Verb Tenses

Verb Tenses

• the action is happening now
• the action happens regularly

Example: She walks every day.

• a temporary action is happening now

Example: She is walking right now. Here, “running” is NOT a gerund as it is NOT acting as a noun.

• the action is presumably continuing in the present.

Example: Kate has studied Spanish for 13 years.

• when the action is presumably continuing in the present.

• action already happened

Example: She walked home yesterday. There are many verbs that do not take the -ed form in simple past tense. These are called irregular verbs.  Examples include: run → ran swim → swam speak → spoke eat → ate

• action happened continuously
• action happened concurrently with another action
• an incomplete action happened before a completed action

Example: She ​was walking ​yesterday when the storm rolled in.

• action happened in the past before another past action started 

Example: She ​had walked ​for one hour before the storm rolled in.

• action happened continuously in the past over a period of time

Example: She had been walking for an hour before the storm rolled in.

• action will happen in the future

Example: She ​will walk to school ​tomorrow.

• action is ongoing in the future

Example: She ​will be walking to school ​tomorrow around 8 AM.

• action will have started and finished before another action.

Example: She ​will have walked to school ​by tomorrow at 9 AM.

• action will continue up until some point in the future.

Example: By the time school starts, she will have been walking for an hour.

• usually describes something that would ​​happen if a condition had been met

Example: The trip would have been more fun if it hadn’t rained. Example: She ​would walk to school tomorrow at 7 a.m. if the school were open that early. *Note: The verb were is subjunctive—see “More Verb Forms.”