All Tensed Up: Using Verb Tense Correctly

Verb Tenses
 Introduction
 Verb Tense: Nothing a Little Prozac Wouldn't Cure
 All Tensed Up: Using Verb Tense Correctly
Okay, so now you know that verbs form different tenses to show different times. Now you have
to learn how to use the tenses correctly to show the timing of one event in relation to another.
And we all know that in life, timing is everything.
Get your bearings with the following table. It shows how the tenses are related.
Verb Tense and Time
Past Present Future
Simple past Simple present Simple future
Present perfect Future perfect
Past perfect
Past progressive Present progressiveFuture progressive
Present perfect progressive Future perfect
Progressive
Past perfect progressive
 Use the two present forms (simple present and present progressive) to show events that
take place now.
 Use the six past forms (simple past, present perfect, past perfect, past progressive,
present perfect progressive, and past perfect progressive) to show events that took place
before the present.
 Use the four future forms (simple future, future perfect, future progressive, and future
perfect progressive) to show events that take place in the future.
Get the inside skinny in the following sections.
Past Tense
What's past may be past, but only if you get your past tenses straight. Use the following table to
leave the past in the past.
Past Tenses
Tense Use Example
Simple past Completed action We finished the tofu.
Completed condition We were sad; no more tofu.
Present perfect Completed action We have finished the tofu.
Completed condition We have been sad.
Continuing action We have burped for hours.
Continuing condition I have been here for days.
Past perfect Action completed before another I had eaten all the tofu before you
returned.
Condition completed before I had been sad before the new tofu
another arrived.
Past progressive Continuous completed action I was snoring that week.
Present perfect Action going into present I have been snoring all week.
progressive
Past perfect progressive Continuing action interrupted by I had been snoring when the
another
Back to the Future
This table explains the future tenses.
Future Tenses
Tense Use Example
Simple future Future action The sponge will dry.
Future condition I will be happy when it does.
Future perfect Future action done before By the time you read this, the sponge will be
another dry.
Future condition done before The sponge will have been on the window for
another a week.
Future progressive Continuing future action They will be buying sponges this week.
Future perfect Continuing future action done When we lunch next week, I will have been
progressive before another pumping iron for at least a week.
A Note on Verbs for Non-Native Speakers
Verbs present special problems for people whose first language is not English. Here are some
guidelines to make your life easier (at least as it relates to verbs).
1. Use the correct form of verbs.
o The following chart can help you remember how to use verbs correctly.
Nonstandard and Standard English
Nonstandard English
Present Tense Standard English
I I
you you
we walks we walk
they they
he, she, it walk he, she, it walks
Past Tense
I I
you you
we walk we walked
they they
he, she, it walk he, she, it walked
2. When used as a helping verb, be, do, and have change form to agree with a third-person
singular subject. The main verb does not add -s.
o Incorrect: Does the store opens at 10?
o Correct: Does the store open at 10?
3. Can and could
o Can means am/is/are able. It may be used to show the present tense.
o Today, I can sleep late.
o I can clean the house—but I won't.
o Could means was/were able when used to show the past tense of can. Could also
means “might be able, a possibility or wish.”
o In the past, I could touch my toes.
o I wish I could touch my toes now.
o Can and could (along with might, must, shall, should, will, would) never change
form.
 4. Idiomatic expressions with can, could, might, must, shall, should, will, would
o These words are called “modals.” Here's a list of the most common expressions.
Idiomatic Expressions with Modals
Example Meaning
I would rather walk than ride. I prefer to walk.
I would sleep during foreign films. I always sleep in foreign movies.
Shall we meet again? I'm inviting you to meet again.
Would you mind turning off the radio?Would you be against doing this?
Do you mind turning it off? Please turn it off.
5. Invert the subject and all or part of the verb to form questions.
o The subject and verb change places to form questions. The following examples show this.
Question Forms
Statements Questions
He is absent today. Is he absent today?
Mara can help us. Can Mara help us?
They are working here. Are they working here?
It has made this noise before.Has it made this sound before?
6. It's All in the Timing
7. Here's the rule: Pick a tense and stick with it. Avoid shifting tenses in the middle of a
sentence or paragraph. This confuses readers and makes them battier than they are
already. Study this example:
o Wrong: I was walking to lunch when a huge dog jumps up and attacks me.
o Right: I was walking to lunch when a huge dog jumped up and attacked me.
The following recipe for chocolate cake (1040 version) contains many errors in tense. Rewrite
the paragraph to correct the tenses. Don't make the cake.
 Chocolate Cake 1040
 Line 1: Butter, a minimum of half a pound, but not to be exceeding 1 cup (see Line 4).
 Line 2: Sugar, light brown or white, unless you or your spouse will be having a financial account
in a foreign account in 2004, in which case do not substitute molasses or honey.
 Line 3: Eggs, six or a half-dozen, whichever was greater.
 Line 4: Semisweet chocolate. Nonfarm families may chosen the optional method of using cocoa
powder. Multiplying by .9897 per ounce of substitution. For additional details on cocoa
conversion, seen Form 234a.
 Line 5: Salt, 1/3 teaspoon (optional). If you was a head of household with dependents and be born
during a leap year, you must add salt. Now cream the mixture.
 Line 6: Incorporate eggs, one at a time, into creamed mixture. If the eggs will be from a farm of
which you are the sole owner, you may have been eligible for a Fowl Credit. See Form 9871m,
“For the Birds.”
 Note: If you weighed 20 percent more (or higher) than your ideal weight (see chart on page 56),
ignore this recipe and complete Schedule F, “Fresh Fruit Desserts.”
Answers
 Line 1: to exceed
 Line 2: had
 Line 3: is
 Line 4: choose, multiply, add, see
 Line 5: were, were
 Line 6: are from a farm, be eligible
 Note: weigh
Tenses Quiz
APRIL 23, 2017 -
This grammar exercise tests your ability to use tenses correctly. Complete the following
sentences with an appropriate tense form.
1. This time tomorrow, I ............................... on the beach.
am lying
will lie
will be lying
2. She said that she ....................... help me.
will
shall
would
3. Phone me when you ............................ time.
have
would have
will have
4. I will follow you wherever you ...........................
go
goes
will go
5. You ........................... an accident if you go on driving like that.
are having
will have
would have
6. When you phoned, I ................................. in the garage.
worked
am working
was working
7. I .............................. all my childhood in South India.
was spending
spend
spent
8. The phone ......................... while I was having a bath.
rings
rang
was ringing
9. I tried a little of the soup to see how it ..........................
tastes
is tasting
tasted
10. When we were children we ............................. our own toys.
were making
made
had made
11. I can't dance because I ........................... my leg.
have broken
broke
had broken
12. I .......................... the bell six times but no one opened the door.
was ringing
have rung
rang
Answers
1. This time tomorrow, I will be lying on the beach.
2. She said that she would help me.
3. Phone me when you have time.
4. I will follow you wherever you go.
5. You will have an accident if you go on driving like that.
6. When you phoned, I was working in the garage.
7. I spent all my childhood in South India.
8. The phone rang while I was having a bath.
9. I tried a little of the soup to see how it tasted.
10. When we were children we made our own toys.
11. I can’t dance because I have broken my leg.
12. I rang the bell six times but no one opened the door.

Select the best verb form:

1. Cici ________ here from Hong Kong last year.

moved had moved will move

2. By tomorrow I ________ 100 pages of the book.

read had read will have read

3. They ________ in Atlanta for more than ten years.

are living have lived will have lived

4. Jay ________ a bike for a long time.

has been wanting is wanting will want

5. She ________ to a movie tomorrow night.

goes is going has gone
6. While he ________ for the bus, it rained.
is waiting was waiting will be waiting

7. You ________ Italian, by the time you return from Italy.

are mastering mastered will have mastered

8. Mike ________ the book you gave him for his birthday.
loved had loved was loving

9. Gina ________ for weeks before she finally did a good back flip.
practices had practiced will have practiced

10. By next year, I ________ the course.

completed have completed will have completed

11. By the time you arrived, I ________ for hours.

am waiting had been waiting will wait

12. The house was built in the spot where the old cottage ________.
was had been will have been

Select the best verb form:

1. Cici ________ here from Hong Kong last year.

moved had moved will move

2. By tomorrow I ________ 100 pages of the book.

read had read will have read

3. They ________ in Atlanta for more than ten years.

 are living have lived will have lived

4. Jay ________ a bike for a long time.

has been wanting is wanting will want

5. She ________ to a movie tomorrow night.

goes is going has gone

6. While he ________ for the bus, it rained.

is waiting was waiting will be waiting

7. You ________ Italian, by the time you return from Italy.

are mastering mastered will have mastered

8. Mike ________ the book you gave him for his birthday.
loved had loved was loving

9. Gina ________ for weeks before she finally did a good back flip.
practices had practiced will have practiced

10. By next year, I ________ the course.

completed have completed will have completed

11. By the time you arrived, I ________ for hours.

am waiting had been waiting will wait

12. The house was built in the spot where the old cottage ________.
was had been will have been