4.8 • +11k Ratings
Save
Print
Edit
Tense is a grammatical term used to describe time; that is, whether an action or state happened in the past, is happening in the present, or will happen in the future. Tense is not limited to this, but these are its basic uses. Let's explore the three main tenses: past, present, and future, including their functions and structures. We will also look at a key component of tense, called aspect, as well as how to form tenses using inflections.
The past tense shows that an action (or state of being) has happened (or existed) in the past .
The past tense may also be used to refer to the present tense ( 'I wish I had a cat' ) or the future tense ( 'Imagine if we moved to Spain' ). We can also talk about habitual actions or events in the past that were repeated or occurred regularly eg. 'we used to go to Scotland at weekends' or 'she would always fall asleep at school'.
Let's look at some examples of different variations of the past tense.
For regular verbs, we form the past tense by adding the inflection -d or -ed to the base form of the verb. Here's an example:
Things are a bit more tricky with irregular verbs, such as 'run → ran' and 'be → was / were / been' which don't follow the same inflectional rule. We just have to memorise the spellings for these irregular verbs. We will cover irregular verbs in more detail later on!
The present tense shows that an action (or state of being) is happening (or exists) in the present (eg. 'I'm going to the shops' or 'I live in Liverpool' ).
It can also be used to talk about the future (eg. 'The train leaves at 10pm tonight' ) or about the past (eg. 'So, the other day I'm walking down the road when I see this dog running towards me' ) . We can also refer to a habitual action or event in the present. This is something that is repeated or happens regularly. For example, 'I normally go to the library on a Wednesday' .
In literature, the present tense can be used to make the reader feel more connected to the story. Take this sentence for example: 'Joe feels a sense of dread as he walks slowly over to the shadow lurking in the distance'. As the story is happening in the present, you feel the suspense and the unfolding plot in 'real-time'.
Let's look at some examples of some variations of the present tense.
The simple present tense is formed using the base of a verb eg. ' I play'. In the present tense, we must add the inflection -s when using the third person singular (he / she / it).
We can also add the infection -ing to base verbs to form the present progressive (sometimes called 'continuous'). We use this verb pattern to talk about an ongoing action in the present or to discuss future plans.
The future tense is used to express an action (or state of being) that has not yet happened but is expected to happen in the future.
Let's look at some examples of different variations of the future tense.
Some grammarians argue that there is no future tense, just ways of expressing the future using combinations of other tenses and aspects. This is because inflections aren't added to the base verb to form something called the 'future tense', as they are for present and past tenses. Instead, we use modal auxiliary verbs, such as 'will', 'shall' and 'going to', or one of the other tenses, to describe future events, actions, and states.
Irregular verbs are verbs that don't follow the rule of adding the inflection -ed/d to form the simple past or past forms.
There are quite a few irregular verbs in English; let's look at some examples.
These examples show how varied irregular verbs can be. For regular verbs we can simply add -ed/-d for to the base form of a verb (Verb 1) for both the past simple tense (verb 2) and past participle (verb 3). For example, I dance (present tense / base form) → I danced (past tense) → I have danced (past participle).
However, things aren't as simple in the case of irregular verbs which often differ in spelling between the present, past, and past participle. Unfortunately, there is no rule for irregular verbs, you simply have to remember them!
The past participle is the form of the verb which we see in the perfect and passive forms. It expresses a completed action and is often preceded by an auxiliary verb such as has / had. For example, 'you have eaten ' or ' he has left'.
Each of the three main tenses (past, present, and future) is divided into four aspects. Aspect shows the time-related characteristics of a sentence such as whether a verb is ongoing, repeated, or completed .
We can classify tenses into four different types: simple, progressive (continuous), perfect, and perfect progressive (continuous).
Let's take a look at the functions and some examples of these aspects in more detail.
The perfect aspect expresses a completed action, one that occurred prior to a specific point in time . We can form the perfect aspect using 'had', 'has', or 'will have' + the past participle of the verb.
The continuous aspect expresses an ongoing, uncompleted action. We form the progressive aspect using the correct form of ' be' (depending on the tense) and the inflection -ing added to the main verb, eg. 'I was walking ' (past continuous), ' I am walking ' (present continuous), or 'I will be walking ' (future continuous).
The perfect continuous aspect expresses that an action started in the past is continuing into the present. A perfect continuous sentence is formed with the auxiliary have / has / had with the auxiliary been (past participle) together with the main verb eg 'walking' (conjugated in the present tense). For example, 'I had been walking ' (past perfect continuous ), 'I have been walking ' (present perfect continuous ), or 'I will have been walking ' (future perfect continuous).
These aspects and tenses combine to create the twelve verb patterns:
We often refer to past events using the present perfect tense , however the tense indicates a link between the present and the past as we are most interested in the result of the action (eg. ' I've already seen this film' could suggest that you don't want to watch it again!).
The present perfect continuous also suggests an ongoing link between the past and present, as the action starts in the past and continues into / affects the present (eg. 'Sorry I'm late, I have been working'. )
Here is a revision sheet showing further examples of the 12 tenses in English. Study how the different tenses are formed using different verb inflections and sentence constructions:
| Past Tense | Present tense | Future Tense | |
| Simple (action has taken place) | I danc ed | I dance | I want dance |
| Continuous / progressive (an ongoing, uncompleted action) | I was dancing | I a m dancing | I want to be dancing |
| Perfect (a completed action that occurs before a specific point in time) | I had danced | I have danced | I will have danced |
| Perfect continuous (an action started in the past is continuing into the present) | I had been dancing | I have been dancing | I will have been dancing |
Notice how these examples have the same subject and verb, but the verb inflections and sentence constructions show us what tense is being used.
Let's have a look at this conversation and see if we can identify different tenses by considering the use of verb inflections and the formation of the sentences.
"Why weren't you answering my calls?"
"I have been to the cinema, I'm going to go again tomorrow"
"I've been waiting for you all afternoon!"
"Well I'm here now, so let's hurry "
Can you spot the different tenses? Below you can see where the different tenses are used.
"Why weren't you answering my calls?" (past continuous tense)
"I have been to the cinema" (present perfect continuous tense), "I'm going to go again tomorrow" (future simple tense)
"I've was waiting for you all afternoon!" (past continuous tense)
"Well I'm here now, so let's hurry" (present simple tense)
English tenses (past, present, and future) have developed over years and have formed into what we now know as English tenses. Not all languages have tenses - for example, Chinese has no verb conjugation or inflection - other languages use different numbers of tenses. Arabic and Japanese use two basic tenses rather than three and some languages even have more than three tenses.
Did you know that there is a language in Australia that features six basic verb tenses? The language is called Kalaw Lagaw Ya and uses the tenses remote past, recent past, today past, present, today / near future, and remote future.
Tense is normally shown through the use of a particular verb form. This is normally through either an inflected form of the main verb (where the verb is modified to express different categories like tense, aspect, etc.) or a multi-word construction ( where separate words contain the meaning of prefixes, suffixes, or verbs). Some verb forms are made by combining inflected verbs and multi-word patterns.
'walked' - an example of an inflected verb (-ed forms the past tense)
'will walk' - an example of a multi-word pattern (the word 'will' forms the future tense)
'will have walked' - an example of a combination of inflection and added words (the words 'will have' form and the inflection -ed forms the perfect continuous tense)
Why is it so important to use tense accurately? Let's take a look at the following passage ...
We went to the cinema yesterday. We are walking there but were already late. Quickly, we will run inside so we could buy some popcorn before the movie starts. Once we were inside the cinema, Dan is sitting down but dropped his popcorn. It will go everywhere!
What do you notice about this extract?
The tenses are all jumbled up! As you read it;'s obvious something isn't right. Here's a key of which tenses are being used in which sections of the extract.
Key: Past Tense, Present Tense, Future Tense
We went to the cinema yesterday. We are walking there but were already late. Quickly, we will run inside so we could have bought some popcorn before the movie starts. Once we were inside the cinema, Dan is sitting down but dropped his popcorn. It will go everywhere!
Hopefully, this short extract shows you how important the accurate use of tense is and how confusing it can be when tense is used inaccurately.
Tense is a grammatical term used to show whether a sentence (or verb) refers to an action that happened in the past, is happening in the present, or will happen in the future.
Aspects show the time-related characteristics of a sentence such as whether a verb is ongoing, repeated, or completed .
There are four aspects; simple, progressive (continuous), perfect, and perfect progressive (continuous).
We show tense through the use of inflections and verb patterns. For example, we add the inflection -ed to form the past tense ( 'I walk' → 'I walked' ) and we can add the words ' will '/' shall ' to form the future tense ( ' I walk '→' I will walk ' ).
The perfect aspect expresses a completed action that occurs before a specific point in time. We can form the perfect aspect using 'had', 'has', or 'have' + the past participle of the verb. For example, 'I had walked' (past perfect tense), 'I have walked' (present perfect tense), or 'I will have walked' (future perfect tense).
Verb tense is just another word for tense itself. It refers to when the action takes place - either in the past, the present, or the future. Tense is used to show when an action/state is happening.
The present perfect tense is a combination of present tense and the perfect (completed) aspect. It refers to an action that either occurred in the past or began in the past but is still continuing.
There are three tenses in English, subdivided into twelve verb patterns (some people call these twelve patterns 'tenses' as well). Past, present, and future tense each contain four subcategories of verb aspects (simple, continuous/progressive, perfect, perfect continuous/progressive).
Tense is a grammatical term that shows whether an action (or a verb) has happened, is happening, or is going to happen. In other words, tense tells us if something is in the past, present, or future.
Be perfectly prepared on time with an individual plan.
Test your knowledge with gamified quizzes.
Create and find flashcards in record time.
Create beautiful notes faster than ever before.
Have all your study materials in one place.
Upload unlimited documents and save them online.
Identify your study strength and weaknesses.
Set individual study goals and earn points reaching them.
Stop procrastinating with our study reminders.
Earn points, unlock badges and level up while studying.
Create flashcards in notes completely automatically.
Create the most beautiful study materials using our templates.
Sign up to highlight and take notes. It’s 100% free.
