Introduction to Verb tenses

The tense of a verb tells you when a person did something or when
something existed or happened. In English, there are three main tenses:
the present, the past, and the future.

The present
The present tense (e.g. I am, she works, we swim, they believe) is also
called the present simple or simple present. It's mainly used in the
following ways:

to describe things that are currently happening or that are currently or

always the case (I love chocolate ice cream; my parents are in New York
this week; he has fair hair and blue eyes; some birds eat worms and
insects).

 to talk about something that exists or happens regularly (shegoes out

every Saturday night; it always rains here in winter; Istart work at
7.30 a.m.).
 to refer to a future situation in certain cases and in some subordinate
clauses (the bus arrives in London at 6 p.m.; I'll make us some coffee
when we get home).

The past
The past tense (e.g. I was, he talked, we had, they worked) is also called
the past simple or simple past. As its description implies, it’s used to talk
about things or situations which happened in the past, that is, before the
present time of speaking. Its main uses are as follows:

 to refer to an event or situation which happened once and is now

finished (I met Lisa yesterday; we ate a huge breakfast this morning;
they walked ten miles that day; you told me that before).
 to describe a situation that lasted for a longer time in the past but is
now finished (he went to college for four years; my familylived in
Oxford in the 1980s; I loved her for ages but never toldher).
 to talk about an event that happened regularly or repeatedly but is
now over (she called for help over and over again; we ate out every
night last week; I phoned him three times today).

The future
The future tense (e.g. I shall [or will] go; he will talk; we shall [or will]
have; they will work) is used to refer to things that haven’t yet happened at
the present time of speaking, but which are due, expected, or likely to occur
in the future. Here are the main situations in which the future is used:

 to give or ask for information about the future (you will be in California
tomorrow; how long will the journey take?; OK, I’ll write that report
on Thursday).
 to talk about things that we think are likely or possible to happen in the
future, but which aren’t completely certain (I think she’ll
retire soon; he won’t [will not] stay married to her for
long; you’llnever lose weight, you like food too much).
  to refer to conditional situations, namely things that will or may happen
if something else occurs (if it’s hot I’ll go swimming later; you’ll
get stressed out if you work all the time).
 to make promises or threats, or to state decisions at the time of
speaking (Fine, I’ll call you soon; Are you going into town? We’ll
give you a lift; I’ll never speak to you again).

The future tense is formed with will (or shall) and the infinitive of the verb
without ‘to’.

Continuous and perfect tenses

There are two further types of tense: the continuous and the perfect.
These tenses are sometimes referred to as aspects rather than tenses. The
term aspect is used in grammar to talk about the form of a verb that shows,
for example, whether the action happens once or repeatedly, is completed or
still continuing.

Continuous
These tenses (also called progressive tenses) are used to talk about
actions that continue for a period of time. They are formed with the relevant
tense of the auxiliary verb to be and the present participle of the main verb.
There are three main continuous tenses:

 the present continuous (I am working)

 the past continuous (I was working)
 the future continuous (I will be working)
Perfect
Perfect tenses are typically used to talk about actions that are completed by
the present or a particular point in the past or future. They are formed with
the relevant tense of the auxiliary verb to haveand the past participle of the
main verb. There are three main perfect tenses:

 the present perfect (I have worked)

 the past perfect (I had worked)
 the future perfect (I will have worked)

Perfect continuous
There is a final set of tenses which combine features of the perfect and
continuous tenses. They are formed and used as follows:

 the present perfect continuous (I have been working): used to talk

about how long something has continued up till now (I have been
working there for a week)
 the past perfect continuous (I had been working): used to talk about
something which continued up to a particular moment in the past but
is now completed (I had been working there for a week before I
resigned)
 the future perfect continuous (I will have been working): used to talk
about something which is expected to end by a particular time in the
future (By December, I will have been working there for 6 months)
 Present tense
Present simple
We use the present simple to talk about:

 something that is fixed in the future:

The school terms starts next week.


The train leaves at 1945 this evening.


We fly to Paris next week.

 something in the future after time

words like when, after and before and after if and unless:

I’ll talk to John when I see him.

You must finish your work before you go home.

If it rains we’ll get wet.

He won’t come unless you ask him.

Present continuous
The present continuous is made from the present tense of the
verb be and the –ing form of a verb:

I am working

He/she/it is working
 We/you/they are working

We use the present continuous to talk about:

 activities at the moment of speaking:

I’m just leaving work. I’ll be home in an hour.

We also use the present continuous to talk about:

 something which is happening before and after a specific time:

At eight o’clock we are usually having breakfast.

 something which we think is temporary:

Michael is at university. He’s studying history.

 something which is new and contrasts with a previous state:

These days most people are using email instead of writing letters.

What sort of music are they listening to?

 something which is changing, growing or developing:

The children are growing up quickly.

 something which happens again and again:

It’s always raining in London.

Note that we normally use always with this use.

 Present perfect
The present perfect is formed from the present tense of the
verb have and the past participle of a verb

The present perfect continuous is formed with have/has been and

the -ing form of the verb

We use the present perfect tense:

 for something that started in the past and continues in the present:

They’ve been married for nearly fifty years.

She has lived in Liverpool all her life.

Note: We normally use the present perfect continuous for this:

She has been living in Liverpool all her life.

It’s been raining for hours.

 for something we have done several times in

the past and continue to do:

I’ve played the guitar ever since I was a teenager.

He has written three books and he is working on another one.
I’ve been watching that programme every week.

We often use a clause with since to

show when something started in the past:

They’ve been staying with us since last week.

I have worked here since I left school.
I’ve been watching that programme every week since it
started.
 when we are talking about our experience up to the present:

Note: We often use the adverb ever to talk about experience

up to the present:

My last birthday was the worst day I have ever had.

Note: and we use never for the negative form:

Have you ever met George?

Yes, but I’ve never met his wife.

 for something that happened in the past but is important at the time
of speaking:

I can’t get in the house. I’ve lost my keys.

Teresa isn’t at home. I think she has gone shopping.
I’m tired out. I’ve been working all day.

We use the present perfect of be when someone has gone to a place

and returned:

A: Where have you been?

B: I’ve just been out to the supermarket.

A: Have you ever been to San Francisco?

B: No, but I’ve been to Los Angeles.

But when someone has not returned we use have/has gone:

 A: Where is Maria? I haven’t seen her for weeks.
B: She's gone to Paris for a week. She’ll be back tomorrow.

We often use the present perfect with time adverbials which refer
to the recent past:

just; only just; recently;

Scientists have recently discovered a new breed of monkey.

We have just got back from our holidays.

or adverbials which include the present:

ever (in questions); so far; until now; up to now; yet (in questions
and negatives)

 Have you ever seen a ghost?

 Where have you been up to now?
 Have you finished your homework yet?

No, so far I’ve only done my history.

WARNING:

We do not use the present perfect with an adverbial which refers

to past time which is finished:

I have seen that film yesterday.

We have just bought a new car last week.
When we were children we have been to California.

But we can use it to refer to a time which is not yet finished:

Have you seen Helen today?

 We have bought a new car this week.

past tense

There are two tenses in English – past and present.

The past tense in English is used:

 to talk about the past

 to talk about hypotheses – things that are imagined rather than true.
 for politeness.

There are four past tense forms in English:

Tense Form

Past simple: I worked

Past continuous: I was working

Past perfect: I had worked

Past perfect continuous: I had been working

We use these forms:

 to talk about the past:

He worked at McDonald’s. He had worked there since July..

He was working at McDonald’s. He had been working since
July.

 to refer to the present or future in conditions:

He could get a new job if he really tried.

If Jack was playing they would probably win.

and hypotheses:
 It might be dangerous. Suppose they got lost.
I would always help someone who really needed help.

and wishes:

I wish it wasn’t so cold.

 In conditions, hypotheses and wishes, if we want to talk about

the past, we always use the past perfect:

I would have helped him if he had asked.

It was very dangerous, What if you had got lost?
I wish I hadn’t spent so much money last month.

 We can use the past forms to talk about the present in a few polite
expressions:

Excuse me, I was wondering if this was the train for York.
I just hoped you would be able to help me.

past simple

Forms

With most verbs the past tense is formed by adding -ed:

call >> called; like >> liked; want >> wanted; work >> worked

But there are a lot of irregular past tenses in English. Here are the
most common irregular verbs in English, with their past tenses:

infinitive irregular past

be was/were
infinitive irregular past

begin began
break broke
bring brought
buy bought
build built
choose chose
come came
cost cost
cut cut
do did
draw drew
drive drove
eat ate
feel felt
find found
get got
give gave
go went
have had
hear heard
hold held
keep kept
know knew
leave left
lead led
let let
lie lay
lose lost
make made
mean meant
meet met
pay paid
put put
run ran
say said
sell sold
send sent
set set
sit sat
speak spoke
spend spent
stand stood
 infinitive irregular past

take took
teach taught
tell told
think thought
understand understood
wear wore
win won
write wrote

Use

We use the past tense to talk about:

 something that happened once in the past:

I met my wife in 1983.

We went to Spain for our holidays.
They got home very late last night.

 something that happened again and again in the past:

When I was a boy I walked a mile to school every day.

We swam a lot while we were on holiday.
They always enjoyed visiting their friends.

 something that was true for some time in the past:

I lived abroad for ten years.

He enjoyed being a student.
She played a lot of tennis when she was younger.

 we often use phrases with ago with the past tense:

 I met my wife a long time ago.

Questions and negatives

We use did to make questions with the past tense:

When did you meet your wife?

Where did you go for your holidays?
Did she play tennis when she was younger?
Did you live abroad?

But look at these questions:

Who discovered penicillin?

Who wrote Don Quixote?

For more on these questions see our question forms page

We use didn’t (did not) to make negatives with the past tense:

They didn’t go to Spain this year.

We didn’t get home until very late last night.
I didn’t see you yesterday.

past continuous

The past continuous is formed from the past tense of be with the -
ing form of the verb:

We use the past continuous to talk about the past:

 for something which continued before and after another action:

The children were doing their homework when I got home.

 Compare:

I got home. The children did their homework.

and
The children did their homework when I got home.

As I was watching television the telephone rang.

This use of the past continuous is very common at the

beginning of a story:

The other day I was waiting for a bus when …

Last week as I was driving to work …

 for something that happened before and after a particular time:

It was eight o’clock. I was writing a letter.

Compare:

At eight o’clock I wrote some letters.

In July she was working in McDonald’s.

 .to show that something continued for some time:

My head was aching.

Everyone was shouting.

 for something that was happening again and again:

 I was practising every day, three times a day.
They were meeting secretly after school.
They were always quarrelling.

 with verbs which show change or growth:

The children were growing up quickly.

Her English was improving.
My hair was going grey.
The town was changing quickly.

past perfect

We use the verb had and the past participle for the past perfect:

I had finished the work.

She had gone .

The past perfect continuous is formed with had been and the -
ing form of the verb:

I had been finishing the work

She had been going.

The past perfect is used in the same way as the present perfect, but it
refers to a time in the past, not the present.

We use the past perfect tense:

 for something that started in the past and continued up to a given

time in the past:

When George died he and Anne had been married for nearly
fifty years.
 She didn’t want to move. She had lived in Liverpool all her
life.

We normally use the past perfect continuous for this:

She didn’t want to move. She had been living in Liverpool all
her life.
Everything was wet. It had been raining for hours.

 for something we had done several times up to a point in the past

and continued to do after that point:

He was a wonderful guitarist. He had been playing ever since

he was a teenager.
He had written three books and he was working on another
one.
I had been watching the programme every week, but I
missed the last episode.

We often use a clause with since to show when something started in

the past:

They had been staying with us since the previous week.

I was sorry when the factory closed. I had worked
there since I left school.
I had been watching that programme every week since it
started, but I missed the last episode.

 when we are reporting our experience and including up to the (then)

present:
 My eighteenth birthday was the worst day I had ever had.
I was pleased to meet George. I hadn’t met him before, even
though I had met his wife several times.

 for something that happened in the past but is important at the time
of reporting:

I couldn’t get into the house. I had lost my keys.

Teresa wasn’t at home. She had gone shopping.

We use the past perfect to talk about the past

in conditions, hypotheses and wishes:

I would have helped him if he had asked.

It was very dangerous. What if you had got lost?
I wish I hadn’t spent so much money last month.