Tenses: A Brief Introduction.

Types of Tenses

Winners live in the present tense. People who come up short are consumed with the future or past. I want to be living in the now.Alex Rodriguez

What are the tenses?

Tenses are a form of the verb-based method used to indicate the time, and sometimes the continuation or completeness, of an action or state in relation to the time of speaking. We cannot talk of tenses without considering two components: time and aspect.

Time Expresses:

  • pastbefore now
  • presentnow, or any time that includes now
  • futureafter now

Aspect Expresses: 

  • Progressive: Uncompleted Action
    •  eg: Was singing
  • Perfective: Completed Action or state
    •  Eg: Had sung

Type of Tenses:

  • Present Tense
  • Past Tense
  • Future Tense

Present Tense can be further classified as :

  • Simple Present Tense
  • Present Continuous Tense
  • Present Perfect Tense
  • Present perfect Continuous Tense

Past Tense can be further classified as :

  • Simple Past Tense
  • Past Continuous Tense
  • Past Perfect Tense
  • Past Perfect Continuous Tense

Future Tense can be further classified as:

  • Simple Future Tense
  • Future Continuous Tense
  • Future Perfect Tense
  • Future Perfect Continuous Tense

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