Verb tenses commonly used in the active voice

For descriptions and examples of all verb tenses, see 27f. For verb tenses commonly used in the passive voice, see the chart in 28b.

Simple tensesFor general facts, states of being, habitual actions

Simple present	Base form or -s form
general facts	College students often study late at night.
states of being	Water becomes steam at 100 degrees centigrade.
habitual, repetitive actions	We donate to a different charity each year.
scheduled future events	The train arrives tomorrow at 6:30 p.m.

note: For uses of the present tense in writing about literature, see page 352.

Simple past	Base form + -ed or -d or irregular form
completed actions at a specific time in the past	The storm destroyed their property. She drove to Montana three years ago.
facts or states of being in the past	When I was young, I usually walked to school with my sister.
Simple future	will + base form
future actions, promises, or predictions	I will exercise tomorrow. The snowfall will begin around midnight.

Simple progressive formsFor continuing actions

Present progressive	*am, is, are* + present participle**
actions in progress at the present time, not continuing indefinitely	The students are taking an exam in Room 105. The valet is parking the car.
future actions (with leave, go, come, move, etc.)	I am leaving tomorrow morning.
Past progressive	was, were + present participle
actions in progress at a specific time in the past	They were swimming when the storm struck.
was going to, were going to for past plans that did not happen	We were going to drive to Florida for spring break, but the car broke down.

note: Some verbs are not normally used in the progressive: appear, believe, belong, contain, have, hear, know, like, need, see, seem, taste, understand, and want.

Perfect tensesFor actions that happened before another present or past time

Present perfect	has, have + past participle
repetitive or constant actions that began in the past and continue to the present	I have loved cats since I was a child. Alicia has worked in Kenya for ten years.
actions that happened at an unknown or unspecific time in the past	Stephen has visited Wales three times.
Past perfect	had + past participle
actions that began or occurred before another time in the past	She had just crossed the street when the runaway car crashed into the building.

note: For more on the past perfect, see 27f. For uses of the past perfect in conditional sentences, see 28e.

Perfect progressive formsFor continuous past actions before another present or past time

Present perfect progressive	has, have + been + present participle
continuous actions that began in the past and continue to the present	Yolanda has been trying to get a job in Boston for five years.
Past perfect progressive	had + been + present participle
actions that began and continued in the past until another past action	By the time I moved to Georgia, I had been supporting myself for five years.