Lowell Writing Center: LC-406B, 978-656-3365 Bedford Writing Center: LIB 7A, 781-280-3727
SIMPLE
PROGRESSIVE
PERFECT
PERFECT
PROGRESSIVE
FUTURE
Future tense expresses an action
or situation that will occur in the
future.
I will walk.
You will walk.
She/he will walk.
Future progressive tense
describes a past action which
was happening when another
action occurred.
I will be walking.
You will be walking.
She/he will be walking.
Future perfect tense describes
an action that took place in
the past before another past
action.
I will have walked.
You will have walked.
She/he will have walked.
Future perfect progressive
tense describes a future,
ongoing action that will occur
before some specified future
time.
I will have been walking.
You will have been walking.
She will have been walking.
PRESENT
Present tense expresses an
unchanging, repeated, or
reoccurring action or situation
that exists only now.
I walk.
You walk.
She/he walks.
Present progressive tense
describes an ongoing action
that is happening at the same
time the statement is written.
I am walking.
You are walking.
She/he is walking.
Present perfect tense
describes an action that
happened at a past, unfixed
time or began in the past and
continues in the present.
I have walked.
You have walked.
She/he has walked.
Present perfect progressive
tense describes an action that
began in the past, continues
in the present, and may
continue into the future.
I have been walking.
You have been walking.
She/he has been walking.
PAST
Past tense expresses an action or
situation that was started and
finished in the past.
I walked.
You walked.
She/he walked.
Past progressive tense
describes a past action which
was happening when another
action occurred.
I was walking.
You were walking.
She/he was walking.
Past perfect tense describes
an action that took place in
the past before another past
action.
I had walked.
You had walked.
She/he had walked.
Past perfect progressive tense
describes a past, ongoing
action that was completed
before some other past
action.
I had been walking.
You had been walking.
She/he had been walking.
Lowell Writing Center: LC-406B, 978-656-3365 Bedford Writing Center: LIB 7A, 781-280-3727
Verb Tenses and Uses
Verbs are used to describe an action, an occurrence, or a state of being and are necessary to make a sentence
complete.
When you are writing, the events and actions you are referring to may have taken place in the past, present or
future. It is important to maintain consistent verb tense in sentences, paragraphs, and essays. Here are some
examples of inconsistent and consistent verb tenses.
INCORRECT: During the movie, Sam walked away and then drops his popcorn. Inconsistent past to present.
CORRECT: During the movie, Sam walks away and then drops his popcorn. Consistent present tense.
CORRECT: During the movie, Sam walked away and then dropped his popcorn. Consistent past tense.
Because consistency creates better writing, do not switch between verb tenses unless the timing of an action
requires that you do. For example, you may say: I love (present tense) my dog, who I adopted (past tense) a year ago. It
makes sense to switch tenses because you are referring to a constant emotion tied to a past event (a year ago).
But verb tenses need to represent more than the simple past, present and future. We need these different versions
(progressive, perfect, perfect progressive) because the tenses are further categorized depending on whether the
action (or state of being) they describe is in progress or completed. Examples of sentences in each tense are
on the next page.
There are also times when a verb can be used as other parts of the sentence:
Gerunds -
A gerund is a noun made from a verb. Gerunds always end in –ing.
For example, the gerund form of “walk” is “walking”.
Gerunds may be the subjects or objects of a sentence.
For example:
Walking makes you healthy. Subject of sentence.
I enjoy walking. Object of sentence.
Infinitives -
Infinitives are the “to” form of the verb.
For example, the infinitive form of “walk” is “to walk”.
Infinitives can be used as subjects or objects of a sentence.
For example:
To walk is good for your health. Subject of sentence.
The dog wants to walk. Object of sentence.
