Introduction

English has six different verb forms to refer to past events and situations. They are:

Name	Example
simple past	I worked
past progressive (or ‘continuous’)	I was working
(simple) present perfect	I have worked
present perfect progressive (or ‘continuous’)	I have been working
(simple) past perfect	I had worked
past perfect progressive (or ‘continuous’)	I had been working

In academic grammars, a distinction is often made between ‘tense’ (present or past) and ‘aspect’ (perfective and progressive). Tense shows time; aspect shows, for example, whether an event is seen as ongoing or completed at a particular time. In more practical books like this one, it is convenient to use ‘tense’ for all verb forms which show time.The various uses of these six verb forms are covered in the following entries. Note in particular that the English present perfect (e.g. I have seen) is constructed in the same way as a tense in some other Western European languages (e.g. j’ai vu, ich habe gesehen, ho visto, jeg har set), but that it is not used in exactly the same ways (see here).

Do you know what’s wrong with these, and why?

gallopped regreted (see here)

‘What did you do at eight o’clock yesterday evening?’ ‘I watched TV.’ (see here)

When I got up this morning the sun shone and the birds sang. (see here)

When I was a child we were walking to school every day. (see here)

She said she wasn’t believing me. (see here), (see here)

Some people think that Shakespeare has travelled in Germany. (see here)

Once upon a time a beautiful princess has fallen in love with a poor farmer. (see here)

When has the accident happened? (see here)

I know her for years. (see here)

How long are you studying English? (see here)

‘Why are you crying?’ ‘Granny has hit me.’ (see here)

The Chinese have invented paper. (see here)

It’s not as big as I have expected. (see here)

I’ve only been knowing her for two days. (see here)

Look at all the rose bushes I’ve been planting! (see here)

This is the first time I hear her sing. (see here)

During our conversation, I realised that we met before. (see here)

I told her that I have finished. (see here)

Alex Cary, who had worked for my father a few years ago, is now living in Greece. (see here)

I had left a jacket to be cleaned. Is it ready yet? (see here)

She told me that her father was ill since Christmas. (see here)

When I opened the windows, I sat down. (see here)

We were walking since sunrise, and we were very hungry. (see here)