| The Tense of Verbs |
| Present Tense: Simple Present Tense Present Continuous Tense Present Perfect Tense Past Tense: Simple Past Tense Past Continuous Tense Past Perfect Tense Future Tense: Simple Future Tense Future Continuous Tense Future Perfect Tense |
| In gerenal, the tense of verbs can be classified as follow: |
| The Simple Present Tense 1. expressing everyday works/activites/behaviors. e.g. I go to school every day. 2. expressing habits or things you do/do not do frequently. (always, often, usually, seldom, never) e.g. He always sleeps late. 3. expressing things that are always true. e.g. The sun rises in the east. |
| The Present Continuous Tense 1. expressing continuous action when talking or writing. (now) e.g. I am singing now. 2. expressing activities/behaviors occurs very soon. e.g. I am going to leave this evening. In point 2, the definition is similar to, but, in fact, is different from "The Simple Futrue Tense". We use "be going to" when we are determined to take certain actions. The resolution is more stable than that of The Simple Future Tense, meaning that actions must be taken as planned. |
| The Present Perfect Tense 1. expressing actions started in the past while finishing talking or writing right now. (already, just) e.g. I've just finished my homework. 2. expressing things started in the past and continued up till now. (since, for) e.g. I have lived here for 3 years. I have lived here since 1995. |
| The Simple Past Tense 1. expressing actions in the past e.g. I went to the park yesterday. |
| The Past Continuous Tense 1. expressing actions was taking place in a certain period in the past. In Chinese(�ʧ@���b�o�ͩ�L�h�Y�@�Ӯɶ���) e.g. We were having lunch when John came. This tense is usually used when the pattern is like the above example. |