Reviewing Verb Tenses

Reviewing 
VERB TENSES 
Present 
Tense 
Present Simple 
 - Express a habit or often repeated action. 
 - She goes to work everyday. 
 - They always eat lunch together. 
 - Express general truths or facts that are timeless. 
- Snow falls in the December in Minnesota. 
- Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius. 
Present Simple 
 - Talk about future scheduled events 
- The course begins next Monday at 2pm. 
- The train leaves at 10 pm. 
Present Simple 
 - Common present time expressions 
Present Simple 
Present Continuous 
 - Describe an action which has begun and is still in 
progress. 
- She is typing a paper for her class. 
- He can’t talk. He is fixing the sink right now. 
 Present Continuous 
 - Describe an action that is occurring in the 
present, but is temporary. 
John is living in Modesto, but he might move soon. 
 Present Continuous 
 - Near future: planned, arranged actions. 
I am leaving tomorrow. 
 - Common present time expressions 
- at the moment 
- in present = currently 
- now, just now, right now 
- today 
- this week, this month 
- etc. 
Present Continuous 
 Present Continuous 
 - Talk about an action that is happening around 
the moment in time. 
What are you doing these days? 
 - Talk about an event that began in the past and 
continues up to the present. 
He has lived in Modesto for two years. 
(He began living in Modesto two years ago and he still 
lives there.) 
Present Perfect 
 - Talk about an event that was completed in the 
past, but the specific time of the event is not 
important. 
I have seen that movie before. 
He has already visited Vietnam. 
(Specific dates and times are not mentioned.) 
Present Perfect 
 - Common time expressions 
Present Perfect 
 - Describe the duration of an action that began in 
the past and continues into the present. 
He has been studying grammar for an hour. 
She has been cooking all day. 
(He is still studying and she is still cooking.) 
Present Perfect Continuous 
 - Describe events that have been in progress 
recently and are rather temporary. 
She has been living in Taiwan for the last two months, but 
she plans to move soon. 
Present Perfect Continuous 
Past 
Tense 
Past Simple 
 - Indicate exactly when an action or event in the 
past 
- I visited my sister yesterday. 
- We went out to dinner last night. 
 - Describe finished, completed actions in the past. 
- I attended MJC in 1998. (I no longer attend MJC.) 
- I saw a movie every weekend when I was a teenager. (I 
don’t see movies very much anymore.) 
Past Simple 
 - Common present time expressions 
Past Simple 
 - Talk about an activity that was in progress at a specific 
point of time in the past. 
 - The emphasis is on the duration of the activity in the past. 
- I was studying while my mother was cooking dinner. 
- We were walking in the park around 7 p.m. last night. 
Past Continuous 
 The past progressive is often used with the simple past 
to show that one action was in progress when another 
action occurred. 
- I was taking a bath when the doorbell rang. 
- They were eating dinner when the neighbors stopped by 
for a visit. 
Past Continuous 
 - Describe completed events that took place in the past 
before another past event. 
- The Titanic had received many warnings before it hit the 
iceberg. 
- I had already eaten when my friend stopped by to visit. 
had received 
had eaten 
it hit 
my friend stopped by 
Past Perfect 
Future 
Tense 
 Will and be + going + to are often used to describe 
future actions. 
 - Thomas will graduate in June. 
 - Maria is going to visit Mexico next week. 
Future 
 - The simple present and present progressive are also used 
to express future time, often in connection with schedules. 
- She is meeting a new client at eleven o’clock. 
 - The train leaves at 6:00 a.m. tomorrow. 
Future 
 - Describe an event or action that will occur over a period of 
time at a specific point in the future. 
- I will be teaching English 4 at 10 a.m. tomorrow. 
- They will be moving their furniture out of the house by the 
time you arrive tomorrow. 
at 10 a.m. tomorrow 
by the time you arrive 
Future Continuous 
 - Describe an event or action that will be completed before 
another event or time in the future. 
We will have finished the exam by the time class ends 
tomorrow. 
will have finished the 
exam 
class ends 
Future Perfect