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16.8: Verb Tenses

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    Learning Objectives
    • Identify and use the correct verb tense in a sentence

    Tenses

    There are three standard tenses in English: past, present and future. All three of these tenses have simple and more complex forms. For now we’ll just focus on the simple present (things happening now), the simple past (things that happened before), and the simple future (things that will happen later).

    • Simple Present: work(s)
    • Simple Past: worked
    • Simple Future: will work

    The present tense for singular third person is slightly different from the other persons. Look at the tables, below, to see the correct tenses for each person:

    Person Past Present Future
    I verb + ed verb will verb
    We verb + ed verb will verb
    You verb + ed verb will verb
    He, She, It verb + ed verb + s (or es) will verb
    They verb + ed verb will verb

    Let’s look at the verb to walk for an example:

    Person Past Present Future
    I walked walk will walk
    We walked walk will walk
    You walked walk will walk
    He, She, It walked walks will walk
    They walked walk will walk
    Try It

    https://assessments.lumenlearning.co...essments/20336

    Irregular Verbs

    There are a lot of irregular verbs. Unfortunately, a fair amount of memorization is needed to keep them straight.

    Watch It

    The following video shows some of the irregular verbs you’ll use most often (to be, to have, to do, and to say):

    A link to an interactive elements can be found at the bottom of this page.

    You can view the transcript for “Introduction to irregular verbs” here (opens in new window).

    For quick reference, below are the tables for to be and to have:

    To be

    Person Past Present Future
    I was am will be
    We were are will be
    You were are will be
    He, She, It was is will be
    They were are will be

    To have

    Person Past Present Future
    I had have will have
    We had have will have
    You had have will have
    He, She, It had has will have
    They had have will have

    Here’s a list of several irregular past tense verbs.

    Try It

    https://lumenlearning.h5p.com/content/1290622346043861808/embed

    [reveal-answer q=”474777″]Explain Answers[/reveal-answer]
    [hidden-answer a=”474777″]

    1. Ysabella is really good at getting others to open up.
    2. Rodrigo had a B+ in his math class.
    3. Amanda will say she doesn’t want to go to the party.
      • Notice that when the tense of the first verb changed, the tense of the second verb did, as well.
    4. Jordan did two hundred sit-ups.
    5. Marcela runs a car wash down the street from my house.

    [/hidden-answer]

    Complex Verb Tenses

    Verbs don’t have to be expressed only in present, past, or future tenses. There are more complex verb tenses that allow us to express actions with a little more variety and difference, which are created by changing the verb aspect. The verb aspect tells us whether a verb is stating a fact, a completed action, an ongoing action, or the end of an ongoing action. Here are a few examples of these different aspects, all in the present tense:

    • Simple Aspect (expressing a fact): I eat.
    • Perfect Aspect (expressing a completed action): I have eaten.
    • Progressive or Continuous Aspect (expressing an ongoing action): I am eating.
    • Perfect Progressive Aspect (expressing the end of an ongoing action): I have been eating.

    Each of these aspects can be expressed in past, present, and future tenses. For example, the different verb tenses in the perfect aspect would be:

    • Past Perfect: I had eaten
    • Present Perfect: I have eaten
    • Future Perfect: I will have eaten

    These different tenses allow for much more flexibility in our language and expression.

    The different conjugations of the verb to work. The verbs are placed in a sliding scale. The furthest in the past is had worked, then had been working, then worked, then was worked. The present include has worked, has been working, work, and is working. The future is will have worked, will have been working, will work, and will be working.
    Figure 1. Which words/phrases above are examples of continuous tense? Which are examples of perfect tense? Which are examples of perfect continuous tense?
    Watch it

    Watch the video below for some more information about verb aspect, and to see all the different types of ways you can organize and use verbs.

    A link to an interactive elements can be found at the bottom of this page.

    You can view the transcript for “Introduction to verb aspect” here (opens in new window).

    Try It

    https://assessments.lumenlearning.co...essments/20337

    https://assessments.lumenlearning.co...essments/20338

    https://lumenlearning.h5p.com/content/1290622570734869168/embed

    Look at the following schedule for a Writer’s Workshop. Pretend that it’s Tuesday at 12:30 pm—you’re halfway through the workshop events. Write a short journal entry about the schedule, using both simple and complex verb tenses.

    Monday Tuesday Wednesday
    10:00 Check-In Genre Speakers Meet Editors/Agents
    11:00 Group Orientation Genre Speakers
    12:00 Lunch Lunch Checkout
    1:00 Peer-to-Peer Critique Professional Critiques  
    2:00  
    3:00 Keynote Speaker  

    [practice-area rows=”4″][/practice-area]
    [reveal-answer q=”642911″]Show Answer[/reveal-answer]
    [hidden-answer a=”642911″]While there are an infinite number of passages you could write, compare the tenses in your passage to ours:

    This Writer’s Workshop has been going since yesterday. This morning, several genre speakers talked about the quirks of their genres. By the time attendees heard these talks, they had completed their peer-to-peer critiques and were ready to learn more specific things about the genre they aspire to write in. After lunch today, each attendee will meet with a professional writer for a critique of his or her work. When that has finished, the keynote speaker will give an address. Tomorrow there will be a meet-and-greet with editors and agents. By noon tomorrow, the workshop will have ended.

    [/hidden-answer]

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