English Verb Tenses

A brief summary of the English verb tenses, along with examples and usage criteria, is provided below.

	All Verb Tenses, Active and Passive
	Active Voice		Passive Voice
	Simple	Continuous	Simple	Continuous
Present	he works	he is working	it is made	it is being made
Past	he worked	he was working	it was made	it was being made
Future	he will work	he will be working	it will be made
Present Perfect	he has worked	he has been working	it has been made
Past Perfect	he had worked	he had been working	it had been made
Future Perfect	he will have worked	he will have been working	it will have been made

	The Perfect Tenses
	Simple	Continuous
Present Perfect	Something has continued to the present They’ve been married for fifty years. She has lived in Liverpool all her life. …or is important in the present: I’ve lost my keys. I can’t get into the house. Teresa isn’t at home. I think she has gone shopping.	Something has been continuing up to the present: It’s been raining for hours. We’ve been waiting here since six o’clock this morning.
Past Perfect	Something continued up to a time in the past: When George died, he and Anne had been married for nearly fifty years. ...or was important at that time in the past: I couldn’t get into the house. I had lost my keys. Teresa wasn’t at home. She had gone shopping.	Something had been continuing up to a time in the past or was important at that time in the past: Everything was wet. It had been raining for hours. He was a wonderful guitarist. He had been playing ever since he was a teenager.
Future Perfect	Something will be complete at some time in the future: In a few years they will have discovered a cure for the cold. I can come out tonight. I'll have finished my homework by then.	Something will be complete at some time in the future: We will have been waiting for over an  hour when the store finally opens. In June, I will have been working at AELC for three months.

The first table above shows verb tenses as used in the Headway Book, and the second table lists examples of the perfect tense from http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/verbs/perfective-aspect. 

Sometimes it is useful to look at grammar concepts through a different perspective, as below.  The results are the same, but the organization may be more clear to some people this way.

·      TENSE refers to location or point in time. 

o   In English, technically there are only two tenses, past and present.

o   Future is not technically a tense since the main verb does not conjugate.  Instead, the main verb is used with the modal “will” to reflect the future.

o   Longman grammar labels present tense the unmarked form.

o   Academic texts may use present tense to imply lack of time restriction

·      ASPECT refers to how an event is to be viewed in time OR spans time:

·      Simple (completed action in the past with no connection to other times)

·      Perfect (done, but its importance spans time in present, past, or future)

·      Continuous or Progressive (ongoing in present, past, or future)

·      Perfect Continuous or Perfect Progressive (ongoing, but was done or will be done at a certain time)

Note that many books use the word “progressive” instead of “continuous.”  In either case, the two words are synonymous.

Active Voice
The Simple Aspect (Indefinite Aspect)	Example
simple past tense	I went
simple present tense	I go
simple future tense	I will go
The Perfect Aspect (Completed Aspect)	Example
past perfect tense	I had gone
present perfect tense	I have gone
future perfect tense	I will have gone
The Continuous Aspect (Continuing Aspect)	Example
past continuous tense	I was going
present continuous tense	I am going
future continuous tense	I will be going
The Perfect Continuous Aspect	Example
past perfect continuous tense	I had been going
present perfect continuous tense	I have been going
future perfect continuous tense	I will have been going

Passive Voice
The Simple Aspect (Indefinite Aspect)	Example
simple past tense	it was completed
simple present tense	it is completed
simple future tense	it will be completed
The Perfect Aspect (Completed Aspect)	Example
past perfect tense	it had been completed
present perfect tense	it has been completed
future perfect tense	it will have been completed
The Continuous Aspect (Continuing)	Example
past continuous tense	It was being completed
present continuous tense	It is being completed