Tenses & Verb Forms
What is a Tense?
A tense tells us when an action takes place — in the past, present, or future. English has twelve main tenses formed by combining time (past, present, future) with aspect (simple, continuous, perfect, perfect continuous).
Mastering tenses helps you write clearly and accurately. Mixing tenses without reason confuses readers and weakens your writing.
Key Terms
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Tense | Grammatical form showing time |
| Regular verb | Verb that adds -ed in the past (walk → walked) |
| Irregular verb | Verb with a unique past form (go → went) |
| Auxiliary verb | Helping verb (is, have, will, was) |
| Clause | A group of words with a subject and a verb |
| Subordinate clause | A clause that depends on a main clause |
The Three Main Tenses
Present Tense
Used for habits, facts, and things happening now.
- Simple present: She reads every night.
- Present continuous: She is reading right now.
- Present perfect: She has read ten books this year.
Past Tense
Used for completed actions.
- Simple past: He walked to school.
- Past continuous: He was walking when it rained.
- Past perfect: He had walked two kilometres before the bus arrived.
Future Tense
Used for actions yet to happen.
- Simple future: They will finish tomorrow.
- Future continuous: They will be working all evening.
- Future perfect: They will have finished by Friday.
Regular vs Irregular Verbs
Most verbs form the past tense by adding -ed: talk → talked, jump → jumped.
Irregular verbs change their form entirely:
| Base | Past Simple | Past Participle |
|---|---|---|
| go | went | gone |
| see | saw | seen |
| take | took | taken |
| write | wrote | written |
| run | ran | run |
Clauses
A clause has a subject and a verb.
- Independent (main) clause: can stand alone. She studied hard.
- Subordinate clause: depends on the main clause. Although she was tired, she kept working.
Subordinating conjunctions introduce subordinate clauses: because, although, when, if, unless, since, while.
Coordinating conjunctions join two independent clauses: and, but, or, so, yet.
Active and Passive Voice
In active voice, the subject does the action:
- The teacher marked the papers.
In passive voice, the subject receives the action:
- The papers were marked by the teacher.
Passive voice is formed with to be + past participle. Use it when the doer is unknown or unimportant.
Worked Examples
Identify the tense: By the time she arrived, he had already left.
- "had already left" = past perfect (action completed before another past action).
Rewrite in passive voice:
- Active: Scientists discovered a new planet.
- Passive: A new planet was discovered by scientists.
Spot the error:
- Wrong: Yesterday I go to the store and buy milk.
- Correct: Yesterday I went to the store and bought milk.
Common Mistakes
- Tense shifting: Do not switch tenses without reason. She walked in and sits down should be sat down.
- Wrong auxiliary: Do not write "She have gone" — use "She has gone."
- Irregular verb errors: Do not write "He goed" — it should be "He went."
- Missing subject: Every clause needs both a subject and a verb.
Tips and Tricks
- Underline the time clue (yesterday, now, tomorrow) to choose the correct tense.
- If two past events happened in sequence, use past perfect for the earlier one.
- Reread your writing and circle every verb — check that they all match the intended time.
- Learn the top 20 irregular verbs by heart; they appear constantly in exams and everyday writing.