Verb tenses | 12 tenses to strengthen your English

Verb tenses | A brief overview

Have you ever found yourself confused about which verb tense to use in English? You’re not alone. Verb tenses play a crucial role in conveying the time and continuity of actions, events, or states. Mastering verb tenses is essential for effective communication and clear expression in the English language. In this article, we will explore the various verb tenses, understand their importance, address common errors, and provide tips for using them correctly.

What are verb tenses?

Typically speaking, a verb is an action word in a sentence. Suppose you are doing something or willing to do something, and here your action is the verb. Verb tenses are grammatical forms that indicate the time of an action or state. They allow us to describe events that have happened, are happening, or will happen in the future. By using different verb tenses, we can provide a clear picture of when an action occurred and its duration.

12 types of verb tenses

In the English language, there are three kinds of verb tenses, and these are – past, present, and future. So a question can arise in your mind if the topic suggests a verb tense list of 12, then why are we talking about three tenses? Well, this is quite a common question, and the reply is also ready to be answered. Every tense has four sub-tenses that have been used in sentences, like simple or indefinite, continuous, perfect, and perfect continuous tenses. So, read on to learn more about them in detail.

Past tense

When you are using the past tense, verbs are used to speak about events in the past, which means whenever they happened before now. The variations of past tense verbs are-

1. Simple past tense verbs

This verb tense form describes an action that has been completed completely in the previous moment. In most cases, you can observe that a word can be made past tense by adding suffixes like “ed,” “d,” or “t.”

Example: dance (present) – danced (past) Like (present) – liked (past)

Some irregular verbs have unique verb forms, such as think(present) – thought (past), and ‘go’ becomes ‘went.’

While you are writing about past events, the simple past has been generally utilized.

For example- Othello murdered his wife, Desdemona.

2. Past continuous tense

This type of tense helps you to describe an ongoing matter that occurred in the past. It might additionally refer to an incomplete act that was halted by some other occurrence or act.

For example- I was reading the novel when John arrived.

3. Past perfect tense

The perfect tense describes complex relationships. In other words, you can say that perfect tense can be used when one action occurs before another. For using the verb form in the past tense, you have to use had and the past participle form of that word.

For example- Vivek bought the book that his teacher had recommended to him.

In this statement, a recommendation has occurred before the buying process.

4. Past perfect continuous tense

Similarly to the past perfect, the past perfect continuous describes an ongoing activity related to an upcoming event. To use the past perfect tense helping verb is “been,” which helps to complete the sense in a sentence.

For example- I had been reading for an hour.

Hopefully, this sentence can help you understand that I am busy reading for the last hour, and that can be continued.

Present tense

Normally, you can use the present tense when you’re going to illustrate an event that is happening in the current situation. Like the past tense, the present tense verbs also have four variations. They are as follows-

5. Simple present tense

In the simple present tense verbs, the action has been happening now. Furthermore, you can use the simple present tense when you are planning to describe an event that is a universal truth. The verb form has a very simple structure. Subject + main verb + object

For example- I eat rice

Moreover, you can use the “be” verb in the simple present tense or present indefinite tense.

For example- Man is mortal

6. Present continuous tense

Well, an incident has been occurring now, and to explain this, you can use the present continuous tense. As well as a past tense form of the verb, the present continuous tense has a simple structure to use, and that is

Subject + be verb + ing form of main verb + object

For example- Smith is playing football

This sentence indicates that Smith is now involved in playing football.

7. Present perfect tense

The next kind of verb tense is the present perfect tense, which helps to describe an event that has started in the past but is still happening in the present. When you are going to describe an event that happened in the past but has had some effect until now, you can use the perfect tense. For using the type of tense, you have to use has or have verbs depending on the subject.

For example- You have played the game before

By seeing this example, you can get the point that someone has started playing, which has had an impact until now.

8. Present perfect continuous tense

Another form of the verb is the present perfect continuous tense. To sketch an event that has started in the past and is still happening in the current situation, you can use the perfect continuous tense. For the verb form, you have to use the “been” form.

For example- She has been singing since she was 6 years old

Undoubtedly, you understand that she started her singing career when she was six years old, and till now, she has continued.

Future tense

Future tense verbs are used to describe an upcoming event. You can use this tense to represent an event that can happen in the future. Just like past and present tense, future tense also has four variations-

9. Simple future tense

An event that has not yet taken place is described in the simple future tense. You can use it to describe an upcoming action or make a prediction. “Shall” can be considered the future tense helping verb with the root verb.

For example- We shall overcome the problem in some days

Here, shall is an auxiliary verb, whereas overcome is the root verb.

10. Future continuous tense

The future continuous tense describes an upcoming activity that will occur in the future over the course of a long period. To explain this verb form, you have to use will be or shall be.

For example- I will be playing basketball in the afternoon.

This helps you understand that I will be busy in the afternoon playing basketball.

11. Future perfect tense

Actions that will happen in the future or between now and then are expressed in this tense.

For example- I will have finished cooking

With the help of the statement, you can understand the point that I will complete my cooking in that time.

12. Future perfect continuous tense

Continuing actions that will extend over time will be described as “future perfect continuous tenses.” The structure of this tense form is

Subject+will/shall+have+been+ing form of root verb+object

For example- Nila will have been doing the sum

Verb tense table

Verb: play	Simple	Continuous	Perfect	Perfect continuous
Past tense	Played	Was playing	Had played	Had been playing
Present tense	Play	Is playing	Have played	Have been playing
Future tense	Will play	Will be playing	Will have played	Will have been playing

Key takeaways

• A verb is an action word in a sentence, and 12 verb tenses are used to identify the action in sentences.
• Furthermore, the time of activity represents the tense of the verb.
• Every tense has four sub-tenses that have been used in sentences, like simple or indefinite, continuous, perfect, and perfect continuous tenses.

We hope you enjoyed reading this blog. In case of any queries, reach out to us or drop a comment below!

Liked this blog? Read next: Subject-verb agreement rules | All you need to know!

FAQs

Q1. What is considered a common problem with verb tenses?

Answer- The most common problem readers face is struggling to understand when the event happened.

Q2. How do you identify a verb tense?

Answer- You can identify verb tenses by observing at what time the action takes place.

Q3. What are the principal forms of verbs?

Answer- There are four forms of verbs: root word, present participle, past, and past participle form.