Learning verb tenses in a new language can be difficult. Verb tenses in English are used to express ideas in the present, past, or future; however, each verb tense has different nuances.
Making it more complicated, the same verb tense can also express different ideas depending on the context. That is why, for example, you can have verb tense express a future action or even even though it is called a present tense.
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To learn verb tenses more easily, it helps to understand how each verb tense places an action or event in a particular time frame. In this lesson, you will learn the concept of time frames, which will help you understand verb tenses in English and, in fact, in any new language you learn.
Understanding Time Frames
When you use verb tenses, you place actions, events, or states within particular time frames.
For example, in the sentences below, all sentences are about the same action (studying) while the verb tenses place the action in different time frames.
Action of studying in different time frames
I’m studying now.
(a present time frame)
I studied last night.
(a past time frame)
I’ll study again tomorrow.
(a future time frame)
I may study again tomorrow.
(a future time frame + a sense of likelihood expressed by the modal verb “may”)
I have been studying all day.
(a time frame starting in the past and extending up to the present)
I will have studied for three hours when you arrive this evening.
(a time frame starting at a point in the future and extending up to another point in the future)
The Misleading Names of Verb Tenses
Focusing too much on the names of the verb tenses can lead to confusion, especially if you are an English-language learner (ELL). For example, the sentence “I study every Monday” uses the present simple tense to describe a habitual action, not something happening right now. The tense is the present tense, but the action is not occurring now or in the present.
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The names of verb tenses often date back to ancient scholars. English grammarians adopted these names even though they did not always fit English perfectly. Even when the name matched the tense’s function at the time, the language has changed while grammar has not.
Traditional grammar terms are not updated to reflect language changes. For example, at one point in history, people said, “I eat dinner right now,” using the simple present to express a present action. Today, we use the present progressive tense as in “I am eating dinner right now.” This creates a discrepancy between what we call the verb tense and what it expresses.
Why Bother Learning the Names of Verb Tenses?
Knowing what to call a verb tense creates a common language that others understand when you refer to it. The issue is not with the names themselves, but with relying solely on the names to understand their function. Understanding that the same verb tense can express actions in different time frames (present, past, or future) helps you learn and use verb tenses more effectively as an ELL.
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