Verb Tenses

The Major Tenses in English

Usage:

Present: Present tense is used to designate an action that is ocurring presently.

Now I talk; then you can talk.

Present tense also can be used to designate something that generally happens.

He talks too much.

Present Progressive (Continuous): Present progressive is used to designate an action that currently is ongoing. It suggests that this action has duration.

I am fixing the faucet that leaked.

Past: Past tense is used to designate an action that occurred sometime in the past, but now it is over and completed.

Johnson miraculously ate the whole el grande burrito, but now he is hungry again.

Past Progressive (Continuous): Past progressive is used to designate a past event that has occurred over a considerable period of time (and shows duration).

He was learning how to write his name in cursive on a brick wall.

Present Perfect: Present perfect is most often used to designate an action that began in the past but has not been completed; it remains unfinished in the present (or is currently ongoing).[Note: The subordinating conjunctions "since" and "already" are associated with this form of present perfect.]

I have played the spoons since I was seven years old.

The present perfect designates actions that took place at an unspecified time in the past.

I have been to Tokyo before.

The present perfect designates actions that have been repeated several or many times in the past.

Jerry has left has toys his toys on the floor many times before.

Past Perfect: Past perfect is used when two actions take place in the past. The present perfect is used to designate the one that was completed first (and usually the second just uses simple past tense.)

She had opened the can of tuna when the cat jumped up on the countertop.

One can also use the past perfect to designate an action that occurred to another point in time.

Edison had invented the light bulb before 1920.

Future: Future tense is used to designate an action that will occur in the future.

Next Tuesday Job will finally throw a fit about the stain on the carpet.

Future Progressive: Future progressive is used to illustrate a future action of some duration.

For quite some time Jack will be telling his story about his escape from the kitchen at Christmas.

Future Perfect: Future perfect tense describes an action that at sometime in the future will be completed.

Some bureaucratic angel will have forgiven your sins by the time your ticket is punched while passing through the pearly gates.

Conjugation:

The following are two conjugations of two verbs. The first is a regular verb which follows the rule for making past tense and the participle. The second is an example of an irregular verb. Like the name suggests, there is no pattern for making the past tense and participle for these verbs.

Appendix (Irregular verbs): For most verbs in English, one needs to know three basic forms in order to make all tenses. These are the simple form, the simple past form, and the past participle.