Verb Tenses & Aspects: A Practical Overview
Quick Summaries
Present Simple
Expresses habits, general truths, or states.
Example: “The team deploys the app daily.”
Present Progressive (Continuous)
Describes actions happening now or temporary situations.
Example: “The developer is debugging the code.”
Present Perfect
Connects past actions to the present, often with relevance now.
Example: “We have updated the server.”
Present Perfect Progressive
Shows ongoing actions from past to present, emphasizing duration.
Example: “She has been coding all night.”
Past Simple
Narrates completed actions in the past.
Example: “The engineer fixed the bug yesterday.”
Past Progressive
Depicts ongoing actions in the past, often interrupted.
Example: “They were testing the feature when the power failed.”
Past Perfect
Indicates actions completed before another past event.
Example: “He had committed the changes before the review.”
Past Perfect Progressive
Highlights duration of an action before another past event.
Example: “The team had been working overtime before the launch.”
Future Simple (will)
Predicts future events or makes spontaneous decisions.
Example: “I will deploy the update tomorrow.”
“Be going to” Future
Expresses planned intentions or predictions based on evidence.
Example: “She is going to refactor the module.”
Future Progressive
Describes ongoing actions at a future time.
Example: “We will be migrating the data next week.”
Future Perfect
Refers to actions completed by a future point.
Example: “They will have finished the sprint by Friday.”
Future Perfect Progressive
Emphasizes duration of an action up to a future point.
Example: “He will have been programming for hours by then.”
When to Choose Each in Real Conversation
| Goal | Prefer | Why |
|---|---|---|
| State facts or routines | Present Simple | Establishes timeless truths or habits clearly |
| Describe current actions | Present Progressive | Captures immediacy and temporariness |
| Link past experiences to now | Present Perfect | Highlights relevance without specific times |
| Narrate finished past events | Past Simple | Provides straightforward storytelling |
| Predict based on plans | “Be going to” Future | Shows intention with evidence |
| Foresee completed futures | Future Perfect | Marks completion by a deadline |
Shifting from Simple to Progressive Aspect
- Identify the base verb.
- Add the appropriate form of be (am/is/are, was/were, will be, etc.).
- Attach -ing to the main verb.
- Adjust for tense as needed.
Simple: “The coder writes scripts.”
Progressive: “The coder is writing scripts.”
Shifting from Progressive to Simple Aspect
- Locate the -ing verb.
- Remove the form of be.
- Use the base verb in the matching tense.
- Simplify for brevity.
Progressive: “The team is building the app.”
Simple: “The team builds the app.”