Sure. Most of my students have been taught that English verbs only have three tenses--past, present, and future--when in fact we have twelve. Of course, their uses are a little more flexible than the description below can account for, but this is enough to get by on.
Simple Tenses The simple past is for events that happened at one particular time in the past: I bought a copy of Clausewitz's On War.
The simple present can, in narration, be used to talk about events that happen at one particular time in the present: He passes the ball to Sleepy Floyd! He shoots! He scores! And the crowd goes wild! More often, though, we use the simple present to talk about situations that exist always, usually, or habitually: I write longhand at Starbucks in the afternoons.
The simple future is more commonly used for talking about events that will happen at one particular time in the future: Donald Rumsfeld will get his comeuppance.
Progressive Tenses Progressive tenses are all about duration. The situation described by a progressive tense began at a particular time before the moment being discussed, continues during the moment being discussed, and may or may not continue after the moment being discussed.
The past progressive: Dan was sleeping while I wrote 1137 of my new words yesterday.
The present progressive: I am indulging my perfectionism right now.
The future progressive: At three in the morning, I will be working on Chapter Five.
Perfect Tenses We use the perfect tenses to talk about sequence, about relationships between two moments in time, if the action that occurred in the earlier moment was already completed before the later moment arrived. It's less confusing than I make it sound, honest.
Past perfect: By the time I mailed the manuscript of Hands of Beltresa to the Shiny Young Agent, I had made an uneasy peace with its many defects.
Present perfect: Thank you for your kind invitation, but I have already consumed far too much caffeine today.
Future perfect: By the time the spaceship reaches the luckless colony, the bug-eyed monsters will have eaten all the colonists.
Perfect Progressive Tenses Perfect progressive tenses talk about both duration (and so are "progressive") and about the relationship between two moments, with the implication that the event in the earlier moment ends before or in the later moment (and so they are "perfect", and distinct from the merely progressive verbs in which the default assumption is that the action whose duration is being expressed continues beyond the moment in question). The perfect progressive tense is the one we use to express the earlier of the two events.
Past progressive: By the time the Taguba Report was released, Major General Geoffrey Miller had been "Gitmoizing" the American detention centers in Iraq, exactly as his civilian masters in the Defense Department had instructed him to do, for quite some time.
Present progressive: I have been working on this dissertation for five years, and I cannot bear it one more minute!
Future progressive: By the time the rain catches up with me, I will have been riding my bicycle for at least half an hour.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2005-11-16 09:36 am (UTC)Simple Tenses
The simple past is for events that happened at one particular time in the past:
I bought a copy of Clausewitz's On War.
The simple present can, in narration, be used to talk about events that happen at one particular time in the present:
He passes the ball to Sleepy Floyd! He shoots! He scores! And the crowd goes wild!
More often, though, we use the simple present to talk about situations that exist always, usually, or habitually:
I write longhand at Starbucks in the afternoons.
The simple future is more commonly used for talking about events that will happen at one particular time in the future:
Donald Rumsfeld will get his comeuppance.
Progressive Tenses
Progressive tenses are all about duration. The situation described by a progressive tense began at a particular time before the moment being discussed, continues during the moment being discussed, and may or may not continue after the moment being discussed.
The past progressive:
Dan was sleeping while I wrote 1137 of my new words yesterday.
The present progressive:
I am indulging my perfectionism right now.
The future progressive:
At three in the morning, I will be working on Chapter Five.
Perfect Tenses
We use the perfect tenses to talk about sequence, about relationships between two moments in time, if the action that occurred in the earlier moment was already completed before the later moment arrived. It's less confusing than I make it sound, honest.
Past perfect:
By the time I mailed the manuscript of Hands of Beltresa to the Shiny Young Agent, I had made an uneasy peace with its many defects.
Present perfect:
Thank you for your kind invitation, but I have already consumed far too much caffeine today.
Future perfect:
By the time the spaceship reaches the luckless colony, the bug-eyed monsters will have eaten all the colonists.
Perfect Progressive Tenses
Perfect progressive tenses talk about both duration (and so are "progressive") and about the relationship between two moments, with the implication that the event in the earlier moment ends before or in the later moment (and so they are "perfect", and distinct from the merely progressive verbs in which the default assumption is that the action whose duration is being expressed continues beyond the moment in question). The perfect progressive tense is the one we use to express the earlier of the two events.
Past progressive:
By the time the Taguba Report was released, Major General Geoffrey Miller had been "Gitmoizing" the American detention centers in Iraq, exactly as his civilian masters in the Defense Department had instructed him to do, for quite some time.
Present progressive:
I have been working on this dissertation for five years, and I cannot bear it one more minute!
Future progressive:
By the time the rain catches up with me, I will have been riding my bicycle for at least half an hour.
I hope that made sense.