12 Traditional Tenses of Verb

Research Assignment

What are the 12 traditional tenses of verbs? When is each verb tense used? How is each tense formed?

There are 12 traditional verb tenses in English. There are basically 4 different forms and each form has 3 different times--present, past, and future--so this equals 12.

The 4 forms of Past Tense:

* Simple Past Tense

Past tense expresses an action or situation that was started and finished in the past. Most past tense verbs end in -ed. The irregular verbs have special past tense forms which must be memorized.

Ex. Ernest Hemmingway wrote "The Old Man and the Sea."

* Past Progressive Tense

Past progressive tense describes a past action which was happening when another action occurred. This tense is formed by using was/were with the verb form ending in -ing.

Ex. The explorer was explaining the lastest discovery in Egypt when protests began on the streets.

* Past Perfect Tense

Past perfect tense describes an action that took place in the past before another past action. This tense is formed by using had with the past participle of the verb.

Ex. By the time the troops arrived, the war had ended.

* Past Perfect Progressive

Past perfect progressive tense describes a past, ongoing action that was completed before some other past action. It is formed by using had been and the present perfect of the verb (the verb form ending in -ing).

Ex. Before the budget cuts, the students had been participating in many extracurricular activities.

The 4 forms of Present Tense:

* Simple Present Tense

Present tense expresses an unchanging, repeated, or reoccurring action or situation that exists only now. It can also represent a widespread truth.

Ex. Every year, the school council elects new members.

* Present Progressive Tense

Present progressive tense describes an ongoing action that is happening at the same time the statement is written. This tense is formed by...