What is Tense?

tense (noun): a form of a verb used to indicate the time, and sometimes the continuation or completeness,

of an action in relation to the time of speaking. (From Latin tempus = time).

Tense is a method that we use in English to refer to time\u2014past, present and future. Many
languages use tenses to talk about time. Other languages have no tenses, but of course
they can still talk about time, using different methods.

So, we talk about time in English with tenses.But, and this is a very bigbut:

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we can also talk about time without using tenses (for example, going to is a

special construction to talk about the future, it is not a tense)

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one tense does not always talk about one time (see Tense & Time for more about

this)

Here are some of the terms used in discussing verbs and tenses.

Mood

indicative mood expresses a simple statement of fact, which can be positive (affirmative)

or negative

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Ilike coffee.

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Ido notlike coffee.

interrogative mood expresses a question

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Whydo youlike coffee?

imperative mood expresses a command

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Sit down!

subjunctive mood expresses what is imagined or wished or possible

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The President ordered that heattend the meeting.

Voice

Voice shows the relationship of the subject to the action. In the active voice, the subjectdoes the action (cats eat mice). In the passive voice, the subject receives the action (miceare eaten by cats). Among other things, we can use voice to help us change the focus ofattention.

Aspect

Aspect expresses a feature of the action related to time, such as completion or duration.Present simple and past simple tenses have no aspect, but if we wish we can stress withother tenses that:

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the action or state referred to by the verb is completed (and often still relevant),

for example:

I have emailed the report to Jane. (so now she has the report)

(This is called perfective aspect, using perfect tenses.)

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the action or state referred to by the verb is in progress or continuing (that is,

uncompleted), for example:

We are eating.

(This is called progressive aspect, using progressive [continuous] tenses.)

Basic Tenses

For past and present, there are 2 simple tenses + 6 complex tenses (using auxiliary verbs).
To these, we can add 4 "modal tenses" for the future (using modal auxiliary verbs
will/shall). This makes a total of 12 tenses in the active voice. Another 12 tenses are
available in the passive voice. So now we have 24 tenses.

24 Tenses

past

present

future*

ACTIVE

simple tenses

past

present

future

complex tenses
formed with
auxiliary verbs

past perfect

present perfect

future perfect

past continuouspresent

continuous

future continuous

past perfect

continuous

present perfect

continuous

future perfect

continuous

PASSIVE

past

present

future

past perfect

present perfect

future perfect

past continuouspresent

continuous

future continuous

past perfect

continuous

present perfect

continuous

future perfect

continuous

Some grammar books use the word

progressive instead of continuous. They are

exactly the same.

Theuse of tenses in English may be quite complicated, but thestructure of English

tenses is actually very simple. The basic structure for a positive sentence is:

subject + auxiliary verb + main verb

An auxiliary verb is used in all tenses. (In the simple present and simple past tenses, the
auxiliary verb is usually suppressed for the affirmative, but it does exist for
intensification.) The following table shows the 12 tenses for the verb to work in the
active voice.

structure

auxiliary main verb

past

present

future*

simple

normal

I worked

I work

I will work

intensive do

base

I did work

I do work

perfect

have

past

participle

I had

worked

I have

worked

I will have

worked

continuous

be

present
participle
-ing

I was

working

I am

working

I will be

working

continuous

perfect

have

been

present
participle
-ing

I had been

working

I have been

working

I will have

been working