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TODAY, we tread on familiar territory, talking about verbs. Many of us think this is an easy topic. Many think of the verb as a doing word or an action word, yet there is more to it than just this simple definition.
In English, experts tell us that there are three main verb tenses. These tenses include the time of an action, an event, categorised into present, past and future.
Each of these tenses has four aspects: simple, continuous, perfect and perfect continuous, resulting in twelve tenses.
While this might seem a lot, mastering all of them will allow you to express your thoughts more precisely in spoken English and make your writing more advanced. Here is a breakdown of the verb tenses: Present tense starting with the simple present. The simple present describes habitual action, general truth or facts.
For example, I walk to school”. The sun rises in the east. Present continuous describes actions happening now or around now. For example, I am walking.
They are studying. Present perfect describes actions that started in the past and continue to the present, or have relevance to the present.
For example, I have lived here for five years. She has finished her work. Here are the twelve verb tenses: Present simple tense, present continuous, present perfect tense, past perfect continuous tense, future simple tense, future continuous tense, future perfect tense, and future perfect continuous tense.
We have already stated that there are twelve verb tenses and each of these has a specific use. You do not need to be familiar with all of them in order to correctly communicate in English, but knowing them can clarify a lot.
Present tenses — We use present tenses to describe actions that take place in the present, happen repeatedly, or follow one another. The simple present tense, which is called present simple or present tense, is used to describe an action that happens regularly, talk about an action that is on schedule, or state facts.
One of the most common way to use the simple present tense is to pair it with time expressions of frequency such as always, never and every day.
To form the simple present, you need to use the base form of the verb and add an –s/-es to verbs in the third person singular (he, she, it) otherwise the verb does not change.
Structure: subject + verb (+s/-es). Here are some examples of the simple present tense in action: I play soccer every day. The train arrives at the station at 8PM.
We watch a movie every week. Present continuous. The present continuous tense, also known as present progressive is used to describe an ongoing action that is happening now or an action that will happen in the future.
It is often used with immediate time expression such as now, at the moment, look and listen! To form the present continuous, you need to use auxiliary verbs to be in the present tense followed by present participle (-ing form) of the main verb.
Structure: Subject + am/is/are + verb +ing. I am studying for my examinations now. She is watching television. We are having a great time. Present Perfect.
The present perfect tense is used to describe an action that happened at some period in the past or an action that happens regularly.
You often use it with past time expressions such as “already, ever” and “just”. To form the present perfect, you need to use the auxiliary verb “to have” in the present tense followed by the past participle of the main verb.
Structure + have/has + V3. Here are some examples of the present perfect tense in action — I have played chess. He has arrived at the party.
We have watched the movie. The present Perfect continuous — The present continuous tense, or present perfect progressive, is used to describe an ongoing action that started in the past and is still happening or an action that will happen in the future.
You can spot it because it goes with continuous time expression such as far, since and so far. To form the present perfect continuous, you need to use the auxiliary verb “to have been” in the present tense followed by the present participle (-ing form) of the main verb.
Structure: subject + has/have + verb +verb +ing. Take a look at the present perfect continuous tense in action. I have been studying for my examinations for two hours. She has been watching Television for an hour. Past tense, we use the past tense in English to talk about an action and events that have already happened.
Simple Past tense. The simple past tense, which is also called the past simple, or the past tense is used to describe an act that took place in the past and is now completed. It is often used with time expressions of the past such as yesterday, last week or three years ago.
To form the simple past tense, you have to add – ed in regular verbs.
There is more to learn about tenses. But for this week, we end it here.
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