The Use of Tenses

Verbs form tenses. Tenses indicate time and sequence of events or actions. To write effectively, you must know how to form tenses and use them correctly. Some of the tenses most commonly used in writing are as follows:

Present tense indicates a present action or a fact.

e.g. The book is on the table. (a present action)

e.g. The sun rises in the east. (a fact)

e.g. They are my children. (a fact)

e.g. She sings like a bird. (a fact)

Present continuous tense indicates an action going on right now.

e.g. I am cooking my dinner.

e.g. You are reading this book right now.

e.g. Now she is singing like a bird. (At this very moment, she is singing beautifully like a bird, but it does not necessarily mean it is a fact that she always sings like a bird.)

The present tense may also indicate an imminent future event.

e.g. I am leaving for New York tomorrow.

e.g. I shall leave for New York next month. (the future more remote)

Present perfect tense indicates an action in the past as well as in the present; a past action with a present result.

e.g. I have been a student in this college for more than five years. (Five years ago I was a student, and now I am still a student in this college.)

e.g. I have spent all my money. (a past action with a present result: I spent my money yesterday, and now I have no more money left.)

Compare the following to have a better understanding of the difference between the present perfect tense and the past tense:

e.g. I have told him. (I told him sometime in the past, and therefore I don’t need to tell him now, or he should know it by now because I already told him some time ago.)

e.g. I told him yesterday. (an action in the past with no present consequence)

Past tense indicates an action in the past.

e.g. We left for San Francisco yesterday.

Past perfect tense indicates an action in the past in relation to another action in past time.

e.g. The student had finished his assignment before the teacher returned. (The student finished his assignment first, and then the teacher returned.)

e.g. When the doctor arrived, the man had breathed his last. (The man died before the doctor arrived.)

e.g. When he came to see us last night, our son had left for New York. (He just missed our son.)

Future tense indicates an action in the future.

e.g. I will see you next week (Compare: I am seeing you tomorrow).

Future perfect tense indicates an action in the future in relation to another action further in the future.

e.g. By noon tomorrow, I will have finished painting my room. (Most probably, I will finish painting my room in the morning. By noon, my room will look clean and fresh.)

e.g. When he arrives tomorrow, I will have completed the project for him to examine. (When he comes tomorrow, my project will be ready for him to examine.)

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau