College English 2024 Writing Guide #2

Hyerin Shin

Verb Tenses

Introduction

In English, only two tenses are conveyed through the verb alone: present (“sing") and past (“sang"). Most
English tenses, as many as thirty of them, are marked by other words called auxiliaries. Understanding the
six basic tenses allows writers to re-create much of the reality of time in their writing.

Simple Present: They walk.

Present Perfect: They have walked.

Simple Past: They walked.

Past Perfect: They had walked.

Future: They will walk.

Future Perfect: They will have walked.

Usually, the perfect tenses are the hardest to remember. Here’s a useful tip: all of the perfect tenses are
formed by adding an auxiliary or auxiliaries to the past participle, the third principal part.

1st principal part (simple present): ring, walk

2nd principal part (simple past): rang, walked

3rd principal part (past participle): rung, walked

In the above examples, will or will have are the auxiliaries. The following are the most common
auxiliaries: be, being, been, can, do, may, must, might, could, should, ought, shall, will, would, has, have,
had.

PRESENT PERFECT
The present perfect consists of a past participle (the third principal part) with "has" or "have." It
designates action which began in the past but which continues into the present or the effect of which still
continues.

1. Simple Past: “Betty taught for ten years.” This means that Betty taught in the past; she is no longer
teaching.

2. Present Perfect: “Betty has taught for ten years.” This means that Betty taught for ten years, and she
still teaches today.

1. Simple Past: “John did his homework so he can go to the movies.” In this example, John has already
completed his homework.

2. Present Perfect: “If John has done his homework, he can go to the movies.” In this case, John has not
yet completed his homework, but he will most likely do so soon.

PRESENT PERFECT INFINITIVES

Infinitives also have perfect tense forms. These occur when the infinitive is combined with the word
“have.” Sometimes, problems arise when infinitives are used with verbs of the future, such as “hope,”
“plan,” “expect,” “intend,” or “want.”

I wanted to go to the movies.

Janet meant to see the doctor.

In both of these cases, the action happened in the past. Thus, these would both be simple past verb forms.

Present perfect infinitives, such as the examples below, set up a sequence of events. Usually, the action
that is represented by the present perfect tense was completed before the action of the main verb.

1. I am happy to have participated in this campaign!

The current state of happiness is in the present: “I am happy.” Yet, this happiness comes from having
participated in this campaign that most likely happened in the near past. Therefore, the person is saying
that he or she is currently happy due to an event that happened in the near past.
2. John had hoped to have won the trophy.

The past perfect verbal phrase, “had hoped,” indicates that John hoped in the past, and no longer does.
“To have won the trophy” indicates a moment in the near past when the trophy was still able to be won.
Thus, John, at the time of possibly winning the trophy, had hoped to do so, but never did.

Thus the action of the main verb points back in time; the action of the perfect infinitive has been
completed.

PAST PERFECT

The past perfect tense designates action in the past just as simple past does, but the past perfect’s action
has been completed before another action.

1. Simple Past: “John raised vegetables.” Here, John raised vegetables at an indeterminate time in the
past.

2. Past Perfect: “John sold the vegetables that he had raised.” In this sentence, John raised the vegetables
before he sold them.

1. Simple Past: “Renee washed the car when George arrived.” In this sentence, Renee waited to wash the
car until after George arrived.

2. Past Perfect: “Renee had washed the car when George arrived.” Here, Renee had already finished
washing the car by the time George arrived.

In sentences expressing condition and result, the past perfect tense is used in the part that states the
condition.

1. If I had done my exercises, I would have passed the test.

2. I think Sven would have been elected if he hadn't sounded so pompous.

Further, in both cases, the word if starts the conditional part of the sentence. Usually, results are marked
by an implied then. For example:

If I had done my exercises, then I would have passed the test.

If Sven hadn’t sounded so pompous, then he would have been elected.

Again, the word then is not required, but it is implied.

FUTURE PERFECT

The future perfect tense is used for an action that will be completed at a specific time in the future.

1. Simple Future: “On Saturday, I will finish my housework.” In this sentence, the person will finish his
or her housework sometime on Saturday.

2. Future Perfect: “By noon on Saturday, I will have finished my housework.” By noon on Saturday, this
person will have the housework already done even though right now it is in the future.

1. Simple Future: “You will work fifty hours.” In this example, you will work fifty hours in the future.
The implication here is that you will not work more than fifty hours.

2. Future Perfect: “You will have worked fifty hours by the end of this pay period.” By the end of this pay
period, you would have already worked fifty hours. However, as of right now, this situation is in the
future. The implication here is that you could work more hours.

REVIEW

1. Judy saved thirty dollars. (past—the saving is completed)

2. Judy will save thirty dollars. (future—the saving has not happened yet)

3. Judy has saved thirty dollars. (present perfect—the saving has happened recently)

4. Judy had saved thirty dollars by the end of last month. (past perfect—the saving occurred in the recent
past)

5. Judy will have saved thirty dollars by the end of this month. (future perfect—the saving will occur in
the near future, by the end of this month)

Verb Tense Consistency

Writing often involves telling stories. Sometimes we narrate a story as our main purpose in writing;
sometimes we include brief anecdotes or hypothetical scenarios as illustrations or reference points in an
essay.

Even an essay that does not explicitly tell a story involves implied time frames for the actions discussed
and states described. Changes in verb tense help readers understand the temporal relationships among
various narrated events. But unnecessary or inconsistent shifts in tense can cause confusion.

Generally, writers maintain one tense for the main discourse and indicate changes in time frame by
changing tense relative to that primary tense, which is usually either simple past or simple present. Even
apparently non-narrative writing should employ verb tenses consistently and clearly.

General guideline: Do not shift from one tense to another if the time frame for each action or state is the
same.

Verb Tenses in a Paragraph or Essay

Rely on past tense to narrate events and to refer to an author or an author's ideas as historical entities
(biographical information about a historical figure or narration of developments in an author's ideas over
time).

Use present tense to state facts, to refer to perpetual or habitual actions, and to discuss your own ideas or
those expressed by an author in a particular work. Also use present tense to describe action in a literary
work, movie, or other fictional narrative. Occasionally, for dramatic effect, you may wish to narrate an
event in present tense as though it were happening now. If you do, use present tense consistently
throughout the narrative, making shifts only where appropriate.

Future action may be expressed in a variety of ways, including the use of will, shall, is going to, are about
to, tomorrow and other adverbs of time, and a wide range of contextual cues.