Skip to main content
Humanities LibreTexts

7.2: Verb Tenses: Active Voice

  • Page ID
    5824
  • \( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

    SIMPLE TENSES

    SIMPLE PRESENT

    \[\text{General facts, states of being, scheduled events in the future, and repeated actions}\; = \text{base form or –s form}\]

    Example \(\PageIndex{1}\):
    • Teachers often grade late into the night.
    • Water becomes ice at 32 degrees Fahrenheit.
    • Celebrities donate to hundreds of charities every year.
    • The plane departs tonight at 9:00 p.m.

    SIMPLE PAST

    \[\text{Completed actions from the past that occurred at a specific time or facts/states of being that occurred in the past} = \text{base form} + \text{-ed/-d/irregular form}\]

    Example \(\PageIndex{2}\):
    • Their neighbors worked together to rebuild the house.
    • He drove across country to prove a point.
    • When she was young, my sister played with me all the time.

    SIMPLE FUTURE

    \[\text{Future actions, predictions, or promises} = \text{will} + \text{base form}\]

    Example \(\PageIndex{3}\):
    • I will eat in a few minutes.
    • The rain will stop any second now.

    SIMPLE PROGRESSIVE FORMS

    PRESENT PROGRESSIVE

    \[\text{Actions that are happening right now, but not happening forever or future actions} = \text{am, is, are} + \text{present participle}\]

    Example \(\PageIndex{4}\):
    • The teachers are meeting in the boardroom. Josie is meeting the principal.
    • We are baking cookies tomorrow.

    PAST PROGRESSIVE

    \[\text{Actions that happened at a specific time in the past or past plans that didn’t happen} = \text{was, were/was going to, were going to} + \text{present participle}\]

    Example \(\PageIndex{5}\):
    • They were sailing when the hurricane hit.
    • I was going to fly out tonight, but couldn’t get a ticket.

    PERFECT TENSES

    PRESENT PERFECT

    \[\text{Repetitive or constant actions that began in the past but are still happening or actions that happened at an unspecified time in the past} = \text{has, have} + \text{past participle}\]

    Example \(\PageIndex{6}\):
    • I have loved dogs since I was a child.
    • Alex has lived in the UK for over a year.
    • Stephanie has bought three cars in three years.

    PAST PERFECT

    \[\text{Actions that occurred/began before something else in the past} = \text{had} + \text{past participle}\]

    Example \(\PageIndex{7}\):

    He had just choked when the ambulance drove by.

    PERFECT PROGRESSIVE FORMS

    PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE

    \[\text{Continuous actions that began in the past but are still occurring} = \text{has, have} + \text{been} + \text{past participle}\]

    Example \(\PageIndex{8}\):

    Ygritte has been trying to learn knitting for years.

    PAST PERFECT PROGRESSIVE

    \[\text{Actions that began and continued in the past until some other action in the past occurred} = \text{had} + \text{been} + \text{present participle}\]

    Example \(\PageIndex{9}\):

    By the time I moved to Klamath Falls, I had been writing for ten years.


    This page titled 7.2: Verb Tenses: Active Voice is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Robing Jeffrey.

    • Was this article helpful?