Simple, Perfect, & Progressive

Simple Present (base form or – s form)  General facts  College students often study late at night.  States of being  Water becomes steam at 100*C.  Habitual, repetitive actions  We donate to a charity every year.  Scheduled future events  The train arrives tomorrow at noon.

Simple Past (base form + -ed or –d or irregular form  Completed actions at a specific time in the past  The storm destroyed their property.  She drove to Chicago three years ago.  Facts or states of being in the past  When I was young, I usually walked to school with my sister.

Simple Future (will + base form)  Future actions, promises, or predictions  I will exercise tomorrow.  The snowfall will begin around midnight.

Present Perfect (has/have + past participle)  Repetitive or constant actions that began in the past and continue into the present  I have loved cats since I was a child.  Alice has worked in Kenya for ten years.  Shows that something began in the past and just recently ended  The hospital has recently completed its new wing.

 Actions that happened at an unknown or unspecific time in the past  Stephen has visited London three times.  Key words: since, for, until now, these days, just, already, recently

Past Perfect (had + past participle)  Actions that began or occurred before another time in the past  She had just crossed the street when the runaway car crashed into the building.  I believed you had made a mistake.

Future Perfect (will have + past participle)  An action that will be completed before another future act  Issac will have finished 200 layups before the game next week.

 The form a verb takes when it is linked to a helping verb is called a participle.  Past participle is usually the simple past tense  The past participle is used with the perfect tense.  Present participle is the –ing form of a verb  The present participle is used with the progressive tense.

Present Progressive (am/is/are+ present participle)  Actions in progress at the present time, not continuing indefinitely  The students are taking an exam in Room 105.  Jonathan is parking the car.  Future actions with go, leave, come, move, etc.  I am leaving tomorrow morning.

Past Progressive (was/were + present participle)  Actions in progress at a specific time in the past  They were swimming when the storm struck.  Was going to, were going to for past plans that did not happen  We were going to drive to Florida for spring break, but the car broke down.

 Note! Some verbs are not normally used in the progressive: appear, believe, belong, contain, cost, have, hear, know, like, need, own, possess, see, seem, taste, understand, and want.