Verb Tense and Aspect Structures

Tense – There are two tenses in English: past and present. In order to talk about the future, we need to add the modal verb will or use present continuous aspect.

Aspect refers to the duration of the action within a specific tense. The aspects are simple, continuous, perfect simple, and prefect continuous.

Present

Present Simple 

[infinitive]

  1.  a habit
  2.  a fact or general truth
  3.  repeated actions
  4.  directions
  5.  emotions and wishes
  •  I walk for an hour everyday.
  • Water freezes at 0 degrees Celsius. 
  • I take a bus to work.
  • You go down the street and turn left.
  • I like her and hope she is okay.

Present Continuous 

[am/is/are + ing verb]

  1.  talking about a gradual change or trend
  2.  a temporary activity or action happening at the moment of speaking
  3.  an arranged future activity
  • She is becoming a very good singer.
  • I am staying home today.
  • We are waiting for you at the café.
  • They are meeting after school tomorrow.

Present Perfect Simple 

[have/has + past participle]

  1.   an action in the past that connects to now.
  2.  a past experience
  3.  with certain adverbs (for/since/just/never/ever/still/yet).
  • They have lived here since 2010.
  •  I have been there twice.
  • He hasn’t seen that movie yet.
  • Have you ever tried Thai food?

Present Perfect Continuous

[have/has + been + ing verb]

  1.  an activity that started in the past and continues up until the present
  • I have been working here for 35 years.
  • It has been raining all day.

Past

Past Simple

[past form]

  1.  a completed action in the past
  • I went to the park yesterday.

Past Continuous 

[was/were + ing verb]

  1.  an activity or activities that took place in the past
  2.  something happening before something else happens
  •  I was working all night.
  • He was thinking about calling her.
  • She was cooking dinner when he called.

Past Perfect Simple

[had + past participle]

  1.  started in the past, continued, ended in past
  2.  used with for and since 
  •  Everyone left before we had arrived.
  •  I hadn’t seen her for three years.

Past Perfect Continuous

[had + been + ing verb]

  1.  an action in the past the continues to another point in the past.
  •  He had been worrying all day when got the call.

Future

Future Simple

[will + infinitive]

  1.  facts about the future
  2. Predictions about the future
  3. willing to do something
  4. express a sudden decision 
  • The event will happen tomorrow.
  • We will need a vacation after this week.
  • I will help you move next week.
  • I‘ll pay for dinner.

Future Continuous

[will + be + ing verb]

  1.  an activity lasting over time in the future.
  • She will be traveling around Europe for the next three years.

Future Perfect Simple

[will + have + past participle]

  1.  an action completed sometime in the future
  •  As a salesman, he will have travelled extensively over his life time.

Future Perfect Continuous

[will + have + been + ing verb]

  1.  an activity in progress at a specific time in the future
  • I will have been waiting at the airport for three hours before you even wake up.