Learning Objectives
- Identify and use the correct verb tense in a sentence
Tenses
There are three standard tenses in English: past, present and future. For now we’ll just focus on the simple present (things happening now), the simple past (things that happened before), and the simple future (things that will happen later).
- Simple Present: work(s)
- Simple Past: worked
- Simple Future: will work
The present tense for singular third person (he, she, it) is slightly different. Look at the tables, below, to see the correct tenses:
Person | Past | Present | Future |
I | verb + ed | verb | will verb |
We | verb + ed | verb | will verb |
You | verb + ed | verb | will verb |
He, She, It | verb + ed | verb + s (or es) | will verb |
They | verb + ed | verb | will verb |
Let’s look at the verb to walk for an example:
Person | Past | Present | Future |
I | walked | walk | will walk |
We | walked | walk | will walk |
You | walked | walk | will walk |
He, She, It | walked | walks | will walk |
They | walked | walk | will walk |
Try It
Irregular Verbs
There are a lot of irregular verbs. Unfortunately, a fair amount of memorization is needed to keep them straight.
For quick reference, below are the tables for to be and to have:
To be
Person | Past | Present | Future |
I | was | am | will be |
We | were | are | will be |
You | were | are | will be |
He, She, It | was | is | will be |
They | were | are | will be |
To have
Person | Past | Present | Future |
I | had | have | will have |
We | had | have | will have |
You | had | have | will have |
He, She, It | had | has | will have |
They | had | have | will have |
Here’s a list of several irregular past tense verbs.
Try It
Complex Verb Tenses
Verbs don’t have to be expressed only in present, past, or future tenses. There are more complex verb tenses that allow us to express actions with a little more variety and difference, which are created by changing the verb aspect. The verb aspect tells us whether a verb is stating a fact, a completed action, an ongoing action, or the end of an ongoing action.
Watch It
The following video shows some of the irregular verbs you’ll use most often (to be, to have, to do, and to say):
You can view the transcript for “Introduction to irregular verbs” here (opens in new window).
Here are a few examples of these different aspects, all in the present tense:
- Simple Aspect (expressing a fact): I eat.
- Perfect Aspect (expressing a completed action): I have eaten.
- Progressive or Continuous Aspect (expressing an ongoing action): I am eating.
- Perfect Progressive Aspect (expressing the end of an ongoing action): I have been eating.
Each of these aspects can be expressed in past, present, and future tenses. For example, the different verb tenses in the perfect aspect would be:
- Past Perfect: I had eaten
- Present Perfect: I have eaten
- Future Perfect: I will have eaten
These different tenses allow for much more flexibility in our language and expression.
Watch it
Watch the video below for some more information about verb aspect, and to see all the different types of ways you can organize and use verbs.
You can view the transcript for “Introduction to verb aspect” here (opens in new window).
Candela Citations
- Text: Verb Tenses. Provided by: Lumen Learning. License: CC BY: Attribution
- Revision and Adaptation. Provided by: Lumen Learning. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
- Introduction to irregular verbs. Authored by: David Rheinstrom. Provided by: Khan Academy. Located at: https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/grammar/partsofspeech/grammar-verbs/v/introduction-to-irregular-verbs-the-parts-of-speech-grammar. License: CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
- Rhetoric and Composition/Parts of Speech. Provided by: Wikibooks. Located at: https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Rhetoric_and_Composition/Parts_of_Speech#Verbs. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
- Section on other tenses. Provided by: Excelsior OWL. Located at: https://owl.excelsior.edu/grammar-essentials/parts-of-speech/verbs/tenses/. License: CC BY: Attribution
- Verb Tenses Interactive. Authored by: Excelsior OWL. Located at: https://owl.excelsior.edu/writing-refresher/grammar-refresher/verb-tense/. License: CC BY: Attribution
- Introduction to verb aspect. Authored by: Khan Academy. Located at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7Psg-4vvsA&feature=youtu.be. License: Other. License Terms: Standard YouTube License