Tenses of the Verb

Tense- comes from the Latin word, tempus, which means "time." The tense of a verb shows the time when an action or condition occurred. In English the tense also may provide emphasis and may determine whether or not an action or condition was continuous or repetitive.

1. Basic Tenses- past, present, and future. They show whether a simple action or condition occurred, occurs, or will occur in the past, present, or future.

PRESENT (main verb) I study English. He studies English. PAST (past tense of main verb) I studied English. He studied English. FUTURE (will or shall + main verb) I will study English. He will study English.

2. Perfect Tenses- past perfect, present perfect, and future perfect. They show whether an action or condition had occurred relative to the past, has occurred relative to the present, or will have occurred relative to the future.

PRESENT PERFECT (have or has + past participle of verb) I have studied English. He has studied English. PAST PERFECT (had + past participle of verb) I had studied English.

He had studied English. FUTURE PERFECT (will or shall + have + past participle of verb) I will have studied English. He will have studied English.

3. Progressive Tenses- past progressive, present progressive, future progressive, past perfect progressive, present perfect progressive, and future perfect progressive. They show a continuous action or condition that was occurring in the past, is occurring in the present, will be occurring in the future, had been occurring relative to the past, has been occurring relative to the present, or will have been occurring relative to the future. PRESENT PROGRESSIVE (form of "be" verb + "ing" form of main verb) I am studying English. He is studying English. PAST PROGRESSIVE (past tense of form "be" verb + "ing" form of main verb) I was studying English. He was studying English. FUTURE PROGRESSIVE (will or shall +be + "ing" form of main verb) I will be studying English. He will be studying English. PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE (have or has + been + "ing" form of main verb) I have been studying English. He has been studying English. PAST PERFECT PROGRESSIVE (had + been + "ing" form of main verb) I had been studying English. He had been studying English. FUTURE PERFECT PROGRESSIVE (will or shall + have + been + "ing" form of main verb) I will have been studying English. He will have been studying English.

4. Empathic Tenses- receive their name because they are used for emphasis. More

commonly, however, they are used with the negative not and with questions when the normal order is inverted and part of the verb comes before the subject.

The present emphatic tense is formed by adding the basic present form of the verb to the present tense of the verb to do (do or does). The past emphatic tense is formed by adding the basic present form of the verb to the past tense of the verb to do (did). Present emphatic: Does he run fast? He does run fast. He does not run slowly. Past emphatic: He did come to work today. Didn't he stay home? He did not stay home today.