Previous: Verbs

3.1 What is Tense?

Tense is a method that we use in English to refer to time - past, present and future. It is a form of a verb used to indicate the time, and sometimes the continuation or completeness of an action in relation to the time of speaking.

Some languages have no tenses, but of course they can still talk about time, using different methods.

In English, we talk about time with verb tenses, with some exceptions:

3.1.1 We can also talk about time without using tenses. For example, (be) going to is a special construction to talk about the future. It is a verbal phrase, not a tense. Eg.

I am going to go on holiday next month.

3.1.2 One tense does not always talk about one time.

3.1.2.1 Such as a present tense does not always refer to present time, eg.

I hope it rains tomorrow.
(rains is present simple, but it refers here to future time [tomorrow] ).
(cf. I hope it will rain tomorrow.)

3.1.2.2 Or a present continuous tense does not always refer to what is happening exactly now, eg.

Jane is taking her exam next month.
(is taking is present continuous but it refers here to future time [next month] ).
(cf. Jane will be taking her exam next month; or, Jane will take her exam next month.)

3.1.2.3 Or a past tense does not always refer to past time, eg.

If I had some money now, I could buy it.
(had is past simple but it refers here to present time [now] ).

3.1.3 There are some terms in English grammar that are used when discussing verbs and tenses, such as voice (active / passive), mood (interrogative / imperative / subjunctive) and aspect. We are not going into details of them except active and passive voices. The other terms are just ways of describing what we naturally communicate in English. You may already know how to communicate properly but may not know that what you do carries a technical term.

3.2 The 12 English Tenses

There are 12 basic tenses in the present, past and future groups.

Simple Present

I do do, I do

Present Continuous Tense

I am doing, I am doing tomorrow

Present Perfect Tense

I have done

Present Perfect Continuous Tense

I have been doing

Simple Past

I did do, I did

Past Continuous Tense

I was doing

Past Perfect Tense

I had done

Past Perfect Continuous Tense

I had been doing

Simple Future

I will do

Future Continuous Tense

I will be doing

Future Perfect Tense

I will have done

Future Perfect Continuous Tense

I will have been doing

Another 12 tenses are available in the passive voice. So we have 24 tenses in active and passive voices.

3.3 Conditional Tenses
In addition to the 12 basic tenses, there are the 2 conditional tenses used in the second conditional sentence and the third conditional sentence.

3.3.1 Present conditional tense (would + base form verb) used in the second conditional sentence, eg.

If I had a billion dollars, I would quit my job and would do something else.

3.3.2 Perfect conditional tense (would have + past participle) used in the third conditional sentence, eg.

If I had won the lottery, I would have bought a car.
If he had been more careful, he would have succeeded.

3.3.3 Use Present conditional tense and Perfect conditional tense to refer to the present or future (not the past) situations.
The (would + base form verb) and (would have + past participle) usually refers to past situations, as are the cases in 3.3.1 and 3.3.2. But sometimes they can be used to refer to present or future situations. In such situations, there is no difference whether one uses (would + base form verb) or (would have + past participle), and they often refers to something that either could not be so or could not have been so now or in the future. Eg.

It would be / would have been nice to go to France this summer, but there's no way we can do it. (future)
If my father hadn't bumped into my mother on that rainy afternoon twenty-five years ago, I wouldn't be / wouldn't have been here now. (present)
Let's assume that the developers would build / would have built the flats anyway, even without the condition that they can only be sold to Hong Kongers. (future)

3.4 Uses of the 12 Tenses*

3.4.1. Simple present tense

We use the simple present tense to talk about:

3.4.1.1 general events that happen all the time, in the past, present and future,

eg.

Sara likes to eat chocolate.

3.4.1.2 personal habits, eg.

She washes her hair every day.

3.4.1.3 group traditions, rituals, customs, eg.

Chinese like to eat moon cakes at Mid-Autumn Festival.

3.4.1.4 the statement that is always true, eg.

Triangles have three sides.

3.4.1.5 to give instruction, commands, directions, eg.

Go down the road and turn left.

3.4.1.6 used with future time markers to convey a future sense, eg.

The last train leaves at 9 pm this evening.

3.4.1.7 used in first conditional sentence, eg.

If I make this recipe again, I'll use more brown sugar.

3.4.1.8 Historical present, dramatic present / narrative present, reportorial present.

In linguistics and rhetoric, historical present, dramatic present (also called narrative present), and reportorial present refer to the employment of the present tense when narrating past events. Besides its use in writing about history, especially in historical chronicles (listing a series of events), it is used in fiction, for 'hot news' (as in headlines), general news reporting, and in everyday conversation. In conversation, it is particularly common with 'verbs of communication' such as tell, write, and say (and in colloquial uses, go).

Literary critics and grammarians have said that the historical present has the effect of making past events more vivid. More recently, analysts of its use in conversation have argued that it functions, not by making an event present, but by marking segments of a narrative, foregrounding events (that is, signaling that one event is particularly important, relevant to others) and marking a shift to evaluation.

3.4.1.8.1 Verbs in the 'historic present' describe something that happened in the past. The present tense is used because the facts are listed as a summary, and the present tense provides a sense of urgency. In describing a historical event about Abraham Lincoln, Peter W. Rodman in Presidential Command (Vintage, 2010) wrote:

"There is a famous story of President Abraham Lincoln, taking a vote in a cabinet meeting on whether to sign the Emancipation Proclamation. All his cabinet secretaries vote nay, whereupon Lincoln raises his right hand and declares: 'The ayes have it.'"

3.4.1.8.2 In an excerpt from Dickens' David Copperfield (Chapter IX), we can see the shift from the past tense to the historical present gives the sense of immediacy, as of a recurring vision:

“If the funeral had been yesterday, I could not recollect it better. The very air of the best parlour, when I went in at the door, the bright condition of the fire, the shining of the wine in the decanters, the patterns of the glasses and plates, the faint sweet smell of cake, the odour of Miss Murdstone’s dress, and our black clothes. Mr. Chillip is in the room, and comes to speak to me.

'And how is Master David?' he says, kindly.

I cannot tell him very well. I give him my hand, which he holds in his.”

十一月二十一日貴欄所載法王路易十四故事，同一故事為什麼第一段用過去式動詞，第二段卻用現在式？

答：英文小說或故事之中，偶然會有一段或幾句雖然和上下文一樣說同一件過去的事，但轉用現在式動詞。那是因為現在式動詞習慣用來說目前發生的事，可以給讀者「如在目前」的感覺。這手法叫做 dramatic narrative（戲劇式描述），一般用來突出較為重要或精彩的情節。

3.4.1.8.3 Used in critiquing and reviewing literature or others' writings. This is followed even when the original is written in past tense. Summaries of the narratives (plots) of works of fiction are conventionally presented using the present tense rather than the past tense. At any particular point of the story, as it unfolds, there is a now, and hence a past and a future, so whether some event mentioned in the story is past, present, or, future changes as the story progresses; the entire plot description is presented as if the story's now is a continuous present. Eg.

"Manette is obsessed with making shoes, a trade he learned while in prison." (summarizing the plot of A Tale of Two Cities)
"Out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety," says Shakespeare in Henry IV (Part 1: Act 2, Scene 3). (notice that the verb "says" should not be changed to "said.")
In Animal Farm (Chapter 2): "...Jones was expelled, and the Manor Farm was theirs..." When one writes about this development of the story in his review, he should write like "The Manor Farm is now in the animals' control...," using "is" rather than "was."

3.4.1.8.4 Used when we write about what someone did that is mentioned in a book, even when that someone is dead. Eg.

Gandhi advocates vegetarianism and fasting in his autobiography.

* Then of course, when we are not talking about the content of someone's writing, or about someone's style of writing, but simply reporting actions or things that were in the past, we should use simple past tense. Eg.

Shakespeare wrote Henry IV in 1597.
Gandhi advocated vegetarianism and fasting when he was alive.

3.4.1.8.5 Reportorial present: This historic present tense is also found in news bulletins and news reporting. The announcer may say at the start, eg.

Fire hits a city centre building,
The government defends the new minister,
In football City United loses.

3.4.1.9 留意假期如果已經安排好，一般會用現在式動詞來表示
例如：For your information, I am off on leave tomorrow morning或I would like to inform you that I am taking leave tomorrow morning。未來式動詞則可表示現在才下的決定，例如：I am feeling very tired, so I will take leave tomorrow. I will be back on Wednesday（我很疲倦，明天會放假，星期三才回來）。

3.4.2. Present continuous tense

Present continuous tense is used to talk about:

3.4.2.1 action happening exactly now, eg.

I am eating my lunch.

3.4.2.2 action happening around now, eg.

John is going out with Mary.

3.4.2.3 action in the future, eg.

I am taking my exam next month.

3.4.3. Present prefect tense

Present perfect tense is used to show a connection of the past and the present. There are basically three uses for the present perfect tense:

3.4.3.1 experience or action in the past without mentioning time, eg.

I have seen the movie The Godfather.

3.4.3.2 change or action in the past that has an effect in the present, eg.

John has broken his hand and he is still wearing a cast.

3.4.3.3 continuing situation (a state that started in the past and continues in the present, and will probably continue into the future. We usually use for or since with this structure.), eg.

I have worked here since June.

3.4.4. Present Perfect Continuous

There are basically two uses for the present perfect continuous tense:

3.4.4.1 an action that has lasted some time but has just stopped or recently stopped, eg.

I'm tired because I've been running.

3.4.4.2 an action continuing up to now, eg.

I have been reading for 2 hours.

We often use for and since with the present perfect continuous tense. Eg.

I have been studying for 3 hours.
I have been watching TV since 7 pm.

3.4.5. Simple Past Tense

We use the simple past tense when:

3.4.5.1 the event is in the past or is completely finished, eg.

I lived in that house when I was young.

3.4.5.2 we say (or understand) the time and/or place of the event, eg.

I watched the movie last year.

Past Continuous Tense

3.4.6.1 we use past continuous tense to say what we were in the middle of doing at
a particular moment in the past. The action started before that moment but
has not finished at that moment. Eg.

Yesterday I watched a film on TV. The film started at 7 pm and finished at 9 pm. So at 8 pm, I was in the middle of watching TV.

3.4.6.2 to say what we were doing within a set limit of time in the past, eg.

I was watching TV between 7 and 9 last night.

3.4.6.3 we often use the past continuous tense to “set the scene” in stories. We use
it to describe the background situation at the moment when the action begins. Often,
the story starts with the past continuous tense and then moves into the simple past
tense. Here is an example:

“James Bond was driving through town. It was raining. The wind was blowing hard. Nobody was walking in the streets. Suddenly, Bond saw the killer in a telephone box...”

(Mok: another way to do it is to “set the scene”—describing the background situation at the moment when the action begins with simple past tense, and then moves into the present tense. As the way used by J.D. Salinger at The Catcher in the Rye, when Holden describes a movie: “It was about this English guy, Alec something, that was in the war and loses his memory in the hospital and all. He comes out of the hospital…” (pp. 138-139))

Past Continuous Tense + Simple Past Tense
We often use the past continuous tense with the simple past tense. We use
the past continuous tense to express a longer action, and we use the simple
past tense to express a shorter action that happens in the middle of the
longer action. We can join the two ideas with when or while. Eg:

I was watching TV when you telephoned.

3.4.7. Past Perfect Tense

The past perfect tense is used:

3.4.7.1 to express an action or a state in the past before a past action or a past time. This is the past in the past. Eg.

The train left at 9 am. We arrived at 9.15 am. So when we arrived, the train had left.
After Jim had written / wrote the letter, he went out to post it. (with the conjunction after, one can use both past perfect and simple past.)
I knew I had forgotten something.
Janette had met Philip six months before.
The thief had previous been in prison for six months.
They had been friends for a year. (cf. They have been friends for a year. They were friends for a year. Mok: The present perfect tense tells us that they are still friends; the simple past tense means they are not friends anymore; the past perfect tense refers to the fact that they are not friends anymore, and that they had been friends for a year before a past time.)

3.4.7.2 in reported speech after verbs like said, told, asked, thought, wondered, etc. This is also the past in the past. Eg.

He told us that the train had left.
I thought I had met her before, but I was wrong.
He explained that he had closed the window because of the rain.
I wondered if I had been there before.
I asked them why they had not finished.

3.4.8 Past Perfect Continuous Tense

The past perfect continuous tense is like the past perfect tense, but it expresses longer actions in the past before another action in the past. Eg.

Ronald started waiting at 9 am. I arrived at 11 am. So when I arrived, Ronald had been waiting for two hours.

3.4.9 Simple Future Tense

Simple future tense is used for:

3.4.9.1 prediction or action that happens in the future, eg.

It will rain tomorrow.
People won't go to Jupiter before the 22nd century.

3.4.9.2 when there is no plan or decision to do something before we speak. We
make the decision spontaneously at the time of speaking. Eg.

Hold on. I'll get a pen.
We will see what we can do to help you.

3.4.9.3 when the main verb is “be,” even if we have a firm plan or decision before speaking. Eg.

I'll be in London tomorrow.
I'm going shopping. I won't be very long.

3.4.9.4 when writing with the verb “think.” Eg.

I think I'll go to the gym tomorrow.
I think I will have a holiday next year.

3.4.10. Future Continuous Tense

3.4.10.1 The future continuous tense expresses action at a particular moment in the future. The action will start before that moment but it will not have finished at that moment. Eg.

Tomorrow I will start work at 2 pm and stop work at 6 pm, so at 4 pm tomorrow, I will be working.

3.4.10.2 to say what we will be doing within a set limit of time in the future. Eg.

I will be working between 2 and 6 tomorrow.

3.4.11. Future Perfect Tense
The future perfect tense expresses action in the future before another action in the future. This is the past in the future. Eg.

The train will leave the station at 9 am. You will arrive at the station at 9.15 am. When you arrive, the train will have left.

3.4.12. Future Perfect Continuous Tense
We use the future perfect continuous tense to talk about a long action before some point in the future. Eg.

I will have been working here for ten years next week

* part of 3.4 is adapted from http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verbs.htm.

3.5 Differences between Simple Past Tense and Present Perfect Tense**

The past simple tense

The present perfect tense

The past simple tense may describe completed activities and past situations.

The present perfect tense may describe activities or situations which began in the past and are still continuing.

In 1976, 60% of families were couples with children.
In 1981, 34% of children aged 20-24 lived with their parents.

The number of one-person households has grown.
Over the past twenty years, the average size of households has fallen.

The past simple may describe activities without linking them to the present.

The present perfect may describe completed activities whose impact is felt in the present.

They completed the research in 1972.
They arrived yesterday.

They have completed the research. (meaning: a short time ago; here it is).
They have arrived. (meaning: a short time ago; here they are).

With past simple verbs, the time may be specified.

With present perfect verbs, indefinite time expressions may be used.

They completed the research in 1972.
They arrived yesterday.
The number of one-person households grew last year.

They have just completed the research.
They have already arrived.
The number of one-person households has grown recently.

** 3.5 is adapted from http://www.monash.edu.au/lls/llonline/grammar/tense/2.4.xml.

3.6 Common Confusions

3.6.1 I got, I have, I've got, I've gotten

In American English:

I got means “I received”

I have means “I possess”

I've got means “I possess” (It’s in simple present tense but is considered informal and incorrect in formal or written usage, although still widely used. It means exactly the same as “I have” and has nothing to do with “I've gotten.”)

I've gotten does not mean the same as “I've got,” but rather “I have received.”

Example Sentence:

Over the years I've gotten three microwaves from my aunt for my birthday, but this
year I got a refrigerator from my uncle instead. Therefore I have three microwaves and one refrigerator so now I've got a lot of stuff in my house.

--------------

Have used as a main verb

Have, have got, ‘ve got, has, has got, ‘s got, got

In British English have got is used quite often, while in other parts of the world, like the United States, it is common to use the main verb have, or simply got, in informal speech. Generally, one can substitute have with have got when one talks about possession and relationships, used only in simple present tense. For simple past tense and future tense, use have. E.g.,

I have a brother. = I have got a brother. = I've got a brother.

I do not have a brother. = I have not got a brother. = I haven't got a brother.

We have books. = We have got books. = We've got books.

We do not have books. = We have not got books. = We haven't got books. = We've not got books.

He has a cat. = He has got a cat. = He's got a cat.

He does not have a cat. = He has not got a cat. = He hasn't got a cat. = He's not got a cat.

Do I have time? = Have I got time?

Do you have pets? = Have you got pets?

Does he have a computer? = Has he got a computer?

Do they have nice teachers? = Have they got nice teachers?

Don't you have a brother? = Haven't you got a brother?

In American English have is dropped in informal speech. E.g.,

We have got a problem. = We've got a problem. = We got a problem.

Show me what you have got. = Show me what you’ve got. = Show me what you got.

But have cannot be substituted with have got when talking about actions. E.g.,

I had an accident. --> I had got an accident. (wrong)

He usually has lunch at 1 pm. --> He usually has got lunch at 1 pm. (wrong)

Next: Verbs--Phrasal Verbs, Verb Phrases, Conditionals

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