English Verb Tenses

English Verb Tenses

Tense	Use	Example
Simple Present	Action that takes place in the present	I walk to school.
Present Progressive	Ongoing action at the time of writing	I am walking to school.
Present Perfect	Action completed at the time of writing	I have walked to school.
Present Perfect Progressive	Action started in the past and likely to continue in the present	I have been walking to school
Simple Past	Action completed in the past	I walked to school.
Past Progressive	Ongoing action in the past	I was walking to school.
Past Perfect	Action that occurred in the past before another action	I had walked to school before I went to class.
Past Perfect Progressive	Action still ongoing in the past when another past action occurred	I had been walking to school when class started
Simple Future	Action in the future	I will walk to school tomorrow.
Future Progressive	Ongoing action in the future	I will be walking to school tomorrow.
Future Perfect	Action completed in the future	I will have walked to school tomorrow.

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This page last updated on 2/06/03.