Verb Tenses

The Twelve Traditional Tenses

SimplePresent

Present Continuous

Present Perfect

Present Perfect Continuous

Simple Past

Past Continuous

Past Perfect

Past Perfect Continuous

Simple Future

Future Continuous

FuturePerfect

Future PerfectContinuous

Simple PresentIt is used to signal the following meanings:• Habitual actions in the present. He walks to class every day.• General timeless truths. Water freezes at 0 degrees centigrade.• Sensory or mental perception in the present. I see a sign in the corner. I know that Charlotte is a teacher.• Narrative present Marc hits the ball and falls over.

Present Continuous

• Action in progress She is eating her lunch now.• A temporary present occupation or activity She is studying at Keele University now.• Repetition in a series of similar ongoing

actions• Skippy is pushing the football around the

garden.

Simple past

• A definite completed action in the past. He flew to the UK on Saturday.• Habitual action in the past. Chris jogged to work every day last year.• A situation that applied in the past with the

implication that it no longer applies in the present. Professor Walker lectured at Keele for 30 years.

Past Progressive

• An action in progress at a specific point of time in the past

We were playing volleyball at 1.00pm on Wednesday.

• Past action – simultaneous with some other past event

Students were working in the language lab when I walked past the door.

• Repetition of some on-going past action She was talking throughout the entire film.

Simple future • An action to take place at some definite future

time

Russell will walk to Newcastle tomorrow.• A future habitual action or future state

Russell will take the bus to Hanley next year.• A situation that may occur in the present and will

occur in the future but with a definite end date.

You will live in England until you finish your degree.

Future Continuous

• An action that will be in progress at a specific time in the near future

He will be walking to school at 9.00am tomorrow.

• Duration of some specific future action

Skippy will be working on her thesis for the next ten years.

Present Perfect• A situation that began in the past and that

continues into the present.I have taught English for 24 years.• A past experience with current relevanceI have already seen that movie.• A very recently completed actionSkippy has just finished her homework.

Present Perfect Progressive

• A situation or habit that began in the past and that continues up to the present

I have been living in England for 19 years.• The incompleteness of an action in progress

I have been reading a book.

{Compare – I have read a book.}

Past Perfect• An action completed in the past prior to

some other past event

He had already walked to Newcastle before I could offer him a ride.

• Past conditional

If she had studied harder, she would have passed the exam.

Past Perfect Progressive

• An action or habit taking place over a period of time in the past prior to some other past event

He had been walking to work before his father bought him a bicycle.

• A past action that is in progress gets interrupted by another past action

We had been planning to holiday in France but changed our minds when we heard about the bad weather.

Future Perfect

• A future action that will be completed prior to a specific future time

I will have finished this work by midnight.• A state or action that will be completed in

the future prior to some other future time or event

I will have finished my essay by the time you return from clubbing.

Future Perfect Progressive

• Habitual action that is taking place in the present and that will continue into the future up until or through a specific future time

He will have been studying for 3 hours by the time I get home.

Task One

• Find a partner.• Ask him or her what his or her daily

activities are.• Once you have noted these you must take

turns asking questions about key activitiesWhat does X do everyday?It is 6.30. What is X doing?• Ask questions :