The document discusses the uses of various verb tenses and aspects in English grammar according to several grammar books and references. It provides explanations for using the simple present, present progressive, simple past, past progressive, future, present perfect, past perfect, future perfect, present perfect progressive, and past perfect progressive tenses to describe situations, events, states, habits and actions that are immediate, continuous, completed or anticipated to occur in the present, past or future. The table compares how different grammar resources describe the uses and meanings of these grammatical constructions.

1. ASPECT TENSE THE GRAMMAR BOOK
(Celce-Murcia & Larsen-
Freeman)
LONGMAN ENGLISH
GRAMMAR PRACTICE(L.
G. Alexander)
MACMILLAN ENGLISH
GRAMMAR IN CONTEX
(Michael Vince)
ADVANCED GRAMMAR
IN USE (Martin Hewrings)
OXFORD GUIDE TO
ENGLISH GRAMMAR (John
Easterwood)SIMPLE
PRESENT - Conveys immediate factuality
Habitual actions
General timeless truths
With states verbs
In subordinate classes when the
main one has a futuretime verb
Express future
Present event/action (sports)
Present speech acts
Conversational historical
present
Permanent truths
‘The present period’
Habitual action
Futurereference
Observation and declaration
Instructions
Commentaries
for facts, or things that always
happen
for routines and habits
In informal spoken instructions
In newspapers headlines to
describe events
For performative verbs
For verbs reporting news
Colloquial narratives and
commentary
To describe that are always true
or situation that exists now and
will go indefinitely
To talk about habits or things
that happen in a regular basis
With verbs that perform the
action they describe
With verbs describe states
To report what we have heard
For a present state:a feeling,
opinion or relation
For repeated actions: habits and
routines
For permanent facts
To describe actions as they happen
To tell a story/On reporting speech
For action in films, plays and
books
In some sub classes of future
PAST Completed event/action in the
past
Habitual action/event in the past
With stateverbs in the past
Imaginative conditional
Social distancing
To talk about events, actions or
situations which happened in
the past and are now finished
For finished events which have
definite time
In narratives
For past habits and routines
For very recent events
With conditional sentences
to talk about at a particular,
finished time in the past
in states that no longer exists
to talk about permanent or long
term situation in thepast
repeated actions in the past
For an action in thepast
For repeated actions in thepast
FUTURE(?)
(WILL)
An action in the future
A futurehabitual action/state
A situation that may obtain in
the present and will obtain in
the future
In the main clause of future
conditionals
Prediction
For futureevents that have been
arranged
To express hopes and
expectations
For factual predictions
For habits of which thespeaker
disapproves
For an assumption taken for the
facts
For an immediate decision
When we predict sth
When we talk about intentions
or future decisions
To describe a futureevent that
follows another
To express the future as fact
For instant decisions
To express willingness
In offers and promises
In formal orders
PERFECT
PRESENT A situation that began at a prior
point in time and continues into
the present
A very recently completed
action (just)
An action that occurred over a
prior time and that is completed
in the moment of speaking
With verbs in subordinate
clause of time or condition
To describe actions beginning
in the past and continuing in the
present
To describe actions which
happened in unspecified time
To refer to events connected to
the present without adefinite
past time
To refer to indefinite events that
happened at an unknown time
To refer to indefinite events
with a result in thepast
To describe a statethat lasts up
present
To talk about something that
happened in the past but don’t
know when
When something in the past
affects what happens in present
To talk about how long an
existing situation has lasted
To say that an action or event
has been repeated a number of
times up to now
For an action in theperiod leading
up to present
For repeated actions and states that
still exists
PAST An action completed in the past
prior to some other past event
or time
Imaginative conditional in the
subordinate clause
to refer to ‘an earlier past ’that
is describe the first of two or
more actions
To show that an event in the
past happened before another
event in the past (when
absolutely necessary)
To talk about a situation that
took place before another
situation
To talk about the completion of
a situation or its effects
For an action before a the past time
FUTURE(?) A futureaction that will be
completed prior to a specific
future time
A stateor accomplishment that
will completed in the future
prior to some other futuretime
or event
To show that an action will
already be completed by a
certain time in the future
Use for time looked back on
from a futurepoint
Use to express an assumption
To say that something will be
ended, completed or achieved
by a particular point in the
future
To talk about something that will
be over in a future time

2. ASPECT TENSE THE GRAMMAR BOOK
(Celce-Murcia & Larsen-
Freeman)
LONGMAN ENGLISH
GRAMMAR PRACTICE(L.
G. Alexander)
MACMILLAN ENGLISH
GRAMMAR IN CONTEX
(Michael Vince)
ADVANCED GRAMMAR
IN USE (Martin Hewrings)
OXFORD GUIDE TO
ENGLISH GRAMMAR (John
Easterwood)PROGRESSIVE
PRESENT Sometimes called continuous
Activity in progress
Extend present
A temporary situation
Repetition or iteration in similar
ongoing actions
Expresses future
Emotional comment
A charge in progress
Use to:
Actions in progress at the
moment of speaking.
Temporary situations/actions
Planned actions
(future)(adverbs)
Repeated actions (adverbs)
(Continuous )
For actions happening at the
moment of speaking
Actions happening around the
time of speaking
In colloquial narratives
The use of simple or continuous
is part of theattitudeof the
writer/speaker
(Continuous )
To talk about event that are
happening at themoment of
speaking
To talk about actions that have
begun and haven’t ended at the
moment of speaking.
To imply that the situation is
temporary
(Continuous )
Actions continuing for a period at
the middle of now
Use it when a series of actions is
temporary
To talk about what someone has
arranged
PAST An action in progress at a
specific point of time in thepast
Past action simultaneous with
some other event that is usually
stated in the simple past
Repetition or iteration of some
ongoing past action
Social distancing
To temporary actions in
progress in the past or when
something else happened also
Actions in progress at the same
time
Polite inquiries
In story-telling to set a scene at
the beginning of thestory
To describe a continuing
unfinished action in the past or
interrupted by a sudden past
action
For activities as background
descriptions
For two continuing events
happening at thesame time
To talk about a temporary
situation that existed at or
around a particular time in the
past
To Talk about actions that
happen at the same time
Two events that follows each
other
For an action over a period at the
past time, in the middle of
For a past arrangement
FUTURE(?) An action what will be in
progress at a specific time in the
future
Duration of some specific
future action
To emphasize action will be in
progress or that we imagine we
are doing
Like the present progressive for
planned actions
For an event or stateat a future
point
Events that have already been
arranged for the futuredate
Very formal requests
When we talk about an activity
or event going on at a particular
time or over a particular period
of the future
For an action over a period of time
For an action that is a result of a
routine or arrangement
To ask if someone’s plans fits with
our wishes
PERFECTPROGRESSIVE
PRESENT A situation or habit that began
in the past and that continues up
to the present
An action in progress that is not
yet completed
A statethat changes over time
An evaluative comment on
something observed over time
triggered by current evidence
Use it when we want to
emphasize that has been in
progress thought out a period
For recent continuing activities,
continuing up to thepresent
To explain a present situation
To emphasize the length of a
continuing activity
For a repeated activity to
emphasize therepetition
With ‘how long’ questions
to talk about a situation or
activity that started in the past
and has been in progress for a
period until now
When we ask questions with
How long...?
avoid it with stateverbs
For an action over a period of time
up to now, the period leading up to
the present
For repeated actions up to now
For a state up to the present
PAST An action or habit taking place
over a period of time in the past
prior to some other past event
or time
A past action in progress that
was interrupted by a more
recent past action
An ongoing past action or state
that becomes satisfied by some
other event
It is the ‘past’ form of present
perfect progressive
Use to unfinished, recently
completed or continuing events
We use thepast perfect
continuous when we talk about
a situation or activity that
happened over a period up to a
particular past time, or until
shortly before it
We use thepast perfect
continuous when we talk about
the continuity or duration of a
situation or activity
For an action over a period up
to a past time
FUTURE(?) Durative or habitual action that
is taking place in thepresent
and will continue into the future
To say what is in progress now
will be in progress in the future
He speaker choses simple or
continuous
We can use the future perfect
continuous to emphasize how
long something has been going
Say just that is possible, but don’t
explain how at an end note
‘We can use will with the perfect and
the continuous together’(p.102)

3. ASPECT TENSE THE GRAMMAR BOOK
(Celce-Murcia & Larsen-
Freeman)
LONGMAN ENGLISH
GRAMMAR PRACTICE(L.
G. Alexander)
MACMILLAN ENGLISH
GRAMMAR IN CONTEX
(Michael Vince)
ADVANCED GRAMMAR
IN USE (Martin Hewrings)
OXFORD GUIDE TO
ENGLISH GRAMMAR (John
Easterwood)
up until or thought a specific
future time
on by a particular point in the
future