I have a treat for you: an updated version of this 20-year-old site.Verb Forms
Pattern
TENSE vs. TIME
Tense & Time are not directly correlated.
A. Tense = Form = the name that grammarians give to the structure of verb forms.
Example
present perfect continuous verb tense contains:
one present form = have
one perfect form = been
one continuous form = living
| Future Form | Past Form | Present Form | Perfect Form | Continuous Form | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. present | live | ||||
| 2. present continuous | am | living | |||
| 3. past | lived | ||||
| 4. past continuous | was | living | |||
| 5. future | will live | ||||
| 6. future continuous | will be | living | |||
| 7. present perfect | have | lived | |||
| 8. present perfect continuous | have | been | living | ||
| 9. past perfect | had | lived | |||
| 10. past perfect continuous | had | been | living | ||
| 11. future perfect | will have | lived | |||
| 12. future perfect continuous | will have | been | living |
B. Time = Function = the location of an action in the mind of speaker.
There are three times in the real world: past, present, or future.
Example
| Present Tense = Same Form | Time = Different Function |
|---|---|
| 1. The plane arrives at 9 every evening. | past, present, future time |
| 2. The plane arrives at 9 tonight. | future time |
| 3. When the plane arrives, I'll be at the gate. | future time |
| 4. So the plane arrives & I run over to the gate. | past time [used in vivid storytelling] |
Conditionals
| Type 1 | If I have time, I'll help you. | If I'm free in the future, I'll help you. | future time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type 2 | If I had time, I would help you. | I don't have time to help you now/later. | present or future time |
| Type 3 | If I had had time, I would have helped you. | I didn't have time to help you last week. | past time |