Active Verb Tenses
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Simple Present |
Present or Action Condition |
General Truths |
- I hear you.
- Here comes the bus.
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- There are thirty days in September.
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Non-action; Habitual Action |
Future Time |
- I like music.
- I run on Tuesdays and Sundays.
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- The train leaves at 4:00 p.m.
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Present Progressive |
Activity in Progress |
Verbs of Perception |
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Simple Past |
Completed Action |
Completed Condition |
- We visited the museum yesterday.
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- The weather was rainy last week.
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Past Progressive |
Past Action that took place over a period of time |
Past Action interrupted by another |
- They were climbing for twenty-seven days.
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- We were eating dinner when she told me.
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Future |
With will/won't — Activity or event that will or won't exist or happen in the future |
With going to — future in relation to circumstances in the present |
- I'll get up late tomorrow.
- I won't get up early
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- I'm hungry.
- I'm going to get something to eat.
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Present Perfect |
With verbs of state that begin in the past and lead up to and include the present |
To express habitual or continued action |
- He has lived here for many years
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- He has worn glasses all his life.
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With events occuring at an indefinited or unspecified time in the past — with ever, never, before |
- Have you ever been to Tokyo before?
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Present Perfect Progressive |
To express duration of an action that began in the past, has continued into the present, and may continue into the future |
- David has been working for two hours, and he hasn't finished yet.
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Past Perfect |
To describe a past event or condition completed before another event in the past |
In reported speech |
- When I arrived home, he had already called.
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- Jane said that she had gone to the movies.
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Future Perfect |
To express action that will be completed by or before a specified time in the future |
- By next month we will have finished the job.
- He won't have finished his work until 2:00.
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