One of the most
important functions of the verb is to indicate the time at which an action
takes place, whether someone or something is doing something, was
doing something or will do something. This is expressed by tense and in many languages this is
marked by inflection.
In English, tense is
marked by inflection only in the present
tense and the past tense. Thus,
in the case of the verb to walk
the third person singular masculine
of the present tense is he walks and
the third person singular masculine of the past tense is he walked.
There are several
tenses in English. The major ones are present
tense, past tense and future test, but there are other
categories relating to these.
The present tense indicates an action now
going on or a state now existing. It uses the base form, also known as the
infinitive form, of the verb, as walk,
run, make, go but it changes in
the third person singular when it adds -s
to the base form, sometimes with
a spelling change, as walks, runs, makes,
goes.
There are two forms
of the present tense, the simple present
tense and the continuous present
tense.
The simple present tense is used to
indicate an action that is currently going on. In the following sentences the
underlined words are all verbs in the simple
present tense: He works in
the city.
She lives by the sea.
I want some food.
My head hurts.
He is an excellent chef.
The simple present tense is also used to
indicate something that is always or generally true. In the following sentences
the underlined words are all verbs in
the simple present tense: The world is round.
Three and three make six.
Thin glass breaks easily.
Tigers are carnivorous.
Milk goes sour quickly in heat.
The simple present tense is also used to
indicate an action that is regular or habitual. In the following sentences the
underlined words are verbs in the simple
present tense: I rise at
seven.
He drinks whisky.
I work on Saturdays.
He drives a white van.
They walk to work.
The simple present tense is also used with
some adverbs or adverbials of time to refer to a time in the future. In the
following sentences the underlined words are verbs in the simple present tense referring to the future: We arrive at midnight.
They leave early.
The holidays start tomorrow.
I move next month.
The match begins in an hour.
The continuous
present tense (see 1), also called the progressive present tense,
is used when you are talking about something that is happening at the very moment when you are speaking or
when you are referring to an action continuing over a period of time, including
the present, and not complete at the time when you are referring to it.
This tense is formed
using the present tense of the verb to be,
is and are, and the present
participle, ending in -ing of the main verb. It
frequently occurs in a contracted form,
such as I’m for I
am, you’re for you
are, aren’t for are
not etc.
In the following
sentences the underlined words are verbs in the continuous present tense: We are
having a picnic.
She is feeling very nervous.
They are laughing loudly.
I’m driving home.
They aren’t trying.
We’re climbing the hill.
She’s spending Christmas here.
The standard of work is improving.
The child is developing normally.
We are staying in a hotel in the centre of town.
I believe you are studying English at the local university.
The continuous present tense is also used
with some adverbs or adverbials of time to refer to a time
in the future. In the following sentences the underlined words are verbs in the
continuous present tense: We are
having a meeting next week.
He’s leaving next month.
I’m travelling tomorrow.
She’s graduating next summer.
The past tense refers to an action that has taken place
before the present time. In the case of regular verbs it
is formed by adding -ed to the base
or infinitive form of the verb, as walked,
looked, started, failed. For the past
tense of irregular verbs.
There are two forms
of the past tense, the simple past tense
and the continuous past tense.
The simple past tense is used to refer to
an event or state that occurred at some point in the past. In the following
sentences the underlined words are verbs in the past tense: The car crashed into the van.
I cracked the vase.
The mother rocked the cradle.
She loved him very much.
They hated each other.
She drowned in the river.
They drew their swords.
We slept on the beach.
She chose a simple wedding dress.
He stole a car.
I heard a strange noise.
In time she forgave him.
The dog stood by the gate.
The bells rang out.
He swore that he would be faithful.
It made a huge difference to their lifestyle.
The simple past tense is also used to
indicate a regular or repeated action in the past, as in: They worked night shift.
The children attended the local primary school.
The policeman walked the beat nightly.
When I was a child we lived in the city.
People drank very little alcohol in those days.
The sun always shone when we were there.
As children we rode our ponies in the lanes around the village.
The continuous past tense, also called the progressive past tense and the imperfect tense, is used to refer to a
continuing action that happened in the past
and is probably now complete. This tense is formed by using the past tense
of the verb to be, was and were, and the present participle, ending in -ing, of the main verb, as in: We
were living in the area at the time.
In the following
sentences the words underlined form the continuous
past tense of a verb: We were studying at university then.
You were building your house that year.
They were painting the kitchen yesterday.
He was running in the marathon last week.
She was serving in the bar last night.
I was sewing the dress until midnight.
The continuous past is also used to refer
to an event in the past that occurred during the course of another event. In
the following sentences the words underlined are used to form the continuous past tense of the verb: They were
walking to the shops when they saw
her across the road.
I was running down the hill when I tripped and fell.
You were risking your lives when you did that.
We were driving home when the car broke down.
The present
perfect tense, also known as the perfect tense, is another tense which refers to the past. It is formed using the present tense of the verb have and the past participle of the main verb (see past participle and irregular verbs (see 1), as in: I have looked everywhere for it.
It is used to refer
to an action that began in the past but continues into the present time or to
refer to an action in the past which has results continuing to the present. In
the following sentences the underlined words form the present perfect tense: He has
lived in France for over thirty years.
Floods have destroyed thousands of books in the warehouse.
I have made your favourite dessert.
You have ruined this carpet by spilling wine on it.
It has lasted well, but now needs replaced.
We have thought a great deal about this.
They have travelled throughout Britain.
Age has changed him rather a lot.
The present perfect tense also exists in a
continuous or progressive form indicating an action in the past that is still
going on. In the following sentences
the underlined words
are examples of the continuous present
perfect tense: I have been living abroad for many
years now. We have been thinking
of buying a new house.
They have been studying the results carefully.
Our projects have been developing quite slowly because of lack
of funding.
You have been staring out of the window for hours.
The past perfect
tense,
also known as the pluperfect tense,
also refers to the past. It is formed using the past tense of the verb have
and the past participle of the main
verb (see past participle (see 1) and
irregular verbs (see 2), as in: We had discussed the matter in detail.
The past perfect
tense is used to refer to a past action that took place at an earlier time than
another action, there sometimes being a causal link between the events, as in: She went round to see him after she had received his message.
It is also used to
refer to an action that continues right up to, or relates to, a single point in
the past, as in: By the end of the year
the project had been abandoned.
In the following
sentences the underlined words form examples of the past perfect tense: By
evening it was obvious that he had decided not to come. His
condition had deteriorated since I last saw him.
We had known each other for several years before we became
partners.
By then we had climbed to the summit.
I had expected to see him there.
She had resigned from her job and was unemployed.
The past perfect tense also exists in a
continuous or progressive form. In the following sentences the underlined words
are examples of the continuous past perfect tense: We had been working on
the project for three months by then.
They had been hoping that we would fail.
It was clear that she had been contemplating leaving.
You had obviously been thinking of emigrating, although
you did not.
The future tense describes an action or
state that will occur at some point in the
future. The future
tense is formed by using will or shall with the infinitive form of the
main verb. It is used to predict or say what is likely to happen in the future,
as in: Work will begin next week.
According to
traditional grammar rules shall
should be used with I and we, and will should be used with you,
he/she/it and they, as in: We shall arrive in time for tea.
I shall take the bus to work today.
You will find fresh milk in the fridge.
He will give you the book tomorrow.
She will act as a temporary secretary.
It will certainly spoil things.
They will be punished for this.
Again, according to
traditional rules, this order is reversed for emphasis and will is then used with I
and we, as in: I will succeed at this, believe me.
We will have the house of our dreams one day.
You shall get the dress you want if I have anything to do with
it.
He shall be punished for this, if there’s any justice.
My daughter shall have the wedding she dreams of.
They shall be made to pay for this, I assure you.
In modern usage
things have changed and, increasingly, will
is the preferred
form in most modern
contexts, whether these be spoken or written contexts, in
all but the most
formal. The only exception to this is the use of shall as used with
I and we when questions are being asked, and,
even then, this is a fairly formal
context, as in: Shall we proceed?
Shall I go on?
Shall we postpone the meeting until next week?
Shall I reserve a room for you?
In the following
sentences the underlined words are used to form the future tense
as it is found in
modern usage: I will have to leave now.
We will get the next bus.
You will require to give references.
He will see you now.
She will be back tomorrow.
It will take a miracle.
They will do anything you want.
Shall I send you an
application form?
Shall we meet at the same
time tomorrow?
Other ways of
referring to the future
You can also use be about to or be going to with the infinitive form of the main verb to refer to
the future. In the following sentences the underlined words refer to the
future: I am going to see her
today.
You are about to discover what happened.
They are going to experience danger.
Things are about to improve.
The continuous future tense is used to
refer to a future action. It is formed by using will be or shall be
followed by the present participle of the main verb, often in a contracted
form, as I will be working late tonight
and I’ll be announcing the date of the exam tomorrow.
The continuous
future tense is used to describe an action that will, or is likely to, take
place in the future but emphasizing that the action will go on over a period of
time, or to refer events that have been planned or arranged for the future.
In the following
sentences the underlined words form the continuous
future tense: They will
be changing the computer system tomorrow.
He will be reporting the matter to the police.
The bus will be changing routes from tomorrow.
You will be hearing from my solicitors.
We will be stopping halfway on the journey to the city.
The future perfect tense is formed by using
will have or shall have followed by the past participle of the main verb. It is
used to predict that a future action will be completed by a particular time or
to make deductions, as in: The decorators
will have finished the room by this
evening.
In the following
sentences the underlined words form examples of the future perfect tense: They will
have reached home by tomorrow night.
You will have realized by now that I am quite serious.
Shops will have started their sales by next week.
Doubtless she will have regretted her decision by tomorrow
morning.
The future perfect continuous tense is used
to refer to an action that will have been completed at a point in the future,
emphasizing that the action will have been continuing over a period of time.
In the following sentences
the underlined words form examples of the future
perfect continuous tense: Many
people will have been saving
for years for this trip.
Students will have been studying this text for weeks without
realizing that it is the wrong one.
We will have been travelling for two years by the summer.
