To recapitulate, simple tenses consist of present tense, past tense and future tense.

The simple present

tense is formed using the base form of the verb such as talk, walk, etc. (for plural noun or pronoun) or
the s-form of the verb (talks, walks, etc) for singular noun or pronoun. Other forms of the verbs like the
“be” verb such as is/ are;auxiliary verbs like has / have, do / does can be used. These forms of the verb
are used to express actions that are habitually done, to state a fact or general truth. The past tense is
formed with the following verbs like was (singular) / were (plural), had and did (both for singular and
plural). For regular verbs you just add –ed (talked, walked, etc) or a change in spelling is needed for
irregular verbs (eat = ate, write =wrote, etc). This tense of the verb is used for actions that happened or
completed in a definite past time. Time expressions like yesterday, last month, few days ago, etc. are
used. For actions that are intended to be completed or done in a particular time in the future, Future
tense of the verb is used. Here, expressions like tomorrow, next year, next summer, etc. will signify
futurity. Though, will /shall + base form of the verb can be used most of the time will + base form of the
verb is preferred by most people both in oral / written communication. To evaluate mastery of these
simple tenses, exercises below are designed for this purpose. Choose the appropriate verb in the
following sentences. Check your answers below

The simple future tense indicates that the action is in the future relative to the speaker. Verbs in the
future tense are not changed (or inflected), instead, helping verbs such as will and shall are added
before the base form of the verb. Examples I will buy a computer tomorrow. I shall return. Shall we
dance? Will you help me? In the first example, the helping verb will is added before buy which is a verb
in base form. In the second sentence, the helping verb shall is added before the verb return. The future
tenses in question are also shown above. If we use a diagram, the simple future tense can be
represented in the timeline as the red x below

Aside from will and shall, the form will be, shall be, be + going to are also several ways of expressing
things in simple future. I will make a sandwiches for breakfast. Not for sale. Free Reviewer for all
Filipinos. Prepared by: PinoyEinstein I will be in Tokyo next week. I am going to buy a dictionary
tomorrow. It is going to be sunny tomorrow. I shall be back in a month‘s time. As shown above, some of
the common usage of future sentences include: voluntary action (sentence 1), expressing a plan
(sentence 2) or prediction (sentence 3), and making a promise (sentence 4). Take note however that the
form of the verb is changed to past tense in passive simple future sentences. Active: Annie will finish the
job at 6pm. Passive: The work will be finished by Annie at 6pm.

Simple past tense is used when the action referred to happened in the past. Example: They walked to
the police station yesterday. In this example, the verb walk is added with ―ed‖ since the situation
happened the day before. This is indicated by ―yesterday.‖ Rules in Forming the Verbs a.) Verbs ending
in e are usually just appended by -d. Examples  dive – dived  tie – tied  carve – carve

We use the simple present tense when expressing action in the present taking place once, never or
several times, facts, actions taking place one after another, and action set by a timetable or schedule
The simple present tense obeys the subject verb agreement and, of course, the verb is in present tense.

Simple present tense are used in the following situations. (a) Facts and generalizations 1.) The sun rises
from East. 2.) The dog barks. (b) Repeated actions, customs, and habits 1.) People celebrate Christmas
on 25th December. 2.) Kenyans go for elections every five years. (c) Things happening now. (1) He
balances on a rope. (2) He begins his speech now. (d) Things happening in the near future. (1) The train
leaves in 2 minutes. (2) The program starts in 1 hour. When asking questions in this tense, the auxiliary
must reflect the number. e.g. Does he walk to school ?(singular subject) Do they walk to school? (plural
subject) If you are not sure whether it is in present tense or not, there words we would consider
markers of present tense, for example: always, every …, never, normally, often, seldom, sometimes,
usually… e.t.

Perfect tenses have three types: Present perfect, Past perfect and future perfect. The present perfect
tense denotes actions that began in the past and continues up to the present time. It is also used to
suggest events that happened at unspecific time before now. Has (singular) and have (plural) + past
participle of the given verb are used to form the present perfect tense. The past perfect tense of the
verb is formed with Had (for singular and plural noun)+ past participle of the verb. This tense of the verb
is used to express an action that happened before another past action occurred. Always remember that
the second past action must use the simple past tense of the verb. Similarly, for the future perfect tense
two actions/events are required here. But, these actions are intended to be completed in the future.
Expressions such as by tomorrow, by next year, ten years from now, etc. are commonly used plus the
future perfect tense (will have + past participle). This is to suggest that the action is completed before a
certain time.

In the previous posts, we have discussed Present Perfect Tense and Past Perfect Tense. In this post, we
are going to discuss Future Perfect Tense. Future perfect expresses the idea that something will happen
before another action in the future. It also shows that something will happen before a specific time in
the future. Just like the past perfect tense there must be two actions. In this case, these actions should
be completed or done in the future. The action that will happen first, though in the future, will follow
the will + have + past participle of the verb. Then, the other future action will use the simple present
tense. Form: will + have +past participle of the verb The common time expressions are: before, by
tomorrow/ 7 o‘clock / next month, etc., until or till.

Examples: 1. By next year, I will have moved to my new house. 2. By the time the husband gets home,
the wife will have cooked dinner. 3. He will have perfected his English by the time he moves to the US.

Past perfect tense is used to express an action that took place before another past action. The auxiliary
verb had + past participleof the verb is used to form the past perfect tense. This tense is also called the
had tense. Examples 1. I had prepared the salad when my nephews arrived home. 2. Frieda had entered
the grades before Melissa started to compute her grades. 3. The student had received the report card
before her mother asked for it. 4. Kristine had never complained before yesterday. 5. Julius had studied
Thai before he moved to Thailand.
Like simple tenses, perfect or sometimes called compound tenses have three categories namely: Present
Perfect, Past Perfect, and Future Perfect. Each of these has a corresponding usage depending on the
time of action is completed or intended to be done.

PRESENT PERFECT TENSE Present Perfect Tense is used to express an action happened at an unspecific
time before now. The exact time is not important. Unlike the simple past tense, the action is done at a
particular time. Hence, time expression such as yesterday, last month, etc. must be stated. The only time
expressions accepted in this tense are: ever, never, once, many times, several times, before, so far,
already, yet, etc. FORM: for singular subject =Has + past participle of the given verb For plural subject =
Have + past participle of the given verb *** Not for sale. Free Reviewer for all Filipinos. Prepared by:
PinoyEinstein Example 1: I have seen the movie Serendipity more than ten times. Present perfect tense
is also used to talk about change that has happened over a period of time. Example 2: My English has
improved since I migrated to America. We also use the present perfect tense of the verb to tell an action
that began in the past but continues up to the present. Example 3: I have been in Japan since October.

Future perfect progressive is used to state an action that is perceived to be continuously happening
when a certain time comes. Form: will have been + present participle Examples: 1. By this afternoon, the
teachers will have been arriving to attend the meeting. 2. Few months from now, politicians will have
been preparing for the forthcoming national election.

Subject-verb agreement means that the subject and verb endings agree in number. Determining singular
or plural endings can be confusing because an -s ending on a noun indicates plural, whereas an -s ending
on a verb indicates singular form. The subject of every sentence is either singular or plural, and that
determines the ending of the verb. In the examples below, the subjects in the sentences are underlined
the verbs are italicized.

Rule 1: Singular nouns (usually without s) take singular verbs (usually with s). Plural nouns (usually with
s) take plural verbs (usually without s). Examples: The bee buzzes every night. (One bee = singular verb)
The bees buzz every night. (More than one bee = plural verb) The stamps stick. Time flies so fast. Note:
The nouns ―I‖ and ―you‖ always take a plural verb. I eat a lot. You are so beautiful.

Rule 2: Compound subjects or subjects joined by and take a plural verb

Example: My father and my brother visit me every year.

Rule 3: The conjunction ‗or‘ does not conjoin like ‗and.’ When you use or, the verb takes the the
number of the closest subject. Your father or his sisters are going to take care of Anna. Your sisters or
your father is going to take care of Anna.

Rule 4: Just like in Rule 3, when the subject words are joined by either … or, neither . . . nor, or not only
… but , the verb agrees with the subject closest to it. Examples: Either her friend or her mother has the
money. Neither her uncle nor her aunts have the money. In sentence 1, the verb ―has‖ which is singular
agrees with the subject ―mother‖ (singular). In the second sentence, the verb ―have‖ (plural) agrees
with the subject ―aunts‖ (plural).
Rule 5: The indefinite pronouns no one, anyone, everyone, someone, anybody, everybody,somebody,
and nobody are always singular. They take singular verbs. Examples: No one is above the law. Everyone
was happy.

Rule 6: When word groups or modifiers separate the subject and the verb, locate the subject word to
determine whether to use a singular or plural verb. Examples: The flowers in the pot on the balcony
need watering. An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

Rule 7: Phrases starting with the following words are normally not part of the subject: along with,
together with, accompanied by, in addition to, as well as, except, with, no less than. Risa, together with
her friends, goes to a party every weekend. Dana and Gemma, together with their father, go to church
every weekend. That‘s all for now, we will discuss more rules in the next post.

In the previous post, we have learned seven rules of the subject-verb agreement. We now continue with
the 8th rule.

Rule 8: Modifiers between the subject and the verb does not affect the number of the subject. Jason,
who is a father of four, is currently suffering liver cancer. In this sentence, the phrase ―who is a father
of four‖ is a modifier of Jason. It does not affect Jason as a subject and therefore takes a singular verb
‗is.‘

Rule 9: Some nouns (collective nouns) can be used as singular or plural depending on the context and
usage. Rica‘s family plans to go on a vacation this summer. The staff have gone their separate ways after
the meeting. In the first sentence, the family is a collective noun and functions as one group. In the
second sentence, the staff refers to the persons individually.

Rule 10: Uncountable nouns or nouns that can‘t be counted takes singular verbs. Too much sugar was
put in this coffee. Money is the root of all evils.‖ In this sentence, sugar is an uncountable noun, so we
used ‗was‘ instead of ‗were.‘ It is the same with the second sentence.

Rule 11: There are words that end in s that are always considered as singular. The news about her death
is spreading very fast. Mathematics is a very difficult subject. Diabetes is not a curable disease.

Rule 12: Fractional expressions ‗half of,‘ ‗part of,‘ ‗portion of‘ may take singular or plural verbs
depending on the context. Half of the audience are asleep because of his boring speech. A portion of his
wealth was donated to cancer patients.

Rule 13: In inverted sentences especially those that use here and there, the subject follows the verb.
Here are the towels. A good snack is a salad.

cajole – to persuade someone to do something or to give you something by making promises or saying
nice things

vehement – strongly emotional, passionate, zealous

belligerent – angry and aggressive; feeling or showing readiness to fight

. recant – to announce in public that the past beliefs or statements were wrong and that you do not
agree with them anymore
pacify – to bring or restore to a state of peace; to cause someone who is angry to be calm or quite

appease – to ease, to calm, to satisfy

vex – to annoy or irritate

bear-cub

cow-calf

deer-fawn

goose-gosling

kangaroo- joey

sheep-lamb

swan-cygnet