.
= Historical or Literary present
SIMPLE PAST – used to talk or write about:
1. completed past actions
• George fell down the stairs yesterday and broke his arm.
• When Viktor failed the bar exam for the second time, he became depressed.
NOTE: Definite time expressions are generally used here.
2. habitual past actions
• Last year, I was always on time for my classes.
SIMPLE FUTURE – indicates:
1. a definite action
• Next week, the company will conduct training sessions for new employees.
2. an intention
• The college announced that it will require all students to buy computers.
3. a probability
• The typhoon will most likely hit the coast by nightfall.
PROGRESSIVE / CONTINUOUS TENSES
PRESENT PROGRESSIVE – indicates:
1. continuing action that is taking place at the time of the speaking or writing
• The wind is blowing and it is shaking the leaves from the trees.
• I am suffering from laryngitis; that is why I am speaking softly.
2. actions occurring in the very near future
• The Smiths are leaving for Switzerland in five days.
PAST PROGRESSIVE – indicates:
1.an action that was in progress at a specific time in the past.
• At 8:00 last night, I was sitting in bed reading a detective novel.

• She was arguing with her boss all day yesterday.
2. an action that was in progress in the past when another action occurred or interrupted the first action (the
interrupting action is in the simple past tense)
NOTE: The words "when" and "while" are often used with the past progressive.
• Bob was talking on his cell phone when he ran into a parked car.
• What was Alice doing when she heard the news about Ned?
• While he was skiing, Joel broke his neck.
FUTURE PROGRESSIVE – used to write or talk about:
1. an activity that will be in progress either at a specific or general time in the future.
• At 8:00 tonight I will be reading a very good book. (specific)

• Next week the company will be conducting orientation sessions for new employees. (Future continuing action
in a specific time period.)
• We will be deducting taxes from your paycheck. (general, continuing future action)
2. an activity that will continue over a period of time from now into the future.
• Janet will be staying here for another ten years.
NOTE: In this respect, there is little difference between simple future tense and future progressive, except that future
progressive stresses the continuing nature of the activity.
PERFECT TENSES
PRESENT PERFECT
1. Expresses an event that occurred at an unspecified past time; the action is completed, but the time period is not
completed.
NOTE: The present perfect cannot be used to refer to a specific past time.
• Stephanie has seen the performance of that ballet group in New York before.
• I and my friends have gone to the gym to exercise twice.
2. Indicates two types of continuing action – action that began in the past and is now finished or action that began in
the past and continues in the present.
• Professor De Luna has written a book on the mating habits of zebras. (The continuing action that began in the
past – the writing of the book – is completed.)
• He has adored her ever since the day they met. (The continuing action – adoring her – began in the past, with
the implication that it continues in the present.)
PAST PERFECT
1. Expresses an action that was completed before another past event. The first past action is in the past perfect and
the second past action is in the simple past.
• Emma had dropped the egg on the floor before I came into the room.
• She had already eaten when they arrived to take her to lunch.
• Dr. Claremont had given his handouts by the time the conference ended.
2. Indicates an action that occurred before a certain time in the past or an unfulfilled desire in the past.
• By the year 2000, computers had become indispensable in most businesses. (Action occurring before a certain
time in the past.)
• John had hoped to graduate from college, but he couldn't pass English. (Unfulfilled desire in the past.)
FUTURE PERFECT
1. Indicates an action that will be finished at a certain future time

• They will have discovered the cure to the common cold by the year 2020.
• By Tuesday, we will have collected all the information you need. (Action to be finished at a certain specific
time.)
2. Expresses an action that will happen in the future before another action
• I will have left by the time they get here.

• By the time you get the dinner on the table, I will have died of hunger. (One action will be finished before
another occurs.)
PERFECT PROGRESSIVE TENSES
PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE
1. Use the present perfect progressive to write or talk about how long an event has been in progress before now or up
to now. It indicates an action continuing from the past into the present and possibly into the future.
NOTE: The word "since” and “for” is often used with the present perfect progressive.
• Beverly has been studying Geometry since 8:00 this morning.

• Those selected freshmen students have been performing on stage for two hours.
• Ever since it became a household fixture, television has been influencing the lives of those who watch it.
• The cost of energy has been increasing each year.
NOTE: The following verbs do not take the present perfect progressive. They take the present perfect:
be belong suppose realize

know own believe like
understand possess decide dislike
owe have conclude hate
love prefer contain resemble
tend perceive seem want
PAST PERFECT PROGRESSIVE
1. Indicates that a past action went on until another action occurred.
• We had been enjoying the picnic until the rain started

• Before she published her best-selling books, the author had been living in near poverty.
• I had been sleeping all morning before they woke me up.
• They had been trying to buy a house for years before they finally bought one.
FUTURE PERFECT PROGRESSIVE
1. Indicates that an action will continue until a certain future time.
• We will have been driving for three days and three nights by the time we get to Phoenix.
• By midnight, I will have been doing homework for five solid hours.
• They will have been hiking for days when they reach the end of the trail.
• By the year 2030, the temperature on earth will have been steadily rising.

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1. Simple or Basic Tenses

SIMPLE / BASIC TENSES

SIMPLE PRESENT – used to convey:

1. an action, state of being, or a fact that is happening at present

• I truly understand your concerns.

2. a habitual or repeated action

• Trisha rides the LRT to school every morning.

• Snow crystallizes from water droplets.

4. events occurring in the definite and close future

• Spring begins tomorrow.

SIMPLE PAST – used to talk or write about:

1. completed past actions

NOTE: Definite time expressions are generally used here.

2. habitual past actions

• Last year, I was always on time for my classes.

SIMPLE FUTURE – indicates:

• The typhoon will most likely hit the coast by nightfall.

PROGRESSIVE / CONTINUOUS TENSES

PRESENT PROGRESSIVE – indicates:

2. actions occurring in the very near future

• The Smiths are leaving for Switzerland in five days.

PAST PROGRESSIVE – indicates:

1.an action that was in progress at a specific time in the past.

• At 8:00 last night, I was sitting in bed reading a detective novel.

FUTURE PROGRESSIVE – used to write or talk about:

• At 8:00 tonight I will be reading a very good book. (specific)

• Janet will be staying here for another ten years.

1. Indicates an action that will be finished at a certain future time

• I will have left by the time they get here.

PERFECT PROGRESSIVE TENSES

PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE

• Beverly has been studying Geometry since 8:00 this morning.

be belong suppose realize

PAST PERFECT PROGRESSIVE

1. Indicates that a past action went on until another action occurred.

• We had been enjoying the picnic until the rain started

FUTURE PERFECT PROGRESSIVE

1. Indicates that an action will continue until a certain future time.

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