Example of Verb Tenses in English

Verbs are words that are used mostly to express an action, others serve to link the subject with a description or state or an action with another action. The basic form of a verb is the infinitive, which is when the action is expressed alone, without another complement. The infinitive carries the particle to:

To have = to have

To talk = to speak

To go = to go

When we use verbs in a sentence, we do not use the infinitive form, but rather conjugate it to that expresses a verb tense, that is, the situation of the action at a given moment in the weather. In English the verb tense is called tense. There are three basic moments in which the action takes place: Past, present or future:

PAST FUTURE

The present is our starting point, this moment, the moment when we speak. The past is what has already happened, what happened an instant or a million years ago, while the future is what will happen in the next instant or many millions of years from now.

From these three moments, through the verb tenses, we can locate an action at a moment in time, and also indicate some characteristics of the action at that time.

The different verb tenses in English are divided into: simple tenses (simple tenses), progressive or continuous tenses (progressive tense or continuous tense), perfect times (perfect tenses) and perfect continuous times (perfect continuous tenses). Next we will see the basic forms of each of them. You can enter the link in each of the names to learn more details about each tense.

Simple tenses (simple tenses): Simple forms are applied to talk about an action in a simple and basic way.

Present simple (simple present tense). The simple present tense speaks of an action that happens or executes at this moment or habitually. In the third person singular a letter –s is added to indicate the third person:

Mary eats sandwiches.

They walk to home.

Simple past tense. The simple past tense speaks of an action that has already happened, that was done before the moment in which it is spoken or that it was done habitually. In regular verbs, the past tense is formed by adding the ending -ed or -d in verbs ending in -e. In irregular verbs there is no general form, so each of the verbs must be known:

Mary ate sandwiches.

They walked to home.

Simple future (simple future tense). With the simple future tense we express what will happen after the moment in which we are speaking. It is formed with the auxiliaries will or shall, followed by the simple form of the verb:

Mary will eat sandwiches - Mary shall eat sandwiches.

They will walk to home - They shall walk to home.

Progressive tense or continuous tense. In this way an action is expressed that is taking place in the time in which it is spoken.

Present continuous (Present continuous tense). This verb tense refers to an action that is taking place at the moment. It is formed with the present tense form of the verb to be (am, is, are) and the gerund of the verb:

Mary is eating sandwiches.

They are walking to home.

Past continuous tense. The continuous past tense tells us about an action that was taking place at a time in the past. It is formed with the past form of the verb to be (was, were) followed by the gerund verb:

Mary was eating sandwiches.

They were walking to home.

Continuous future (continuous future tense). The future continuous is formed with the auxiliary will, the verb to be, without conjugation (be), followed by the verb in the gerund. It is used to indicate an action that will take place in the future:

Mary will be eating sandwiches - Mary Shall be eating sandwiches.

They will be walking to home - They shall be walking to home.

Perfect times (perfect tenses). The perfect times are used to refer to an action completed at a certain time.

Present perfect (present perfect tense). It expresses an action that ends at this moment. It is formed with the verb to have in the present (have, has) and the participle of the verb:

Mary have eaten sandwiches.

They have walked to home.

Past perfect tense. The past perfect expresses an action that ended at a certain point in the past. It is written with the past tense of the verb to have (had) and the verb in participle:

Mary had eaten sandwiches.

They had walked to home.

Future perfect (future perfect tense). The future perfect refers to an action that will be completed or completed in the future. It is formed with the particle will, followed by the simple form of the verb to have (have) and the participle of the verb:

Mary will have eaten sandwiches.

They will have walked to home.

Perfect continuous tense. This verb form indicates an action that is being carried out, and that will be finished at a certain moment or that although it is not carried out at the moment in question, it is usually carried out.

Perfect continuous present tense. The present perfect continuous tense refers to an activity that is being done right now and will end at a certain time in the future. It is formed with the present simple of the verb to have (has, have), followed by the participle of the verb to be (been) and the gerund of the verb:

Mary have you been eating sandwiches.

They have been walking to home.

Perfect continuous past tense. It speaks of an action carried out in the past, and that also concludes in a moment of the past. It is formed with the past tense of the verb to have (had), the participle of the verb to be (been) and the gerund of the verb:

Mary had been eating sandwiches.

They had been walking to home.

Future perfect continuous. Likewise, this form speaks of an action that will develop and end at some point in the future. It is formed with the auxiliary will, the simple form of the verb have (have), the participle of the verb to be (been) and the gerund of the verb:

Mary will have been eating sandwiches.

They will have been walking to home.

Example of sentences in different verb tenses:

The dog barks so loud.

The dog barked so loud.

The dog will bark so loud.

The dog is barking so loud.

The dog was barking so loud.

The dog will be barking so loud.

The dog has barked so loud.

The dog had barked so loud.

The dog will have barked so loud.

The dog has been barking so loud.

The dog had been barking so loud.

The dog will have been barking so loud.