English Tense System
In some languages, verb tenses are not very important or do not even exist. In English, the concept of tense is very important.
In this lesson we look at the idea behind tense, how to avoid confusing tense with time, and the structure of the basic tenses, with examples using a regular verb, an irregular verb and the verb be.
What is Tense?
| tense (noun): a form of a verb used to indicate the time, and sometimes the continuation or completeness, of an action in relation to the time of speaking. (From Latin tempus = time). |
Tense is a method that we use in English to refer to time - past, present and future. Many languages use tenses to talk about time. Other languages have no tenses, but of course they can still talk about time, using different methods.
So, we talk about time in English with tenses. But, and this is a very big but:
- we can also talk about time without using tenses (for example, going to is a special construction to talk about the future, it is not a tense)
- one tense does not always talk about one time (see Tense & Time for more about this)
Here are some of the terms used in discussing verbs and tenses.
Mood
indicative mood expresses a simple statement of fact, which can be positive (affirmative) or negative
- I like coffee.
- I do not like coffee.
interrogative mood expresses a question
- Why do you like coffee?
imperative mood expresses a command
- Sit down!
subjunctive mood expresses what is imagined or wished or possible
- The President ordered that he attend the meeting.
Voice
Voice shows the relationship of the subject to the action. In the active voice, the subject does the action (cats eat mice). In the passive voice, the subject receives the action (mice are eaten by cats). Among other things, we can use voice to help us change the focus of attention.
Aspect
Aspect expresses a feature of the action related to time, such as completion or duration. Present simple and past simple tenses have no aspect, but if we wish we can stress with other tenses that:
- the action or state referred to by the verb is completed (and often still relevant), for example:
I have emailed the report to Jane. (so now she has the report)
(This is called perfective aspect, using perfect tenses.) - the action or state referred to by the verb is in progress or continuing (that is, uncompleted), for example:
We are eating.
(This is called progressive aspect, using progressive [continuous] tenses.)
Tense and Time
It is important not to confuse the name of a verb tense with the way we use it to talk about time.
For example, a present tense does not always refer to present time:
- I hope it rains tomorrow.
"rains" is present simple, but it refers here to future time (tomorrow)
Or a past tense does not always refer to past time:
- If I had some money now, I could buy it.
"had" is past simple but it refers here to present time (now)
The following examples show how different tenses can be used to talk about different times.
| TENSE | TIME | ||||||
| past | present | future | |||||
| Present Simple | I want a coffee. | I leave tomorrow | |||||
| |||||||
| Present Continuous | I am having dinner. | I am taking my exam next month. | |||||
| |||||||
| Present Perfect Simple | I have seen ET. | I have finished. | |||||
| Present Perfect Continuous | I have been playingtennis. | ||||||
| We have been working for four hours. | |||||||
| Past Simple | I finished one hour ago. | If she loved you now, she would marry you. | If you came tomorrow, you would see her. | ||||
| Past Continuous | I was working at 2am this morning. | ||||||
| Past Perfect Simple | I had not eaten for 24 hours. | ||||||
| Past Perfect Continuous | We had been workingfor 3 hours. | If I had been workingnow, I would have missed you. | If I had been workingtomorrow, I could not have agreed. | ||||
| Future Simple | Hold on. I'll do it now. | I'll see you tomorrow. | |||||
| Future Continuous | I will be working at 9pm tonight. | ||||||
| Future Perfect Simple | I will have finished by 9pm tonight. | ||||||
| We will have been married for ten years next month. | |||||||
| Future Perfect Continuous | They may be tired when you arrive because they will have been working. | ||||||
| In 30 minutes, we will have been working for four hours. | |||||||
Basic Tenses
For past and present, there are 2 simple tenses + 6 complex tenses (using auxiliary verbs). To these, we can add 4 "modal tenses" for the future (using modal auxiliary verbs will/shall). This makes a total of 12 tenses in the active voice. Another 12 tenses are available in the passive voice. So now we have 24 tenses.
| 24 Tenses | past | present | future* | |
| ACTIVE | simple tenses | past | present | future |
| complex tenses formed with auxiliary verbs | past perfect | present perfect | future perfect | |
| past continuous | present continuous | future continuous | ||
| past perfect continuous | present perfect continuous | future perfect continuous | ||
| PASSIVE | past | present | future | |
| past perfect | present perfect | future perfect | ||
| past continuous | present continuous | future continuous | ||
| past perfect continuous | present perfect continuous | future perfect continuou | ||
Some grammar books use the word progressive instead of continuous. They are exactly the same.
The use of tenses in English may be quite complicated, but the structure of English tenses is actually very simple. The basic structure for a positive sentence is:
subject + auxiliary verb + main verb
An auxiliary verb is used in all tenses. (In the simple present and simple past tenses, the auxiliary verb is usually suppressed for the affirmative, but it does exist for intensification.) The following table shows the 12 tenses for the verb to work in the active voice.
| structure | past | present | future* | |||
| auxiliary | main verb | |||||
| simple | normal | I worked | I work | I will work | ||
| intensive | do | base | I did work | I do work | ||
| perfect | have | past participle | I had worked | I have worked | I will have worked | |
| continuous | be | present participle -ing | I was working | I am working | I will be working | |
| continuous perfect | have been | present participle -ing | I had been working | I have been working | I will have been working | |
* Technically, there are no future tenses in English. The word will is a modal auxiliary verb and future tenses are sometimes called "modal tenses". The examples are included here for convenience and comparison.
Basic Tenses: Regular Verb
This page shows the basic tenses with the regular verb work. It includes the affirmative or positive form (+), the negative form (-) and the interrogative or question form (?).
The basic structure is:
| positive: | + | subject + auxiliary verb + main verb | |
| negative: | - | subject + auxiliary verb + not + main verb | |
| question: | ? | auxiliary verb + subject + main verb |
These are the forms of the main verb that we use to construct the tenses:
| base verb | past | past participle | present participle -ing |
| work | worked | worked | working |
| past | present | future | ||
| SIMPLE do + base verb (except future: will + base verb) | + | I did work I worked | I do work I work | I will work |
| - | I did not work | I do not work | I will not work | |
| ? | Did I work? | Do I work? | Will I work? | |
| SIMPLE PERFECT have + past participle | + | I had worked | I have worked | I will have worked |
| - | I had not worked | I have not worked | I will not have worked | |
| ? | Had I worked? | Have I worked? | Will I have worked? | |
| CONTINUOUS be + ing | + | I was working | I am working | I will be working |
| - | I was not working | I am not working | I will not be working | |
| ? | Was I working? | Am I working? | Will I be working? | |
| CONTINUOUS PERFECT have been + ing | + | I had been working | I have been working | I will have been working |
| - | I had not beenworking | I have not beenworking | I will not have beenworking | |
| ? | Had I been working? | Have I been working? | Will I have been working? | |
Irregular Verbs List
This is a list of some irregular verbs in English. Of course, there are many others, but these are the more common irregular verbs.
| V1 Base Form | V2 Past Simple | V3 Past Participle |
| awake | awoke | awoken |
| be | was, were | been |
| beat | beat | beaten |
| become | became | become |
| begin | began | begun |
| bend | bent | bent |
| bet | bet | bet |
| bid | bid | bid |
| bite | bit | bitten |
| blow | blew | blown |
| break | broke | broken |
| bring | brought | brought |
| broadcast | broadcast | broadcast |
| build | built | built |
| burn | burned/burnt | burned/burnt |
| buy | bought | bought |
| catch | caught | caught |
| choose | chose | chosen |
| come | came | come |
| cost | cost | cost |
| cut | cut | cut |
| dig | dug | dug |
| do | did | done |
| draw | drew | drawn |
| dream | dreamed/dreamt | dreamed/dreamt |
| drive | drove | driven |
| drink | drank | drunk |
| eat | ate | eaten |
| fall | fell | fallen |
| feel | felt | felt |
| fight | fought | fought |
| find | found | found |
| fly | flew | flown |
| forget | forgot | forgotten |
| forgive | forgave | forgiven |
| freeze | froze | frozen |
| get | got | got (sometimes gotten) |
| give | gave | given |
| go | went | gone |
| grow | grew | grown |
| hang | hung | hung |
| have | had | had |
| hear | heard | heard |
| hide | hid | hidden |
| hit | hit | hit |
| hold | held | held |
| hurt | hurt | hurt |
| keep | kept | kept |
| know | knew | known |
| lay | laid | laid |
| lead | led | led |
| learn | learned/learnt | learned/learnt |
| leave | left | left |
| lend | lent | lent |
| let | let | let |
| lie | lay | lain |
| lose | lost | lost |
| make | made | made |
| mean | meant | meant |
| meet | met | met |
| pay | paid | paid |
| put | put | put |
| read | read | read |
| ride | rode | ridden |
| ring | rang | rung |
| rise | rose | risen |
| run | ran | run |
| say | said | said |
| see | saw | seen |
| sell | sold | sold |
| send | sent | sent |
| show | showed | showed/shown |
| shut | shut | shut |
| sing | sang | sung |
| sit | sat | sat |
| sleep | slept | slept |
| speak | spoke | spoken |
| spend | spent | spent |
| stand | stood | stood |
| swim | swam | swum |
| take | took | taken |
| teach | taught | taught |
| tear | tore | torn |
| tell | told | told |
| think | thought | thought |
| throw | threw | thrown |
| understand | understood | understood |
| wake | woke | woken |
| wear | wore | worn |
| win | won | won |
| write | wrote | written |
Basic Tenses: Be
This page shows the basic tenses with the verb be. It includes the affirmative or positive form (+), the negative form (-) and the interrogative or question form (?).
The basic structure is:
But for simple past and simple present tenses, the structure is not the same. In fact, it's even easier. There is no auxiliary verb. Here is the structure:
These are the forms of the main verb be that we use to construct the tenses:
In the following table, we see be conjugated for 12 basic tenses.
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