Verb Tenses: When an Action Occurs

What are Verb Tenses?

Aside from expressing what the subject does, verbs essentially show us the time of an action. Verbs specify different time frames through different verb tenses. In short, verb tenses tell when an action occurred. 

English has three main verb tenses: past, present, and future. The past tense describes an action that happened in the past, for example: She watched the movie yesterday. The present tense refers to an occurring or continuous action, for example: She watches her favorite sitcom every night. The future tense talks about something that is yet to occur or an action yet to be completed. Verbs in future tense need helping verb, for example: She will watch the sitcom again tomorrow. Helping verbs are forms of the verbs “to be,” “to do,” and “to have” (e.g. am, is, was, were, being, has, have, had will, shall, should, would, will be, did, do, will do, etc.)

However, when we thought verb tenses only come in three, English brings up more! Each of the three main verb tenses above has four related aspects, therefore giving us 12 verb tenses. To sum up, check out the table below for a glimpse of the 12 verb tenses. 

The 12 Verb Tenses

ENGLISH VERB TENSES	PAST	PRESENT	FUTURE
SIMPLE	She smiled at me.	He smiles at me.	He will smile at me.
PROGRESSIVE	He was smiling at me.	She is smiling at me.	She will be smiling at me.
PERFECT	She had smiled at me.	She has smiled at me.	He will have smiled at me.
PERFECT PROGRESSIVE	He had been smiling at me.	He has been smiling at me.	She will have been smiling at me.

Related Reading: Verb Tense Consistency – Maintain or Change?

Simple Tenses

Simple tenses are the easiest to learn and use. They express actions that already happened (past), are continuous or are currently happening (present), and are yet to happen (future). As the name suggests, simple tenses use the simple past and present tense of the verb. 

For simple future tense, the verb’s base form is joined by a helping verb will, as in will + the verb’s base form. Another way to express future action is through this formula: am/is/are + going to + the verb’s base form. For example, we can look at the following sentences:

• PAST: He applied for a job. 
• PRESENT: He applies for a job.
• FUTURE: He will apply for a job. [He is going to apply for a job.]

Progressive (Continuous) Tenses

Progressive tenses (also called continuous tenses) describe something that occurred in the past or was occurring in the past until something interrupted it (past progressive), an action that is still happening (present progressive), or a future ongoing action (future progressive).

For example, let’s look at the following sentences:

Perfect Tenses

Arguably the trickiest tense to master, perfect tenses describe an already completed action. Past and present perfect tenses are formed by has/have/had + the verb’s past participle, while future perfect tense is formed by will have + the verb’s past participle. Let’s discuss them in detail. 

The past perfect tense is used to talk about an action that already happened before another action occurred. This tense is formed by had + the verb’s past participle.

PAST PERFECT: He had accepted the job offer when Betty resigned. [Here, he already accepted the job offer before Betty resigned.]
SIMPLE PAST: He accepted the job offer when Betty resigned.  [This implies that he waited for Betty to resign before he accepted the job.]

The present perfect tense describes an action that either began in the past and continued to the present (She has lived here for five years) or happened sometime in the past (She has lived here before). The present perfect tense is formed by has/have + the verb’s past participle.

PRESENT PERFECT: Betty and Peter have applied for the job. [They completed the action of applying sometime in the recent past.]

NOTE: Use the present perfect tense to talk about something that occurred in an unspecified time in the past. Therefore, do not use it if you’re talking about a specific time in the past.

• CORRECT: She has painted a masterpiece. [Indefinite time]
• WRONG: She has painted a masterpiece last year. [The adverb last year denotes that the action was done at a specific time in the past. You may use the simple past tense: She painted a masterpiece last year.]

Also, use the present perfect to imply something that began in the past is still happening to the present.

PRESENT PERFECT: They have had the flu since last week. [The flu started last week and persisted to the present.]

The future perfect tense refers to an action that will be completed at a definite time in the future. It is formed by will + have + the verb’s past participle.  

FUTURE PERFECT: She will have accepted the job offer by tomorrow. [This means that she will accept the job before tomorrow.] 

NOTE: The future perfect tense is used to mean that something will be done between now and a certain point in the future. Therefore, this can be viewed as something’s deadline. So, if you’re not talking about a certain point in the future on which the action depends, use the simple future tense.

WRONG: They will have started cooking. [This sentence has no specific time in the future on which to depend the action’s completion. You may use the simple future tense to correct it or add a deadline and use future perfect.]

SIMPLE FUTURE: They will start cooking.
FUTURE PERFECT: They will have started cooking by the time I get home.

Perfect Progressive Tenses

Perfect progressive tenses (also called perfect continuous tenses) are a combination of the perfect and progressive tenses, which means they are used to talk about an action that began in the past, continued to the present, and was interrupted by another action. This tense usually comes with adverbs for and since. Let’s dive into each aspect here. 

The past perfect progressive tense describes an action that was ongoing in the past until something else interrupted it. It is formed by had + been + the verb’s present participle. For example:

PAST PERFECT PROGRESSIVE: He had been applying for months before Betty hired him. 

The present perfect progressive tense refers to an action that started in the past and continued to the present. It is constructed by has/have been + the verb’s present participle.

PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE: We have been looking for him since yesterday. [We started looking for him yesterday and are looking for him until the current time.]

The future perfect progressive tense expresses actions that began in the past, continued to the present, and persisted until some point in the future. It is formed by will + have + been + the verb’s present participle.

FUTURE PERFECT PROGRESSIVE: In May, she will have been loving him for 15 years. [The action that began in the past and continued to the present is also projected to continue in the future.]  

NOTE: Nonaction verbs like sound, smell, seem, and know do not use future perfect progressive tense. As a result, they usually use the future perfect tense, which is formed by will + have + past participle. For example:

WRONG: In April, I will have been knowing him for 15 years.
FUTURE PERFECT: In April, I will have known him for 15 years. 

Exercise: Verb Tenses

Fill in each blank with the correct verb tense in parentheses. 

1. Sandra _____ (will have passed, will pass) the board exam by the time Joe graduates.
2. He _____ (had written, wrote) hundreds of books in his prime years.
3. Gigi _____ (should have cleaned, has been cleaning) my room as soon as I arrived.
4. On Monday, the kids _____ (have been missing, will have been missing) for five months.
5. As a result, Tessie _____ (will be leading, has led) our team next week.

Answers:

1. Sandra will have passed the board exam by the time Joe graduates.
2. He wrote hundreds of books in his prime years.
3. Gigi should have cleaned my room as soon as I arrived.
4. On Monday, the kids will have been missing for five months.
5. As a result, Tessie will be leading our team next week.

Thank you for reading. We hope it’s effective! Always feel free to revisit this page if you ever have any questions about verb tenses.

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