Verb tenses

• Fact: Water boils at 100 degrees centigrade.
• Habit and routine: I wake at six every morning.
• Permanent situation: I live in Paris.
• Fixed arrangement: The train leaves at 8:00.

In the present simple tense if the subject is” He, She, or It” we add “-s” to the verb:

• He speaks English.
• She works in a military hospital.
• The train arrives at 11 AM.

If the subject is “I, You, We, or They” we use a verb without “-s”:

• I walk to school.
• We go shopping.
• They drink coffee.

We make question form with “do” and negative form with “don’t”.

• I don’t walk to school.
• Do you like your new house?
• She doesn’t like lending her books.

The three different forms of Present Simple Tense

State verb in the present simple tense

We use a state verb in present simple, but do not use it in continuous form, because it has sense of continuity:

• ✓ I need a new car. ꭗ I am needing a new car.
• ✓ You can’t please him. ꭗ You can’t pleasing him.
• ✓ She seems nervous. ꭗ She is seeming nervous.
• ✓ It sounds great! ꭗ It sounding great!
• ✓ I have three children. ꭗ I am having three children.
• ✓ He loves his job. ꭗ He is loving his job.
• ✓ I agree with you. ꭗ I am agreeing with you.

We use the present progressive tense (also called present continuous tense) to express things that are happening now, temporary situations, and for activities in progress.

happening now: She is drinking coffee.

something in progress: I am working on a new project.

repeated action: He is always borrowing money from me.

future plan: We are leaving for Madrid next week.

Form: subject + to be + verb-ing

Contractions in the present progressive tenses

We can not use present continuous tense to talk about permanent situation.

• ✓ She works in a bank. ꭗ She is working in a bank.
• ✓ I live in Paris. ꭗ I am living in Paris.

We can not use stative verb in present continuous tense in English.

• ✓ I need a new car. ꭗ I am needing a new car.
• ✓ I like this book. ꭗ I am liking this book.
• ✓ He loves his job. ꭗ He is loving his job.

• I have been learning English since I was 10.
• She has been playing tennis for over 20 years.
• They have been waiting for a very long time.

Form: subject + have been/has been + verb-ing

We can use the words (who, what, when, where, why, how) before has or have in interrogative sentences.

• What have I been watching?
• Why have you been working?
• How long has she been waiting?

Contractions in the present perfect progressive tenses.

Short answers in present perfect progressive tenses.

• Have you been learning English for a long time? — Yes, I have. [We cannot use any contraction in positive answers] – No, I haven’t.
• Has she been playing tennis? — Yes, she has. – No, she hasn’t.

We don’t use “for” with phrases like “all day, all night, all week, etc.”

• ꭗ It has been raining for all week.✓ It has been raining all week.
• ꭗ He has been coughing for all night.✓ He has been coughing all night.

We cannot use stative verb in present perfect continuous tense in English.

• ꭗ I have been knowing Jane for a long time. ✓ I have known Jane for a long time.
• ꭗ She has been wanting to visit Canada for years. ✓ She have wanted to visit Canada for years.

• I have eaten lunch.
• She has learned to speak English.
• We have watched the movie.

We use the present perfect tense with an unfinished time expression

• Have you seen him today?
• Nobody has noticed so far.
• I haven’t eaten since breakfast.
• Have you ever been in America?
• Have you talked to John yet?
• I haven’t smoked this week.
• I have never heard this in my life.

In present perfect Have/has is helping verb and the main verb is in past participle form.

• You have been helpful so far.
• She has eaten breakfast.
• We have seen him today.

Form: subject + have/has + main verb [past participle form]

We can use the verb “have” as a main verb in past participle form along with helping verb “have/has”.

• I have had a lot to do this week.
• She has had an easy life.
• Our car has had a flat tire today.
• We have had a lot of rain this year.

Contractions in the present perfect tenses.

Question form: have/has + subject + main verb [past participle form] +?

• Have you parked?
• Has she cooked?
• Have they eaten?

We can use the words (who, what, when, where, why, how) before has or have in interrogative sentences.

• Where have you parked?
• How has she cooked?
• What have they eaten?

a regular verb has a usual endings in their past and past participle forms

Verbs that end in “e”, we just add “d” to make them past or past participle

• arrive: arrived, arrived
• bake: baked, baked
• change: changed, changed
• close: closed, closed

Verbs that end in “consonant + vowel + consonant”; we double the last consonant and add “ed”.

• control: controlled, controlled
• grab: grabbed, grabbed
• rub: rubbed, rubbed
• drag: dragged, dragged

Some verbs that end in “y”, we take out the “y” and add “ied” to make them past or past participle

• study: studied, studied
• worry: worried, worried
• try: tried, tried

an irregular verb does not follow the -d, ed, or -ied suffix pattern

To avoid making mistakes with irregular verbs, we should learn them by heart

• I finished my lunch.
• He sold his watch.
• She broke the glass.

We use base form of the verb in negative and interrogative sentences.

• I didn’t finish my lunch.
• Did he sell his watch?
• Did she break the glass?

We can use question words (who, what, when, where, why, how) before the helping verb “did” in interrogative sentences.

• Where did you park?
• What did she cook?
• How did they come?
• When did you go?

We can use past simple tense with a time expression.

• I met him last week.
• We arrived an hour ago.
• She came home a little while ago.
• I washed my car yesterday.
• They left for New York a long time ago.

Short answers in simple past tenses.

Did he sell his watch?

• Yes, he did. [We cannot use any contraction in positive answers]
• No, he didn’t.

Did she break the glass?

• Yes, she did.
• No, she didn’t.

Form: subject + was/were + verb-ing

• I was running.
• You were swimming.
• He was playing.

We use the past progressive tense to express an action that was in progress at a specific time in the past.

• At 1pm, I was eating lunch.
• At midnight, we were still searching for him.
• What were you doing this time last night?

We use the past progressive tense to express an action that was in progress when another action took place. And we use “when” with past simple, and “while” with past continuous.

• It was raining when he left for school.
• When you called me, I was walking in the park.
• The power went out while we were watching TV.
• While I was waiting for the bus, I bought a sandwich.

We use “always and constantly” to express a past repeated action or behavior that is annoying or causes problems.

• She was always trying to learn something.
• John was constantly getting into trouble.
• They were always complaining.
• Jane was constantly changing her mind.

Affirmatives, Negative, and interrogative forms

We can use question words (who, what, when, where, why, how) before the helping verb (was/were) in interrogative sentences.

• Where were you going?
• What was it drinking?
• How was she dancing?
• When were they fighting?

Verbs that end in “e”, we take out the “e” add “ing” to make them continuous form.

• take: I was taking a shower.
• write: Jim was writing a letter.
• bake: She was baking some bread.

Form: subject + had been + verb-ing

• I had been eating vegetables since 2012.
• She had been studying for the exam for three month.
• It had been raining all day.
• We had been waiting for half an hour when the train arrived.

We can also use this tense to show the cause of a past situation.

• I was very tired because I had been working for 16 hours straight.
• Everywhere was wet because it had been raining.

We can use question words (who, what, when, where, why, how) before the helping verb “had” in interrogative sentences.

• How had I been playing?
• Why had you been running?
• Where had she been working?
• When had they been waiting?

Short answers in past perfect progressive tenses.

• Had you been using the same car since 2006? — Yes, I had [We cannot use any contraction in positive answers] – No. I hadn’t.
• Had she been waiting for me? — Yes, she had. – No, she hadn’t

Contractions in the past perfect progressive tenses.

We can not use stative verb in past perfect continuous tense in English.

• ✓ I had needed a new car. ꭗ I had been needing a new car.
• ✓ You had liked this book. ꭗ You had been liking this book.
• ✓ He had loved his job. ꭗ He had been loving his job.

Form: subject + helping verb “had” (in past simple) + main verb (in past participle)

• I had closed the windows before I left the building.
• The plumber sent us a bill for the work he had done.
• We had gone there once before.
• He came here shortly after you had left.

We can use the verb “have” as a main verb in past participle form along with helping verb “had”.

• We had had ten phone calls this morning.
• She had had two glasses of whisky already.
• Our car had had a flat tire yesterday.
• I hadn’t had breakfast yet.

We can use the question words ( who, what, when, where, why, how) at the beginning in interrogative sentences.

• Why had you left here?
• Where had you been?
• When had it frozen?
• What had they stolen?

Contractions in the past perfect tenses

We may confuse the short form of had with the shot form of would (I’d, you’d, he’d, she’d, etc.).

But would is followed by the base form of the verb and had is followed by the past participle form of the verb.

• We‘d go. = We would go. [the base form of the verb “go”]
• We‘d gone. = We had gone. [the past participle form of the verb “go”]

Short answers in past perfect tenses.

• Had you closed the door? — Yes, I had [We cannot use any contraction in positive answers] – No. I hadn’t.
• Had she broken the glass? — Yes, she had. – No, she hadn’t

Form: subject + (helping verb) will + main verb

• I will see you tomorrow.
• He will be four years old next Monday.
• They will arrive in ten minutes.

We can use the question words ( who, what, when, where, why, how) at the beginning in interrogative sentences.

• What will I see?
• When will you come?
• Where will we go?
• How will she cook?

We use “will” to express predictions, offers, plans, and promises.

• I will go to school tomorrow. [intention]
• I will wash the dishes if you dry up. [willingness]
• The doctor will see you again next week [plan]
• I think it will rain tonight. [prediction]
• I will give your money back next week. [promise]
• It’s too late. I will give you a ride home. [offer]

Contractions in the future simple tenses.

We use “going to” to talk about a future plan or intention.

Affirmative form: subject + am/is/are + going to + verb (infinitive)

• I am going to buy a new car in the near future.
• He is going to quit his job next year.
• We are going to tour Europe.

Negative form: subject + am/is/are + not + going to + verb (infinitive)

• I am not going to buy a new car in the near future.
• He is not going to quit his job next year.
• We are not going to tour Europe.

Question form: am/is/are + subject + going to + verb (infinitive) + ?

• Am I going to buy a new car?
• Is he going to quit his job next year?
• Are we going to tour Europe?

Native speakers use “gonna” instead of “going to” in very informal conversations.

• I am gonna clean the kitchen.
• This isn’t gonna be that easy.

We use the present continuous tense to talk about a future fixed arrangement.

Form: subject + am/is/are + verb-ing

• I am meeting Jim tomorrow.
• He is having lunch with his fiancée on Friday.
• We are flying to New York tomorrow.

• We will be waiting for you when you arrive.
• You will be cooking tomorrow at 11 a.m.
• They will be helping me to do the task tomorrow.

Form: subject + will + be + verb-ing

We can use question words (who, what, when, where, why, how) before the helping verb “will” in interrogative sentences.

• Where will I be playing?
• What will he be cooking?
• How long will you be walking?
• When will it be working?

Short answers in simple past tenses.

Will you be cooking dinner tomorrow?

• Yes, I will. [We cannot use any contraction in positive answers]
• No, I won’t.

Will they be staying for dinner?

• Yes, they will. [We cannot use any contraction in positive answers]
• No, they won’t.

• In July, I will have been learning English for three years.
• By the next year, you will have been working here for 25 years.
• Next month, she will have been living in this house for two years.

Form: subject + will + have been + verb-ing

Question form

• How long will I have been learning English by the end of this year?
• Where will you have been waiting for your fiancée?
• How long will he have been trying to get visa?

Contractions in the future perfect progressive tenses

• I will have eaten lunch by two p.m.
• At eight o’clock he will have left for work.
• We will have finished the project by the end of this year.
• They will have gone to the park before you come here.

Form: subject + will have + main verb [past participle form]

Contractions in the future perfect tenses

Short answers in future perfect tenses.

• Will you have gone before we come home tomorrow? — Yes, I will [We cannot use any contraction in positive answers] – No. I won’t.

• Wil the plumber have finished his work by three p.m.? — Yes, he will. – No, he won’t.