Understanding verb tense
What are the verb tenses?
Present and present perfect
Past and past perfect
Future and future perfect
Consistency of tense
What are the verb tenses?
Verbs do a lot of work in sentences. They show
actions and states of being. They even take
different forms to show time.
flies
flew
will fly
What are the verb tenses?
The tense of a verb indicates the time of the
action or state of being expressed by the verb.
Perfect tenses indicate that something happened
or existed before a specific point in time.
Past
Past
Past Perfect
Present
Present
Present Perfect
Future
Future
Future Perfect
She
She
Gwen
will
She
has
Gwen
Gwen
have
had
will
played
plays
played
played
played
playinguitar
inthe
last
violin
a
inconcert
band
ten
year
in before
aconcerts
jazz
for
astomorrow.
well.
three
then.
band.
byyears.
April.
What are the verb tenses?
The tenses of verbs are formed from the four
principal parts of verbs.
Base Form
Present Participle
Past
Past Participle
smile
choose
[is] smil ing
[is] choos ing
smile d
cho se
[have] smile d
[have] cho sen
What are the verb tenses?
Each tense has a progressive form, which is
used to express continuing action or state of
being.
Present progressive
am, are, is talking
Past progressive
was, were talking
Future progressive
will (shall) be talking
Present perfect
progressive
has, have been talking
Past perfect progressive
had been talking
Future perfect progressive
will (shall) have been talking
What are the verb tenses?
Present and present perfect
The present tense expresses an action or a
state of being that is occurring now, at the
present time.
Today we honor our veterans.
Polly is marching in the parade.
(Progressive form)
What are the verb tenses?
Present and present perfect
The present tense is also used in these ways:
to show a customary or
habitual action or state of
being
We recycle our aluminum
cans.
to express a general truth
The sun rises in the east.
to make historical events
seem current (historical
present)
In 1927, Charles Lindbergh
flies nonstop across the
Atlantic.
to discuss a literary work
(literary present)
In Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck
shows us the extremes of life
during the depression.
to express future time
We travel to Utah next month.
What are the verb tenses?
Present and present perfect
The present perfect tense
expresses an action or a state of being that
occurred at an indefinite time in the past
is usually formed using the helping verb have or
has plus the past participle
Mike has been in several parades.
He has played the drum in all of them.
What are the verb tenses?
Present and present perfect
The present perfect tense is also used to
express an action or state of being that began in
the past and continues into the present. In this
case, perfect means complete.
Mr. Lee has taught music at our
school since 2004.
(Progressive form)
Yoko has been taking flute lessons for
six years.
What are the verb tenses?
Past and past perfect
The past tense expresses an action or a state of
being that occurred in the past but did not
continue into the present.
The two friends shared the large swing.
They were swinging for a long time.
(Progressive form)
What are the verb tenses?
Past and past perfect
The past perfect tense
expresses an action or a state of being that
ended before another past action or state of
being occurred
is usually formed using had plus the past
participle
After Maria had gone home, Kim was bored.
She asked her dad about the time that he
had been a lifeguard at the beach.
What are the verb tenses?
Future and future perfect
The future tense
expresses an action or a state of being that will
occur
is usually formed using will or shall plus the base
form
My family will ride the train to Chicago.
We will be arriving at five oclock.
(Progressive form)
What are the verb tenses?
Future and future perfect
The future perfect tense
expresses an action or a state of being that will
end before another future action or state of
being
is usually formed using will have or shall have
plus the past participle
By the time you receive this letter, she will have
returned home.
After this trip, he will have been to Chicago
three times.
What are the verb tenses?
On Your Own
Change the tense of the verb in each sentence, as indicated
in parentheses.
1. I do not miss the bus. (Change to future.)
2. Were they at the party? (Change to past perfect.)
3. By then, Keith had returned. (Change to future perfect.)
4. The team will practice for an hour with no break. (Change
to future perfect progressive.)
5. My sister dances well. (Change to past.)
[End of Section]
Consistency of tense
Do not change needlessly from one tense to
another.
To describe events that occur at the same time,
use verbs in the same tense.
past tense
past tense
Sara peeked over the fence and saw a cornfield.
present tense
present tense
Sara peeks over the fence and sees a cornfield.
Consistency of tense
For events that occur at different times, use verbs
of different tenses to show the sequence of
events.
past tense
past perfect tense
The pitcher wished that he had practiced more
before the game.
The action of wishing happened after the action of
practicing was complete.
Consistency of tense
For events that occur at different times, use verbs
of different tenses to show the sequence of
events.
past tense
present tense
Yesterday, Nina told us that her brother works
every week at the senior center.
The action of telling occurred at a specific time in the
past. The action of working occurs now.
Consistency of tense
On Your Own
Proofread the paragraph for unnecessary changes of verb
tense. Change the verbs to make the tenses consistent.
(1) I was in my room Saturday morning, planning to
study for two hours. (2) To my surprise, Nancy Chang drops
by. (3) She dashed into the house, runs up the stairs, and
calls my name. (4) What she wanted was a fishing
companion. (5) As I get my fishing gear together, I was so
happy. (6) On our way to the lake, we notice some dark
clouds. (7) We wished we checked the weather first.
[End of Section]
Review A
Change the tense of each boldface verb to the tense
indicated in parentheses.
1. The otter swam to the edge of the pond. (present
perfect)
2. Our class will read Shakespeares Macbeth. (future
progressive)
3. The three sisters regularly meet for lunch. (past)
4. Each student chooses a lab partner. (past perfect)
5. Wasps were entering the house through the torn screen.
(present)
The End
