COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

LEARNING MODULE IN ENG 11/ LANG 11 (ENGLISH PROFICIENCY/LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY)

CHAPTER 1. GRAMMATICAL USAGE

Lesson 4. The Tenses of Verbs

The Simple Present Tense. This tense is used to state facts, schedules and habitual action. It is not
used to state present action.

Its forms are: am/am not, are/are not, is/is not, do/does, base verb + s/es/ies, has.

See examples below:

There is a lamp. They are not doctors. The lady in the picture is I am from Ohio.
fair.
It is 7:00 in the morning. Do they sell online? Does she work? She lives over there.
The groom kisses the Terry studies English. How does she feel? It/he/has a red ribbon.
bride.

Take note that the following verbs uses present simple tense as they express facts and do not require
conscious effort: exist, promise, appear, seem, smell, taste, believe, know, think, remember, own, contain, see,
hear, want, need, like, love, hate. Otherwise add –ing if they do require conscious effort and have different
meaning.
He is always calling me. Means annoyed of the She is hating her stay in Japan. Means being
= call. = unhappy.

The Present Progressive Tense. It is used to express action in progress (happening, occurring) now.
It means the action began in the past, in progress now and will probably continue into the future.

Its form is: am/is/are + verb (ing).

See examples below:

It is crawling. Are they still sleeping? I’m not working They are outside
anymore. playing.

The Present Perfect Tense. It is used to explain the present in terms of past experience at an
unspecified time (use already, just, yet), to talk about experiences, and to say something has never happened
for the first time, second time, etc. (use ever, never, before, once, etc..), express an action that started in the
past and is still occurring (use for/since).

Its form is: has/have + past participle.

See examples below:

I have already called She has taken my copy. I have been to Little Jim has lost hid phone
my mother. I don’t have one. Boracay with my again. It’s the third time
friends. now.

The Present Perfect Progressive Tense. It emphasizes action that is in progress in the past, the
nature of action, condition or event (how long), the duration (length of time) of an activity that began in the
past and is in progress right now.

Its form is: has/have + been + verb (ing).

See examples below:

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 I have been encoding. Anafe has been crying all We have been staying Mom has been callimg me
day. with my sister for weeks since morning.
now.

The Simple Past Tense. It is used to indicate action that started and ended before now, and describe
things you did always but not anymore.

Its form is: base verb + d/ed, did, irregular past tense of verb.

See examples below:

He performed last The boys ran to the The group did not I used to love you.
night. store. sleep.

The Past Progressive Tense. It is used to show an ongoing action in the past that was interrupted by
another event, show ongoing simultaneous past events, talk about a specific point in time, describe a
background action when something else happened, and used for informal query.

Its form is: was/were + verb (ing).

See examples below:

I was watching I was watching I did not pick up the phone The company was declining
when dad called. when dad was when you called because I was before she took charge.
calling. taking a bath that time.

The Past Perfect Tense. It relates two past actions-- a past event that happened before another past
event.
Its form is: had + past participle (first event that ends) and past tense (later event).

The second event is usually introduced by when, before, and after.

See examples below:

We lived in New York from 1990 to 1995. We had lived in New York for five years before we moved to
= Los Angeles.
We moved to Los Angeles in 1995.
John ate lunch at 1:00. At 1:30, Jane John had already eaten lunch when Jane invited him.
=
invited John to eat with him.

The Past Perfect Progressive Tense. It emphasizes action that was in progress before another past
event.
Its form is: had been + present participle (v-ing).

See examples below:

What had you been doing before you I had been studying for five years.
started to work?
Where had she been living before she She had been living in an apartment for a long time.
bought this house?

The Simple Future Tense. It expresses expectation of action. We use the form will/be going to/ may/
might/ should + base verb. Note that ‘will’ is used for sudden decision, future facts, requests, offer and make
promise, while ‘be going to’ is used for planned action, make prediction based on evidence, and make decision
at the moment.

See examples below:

I’m hungry, I will eat. Will you give me hand? I’m going to meet her today.
The President will serve for four I promise, I will be there. I did not read, I’m going to fail.
years.
We should get there around 8:00. They might not work.

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 The Future Progressive Tense. It describes actions on going in the future. The future action may or
may not have already begun or will not be finished at the indicated future time.

Its form is: will be + V-ing.

See examples below:

I will be relaxing. Don’t call me at twelve because I will be eating at that time.

The Future Perfect Tense. It talks about a continuous action that will be finished at a specific time in
the future.

Its form is: will have + past participle + by + specific time.

See examples below:

I will have finished the work by She will have lost ten pounds by her wedding day.
Wednesday.

The Future Perfect Progressive Tense. It expresses action that will have been in progress for a
certain length of time at a specific time in the future.

Its form is: will have been + present participle + v-ing + specific time.

See examples below:

I will have been finishing the project for a She will have been traveling a great deal by the time you return
year. home.

Exercises: Fill in with the proper tense of verbs in parenthesis.

are 1. The tribute parties for the President (be) __________ on Sundays.
leaves 2. Jherriel (leave) __________ work at 4 o’clock.
are painting 3. We (paint) __________ the living room this week.
Are you not 4. You (not) __________ enjoying your vacation?
have 5. We know every scene of the movie Les Miserables. We (watch) __________ that movie
watched thrice.
have been 6. I know where your apartment is. I (visit) __________ it since high school.
visiting
remember 7. I (remember) __________ the wedding anniversary celebration of Hyden and Vicky very
well.
began 8. We (begin) _________ this morning at ten o’clock so we could attend the webinar at 2
o'clock.
did not call 9. 'Did you talk to them?”, ''No, Vicky and Joan (call/not) __________ me today.
was riding/ 10. Euqade rode his bike yesterday afternoon and Queme watched TV yesterday afternoon.
was Hence, while Euqade (ride) __________ his bike, Queme (watch) __________.
watching
was talking 11. Qarmenn called her friend Carlyn on the telephone this morning and they talked all day.
I tried to call at noon, but the line was busy. Qarmenn (still talk) __________ to her friend.
did not 12. First, I (read/not) __________ the newspaper when I (leave) __________ the office.
read/didn't
read/left
had been 13. Believe it or not, Manuel (wrote) __________ a diary for a long time.
writing
had been 14. She (hope) __________ to get married for a long time.
hoping
will bring 15. The couple (bring) __________ their daughter tonight at the coronation night.
should have 16. I (arrive) __________ from Manila by morning.
arrived
had taken 17. I knew how to drive that new model car. I (take) __________ driving lessons.
will have 18. I (finish) __________ the interior project by the end of September.
finished

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