A Tour of English Verb Tenses

Author: Indigo Curnick

Date: 2026-07-25

It is often said that the verb, the "doing word", is the most important part of the sentence. Verbs communicate actions, events or states of being. One piece of information we want communicate with verbs is when the action, event or state of being happened with respect to when the statement is being spoken. We call this reference to time the tense of the verb. Depending on our level of analysis or detail, we can think about tenses in several ways. In this blog, we will consider four different systems for thinking about tense, before considering the contrast between them.

Naive Approach

In a naive approach, there are three tenses: past, present and future. These indicate when in time the action happened relative to the time being spoken. The past represents actions that happened before the time of speaking; the present represents actions or events which happen at the time spoken; the future represents actions or events which will happen after spoken.

Past:

• I went for a walk
• You were great on stage

Present:

• I am tired
• He's eating the cake

Future:

• I will go for a walk
• She will eat that cake

Classical Approach

The classical approach mirrors Latin, and has six tenses:

1. The present
2. The imperfect
3. The perfect
4. The pluperfect
5. The first future tense
6. The second future tense

In Latin, verbs have six inflections which correspond to these verb forms.

The Present

The present represents an action or event which happens at the time it is mentioned:

• I rule.
• I am ruled.
• I think.
• I fear.

The present tense can also express a character, quality and so on at present existing:

• He is an able man
• She is a friendly woman

It can also be used to speak of actions continued, with occasional intermissions, in the present time:

• He frequently rides to London
• He walks every morning.

We can also sometimes use this tense to refer to things which strictly happened in the past, but the effects are seen as timeless:

• Shakespeare writes with such sorrow.
• Socrates defends himself with reason in his trail.

The present tense can also be used to talk of the future when we take the perspective as already being in the future. We can do this with words like when, before, after, as, soon as and so on, for example:

• When he arrives he will hear the news.

In the above example, while strictly describing events in the future, it is phrased as though he has already arrived.

The Imperfect

The imperfect tense represents an action or event either as past and completed:

• I loved her for her modesty and virtue.

Or alternatively for an event that remained unfinished at a time in the past:

• They were travelling past when he met them.

The Perfect

The perfect tense refers to what is past, and also conveys an allusion to the present time:

• I have finished my letter.
• I have seen the play you recommended to me.

The difference between the imperfect and the perfect is in whether any of the action, event or state continues into the present. If we speak of the present century, we would use the perfect:

• Philosophers have made great discoveries in the present century.

For the past century we use the imperfect:

• Philosophers made great discoveries in the last century.

The Pluperfect

The pluperfect tense shows that an event, action or state happened not just in the past, but also at an earlier time than something else indicated in the sentence:

• I had finished my letter before he arrived.

The First Future

The first future tense indicates that the event, action or state is yet to come:

• The sun will rise tomorrow.
• I shall see them again.

The Second Future

The second future represents that the action, event or state will be fully completed before or around the same time as another action, event or state in the future:

• I shall have dined at one o'clock.
• They will have finished their business by the time the boss gets back.

Pedagogical Approach

The pedagogical approach takes the three naive tenses (past, present, future) and crosses them with four "aspects" to produce 12 total tenses.

The four aspects are:

1. Simple
2. Progressive
3. Perfect
4. Perfect Progressive

The simple aspect expresses habits or facts e.g. I eat food, She likes chocolate.

The progressive aspect expresses ongoing actions e.g. I am eating food, She is walking her dog.

The perfect aspect, as in the classical system, expresses completed actions e.g. I have eaten food, She has walked her dog.

The perfect progressive aspect expresses the end of ongoing actions e.g. I have been eating food, She has been walking her dog.

Even though it's a bit long, let's go through all 12:

Simple Present

The simple present tense has three main uses. First, it describes facts or habits, for example:

• I eat breakfast every morning.
• He plays chess.
• My husband works for the electric company.
• Nurses care for patients in hospitals.

The important point about this use of the simple present is that the action does not need be happening at the time of speech. Consider the final example "my husband works for the electric company" - this can be truthfully said on the weekend when the husband is not literally working.

The simple present is also used to describe scheduled events in the future:

• The train arrives in 5 minutes.
• I leave at 5 o'clock.

It's a bit curious that events in the future are spoken of often in the present tense. This is an example of what we might call the semantic-syntactic split. Semantically, these events are in the future, but grammatically they are spoken of in the present.

Finally we can use the simple present to tell stories. Some novels or games are written in the simple present, and jokes are usually told in the simple present also:

• He crosses the road and goes into a shop.
• You walk up to the castle and see the gate is locked shut.
• A horse walks into a bar, and the bartender says: "why the long face?".

The verb form in the simple present is very easy: simply use the base form, but add -s for the third person singular. Here's an example table with to look:

To form the negative, use do not or does not with the third person singular (this is called the operator TODO: will I have published the operator blog by now?):

• I do not eat breakfast every morning.
• He does not play chess.

You can also shorten do not to don't and does not to doesn't.

• My husband doesn't work for the electric company.
• Nurses don't care for patients in hospitals.

Questions can be formed by placing do or does in front of the subject (this is normally going to be a yes/no question):

• Do you eat breakfast every morning?
• Does he play chess?

We can also use a question word before do/does for a more open ended question:

• Where does your husband work?
• What do nurses do at hospitals?

Simple Past

The simple past is used to discuss events, actions or states which were completed in the past. We need to change the verb into the -ed form. As implied, most verbs in this form end in -ed, however, English has rather a lot of irregular verbs. Here's some examples:

• Mozart was an Austrian composer of classical music.
• I walked here from the station.
• You started work on those yesterday.
• She wrote a lovely poem.

I can't list the -ed form of every irregular verb, but I will list the -ed form for the verb to be, the most important verb of English:

Negatives can be formed by using did not, or shortened to didn't, and reverting to the base form of the verb rather than the -ed form. If the verb is to be, then did is not used and not or n't is placed after the verb:

• Mozart was not an Austrian composer of classical music.
• Mozart wasn't an Austrian composer of classical music.
• I did not walk here from the station.
• You didn't start work on those yesterday.
• She did not write a lovely poem.

Questions are formed by placing did before the subject (for yes/no), or a question word and did before the subject (for open ended), and reverting to the base form. Unless the verb is to be, in which case it comes before the subject:

• Was Mozart an Austrian composer of classical music?
• Did you walk here from the station?
• When did you start work on those?
• What did she write?

Simple Future

The simple future is used to discuss actions which will occur in the future. We place the auxiliary verb will in front of the base form of the verb:

• I will walk there from the station.
• You will play chess later.

The negative can be formed by adding not:

• I will not walk there from the station.
• You will not play chess later.

Yes/no questions can be formed by adding will before the subject; open ended questions can be formed by adding a question word and will before the subject:

• Will you walk there from the station?
• How will you play chess later?

Present Progressive

The present progressive has two uses.

First, it can be used to describe an activity that is ongoing at the moment of speech:

• He is baking a cake.
• I am watering the plants.

It can also be used to talk about events that are going to happen in the future, when they are already planned:

• We are moving home in six months.
• The train is arriving into the station soon.

This tense is formed by taking the present form of the verb to be and adding the present participle of the verb, also called the -ing form. The conjugation of the verb to be in the present is:

The -ing form is not irregular in any verb and can be systematically formed in one of four ways. For most verbs you simply add -ing: play becomes playing, shout becomes shouting. Verbs ending in e have the e removed and -ing added: prepare becomes preparing, ride becomes riding. For verbs ending in ie, the ie becomes y and -ing is added: lie becomes lying, untie becomes untying. If the verb ends with a consonant-vowel-consonant syllable which is stressed, then the final consonant is doubled and then -ing is added: run becomes running, forget becomes forgetting.

To form the negative, insert not or n't between the verb to be and the -ing verb:

• He isn't baking a cake.
• I am not watering the plants.

Note that am can not take n't i.e. amn't is forbidden; it is always am not.

To form a yes/no question, move the verb to be in front of the subject; place a question word in front of that to form an open ended question:

• Are you moving home in six months?
• When is the train arriving into the station?

Past Progressive

The past progressive tense describes an activity, event or state that was ongoing in the past. It can be used to talk about activities which were interrupted, or multiple activities which happened at the same time:

• I was sleeping when you phoned.
• While they were faffing about, I did the work.

To form the past progressive, the -ed form of to be is used with the -ing form of the main verb. We've seen both of those already.

To form the negative, not or n't is placed before to be and the main verb:

• I was not sleeping when you phoned.
• They weren't working.

Yes/no questions are formed by placing to be in front of the subject, while open ended questions take a question word in front of that:

• Were you sleeping when I phoned?
• When were they working this week?

Future Progressive

The future progressive tense is used to describe ongoing activities in the future:

• I will be baking a cake.
• He will be painting the fence on the weekend.

It is formed by adding will be in front of the -ing form of the verb, which we've already seen.

The negative can be formed by placing not between will and be; alternatively, will can be replaced by won't but this is considered informal.

• I will not be baking a cake.
• He won't be painting the fence on the weekend.

Yes/no questions are formed by moving will in front of the subject; open ended questions are formed by adding a question word in front of that:

• Will you be baking a cake?
• When will he be painting the fence?

Present Perfect

The present perfect tense describes an action which began in the past and continues into the present:

• I have taken your advice.
• He has fixed that pothole at last.

This tense is formed by taking the auxiliary have or has with the -ed form of the main verb. The auxiliary used is found in this table:

The negative is formed by adding not after have/has. You can also use the contraction haven't or hasn't:

• I have not taken your advice.
• He hasn't fixed that pothole yet.

Yes/no questions are formed by moving has/have in front of the subject, and placing another question word in front for open ended questions:

• Have I taken your advice?
• How has he fixed that pothole?

Past Perfect

The past perfect is used to emphasise the relationship between two events which both took place in the past; namely when one completed before the other started.

• I had baked a cake before you arrived.
• He had fixed that pothole before I even spoke to him.

This tense can be made by using had with the -ed form of the verb.

The negative can be formed by placing not after had or using hadn't instead:

• I had not baked a cake before you arrived.
• He hadn't fixed that pothole before I spoke to him.

Yes/no questions are formed by placing had in front of the subject; use a question word too for open ended questions:

• Had you baked a cake before I arrived?
• How had he fixed that pothole before you spoke to him?

Future Perfect

The future perfect tense is used to describe actions which will have already been completed by some point in the future, typically this tense is used with a time expression (in bold):

• I will have had breakfast by then.
• He will have played chess by the time I get home.

This tense is formed by using will have in front of the -ed form of the main verb.

We can make the negative form by inserting not after will, or by using won't instead:

• I will not have had breakfast by then.
• He won't have played chess by the time I get home.

We can form yes/no questions by placing will in front of the main verb; open ended questions by also using a question word:

• Will you have had breakfast by then?
• Will he have played chess by the time I get home?

Present Perfect Progressive

The present perfect progressive tense is used to talk about events which started in the past, and either continue into the present or has already stopped:

• I have been baking cakes today.
• He has been fixing the pothole all day.

The present perfect progressive tense differs from the present perfect in that the present perfect progressive implies the action or event has some relevance to the present, while the present perfect tense is more about the start of the action in the past. Compare:

1. I have taken your advice. (Present perfect)
2. I have been taking your advice. (Present perfect progressive)

In 1 the focus is more on discretely taking the advice at some particular point in the past, while 2 has more of a focus about making the taking of advice a habit.

The present perfect progressive tense is formed by using have been or has been for third person singular, in front of the -ing form of the main verb.

The negative can be formed by placing not or -n't after has/have:

• I have not been baking cakes today.
• He has not been fixing the pothole all day.

Yes no questions can be formed by moving has/have in front of the subject, and using a question word also makes it an open ended question:

• Have you been baking cakes today?
• Has he been fixing the pothole all day?

Past Perfect Progressive

The past perfect progressive tense is used to show that an ongoing event in the past also ended in the past:

• I had been walking there from the station.
• You had been playing chess at home.

This tense is formed by using had been with the -ing form of the verb.

The negative can be formed by adding not after had, or by using hadn't:

• I had not been walking there from the station.
• You hadn't been playing chess at home.

Yes/no questions are formed by placing had in front of the subject, and open ended questions a question word in front of that:

• Had you been walking there from the station?
• Had you been playing chess at home?

Future Perfect Progressive

The future perfect progressive tense is used for an ongoing action which will be completed at a specific point in the future. We usually use this tense with some time expressions (in bold) to indicate when the action will end and how long the action went on for:

• He will have been playing chess for two hours when you get back.
• By the end of the year my husband will have been working for the electric company for ten years.

The future present tense is formed by using will have been with the -ing form of the verb.

The negative is formed by adding not after will (though, the negative future perfect progressive is very rarely used as it can be confusing/ambiguous):

• He will not have been playing chess for two hours when you get back.
• By the end of the year my husband will not have been working for the electric company for ten years.

Yes/no questions can be formed by moving will in front of the subject, while open ended questions require an additional question word:

• Will he have been playing chess for two hours when you get back?
• By the end of the year will my husband have been working for the electric company for ten years?

Modern Approach

In the modern approach, English has only two tenses: the present and past. This is a highly grammatical approach, and is based on verb forms. There are two relevant verb forms: the present, and the -ed form. (See [[Verb Forms]])

Present:

• I walk
• I speak
• I eat

-ed form:

• I walked
• I spoke
• I ate

If English has only two tenses, the present and past, the most immediate question is: how can we express the future?

When we say that verbs only have two tenses we are talking about grammatical categories of verb forms. However, we have lots of ways to actually express the future in English beyond those.

The most common way is to use the word "will" (or the contraction "'ll") or the word "shall" (when the subject is I or we):

• My sister will arrive tomorrow
• I'll talk to you next week
• I shall make a note of your request

We can also use the simple present tense with a "future" word:

• My sister arrives tomorrow

We can also use a form of to be with going to:

• I am going to study during the holiday

Or the present progressive with a "future" word:

• We are playing your team next week

The question which arises is what about the -ing form? It appears a lot in the table about and the pedagogical system. Is that not a tense? In the modern grammarian approach, no. If we consider:

• I am eating

We see that the verb to be (am, in this form) is actually the verb that communicates tense information. The eating does not actually locate the event in time.

Conclusion

How many tenses does English have? Strictly, two. However, the other answers of three, six or twelve are in no sense incorrect. Each contributes a significant analysis.

Each of these systems has a time and a place. The pedagogical system is especially useful for students learning English for the first time. While the classical approach is useful for understanding English as it relates to Latin.

In terms of theoretical modern grammar, though, the two tense system is the most technically correct. However, this does not mean it is the most useful way to think about tense in day to day writing.

References

Murray, L. (1859 (1795)) English Grammar Adapted to the Different Classes of Learners. With an Appendix, Containing Rules and Observations, for Assisting the More Advanced Students to Write with Perspicuity and Accuracy. John Murphy & Co.

Greenbaum, S., Nelson, G. (2002) An Introduction to English Grammar. Pearson Education Limited

Quirk, R., Greenbaum, S., Leech, G., Svartik, J. (1985) A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. Longman.