Verb tenses

Verb tenses

Verb tenses define the time when an action occurs. They are constructed mainly from two components:

1. the principal parts of the verb, and in some cases
2. helping verbs

1.There are four principal parts of any verb in English

• the infinitive: the basic form of the verb

Ex: verb = to cook       
       infinitive = cook
       basic form = cook

• the present participle: ends in -ing. It is always used with a helping verb which is a form of the verb "to be."

 Ex: I was cooking breakfast the telephone rang.
       verb = to cook  
       present participle = cooking 
       helping verb = was

• the past: usually ends in -ed

 Ex: verb = to cook      
        past = cooked

• the past participle: look like the past, it usually ends in -ed. It is always used with a helping verb which is a form of the verb "to have."

  Ex: verb = to cook       
         past participle = have cooked

2. Six most important verb tenses

• Present Tense: describes action happening now. It's formed using the basic form of the verb

Ex: verb = to cook       
      basic or infinitive form = cook
      present tense = I cook, He cooks

• Past Tense: describes action happening in the past. It's formed from the past form of the verb

Ex: verb = to cook       
      basic or infinitive form = cook
      past tense = cooked

• Future Tense: describes action happening in the future. It's created by using the basic form of the verb preceded by the helping verb "will."

Ex: future tense of cook = will cook

• Present Perfect Tense: describes action happening in the past up to the present. It's formed by taking the past participle and putting in the front of it the present tense of the verb "to have."

 Ex: He has cooked breakfast for his family every day for the last year
      past participle of cook = cooked
      present tense of have = he has
      present perfect tense = he has cooked
     

• Past Perfect Tense: describes action happening in the past before some other past-tense action. It's formed by taking the past participle and putting in the front of it the past tense of the verb "to have."

 Ex: He had cooked dinner when suddenly the doorbell rang.
      past participle of cook = cooked
      past tense of have = he had
      present perfect tense = he had cooked
     

• Future Perfect Tense: describes action happening in the future before some other future-tense action. It's created by using the past participle preceded by future tense form of the verb "to have."

 Ex: He will cook dinner tomorrow night, and then he will have cooked dinner every night for a week
      future tense of have = will have
      past participle of cook = cooked
      future perfect tense = he will have cooked
     

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