tense

> tense
The form of a verb that is used to show the time at which the action of the verb takes place. One of the tenses in English is the present tense. It is used to indicate an action now going on or a state now existing. A distinction can be made between the habitual present, which marks habitual or repeated actions or recurring events, and the stative present, which indicates something that is true at all times. Examples of habitual present include "He works long hours" and "She walks to work". Examples of the stative tense include "The world is round" and "Everyone must die eventually".
The progressive present or continuous present is formed with the verb "to be" and the present participle, as in, "He is walking to the next village", "She was driving along the road when she saw him" and "They were worrying about the state of the economy"
The past tense refers to an action or state that has taken place before the present time. In the case of regular verbs it is formed by adding -ed to the base form of the verb, as in "fear/feared", "look/looked", and "turn/turned".
See also IRREGULAR VERBS.
The future tense refers to an action or state that will take place at some time in the future. It is formed with "will" and "shall". Traditionally "will" was used with the second and third person pronouns ("you", "he/she/it", "they") and "shall" with the first person ("I" and "we"), as in "You will be bored", "He will soon be home", "They will leave tomorrow", "I shall buy some bread" and "We shall go by train". Also traditionally "shall" was used with the second and third persons to indicate emphasis, insistence, determination, refusal, etc, as in "You shall go to the ball" and "He shall not be admitted". "Will" was used with the first person in the same way, as in "I will get even with him".
In modern usage "will" is generally used for the first person as well as for second and third, as in "I will see you tomorrow" and "We will be there soon" and "shall" is used for emphasis, insistence, etc, for first, second and third persons.
The future tense can also be formed with the use of "be about to" or "be going to", as in "We were about to leave" and "They were going to look for a house.
Other tenses include the perfect tense, which is formed using the verb "to have" and the past participle. In the case of regular verbs the past participle is formed by adding ed to the base form of the verb.
See also IRREGULAR VERBS.
Examples of the perfect tense include "He has played his last match", "We have travelled all day" and "They have thought a lot about it".
The past perfect tense or pluperfect tense is formed using the verb "to have" and the past participle, as in "She had no idea that he was dead" and "They had felt unhappy about the situation".
The future perfect is formed using the verb "to have" and the past participle, as in "He will have arrived by now".