Verb Tenses in English Grammar

Verb Tenses

Present Tense

• Used to describe actions that are happening now
• Forms:
  • Base form (e.g. go)
  • -s form (e.g. goes) for third person singular (he, she, it)
• Examples:
  • I go to school
  • She eats breakfast

Past Tense

• Used to describe actions that happened in the past
• Forms:
  • Regular verbs: -ed form (e.g. walked)
  • Irregular verbs: various forms (e.g. went)
• Examples:
  • I walked to school
  • They went to the movies

Future Tense

• Used to describe actions that will happen in the future
• Forms:
  • will + base form (e.g. will go)
  • going to + base form (e.g. going to go)
• Examples:
  • I will go to school tomorrow
  • They are going to visit Paris

Perfect Tenses

• Used to describe actions that started in the past and continue up to the present
• Forms:
  • Present Perfect: has/have + past participle (e.g. has eaten)
  • Past Perfect: had + past participle (e.g. had eaten)
  • Future Perfect: will have + past participle (e.g. will have eaten)
• Examples:
  • I have eaten breakfast
  • They had eaten lunch before they went to the movies
  • I will have finished my homework by tomorrow

Continuous Tenses

• Used to describe actions that are in progress at a specific time
• Forms:
  • Present Continuous: am/is/are + present participle (e.g. is studying)
  • Past Continuous: was/were + present participle (e.g. was studying)
  • Future Continuous: will be + present participle (e.g. will be studying)
• Examples:
  • I am studying for my exam
  • They were studying at the library
  • I will be studying at 8pm tonight

Conditional Tenses

• Used to describe hypothetical or uncertain situations
• Forms:
  • Zero Conditional: present simple + present simple (e.g. if it rains, I stay at home)
  • First Conditional: if + present simple + will + base form (e.g. if it rains, I will stay at home)
  • Second Conditional: if + past simple + would + base form (e.g. if I won the lottery, I would buy a house)
  • Third Conditional: if + past perfect + would have + past participle (e.g. if I had studied harder, I would have passed the exam)
• Examples:
  • If it rains, I stay at home
  • If I won the lottery, I would buy a house
  • If I had studied harder, I would have passed the exam

Verb Tenses

Present Tense

• Describes actions happening now
• Forms: base form and -s form for third person singular
• Examples: I go to school, She eats breakfast

Past Tense

• Describes actions that happened in the past
• Forms: regular verbs (-ed form) and irregular verbs (various forms)
• Examples: I walked to school, They went to the movies

Future Tense

• Describes actions that will happen in the future
• Forms: will + base form and going to + base form
• Examples: I will go to school tomorrow, They are going to visit Paris

Perfect Tenses

• Describes actions that started in the past and continue up to the present
• Forms: Present Perfect (has/have + past participle), Past Perfect (had + past participle), and Future Perfect (will have + past participle)
• Examples: I have eaten breakfast, They had eaten lunch before they went to the movies, I will have finished my homework by tomorrow

Continuous Tenses

• Describes actions that are in progress at a specific time
• Forms: Present Continuous (am/is/are + present participle), Past Continuous (was/were + present participle), and Future Continuous (will be + present participle)
• Examples: I am studying for my exam, They were studying at the library, I will be studying at 8pm tonight

Conditional Tenses

• Describes hypothetical or uncertain situations
• Forms: Zero Conditional (present simple + present simple), First Conditional (if + present simple + will + base form), Second Conditional (if + past simple + would + base form), and Third Conditional (if + past perfect + would have + past participle)
• Examples: If it rains, I stay at home, If I won the lottery, I would buy a house, If I had studied harder, I would have passed the exam

Parts of Speech

• Nouns: Refer to people, places, things, and ideas
  • Can be common (cat, city) or proper (John, London)
  • Collective nouns represent groups (family, team)
• Verbs: Express action or a state of being
  • Action verbs describe actions (run, jump)
  • Linking verbs connect subjects to additional information (be, seem)
  • Helping verbs are used to form verb tenses (will, would)
• Adjectives: Describe nouns or pronouns
  • Quantitative adjectives describe amounts (three, five)
  • Qualitative adjectives describe characteristics (happy, tall)
• Adverbs: Describe verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs
  • Describe manner (quickly, loudly), time (yesterday, soon), or place (here, there)
• Pronouns: Replace nouns in a sentence
  • Personal pronouns replace people (I, you, he)
  • Possessive pronouns show ownership (mine, yours)
  • Reflexive pronouns refer back to the subject (myself, yourself)
• Prepositions: Show relationships between words
  • Describe locations (in, on, at) or movements (to, from)
• Conjunctions: Connect words, phrases, or clauses
  • Coordinating conjunctions connect equals (and, but)
  • Subordinating conjunctions connect Unequals (because, although)
• Interjections: Express emotions or feelings
  • Examples include Oh, wow, and ouch

Sentence Structure

• Simple sentences: Contain one independent clause
• Compound sentences: Join two or more independent clauses with a conjunction
• Complex sentences: Combine one independent clause with one or more dependent clauses
• Compound-complex sentences: Combine two or more independent clauses with one or more dependent clauses

Tenses

• Present tense: Describe actions happening now
• Past tense: Describe actions completed in the past
• Future tense: Describe actions to be completed in the future
• Present perfect tense: Describe actions started in the past and continuing up to the present
• Past perfect tense: Describe actions completed before another action in the past
• Future perfect tense: Describe actions to be completed at a specific point in the future

Clauses and Phrases

• Independent clause: A clause that can stand alone as a complete sentence
• Dependent clause: A clause that cannot stand alone as a complete sentence
• Relative clause: A clause that begins with a relative pronoun (who, which, that)
• Phrase: A group of words that functions as a unit in a sentence
  • Noun phrases function as a single noun (the big red car)
  • Verb phrases function as a single verb (will have eaten)