What are verb tenses?
Verb tenses tell us how an action relates to the flow of time. There are three main verb tenses in English: present, past and future. These can then be subdivided into four more tenses: the simple, continuous (progressive), perfect and perfect continuous (progressive).
What are the 12 verb tenses in English?
There are 12 major verb tenses that English learners should know and they are shown in the English tenses chart/table, with examples below:
| Tense Name | Example |
| Past Perfect | I had studied… |
| Past perfect continuous | I had been studying… |
| Past simple | I studied… |
| Past continuous | I was studying… |
| Present perfect simple | I have studied… |
| Present perfect continuous | I have been studying… |
| Present simple | I study… |
| Present continuous | I am studying… |
| Future simple | I will study… |
| Future continuous | I will be studying… |
| Future perfect simple | I will have studied… |
| Future perfect continuous | I will have been studying… |
Before we look at the12 tenses in detail we need to understand the three different types of verbs.
What are the three forms of verbs?
The Base/Root Verb/Verb 1
The base or root verb is the shortest version of a verb and it is used in present tense, for example, the verbs play, talk, go, swim.
The Past Tense/Verb 2
The past tense of a verb, or verb 2 is the verb used when we talk about the past using the ‘past simple’ tense. It can be either regular or irregular.
A ‘regular’ verb is where the past tense verb simply adds ‘ed’. For example, talked, walked, played.
An ‘irregular’ verb is where the past tense verb changes its spelling, for example, ‘go’ changes to ‘went’, swim changes to ‘swam’,
The Past Participle/Verb 3
The past participle of a verb, sometimes known as verb 3, is used whenever we use one of the ‘perfect tenses’.
Examples of the past participle are: eaten, driven, taken.
As you can see, the words above are spelt differently to how you spell them as verb 2, so you have to learn all three ways of spelling them.
Fortunately, most verbs that end in ‘ed’ when they are in verb 2/past tense form have the same spelling for the past participle/verb 3. For example, play (verb 1), played (verb 2), played (verb 3). Easy, right?
Also read: What Are Grammar Points?
The ‘ing’ verbs in English explained
The use of ‘ing‘ verbs
When we use any of the continuous/progressive tenses i.e. past continuous, future continuous, present continuous, present perfect continuous, or past perfect continuous, we use the ‘ing’ form of the word, for example, ‘I was eating’.
Why do we use the ‘ing’ form of the verb in English?
- show that the action was on-going at that time, e.g. I was listening to music at 8 pm last night.
- emphasize the fact that an activity lasted a considerable time, e.g. We have been working for ages!
- Describe a setting e.g. the wind was blowing and it was raining hard as Jack walked home.
| TEST YOUR UNDERSTANDING – Part 1 1. How many verb tenses are there? 2. What is another name for the verb 3 verbs? 3. What are two reasons to use a continuous tense? 4. What do we call past tense verbs that end in an ‘ed’. 5. What do we call verbs that we have to change the spelling of to create the verb 2 and verb 3 version of? |
What are perfect tenses and examples?
Perfect tenses give the listener/reader a clue as to how an activity relates to and impacts on another time period. The past participle is use with the perfect simple tenses and the +ing form with been for perfect continuous tenses.
For example:
Present perfect continuous – ‘I have been working hard all day’, shows to the reader that the person talking is probably going to be feeling tired right now.
Future perfect continuous – ‘We will have been waiting for 3 hours by 3 o’clock!’, this emphasizes that the activity is a longer extended time period and that the person speaking is feeling pretty annoyed right now and will probably be even more annoyed at 3 pm.
Present perfect simple – ‘You have just scored a point’. One team will now be happy they scored and may play with more energy because of something that happened in the recent past.
Past perfect continuous – ‘We had been worrying about the exam for months before it finally arrived’. This shows that the students probably felt relieved to start the exam and emphasizes the feeling of on-going worry over a prolonged period of time that they went through in the run up to the exam.
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When to use present perfect tenses?
One of the easiest ways to work out how to use the present perfect tense is to think about the concept of ‘finished’ and ‘unfinished’ time. With finished time we use past simple/verb2. With unfinished time we use present perfect simple or continuous/verb 3
| Finished Time | Unfinished Time |
| Yesterday | This month |
| Last week | This year |
| Two days ago | Today |
| In 1980 | This week |
| Three days ago | This decade |
So, any sentence that starts with finished time is going to use past simple tense (verb 2), e.g. Last night we went to the movies.
But, any sentence that starts with unfinished time is going to use present perfect verb 3, or present perfect continuous, e.g. Today, we have studied the English tense system, or, today we have been studying the English tense system.
However, there are times when a sentence does not include a finished time or unfinished time phrase. Such as in this sentence, ‘I have never been to America’ and ‘I have eaten spiders before’.
In these cases, we have to ‘guess’ the time phrase from the context and in both of these sentences the time frame is that person’s entire life experience.
Clearly, that person’s life has not finished and this is why it is using the present perfect simple tense.
To be honest, the rules included here are a good bases for understanding the tense system but you will start to, and probably already have, developed a natural instinct as to which tense is the correct tense to use.
The more you read and listen to the English language being spoken the more accurate you will become with your tenses.
TEST YOUR UNDERSTANDING – Part 2 1. What do perfect tenses show? 2. Give two examples of unfinished time? 3. What do we do if there is no time phrase given? 4. What will help you to develop your instinct for using tenses correctly? |
Common Verb Tense Mistakes
1 – Forgetting to use past tense
It amazes me how often students simply forget to write using the past tense.
This means that they will miss off the ‘ed’ endings of regular verbs and forget to change the spelling of irregular verbs.
SOLUTION: Make it a habit to check your writing after each sentence and not just after you have written an entire article. Look out for finished and unfinished time phrases as reminders of what tense you should be using.
Really though, it is up to you as the student to make the effort to check your work for past tenses.
Teachers can and will keep correcting them but that will not help unless you are proactive about improving this area of your work.
2 – Confusing the words ‘have, had, have had, and had had.
Let’s analyse this more closely: I have a pen right now.
This is a present simple sentence simply showing possession..
I had a pen last night. This is a past simple sentence. The verb ‘have’ has been changed to its past tense form, ‘had’.
I have had a pen since the start of the lesson. This is a present perfect simple tense sentence. In present perfect we always use the word ‘have’ followed by the verb 3 of the verb in the sentence.
In this case the verb being changed to verb 3 just happens to be ‘have’. We still need both ‘have’ words though, you cannot drop one of them!
I had had a pen before someone stole it. This is a past perfect simple tense sentence. To make this type of sentence we use the word ‘had’ plus the verb 3 of the sentence, which again just happens to be ‘have’. This is why you can get the peculiar sounding ‘had had’ in a sentence.
Hopefully, you can see why all of those combinations can be correct – possibly weird sounding to you but still correct.
SOLUTION: Remember, that if you are writing or speaking about the past then you cannot use the word ‘have’ on its own, it must either be ‘have had’, or ‘had had’.
3 – We went to ate
This is another tricky one. If we are writing in past tense then why don’t all the verbs in a sentence change into past tense? For example:
We used to visit him.
We needed to go home
We waited to see them.
Why aren’t both the verbs in the sentence changed into past tense? Shouldn’t it be?
We used to visited him.
We needed to went home.
We waited to saw him.
The reason they are not correct is because there is a general rule in English that says:
We always use the base form (verb 1) of a verb when it immediately follows the word ‘to’. This is just something you will have to remember.
There are other words like this too. For example, ‘did’ is never followed by past tense forms, e.g. Did he went? Did he go?
This is just another part of the English language you have to develop a feel for. Sentences will just sound wrong when you do not follow these rules.
Reading is the best way to develop an instinct for this.
English Verb Tense Overview: Explanations And Examples
THE PAST PERFECT TENSE
Used to describe a past action which was started and completed before another past action began.
Aliens had landed…
Subject + HAD + Verb (past form)
Examples:
“Aliens had landed before we even knew they existed.”
“I seized the opportunity of slightly shifting my position, which had become cramped, and then listened.”
THE PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE
Used to describe past actions which continued up until a specified point in past time.
Martians had been planning…
Subject + HAD + BEEN + Verb (continuous – ing)
Examples:
“Clearly the Martians had been planning their invasion for decades.”
“The spaceships engines had been running on empty for hours already.”
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THE PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE TENSE
Used to indicate a connection between the past and the present, where the action is complete.
I have visited…
Subject + HAS + Verb (past participle)
Examples:
“The Martians seem to have calculated their descent with amazing subtlety.”
“We have learned now that we cannot regard this planet as being fenced in and a secure abiding place for Man.”
THE PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE
Used to indicate a connection between the past and the present, where the action is unfinished.
Tourists have been visiting…
Subject + HAS + BEEN + Verb (continuous – ing)
Examples:
“All that time the Martians must have been getting ready”.
“We have been surviving on rations of potatoes and carrots for days now.”
THE FUTURE PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE
Used to describe how long an action will have lasted by a specified point in the future.
I will have been going…
Subject + WILL + HAVE + BEEN
- Verb (continuous -ing)
Examples:
“We will have been hiding in this house for 3 days by the 6 o’clock tonight”.
“Planet Mars has been orbiting for the Sun for 4.6 billion years.”
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THE PAST SIMPLE TENSE
Used to describe actions which occurred in the past and are now completed.
A tentacle reached out…
Subject + Verb (past form)
Examples:
“I crept back to the coal cellar, shut the door, and began to cover myself up as much as I could.”
“The sixth star fell at Wimbledon. My brother, saw the green flash of it far beyond the hills.”
THE PRESENT SIMPLE TENSE
Used to describe permanent or regular activities and give facts.
The earth circles…
Subject + Verb
Examples:
“The planet Mars, I scarcely need remind the reader, revolves about the sun at a mean distance of 140,000,000 miles, and the light and heat it receives from the sun is barely half of what our world receives”.
THE FUTURE SIMPLE TENSE
Used to describe future events.
NASA will send /are going to send…
Subject + IS + GOING + TO + Verb
Subject + WILL + Verb
Examples:
“Aliens will attack again, of that there is no doubt.”
“We are going to leave the house and look for food despite the danger.”
THE PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE
Used to describe past actions which lasted for an extended period of time.
The alien was howling…
Subject + WAS + Verb (continuous – ing)
Examples:
“Something was moving to and fro there, very quietly.”
“Up the hill Richmond town was burning briskly.”
THE PRESENT CONTINUOUS TENSE
Used to describe activities happening in the present moment.
The earth is spinning…
Subject + IS + Verb (continuous – ing)
Examples:
“The aliens are invading London as we speak!”
“Humans are developing new plans to protect their planet.”
THE FUTURE CONTINUOUS TENSE
Used to indicate being in the middle of something at a specified point in the future.
The spaceship will be taking off…
Subject + WILL + BE + Verb (continuous – ing)
Examples:
“Those Martians will no doubt be invading us again in the near future.”
“Governments around the world will be preparing for another invasion.”
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