Verb Tense

Overview

Verb tense shows when something happens — in the past, present, or future. It tells us the time of the action or state.

Three main tenses:

 Present Tense – happening now

• I walk to school.

• She plays soccer.

• They are eating lunch.

Past Tense  – already happened

• I walked to school.

• She played soccer.

• They were eating lunch.

Future Tense  – will happen later

• I will walk to school.

• She will play soccer.

• They will be eating lunch.

Verb forms

Verbs change forms depending on tense and structure. Here are the main forms of a verb like “walk” with examples:

• Base form - walk (I walk)

• Past form - walked (I walked)

• Past Participle - walked (I have walked)

• Present Participle - walking (I am walking)

• -s form - walks (She walks)

Common helping verbs (used with verb forms)

• am / is / are (present)

• was / were (past)

• have / has / had (perfect tenses)

• will / shall / would / could / should (future & modal tenses)

Example sentences with different tenses

• Simple Present: She writes stories.

• Present Continuous: She is writing now.

• Simple Past: She wrote a story yesterday.

• Past Perfect: She had written five stories before class.

• Simple Future: She will write more stories tomorrow.

• Future Perfect: She will have written ten stories by next week.

Useful tip

Pay attention to the verb endings and helping verbs. They are the clues to the correct tense.