Verb Tense Tips in English Grammar

In English grammar, verb tenses place the action (or state of being) of the sentence at a point in time. Six different verb tenses represent time:

• Simple present tense tells what is happening now: John checks his e-mail.

• Simple past tense tells what happened before now: George checked his e-mail this morning.

• Simple future talks about what has not happened yet: Patty will check her e-mail after work.

• Present perfect tense expresses an action or state of being in the present that has some connection with the past: Linda has checked her e-mail every morning for three weeks.

• Past perfect tense places an event before another event in the past:Luckily, Bill had checked his e-mail before the server crashed.

• Future perfect tense talks about something that has not happened yet in relation to another event in the future: Amanda will have read ten days' worth of e-mail before the day is done.