Past Continuous
The Past Continuous tense, also known as the past progressive tense, is used to describe actions or events that were happening at a specific time in the past. It is formed using the auxiliary verb be (in the past tense) followed by the present participle of the main verb (which is typically formed by adding -ing to the base form of the verb). I was eating breakfast when the phone rang. (The speaker was in the process of eating breakfast at a specific time in the past when the phone rang.) She was writing a letter when I saw [...]
Present Continuous
The Present Continuous tense, also known as the Present Progressive tense, is used to describe actions or events that are happening at the present moment or are in progress. It is formed using the auxiliary verb be (in the present tense) followed by the present participle of the main verb (which is typically formed by adding -ing to the base form of the verb). I am eating breakfast. (The speaker is in the process of eating breakfast at the present moment.) She is writing a letter. (The speaker is in the process of writing a letter at the present [...]
Future Indefinite in the Past
The Future Indefinite in the Past describes an action that was future from the point of view of the past. NOTE: In the past, this tense was commonly used by grammarians in tense classification of the English language. However, this tense is no longer used in Modern English and has been replaced by other tenses and verb forms. Despite this change, the tense form remains an important part of the history of the English language and continues to be studied by linguists and language enthusiasts. Formation of the Future Indefinite #1. The Future Indefinite in the [...]
Future Indefinite
In English grammar, the future indefinite tense, also known as the simple future tense, is used to describe an action or event that will happen in the future. It is formed using the auxiliary verbs shall and will followed by the base form of the verb. For example: I will finish my homework tonight. (The speaker will complete their homework at some point in the future.) We will have a meeting tomorrow. (The speaker and a group of people will have a meeting at some point in the future.) Here are some more examples of sentences in the future [...]
Past Indefinite
The past indefinite tense, also known as the simple past tense, is a verb tense that is used to describe actions or events that occurred in the past and have been completed. It is used to describe past habits, past facts, or past generalizations. The past indefinite tense is formed by adding -ed to regular verbs or by using the second form of irregular verbs. For example: I walked to the store. (regular verb) She ate a sandwich. (irregular verb) In each of these examples, the verb "walked" and "ate" are in the past indefinite tense because they describe [...]
Present Indefinite
In English grammar, the present indefinite tense is a verb tense that is used to describe actions that are currently happening or that are regularly occurring. It is also called the present simple tense. The present indefinite tense is formed by using the base form of the verb (also known as the infinitive form without "to") with the subject. For example: I eat breakfast every morning. (In this sentence, "eat" is the base form of the verb and is being used in the present indefinite tense to describe a regular action that is currently happening.) She speaks Spanish fluently. [...]
Sequence of Tenses
#1. The sequence of tenses is a certain dependence of the tense of the verb in a subordinate clause on that of the verb in the principal clause: if the verb in the principal clause is in one of the past tenses, a past tense (or future in the past) must be used in the subordinate clause. The rule is generally observed in object clauses. I thought you had better sense. (Dreiser) I always thought it would come to this. NOTE: It is implied in the rule of the sequence of tenses that if a present or future tense is [...]