Basic Verb Tenses in the English Language
Understanding Simple Present, Simple Past, and Simple Future Tenses
Jun 30, 2009
The English language is one of the most complicated to learn, but it can be even more challenging to understand the English language if you grew up speaking it without learning the formal rules. As a child you learned languages through listening to others speak the language, mimicking their phrases, not learning why they said what they said. It's time to learn why and how native English speakers speak the way they do.
Simple Present Tense
The most basic form of speaking is in the present tense. This can be either moment-by-moment action or a present state of being that has been taking place for a longer period of time.
- Julia catches the cat.
- Julia is 10 years old.
Julia is probably catching the cat at the moment the sentence is spoken, but Julia has probably been 10 years old for longer, likely months.
Simple Past Tense
The simple past tense is probably the most common tense used, especially in print media. It is similar to simple present tense in that it can consist of a sequence that just happened or has been happening for a longer amount of time.
- Joe washed his car.
- Joe cleaned his apartment once a week.
The first example lists an action that probably took place recently, but the second example states an event that took place several times, perhaps for several years, but either no longer takes place or takes place within a different time frame or in a different place.
Simple Future Tense
The simple future tense is another commonly used and simple-to-understand tense of English. And once again, the future tense can indicate a simple immediate action or a repeating future sequence.
- Adrienne will lose her first tooth soon.
- Adrienne will need braces once her permanent teeth grow in.
Both examples identify a future action, but the first example is more immediate than the second.
The simple present, past, and future tenses are not too difficult to master. When forming sentences in the present tense, the most important thing to remember is to understand whether the action is taking place in the immediate present or the continuing present state of being. Both are written the same way, and an easy way to tell them apart is through context clues within the sentence.
Similarly, for past and future simple tenses, form the past or future verb form needed. Remember that if the sentence is conditional on another event or circumstance (Billie will have finished the test before her birthday), the tense will change to the perfect not simple tense, which will be formed differently than the perfect tenses.
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