23c Use verb tenses.

23c
Use verb tenses.

Tenses show when the verb’s action takes place. The three simple tenses are the present tense, the past tense, and the future tense.

PRESENT TENSE I ask, write
PAST TENSE I asked, wrote
FUTURE TENSE I will ask, will write

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

PRESENT PROGRESSIVE she is asking, is writing
PAST PROGRESSIVE she was asking, was writing
FUTURE PROGRESSIVE she will be asking, will be writing
PRESENT PERFECT she has asked, has written
PAST PERFECT she had asked, had written
FUTURE PERFECT she will have asked, will have written
PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE she has been asking, has been writing
PAST PERFECT PROGRESSIVE she had been asking, had been writing
FUTURE PERFECT PROGRESSIVE she will have been asking, will have been writing

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 completed actions; perfect progressive forms express actions that continue up to some point in the present, past, or future.