This document describes 12 verb tenses and their uses to indicate timing or progression of actions. The tenses covered include: the imperfect tense for actions in progress in the past, the preterite tense for completed past actions, the future tense for initiation of future actions, and the present perfect tense for recently completed or ongoing actions. Other tenses covered locate actions before or at a specific past time, as an ongoing condition, or habitually occurring in the past or future.

1. 1.This verb tense takes
you into the middle of a
past action

2. 2.This verb tense takes
you into the end
(completion) of a past
action

3. 3.This verb tense takes
you to the beginning
(initiation) of a future
action

4. 4.This verb tense takes
you to the middle of a
future action

5. 5.This verb takes you to
the end (completion) of a
future action

6. 6.This verb tense takes
you into the middle of a
future action (and has other
“social” use

7. 7.This verb tense takes
you to a past action that
happened before another
past action

8. 8.This verb tense takes
you to a past action that
was in progress before
another past action

9. 9.This verb tense takes
you to a universally true
action, a current
condition, an action that
repeats with some
frequency

10. 10.This verb tense takes
you to this moment; or
this “______” week,
month, semester, etc.

11. 11.This verb tense takes
you sometime in the
past—but not a specific
time

12. This verb tense takes you
to past action that
repeated in the past and
may likely repeat in the
future

13. 12. This verb tense takes
us to an action(one
action)that was in
progress recently; right
before now