What tense is that verb? Naming verb tenses Sandra Powell

What tense is that verb? Naming verb tenses Sandra Powell

Tense: refers to time orientation. Technically, in linguistics, a “tense” is marked by a change in the single-word verb… an inflection (morphology)

To a linguist, English has only 2 tenses:

Present: Class begins at 4:30 and ends at 7:00.Past: Last week, class began at 4:30 and ended at 7:00.

Language teachers use the term “tense” to refer to the whole tense/aspect system….

Verb tense/aspect system: some terminology

Aspect: refers to various ways of viewing an action, that can be expressed through grammatical patterns.

We can choose to emphasize different aspects of the action. We can do this with adverbs (lexically).

English also has a systematic way to encode aspect on the verb.

In English, the two aspects we add in to the way we mark the verb are PROGRESSIVE (continuous) and PERFECT.

Verb tense/aspect system: some terminology

In English, it is OBLIGATORY, not optional, to mark the main verb in an utterance/sentence for time and aspect.

From the first time learners begin to try to communicate in English, they have to deal with the whole tense/aspect system.

“ I {decide/decided/have decided/will decide} to take a Spanish course next year. I {studied/have studied/had studied} Spanish in high school, but I {don’t remember/am not remembering/didn’t remember} much. It { is /will be/is going to be/ was} hard to take it up again. ..”

Verb tense/aspect system: why is it difficult?

There is a trade-off between FLUENCY (learners communicate fast, using lexis, with stripped-down, ungrammatical verbs) and ACCURACY (learners focus on manipulating the complex verb forms required, but they can’t communicate ideas well because all their conscious attention is required for getting the form right).

You can explain and practice the verb tenses, but it is going to take a lot of time for learners to be able to use them accurately and fluently in real-time communication tasks.

Verb tense/aspect system: why is it difficult?

Here is a chart showing the pattern of forms for 12 verb tense/aspect combinations. No wonder learners are confused! That’s a lot of forms. (And this doesn’t include the modal auxiliaries, or passive voice)

Form: verb tense/aspect system

Simple Progressive Perfect Progressive and perfect

Present walk(s),does/do not walk

is/am/are walking

has/have walked

has/have been walking

Past walked, did not walk

was/were walking

had walked

had been walking

Future (withmodal will)

will walk will be walking

will have walked

will have been walking

In order to teach meaning and use of the different verb tense/aspect forms, teachers need to be able to…1. Identify and name the tenses (so you can look up

reference material that explains meaning and use)2. Manipulate verbs, changing into different tenses




is/am/are walking

has/have walked



was/were walking

had walked

had been walking



will have walked


So let`s look at some patterns, to help you navigate the verb tenses. We`re going to look first across the ROWS, looking at the AUXILIARIES/HELPING VERBS…




is/am/are walking

has/have walked



was/were walking

had walked

had been walking



will have walked


In the PRESENT row, the auxiliary verb (helping verb) is in the present tense…


SimpleAux DO

ProgressiveAux BE +Ving

PerfectAux HAVE+ Ven (past participle)

Progressive and perfectAux Have + been + Ving

PresentAux in present

walk(s),does/do not walk

is/am/are walking

has/have walked


Past Aux in past

walked, did not walk

was/were walking

had walked had been walking

Future Aux “will”


will have walked


In the PAST row, the auxiliary verb is in the past tense…


SimpleAux DO






is/am/are walking

has/have walked


Past Aux in past


was/were walking




will have walked


And in the FUTURE row, we can use the modal “will” as the auxiliary/helping verb .


SimpleAux DO






is/am/are walking

has/have walked


Past Aux in past


was/were walking




will have walked


The first auxiliary always names the tense: present, past, or future Present: do, does, is, am, are, has, have

Past: did, was, were, had

Future: will

What if there isn’t an auxiliary? Then it’s simple present (Time flies. We study hard.) or simple past (The time flew! We studied hard)

Now, looking at the columns, PROGRESSIVE aspect uses a form of BE and main verb (the last verb in the phrase) in its –ing form


SimpleAux DO






is/am/are walking

has/have walked


Past Aux in past


was/were walking




will have walked


PERFECT aspect uses a form of HAVE and the Ven form (past participle… Ved for regular verbs, special form like “taken” “gone” for irregulars) The Ven for “be” is “been…”


SimpleAux DO






is/am/are walking

has/have walked


Past Aux in past


was/were walking

had walked

had been walking



will have walked


The Simple tenses are more complicated (perverse, isn’t it… the simple tenses are more complicated) because the auxiliary “do” is used only in questions and negatives, and not at all in future. The only time we don’t need an AUX/helping verb is in simple present and past…


SimpleAux DO






is/am/are walking

has/have walked


Past Aux in past


was/were walking




will have walked


So, to identify the tense/aspect of any verb used in a sentence…

1. Find the main verb.

2. Look for any auxiliaries before the verb. There might be an adverb between the auxiliaries and the main verb.

Auxiliaries are: forms of DO, BE, and HAVE, or modals (can, could, may, might, will, would, shall, should, must)

3. The first auxiliary carries the tense. If the auxiliary is present (does/do/is/am/ are/has/have), the tense is present. If the auxiliary is past (did/was/were/had), the tense is past. If the auxiliary is “will,” the tense is future.If there is no auxiliary, it is simple present or simple past.


So, to identify the tense/aspect of a verb used in a sentence…

4. If the main verb has –ing at the end, the aspect is progressive.

5. If the main verb is a past participle AND you find a form of “have” in the auxiliaries, the aspect is perfect.

6. The forms that are both progressive and perfect have an extra word… the word “been” comes after the auxiliary has/have/had, then the main verb in Ving form. The more words in the verb, the more aspects it carries.


You can always name a tense/aspect by looking just at the FORM of the verb:

Auxiliary BE (is, am, are, was, were, has been, have been) + Ving: Progressive

Auxiliary HAVE (has, have, had) + a past participle (usually V+ed, some irregular forms): Perfect

And, in questions and negatives, we use an auxiliary for the SIMPLE aspect:

Auxiliary DO (does, do, did) + base form

The verb tense/aspect system

Now you’re ready to identify verb tenses in sentences

Questions? I’d be happy to talk grammar with you!

Sandra Powell

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What tense is that verb? Naming verb tenses Sandra Powell