-ch
-sh
-ss
-x
-z
The stative verb “be” is used in the simple present to refer to unchanging situations (e.g., “You are clever”) and to temporary present situations (e.g., “Ramone is hungry”). This verb changes in form more than any other, as shown in the table below.
Subject | Verb |
---|---|
I | am |
You | are |
He/she/it | is |
We | are |
You | are |
They | are |
Use the best grammar checker available to check for common mistakes in your text.
Fix mistakes for free
While the present simple is typically used to refer to habits, states, and facts, the present continuous is used to describe a temporary action that is currently taking place.
Justin is eating dinner right now. [describing a temporary action in the present] Note While most verbs in the present simple are not used to talk about temporary situations in the present, stative verbs (e.g., “be,” “have,” “want,” “know”) can be used in the simple present to describe temporary states of being.
These verbs are typically not used in the present continuous tense :
For most subjects, negative statements are formed by adding “do not” (or the contraction “don’t”) between the subject and the verb . The third person singular uses “does not” (or “doesn’t”).
Abby doesn’t like traveling . Note Negative constructions in the simple present use the infinitive form of the verb, regardless of subject (i.e., the third person singular form never takes an “s”).
The verb “be” is made negative by adding the adverb “not” after the verb . This is the case for all subjects.
Even though he didn’t sleep much last night, Andrew is not tired. Note Don’t negate other verbs in the same way as “be,” by just adding “not” after the verb. This only applies to “be.” For other verbs, use “do not” or “does not” as described above.
To ask a yes–no question using the simple present, add “do” before the subject and the infinitive form of the verb. Again, the exception is the third person singular, which uses “does” instead of “do.”
To ask a question using a wh-word (an interrogative pronoun like “what” or an interrogative adverb like “when”), place the pronoun or adverb before “do” (or “does” for the third person singular).
What do you want?
Passive sentences are ones in which the subject is acted upon (rather than performing the action). In the simple present, the passive voice uses a conjugated form of the verb “be” along with a past participle .
The stray cat is fed by everyone in the neighborhood.
You can test your understanding of the difference between the simple present and the present continuous with the worksheet below. Fill in one of the two options in each sentence.
If you want to know more about nouns , pronouns , verbs , and other parts of speech , make sure to check out some of our other language articles with explanations and examples.
Nouns & pronouns
In the simple present tense , the stative verb “be” is used to describe temporary present situations (e.g., “I am tired”) and unchanging situations (e.g., “Laura is a doctor”). The form of the verb varies depending on the subject:
The “-ing” form of a verb is called the present participle . Present participles can be used as adjectives (e.g., “a thrilling story”) and to form the continuous verb tenses (e.g., the present continuous : “We are partying ”).
Gerunds also use the “-ing” form of a verb, but they function only as nouns (e.g., “I don’t enjoy studying ”).
We strongly encourage students to use sources in their work. You can cite our article (APA Style) or take a deep dive into the articles below.
Ryan, E. (2023, September 25). Simple Present Tense | Examples, Use & Worksheet. Scribbr. Retrieved August 28, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/verbs/simple-present/
Aarts, B. (2011). Oxford modern English grammar . Oxford University Press.
Butterfield, J. (Ed.). (2015). Fowler’s dictionary of modern English usage (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.
Garner, B. A. (2016). Garner’s modern English usage (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.
Other students also liked, imperative mood | definition, examples & use, the subjunctive mood | definition & examples, verb tenses in academic writing | rules, differences & examples, "i thought ai proofreading was useless but..".
I've been using Scribbr for years now and I know it's a service that won't disappoint. It does a good job spotting mistakes”
#scribendiinc
Written by Scribendi
When studying a foreign language, one of the biggest challenges learners face is verb conjugation. Some languages are plagued with irregular verbs. Others, like German, move the position of the root verb to indicate the past tense. So many rules to follow! So many endings to memorize!
It will probably come as no surprise to hear that learning verb tenses in English is no walk in the park, either. As a language that haunts ESL learners with its spelling irregularities and seemingly random article usage, English can also be kind of confusing when it comes to verb tenses.
But never fear, this comprehensive guide to English verb tenses is just the crash course you need to get your perfects and progressives straight. You might even learn some things you didn't know about the history of the English language, too.
English is a fairly unique language that developed out of England's long early history of occupation. Unlike other European languages, it doesn't stem from a single language family. Its linguistic roots are Germanic, Scandinavian, French, and Latin.
Here's how it happened.
Shortly after the Celts—the ancestors of today's Welsh and Irish—repelled the Romans, the Anglo-Saxons invaded what is now known as England. Although there weren't many of them, they changed the Celtic languages in some key ways, such as adding the interrogative.
The Vikings were the next wave of Germanic invaders to settle down in England. They assimilated into the native population, and Old Norse words and language patterns gradually became interwoven with Old English. The Normans—Vikings who had first settled in northern France—came a few centuries later, adding 10,000 French words to the English language.
As these waves of war and invasion came and went, England began to consolidate its power within a few different kingdoms, which were unified by the end of the fifteenth century. England's rise to a global power, the invention of the printing press, and the Reformation added some final touches to the evolving English language. Scholars began to take an interest in this language of the common people; however, they wanted it to appear more erudite. Consequently, a number of Latin words were added into the mix.
According to some modern linguists , the English language has only two tenses: the past and the present. That's because all of the other tenses are formed by adding auxiliary verbs, such as "be," "do," and "have." In those tenses, the root verb doesn't change; they are not morphological. In other words, because only the past and present tense are, in fact, morphological—"I saw the bear; now, it sees me"—they are the only tenses that count.
Others linguists argue that morphology doesn’t matter. Rather, they stress that the "will" or "shall" one adds to make the future tense—"I will get up in a minute"—has undergone a grammatical shift, rendering it unimportant as a word in its own right when it is used for the purpose of changing tense. In other words, auxiliary verbs are vestigial.
As it so happens, this controversy about the number of verb tenses in English is centuries old. One of the very first grammarians , Ben Jonson, spoke of "three times" in his guide to verb tenses and other grammatical constructions, The English Grammar . According to him, the "times" were the past, present, and future. However, just a century later, another grammarian named Joseph Priestly argued that there were only two tenses and a number of additional "orders."
Among people who are not linguists or grammarians, there is also some legitimate confusion over what constitutes a tense. If you Google "how many verb tenses are there in English," you might get two or three as an answer, but there's an equally good chance you'll get the number 12. That's because people tend to lump tenses together with aspects .
While both tenses and aspects are properties of verbs, tense refers to the fixed time when an action takes place. Aspects, on the other hand, describe time in relation to other actions or events on a timeline.
Here's an example: In the simple past tense, you say, "She lost the race."
However, here’s an example of the perfect aspect of the past tense: "She had lost the race the moment her shoe came off." It describes a completed action in relation to another action. When did she lose the race? Right at the moment her shoe fell off.
The progressive aspect of the past tense, or the perfect progressive aspect , might read as follows: "She had been losing the race until Ashley's shoe came off." Since it describes an action that is ongoing in relation to other actions, this aspect indicates that an action was ongoing until something else happened to stop it.
Scholarly debates aside, the popular consensus is that there are three simple verb tenses that indicate the time in which an action or a state of being occurs. These are the present, past, and future:
In addition to the three tenses, there are two primary aspects. The perfect aspect indicates a completed action—"He had written the essay before it was due."—and the progressive aspect describes an ongoing action—"She is still writing her essay even though class already started."
Although there may be as many as 30 combinations and permutations, there are 12 main tenses in the English language, the result of the following combination of tenses and aspects:
To begin, let's take a closer look at the simple present, past, and future verb tenses.
The simple present tense indicates actions that are habitual or generally true.
In particular, notice the use of the simple present when stating a habitual action. It would sound incorrect to say, "I eat pasta," in response to the question, "What are you doing right now?" Instead, you would use the progressive tense: "I am eating pasta."
You do use the simple present to describe a routine action, though.
You also use the simple present with stative verbs , which indicate possession, senses, emotions, or states of being.
The simple past tense indicates an action that is already complete. To form the past tense of a regular verb in English, you add the suffix "ed." Sadly, for ESL speakers, there are a number of irregular verbs that do not follow this rule, such as felt, came, and thought.
The simple future tense indicates an action or state of being that will take place in the future. You form it by adding auxiliary words (such as "will," "shall," or "am going to") to the main verb.
To describe actions that are ongoing in the past, present, or future, you apply the progressive aspect to each of the three simple tenses. The three progressive tenses can be formed by adding the correct form of the auxiliary verb "to be" to verbs ending in "ing." Although there are exceptions, it's important to note that you can use only the progressive tense with dynamic verbs. Dynamic verbs describe actions that are willed or voluntary, for example, "I am playing soccer." Alternatively, in most cases, stative verbs cannot be used with the progressive tense. Remember that stative verbs describe feelings, qualities, or attributes that are mostly innate, for example, "I like soccer."
The present progressive tense describes an ongoing action that is happening right now. The action began in the past and will continue into the future.
The past progressive tense indicates an action that was ongoing in the past. It began at some point and may continue after a second action has taken place.
The future progressive tense indicates an ongoing action that will take place in relation to some future event.
The perfect verb tense describes an action or state of being that is finished or already completed. You form each of the three perfect tenses by adding the correct form of the auxiliary verb "to have" to the past participle of the verb. Perfect tenses can be used with dynamic or stative verbs.
The present perfect tense indicates an accomplishment, experience, or action that occurred over an indefinite period of time. The action may have ended sometime before the present moment or may still be happening. The present perfect and the simple past are sometimes used interchangeably in the English language. In fact, the difference between them boils down to context.
The past perfect tense indicates that a past action was completed before another action took place.
The future perfect verb tense indicates an action that will have been completed in some future time.
The perfect progressive tense describes an action that occurred in the past and is ongoing in relation to some past, present, or future point in time. While the perfect tense indicates a completed action, the three perfect progressive tenses describe continuous action.
To form the perfect progressive tense, you use the correct form of the auxiliary verb "to have" and the past tense of the auxiliary verb "to be" in combination with a verb ending in "ing."
The present perfect progressive tense describes an action that began in the past and is still ongoing in the present.
The past perfect progressive tense describes an action that was ongoing in the past but stopped before the present time, often because of another action.
The future perfect progressive tense indicates an action in the future that will be ongoing and may continue past the time of another event, though the second future event often implies the cessation of the event that is ongoing.
Depending on who you ask, conditionals—both present and perfect—are additional verb tenses in the English language. How many tenses? Would you be surprised to learn that there is no consistent answer? Some say two, others three, four, or even five . It may be easier to explain the general purpose and mechanics of this often overlooked English verb tense.
The conditional is a compound tense that you form by combining the past tense form of the verb "will" with the infinitive form of a root verb.
Conditionals can take place only if other specific conditions or situations occur. In a sense, they are hypotheticals, and as such, they lie outside a temporal order. In the third example above, it's not clear whether she is going to ski at all, or whether the week in question is this week, some future week, or any week.
Since they don't refer to real actions, but rather only ones that would occur under certain conditions, it makes sense to classify conditionals as outside of the main 12 tenses. They do function like other tenses, however, in that you can form the conditions in other tenses.
Congratulations on reaching the end of our guide to verb tenses. As you might have gathered by now, you shouldn't ask a linguist how many verb tenses there are in English unless you're prepared to listen to a lengthy argument! However, it does boil down to a few simple things. Verb tenses are fixed; verb aspects are relational. In most cases, you can't use a stative verb with one of the progressive tenses. Finally, people use the present progressive to describe actions that they are doing right now.
Still confused? There's nothing wrong with seeking help from a professional editor so that your tenses are worded properly every single time.
Image Sources: flotsom/elements.envato.com; gpointstudio/elements.envato.com; Prostock-studio/elements.envato.com; Nomadsoul1/elements.envato.com; Studio 7042/stocksnap.io; Green Chameleon/unsplash.com; Rebecca Howell/unsplash.com;
Try our esl academic editing service , or get a free sample, about the author.
Scribendi's in-house editors work with writers from all over the globe to perfect their writing. They know that no piece of writing is complete without a professional edit, and they love to see a good piece of writing turn into a great one after the editing process. Scribendi's in-house editors are unrivaled in both experience and education, having collectively edited millions of words and obtained nearly 20 degrees collectively. They love consuming caffeinated beverages, reading books of various genres, and relaxing in quiet, dimly lit spaces.
Have You Read?
"The Complete Beginner's Guide to Academic Writing"
Upload your file(s) so we can calculate your word count, or enter your word count manually.
We will also recommend a service based on the file(s) you upload.
File | Word Count | Include in Price? |
---|
English is not my first language. I need English editing and proofreading so that I sound like a native speaker.
I need to have my journal article, dissertation, or term paper edited and proofread, or I need help with an admissions essay or proposal.
I have a novel, manuscript, play, or ebook. I need editing, copy editing, proofreading, a critique of my work, or a query package.
I need editing and proofreading for my white papers, reports, manuals, press releases, marketing materials, and other business documents.
I need to have my essay, project, assignment, or term paper edited and proofread.
I want to sound professional and to get hired. I have a resume, letter, email, or personal document that I need to have edited and proofread.
Prices include your personal % discount.
Prices include % sales tax ( ).
IMAGES
VIDEO
COMMENTS
The different tenses are identified by their associated verb forms. There are three main verb tenses: past , present , and future. In English, each of these tenses can take four main aspects: simple , perfect , continuous (also known as progressive ), and perfect continuous. The perfect aspect is formed using the verb to have, while the ...
Even an essay that does not explicitly tell a story involves implied time frames for the actions discussed and states described. Changes in verb tense help readers understand the temporal relationships among various narrated events. But unnecessary or inconsistent shifts in tense can cause confusion.
This handout provides the overview of three tenses that are usually found in academic writing. Background. There are three tenses that make up 98% of the tensed verbs used in academic writing. The most common tense is present simple, followed by past simple and present perfect. These tenses can be used both in passive and active voice.
Verb tenses are changes or additions to verbs to show when the action took place: in the past, present, or future. The phrase verb tense is also used for grammatical aspects, which add more details about the duration or time an action takes.When you combine the four grammatical aspects with the past, present and future, you end up with twelve main verb tenses in English.
The present simple, past simple, and present perfect verb tenses account for approximately 80% of verb tense use in academic writing. This handout will help you understand how to use these three verb tenses in your own academic writing. Click here for a color-coded illustration of changing verb tenses in academic writing.
Introduction to Verb Tenses. Only two tenses are conveyed through the verb alone: present ("sing") and past ("sang"). Most English tenses, as many as thirty of them, are marked by other words called auxiliaries. Understanding the six basic tenses allows writers to re-create much of the reality of time in their writing. Simple Present: They ...
It describes the state of mental or nervous tension experienced by students faced with the task of using verb tenses correctly. The purpose of this article is to present a simple and useful reference point for anyone struggling with verb tenses. English verb tenses: a quick overview. 3 basic tenses x 4 forms = 12 tenses.
Most Common Verb Tenses in Academic Writing. According to corpus research, in academic writing, the three tenses used the most often are the simple present, the simple past, and the present perfect (Biber et al., 1999; Caplan, 2012). The next most common tense for capstone writers is the future; the doctoral study/dissertation proposal at ...
Verbs are direct, vigorous communicators. Use a chosen verb tense consistently throughout the same and adjacent paragraphs of a paper to ensure smooth expression. Use the following verb tenses to report information in APA Style papers. Paper section. Recommended tense.
Revised on 11 September 2023. Tense communicates an event's location in time. The different tenses are identified by their associated verb forms. There are three main verb tenses: past , present , and future. In English, each of these tenses can take four main aspects: simple , perfect , continuous (also known as progressive ), and perfect ...
PAST TENSE PARAGRAPH All of the actions in the above paragraph happen in the past except for the possibility dependent upon one action taking place: "If a cat saw the bird, the cat would kill it." Verb tense consistency on the essay level 1. Use present tense when writing essays about. your own ideas ; factual topics
Verb Tenses: Quick Summary. Verb tenses indicate when an action (or state) happens—either in the past, present, or future. But they can also reveal important information about whether the action is ongoing or completed. There are 12 verb tenses in English, formed by combining the past, present, and future tenses with the simple, progressive, perfect, or perfect progressive aspects.
For example, if the action all happened in the same time—past, present, or future—then the verbs should be consistent in tense. This "mistake" is often heard in speech, and it is even used in very informal writing. However, from a grammatical viewpoint, this type of unnecessary shift in tense should be avoided in more formal (such as ...
Essays and assignments are nearly always written in the simple present tense, and if you're describing your own research methodology (e.g., an experiment or survey), you would use the simple past tense. What Are the Most Common Verb Tense Errors? Mistakes with verb tenses usually fall into one of three categories: Changing from one tense to ...
Grammarly. Grammar. Verb tense consistency refers to keeping the same tense throughout a clause. We don't want to have one time period being described in two different tenses. If you have two or more time periods, start a new clause or a new sentence. Keep your verb tenses in check.
Verb Tenses. The present tense is used to express anything that is happening now or occurring in the present moment. The present also communicates actions that are ongoing, constant, or habitual. For example: I'm working on an essay for my English class. Brevity is the soul of wit. John loves music.
Inconsistent Verb Tenses. In formal writing, it is important to keep verb tenses consistent so that readers can follow the progress of ideas and arguments easily. In creative writing, verb tenses may be used inconsistently for effect, but in academic writing, it is important to use verb tenses consistently throughout a paper, carefully ...
Revised on October 23, 2023. The simple past tense is a verb form used to refer to an action or series of actions that were completed in the past. The simple past tense of regular verbs is formed by adding "-ed" to the infinitive form of the verb (e.g., "cook" becomes "cooked"). Most verbs in the simple past take the same form ...
Revised on September 25, 2023. The simple present tense is a verb form used to talk about habits, unchanging situations, facts, and planned events in the near future. The simple present tense of most verbs is the infinitive form (e.g., "sing"). However, the third person singular (e.g., "he," "she," and "it") takes an "s" at ...
to create a sense of real time in your essay, which helps to orient the reader. It's also important to be aware of verb tenses to avoid making verb tense agreement errors in your essay. Below is a list that breaks down the twelve major verb tenses and includes examples. Simple The simple verb tenses describe an action that occurred at a ...
Sequence of Tenses-Grammar Rules. The rules governing verb tenses are dictated by logic; an action in the future obviously cannot happen before an action in the past. In writing, it's a matter of looking at your clauses and sentences and determining when each action is happening relative to everything else.
The Perfect Verb Tenses. The perfect verb tense describes an action or state of being that is finished or already completed. You form each of the three perfect tenses by adding the correct form of the auxiliary verb "to have" to the past participle of the verb. Perfect tenses can be used with dynamic or stative verbs.
Present Tense Writing Prompts. The present tense, in these cases, includes the simple present ("She always forgets something") and the present continuous ("I am coming"), as well as the trickier present perfect ("We have seen The Matrix far too many times") and present perfect continuous ("She has been singing since her second glass of wine"). However, it is of course possible to split the ...