The Tenses (overview)

The Verb Tenses (overview)

by Friederike Kolbe

​Overview

There are three main verb tenses in English: present, past and future.

• ​the simple,

• ​progressive,

• ​perfect

• ​perfect progressive.

There are 12 major verb tenses

​

​Simple Tense

​

​Simple present: I drive home every day.

Simple past: I drove home yesterday.

Simple future: I will drive home later.

​​​Simple tenses usually refer to a single action. In general, simple tenses express facts and situations that existed in the past, exist in the present, or will exist in the future.

Simple tenses are usually, but not necessarily, accompanied by adverbs of time.

Multiple Choice

Pamella ________ her ballet classes regularly.

• is attending

• attends

• goes

• is going

Fill in the Blank

There ______(be) a meeting with the clients in the office anytime in the coming week.

Multiple Choice

She _______ in that house when she was younger.

• lives

• have lived

• lived

• liven

​Progressive (continuous) Tense

• ​Present progressive:

• I am driving now.

• ​​Past progressive:

I was driving when you called.

• Future progressive:

• I will be driving when you call.

​We use progressive tenses to talk about unfinished, or ongoing or continuing events. Progressive tenses are also called continuous tenses. Look for verbs, which are ending in “-ing”

​​

Multiple Choice

Look! She ........ on the stage.

• were Performing

• is performing

• are performing

• was performing

Multiple Choice

He......running along the street this morning.

• Was

• Were

• Am

• Are

Multiple Choice

He .......... working tomorrow.

• is

• are

• was

• will be

​Perfect Tense

They express the idea that one event happens before another event.

There are many tricky exceptions with the perfect tenses. The adverbs never, yet and already are common in perfect tenses.

​Perfect tenses often employ auxiliary verbs, such as has, have, and had, which are then added by a verb in its past participle form.

• ​Present perfect:

• I have worked at the office for 2 years.

• Past perfect:

• I had finished my degree before I started a new job.

• Future perfect:

• I will have driven 200 miles by tomorrow.

Multiple Choice

Your parcel ………….. The postman brought it at eight o'clock.

• Arrived

• Have Arrive

• Arriving

• Has arrived

Multiple Choice

Which one is the correct sentence future perfect tense ?

• she had been dancing since she was five

• she will have finished her study before 5 P.M this evening.

• she have been cleaning for 2 hours

• she will have a meat for dinner

Multiple Choice

I felt really tired when I took the train to work yesterday because Sarah and I ……….. to a party the evening before.

• Had

• had been

• gone

• have been

​Perfect Progressive Tense

​Generally, perfect progressive tenses express duration, or how long? Perfect progressive tenses usually include the adverbs for or since.

• Present perfect progressive: I have been driving since this morning.

  Past perfect progressive: I had been driving for three hours before I stopped to get gas.

  Future perfect progressive: I will have been driving for five hours by the time I arrive.

Multiple Choice

Omar ___________ (to do) his homework for 1 hour.

• have been doing

• has been doing

• has being doing

• have being doing

Multiple Choice

She _____________(sleep) for ten hours when I ____________________ (wake) her.

• had been sleeping; woke

• has been slept; waked

• have been sleeped; woke

• slept; I had been waking

Multiple Choice

By the end of this month we (live) ________ together for six years.

• will have been liveing

• will have been lifing

• will have been living

• will have been lifeing

Poll

What tense or aspect would you like to learn more about?

• The Simple Tense

• The Progressive Tense

• The Perfect Tense

• The Perfect Progressive Tense