Simple Tense

Verb tense tells you when the action happens. There are three main verb tenses: present, past, and future. Each main tense is divided into simple, progressive, perfect, and perfect progressive tenses.

	Simple	Progressive	Perfect	Perfect Progressive
Present	finish	am/is/are finishing	have/has finished	have/has been finishing
Past	finished	was/were finishing	had finished	had been finishing
Future	will finish	will be finishing	will have finished	will have been finishing

Things to remember about simple tense:

     a. Present tense is the original verb form.
     b. Past tense has a few patterns.
     c. Future tense needs will (shall) + verb.

run

• I run a marathon this year. (present)
• I ran a marathon last year. (past)
• I will run a marathon next year. (future)

eat

• I eat lunch now.
• I ate lunch an hour ago.
• I will eat lunch in one hour.

see

• I see a movie once a week.
• I saw a movie yesterday.
• I will see a movie tomorrow.

know

• I know it.
• I knew it the day before yesterday.
• I will know it by tomorrow.

learn

• I learn English.
• I learned English the last two years.
• I will learn English next year.

cook

• I cook my supper every night.
• I cooked our dinner already.
• I will cook breakfast tomorrow.

[Quiz 10.1]

Fill in the blanks with appropriate verb forms.

1) I                      a song at the concert yesterday.
2) He                      a letter to his girlfriend tomorrow.
3) I                      to the library to borrow some books this weekend.

View Answers

[10.1]
1) sang
2) will write
3) will go