Tense

 

The tense of a verb is determined by when the action took place.

The three main tenses are as follows:

The Past Tense (e.g., I walked.)

The Present Tense (e.g., I walk.)

The Future Tense (e.g., I will walk.)

 

The tense of a verb can also tell us things like whether the action is habitual, on-going, or completed.

This is called the aspect of the verb, which is part of tense.

 

Examples of Tenses

 

Here are some examples of verbs in different tenses:

I walked to work.

(The verb walked is in the past tense.)

 

I walk to work.

(The verb walk is in the present tense.)

 

I will walk to work.

(The verb will walk is in the future tense.)

 

Remember that verbs do not just express actions. They can also express a state of being. For example:

I was happy.

(The verb was is in the past tense.)

I am happy.

(The verb am is in the present tense.)

I will be happy.

(The verb will be is in the future tense.)

 

 

 

The table below shows the full list of the tenses:

	Example 1	Example 2
Simple Past Tense	I went	I laughed
Past Progressive Tense	I was going	I was laughing
Past Perfect Tense	I had gone	I had laughed
Past Perfect Progressive Tense	I had been going	I had been laughing
Simple Present Tense	I go	I laugh
Present Progressive Tense	I  am going	I am laughing
Present Perfect Tense	I have gone	I have laughed
Present Perfect Progressive Tense	I have been going	I have been laughing
Simple Future Tense	I will go	I will laugh
Future Progressive Tense	I will be going	I will be laughing
Future Perfect Tense	I will have gone	I will have laughed
Future Perfect Progressive Tense	I will have been going	I will have been laughing