Verb tenses show when the action takes place. The three simple tenses are the present tense, the past tense, and the future tense.

More complex aspects of time are expressed through progressive, perfect, and perfect progressive forms of the simple tenses.

The simple tenses locate an action only within the three basic time frames of present, past, and future. Progressive forms express continuing actions; perfect forms express actions completed before another action or time in the present, past, or future; perfect progressive forms express actions that continue up to some point in the present, past, or future.

Present tense

SIMPLE PRESENT

Use the simple present to indicate actions occurring now and those occurring habitually.

I eat breakfast every day at 8:00 am.

Love conquers all.

Use the simple present when writing about action in literary works.

General truths or scientific facts should be in the simple present, even when the predicate of the sentence is in the past tense.

When you are quoting, summarizing, or paraphrasing a work, in general use the present tense.

But in an essay using APA (American Psychological Association) style, report your experiments or another researcher’s work in the past tense (wrote, noted) or the present perfect (has reported). (See Chapter 53.)

PRESENT PROGRESSIVE

Use the present progressive to indicate actions that are ongoing in the present: You are driving too fast.

PRESENT PERFECT

Use the present perfect to indicate actions begun in the past and either completed at some unspecified time in the past or continuing into the present: Uncontrolled logging has destroyed many forests.

PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE

Use the present perfect progressive to indicate an ongoing action begun in the past and continuing into the present: The two sides have been trying to settle the case out of court.

Past tense

SIMPLE PAST

Use the simple past to indicate actions that occurred at a specific time and do not extend into the present: Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939.

PAST PROGRESSIVE

Use the past progressive to indicate continuing actions in the past: Lenin was living in exile in Zurich when the tsar was overthrown.

PAST PERFECT

Use the past perfect to indicate actions that were completed by a specific time in the past or before some other past action occurred: By the fourth century, Christianity had become the state religion.

PAST PERFECT PROGRESSIVE

Use the past perfect progressive to indicate continuing actions in the past that began before a specific time or before some other past action began: Carter had been planning a naval career until his father died.

Future tense

SIMPLE FUTURE

Use the simple future to indicate actions that have yet to begin: The Vermeer show will come to Washington in September.

FUTURE PROGRESSIVE

Use the future progressive to indicate continuing actions in the future: The loans will be coming due over the next two years.

FUTURE PERFECT

Use the future perfect to indicate actions that will be completed by a specified time in the future: In ten years, your investment will have doubled.

FUTURE PERFECT PROGRESSIVE

Use the future perfect progressive to indicate continuing actions that will be completed by some specified time in the future: In May, I will have been working at IBM for five years.