Present, Past and Future Tenses

Tense means time

The tense of a verb tells when an action

takes place

• The bear walks to the honey tree.• The bear walked to the honey tree.• The bear will walk to the honey tree.

Present Tense (Time)O The present tense of a verb names

an action that happens regularly. It can also express a general truth.

Example Meaning

The mountains are tall and white Unchanging action

Every year, the school council elects new members

Recurring

H2O is the chemical symbolfor water Widespread truth

The present tense of the verb is the base form of the verb.

When the subject is a singular noun or he, she, or it, you usually add ‘s’ to

the verb.

Present TenseO Singular O I visitO You visitO He, she or it

visits

O PluralO We visitO You visitO They visit

The verb ‘be’

The present tense of the verb ‘be’ differs from the base form : am, are, is,

I am. You are. She is.

Past Tense (Time)O The past tense of verb names an

action that already happened.O Form past tense of most verbs by

adding ed to the base form of the verb.

Example Form

W.W.II ended in 1945 Regular –ed past

J.K. Rowling wrote “Harry Potter.”

Irregular form

Future Tense (Time)O The future tense of a verb names an

action that will take place in the future.

O This tense is formed by using will/shall with the simple form of the verb.

O Example: The speaker of the Parliament will finish her term in May of 2013

The future tense can also be expressed by using am, is or

are with going to.

O Example: The surgeon is going to perform the first bypass in Canada.

We can also use the present tense form with an adverb or

adverbial phrase to show future time.

O The president speaks tomorrow. (Tomorrow is a future time adverb).