When in time

Verbs are about actions, states or situations. Actions happen and states or situations exist at a certain time, have a result at a certain time or are possible at a certain time. The time we live in is now, present. Now divides the rest of time in two parts, past and future. One aspect that seems to be forgotten is that one can think of actions or states being always present. This is the case with facts or with things that are considered normal or background information.

Focus-Time

In a conversation or other communication, the time when an action happens or when a state is there is the most important time. It is the time the speaker or writer wants to draw the attention to, wants to focus on, the focus-time. But, it can happen that the most important time is not the time when an action actually happened. Sometimes an action has an effect at a later time and for the speaker or writer this effect can be more important than the action itself. In such cases the focus-time is the time at which this more important result or effect of the action occurs.

Always, Past, Present and Future

Whether the verb is put in always, past, present or Future, depends on the time the speaker wants to concentrate the attention on, wants to focus the attention on, the focus-time. Only the first verb of the sentence can show the focus-time. To talk about the future a possibility form can be used, the same forms as can be used to talk about possibilities now in another place. More about possibility form in the handout Possibility, Probability: not here, future, modal verbs [ in preparation, receiving final edits ].

Present	Past
I walk.	I walked.
I am going to work.	I was going to work.
I am not going to work.	I was not going to work.
	not: I am not went to work.
	not: I was not went to work.
Present	Past
Peter swims.	Peter swam.
Melanie is swimming.	Melanie was swimming.
Robert does not swim.	Robert did not swim.
	not: Melanie doesn't swam.
	not: Robert didn't swam.

Possibility Form
My neighbour might be swimming in the lake. The possibility exists now. If the swimming occurs it is now, in another place.
not:  My neighbour might was swimming in the lake, yesterday.
Barney could fix the bicycle if he had the tools. The possibility exists from now into the future. The fixing can only happen in the future, under the condition of Barney having the tools.
not:  Barney could fixed the bicycle if he had the tools.
The plumber could have been able to fix the washbasin if he hadn't been held up at the hardware store. The possibility existed in the past, not anymore. The fixing, in the past, is not possible anymore.
not:  The plumber could had been able to fixed the washbasin if he hadn't been held up at the hardware store.

Simple

Many grammar explanations and classes start with simple, which makes sense. They are much used forms and are simple in structure, consisting of only one verb. simple can be used to talk about an action as a whole, as a complete action.

Other verb forms could be called compound forms. They consist of a main verb and one or more auxiliary verbs. The main verb indicates the activity or state communicated. Auxiliary verbs do not really have a meaning. The function they have is much more important. Their function is, giving additional information about the activity indicated by the main verb. Important examples of information they give are:

• Continuing over a certain period of time, going on, being in progress;
• Having happened in the past; the action or state itself being important or the result being more important;
• The possibility or probability of the existence of the action or state;

Now, Simple Always, Fact Form (Simple Present)

When talking about the present, about now, it doesn't make much sense to talk about an action as a whole, as a complete action. In most contexts, now is extremely short, too short to fit an action that can be performed. This is easily verified with some simple thought experiments. Make sentences about now. Think about, talk about, now, about things you are doing now or that are happening now. Let me start with a cliché-like, over obvious one. Which of the following two sentences is best.

To really notice how strange this is, you the reader, should say it about yourself, using first person singular. Which of the following sounds best, feels best.

If you are not yet familiar enough with English, It might not work for you. If that is the case, talk about it in your own language or another language that you are familiar with. In all the languages that I know, it works the same.

The thought experiment shows that, when talking about an action now present continuous or durative is used. It is also the reason I used present continuous to write down the task for the thought experiment, above.

So what about simple present. Well, this name shouldn't be used in grammar explanations. Regular grammar explanations show that the name simple present is illogical, that it is a misnomer. They say that simple present is used to talk about facts, about things that are normal, things that are always true and that for actions which are happening now, present continuous is used. For this reason instead of simple past a name should be chosen that fits the definition. A few suggestions are simple always, fact form. They are more logical and therefore make it easier to see when this verb form can be used. Using these names to teach my pupils, the improvement in their performance was clear to see.

Unfortunately neither name is really better than the other but using them together, side by side, they work well. In most cases, the name simple always makes it easy for learners to see when this verb form is good to use. The other name, fact form, is more accurate. In cases where the name simple always doesn't make things clear enough, the more accurate name fact form works well.

Short lasting facts

The problem of neither simple always nor fact form being really good names is in part because some facts are time related, in some cases they are related to an extremely short period of time around the point in time of now.

The name fact form is more accurate than simple always. Experience shows however that the name simple always is more helpful for learners to use the corresponding verb form appropriately. Therefore the suggestion to use both names until someone can come up with something better.

Communication problems because of illogical name

It is not uncommon for learners to use simple always (simple present) instead of simple past. They do not realise that this can cause rather problematic communication problems. Talking about yourself using simple always (simple present) with a verb that indicates an action, can be interpreted as communicating your intentions. With a negative sentence it can be understood as, that you refuse to do something.

Learners who know simple always only by the name of simple present are not always aware of communication problems their mistakes may cause. See the following examples.

It is amazing to see how learners improve performance in this aspect by learning the term simple always and why it is a better, more logical name than simple present.

Simple Past

To talk about actions as a whole, things that were normal or facts, in the past, simple past can be used.

How in time, Time-factor, Continuous

It is possible to indicate that an action or state is going on, that it is continuing for some time. This can be done by using continuous, a form that is sometimes referred to as giving the verb a Time-Factor. In cases like the following, continuous is used.

• If an action is going on at the moment refered to, at the focus time.
• If for the speaker, the action lasts long.
• It can be used to indicate that the action is uninterrupted, that the action is continuing. That is why it is called continuous.
• It can also be used to indicate that an action was continuing until it was interrupted.
• Normally, to use continuous, there should be some kind of development or progress. That's why it is also called progressive.

The difference between present continuous and past continuous is indicated by the auxiliary verb.

I am playing tennis.	present continuous.
Roberta is playing rugby.	present continuous.
I was playing tennis.	past continuous.
Roberta was playing rugby.	past continuous.

Present Continuous

The actions are not necessarily uninterrupted. Present continuous can be used when an action is happening at this period of time, at certain intervals, but not necessarily right at this moment.

Past Continuous

Nonactions

Some verbs do not indicate actions but states. They are called stative verbs Being states, sometimes called nonactions, there is no progress or development. It is there or it is not there at a certain time. Therefore, stative verbs are normally not placed in continuous.

Some verbs that normally indicate nonactions can also indicate actions.

In rare occasions it does make sense to put nonactions like feelings or opinions in continuous. For using continuous most important is actually that it indicates something is temporarily present. This can be because it is different from normal.

So, always think first of what you want to say. First see if you want to indicate an action or a nonaction, or a nonaction that is clearly temporarily. After that, apply the rules accordingly.

Two verbs in the Past

When talking about two actions in the past, the verb tenses can indicate how the actions are related to each other in time.

Simple Past - Past Continuous

When one verb is placed in simple past and the other in past continuous, it can mean two things. One possibility is that the action in simple past happened somewhere during the time of the action in past continuous but lasted much shorter. The other is that the action in simple past interrupted the action in past continuous.

Two verbs in Past Continuous

When both are placed in past continuous this means both are going on at the same time.

Time period phrase

Using simple past or past continuous with a time period phrase is similar.

Simple past indicates that the action happened at some time during part of the mentioned period.

Past continuous indicates that the action went on during the whole period.

Perfect

Action not at focus-time

As said before, sometimes you talk about an action or state but not because it is very important. What is actually more important is the result or effect that it has. The focus-time will be the time of the result or effect that you think is more important than the action itself when it happened. The action of course happens before the result you think is more important, before the focus-time. In such cases you can use perfect.

Something that is perfect is hardly worth talking or even thinking about. What can one say about something that is perfect, just that it is what it is and that it is perfect. Something that’s not perfect, that is what you can talk about a lot. It’s like those two neighbours. The perfect one what can you say about him, that he’s perfect. Now the one that is not perfect, that’s the one you can talk and talk and talk about.

In verb-grammar it is similar. You place the verb in perfect because it’s not really interesting or important enough to talk about, it’s not what you really want to talk about. You only mention the action because you actually want to communicate something else, the result of the action or state indicated by the verb and the easiest way to communicate this is by mentioning the action that caused it.

Perfect can be used to indicate that a certain action necessarily happened before another action or before a certain time. Reason can be that it is in the nature of the actions or because it has been set as a rule.

Present Perfect

When talking about something that started in the past, continued until now and will probably continue into the future, present perfect is used in English.

Maybe you want to communicate that you know Berlin, that this is part of your experience, that you can talk about it. You can do that by using present perfect.

If someone asks you:

You can say:

Two people come out of the cinema and one says to the other:

Difference present perfect and simple past

What is the difference between the next two sentences?

The first sentence with present perfect normally indicates that Ben still lives there. The second sentence with simple past means Ben doesn’t live there any more.

Past Perfect

Past perfect is often used to indicate that an action necessarily happened before another action in the past or before a certain time in the past.

Past Perfect with Past

The action first in time is in past perfect. The action second in time, the one that only happens if the first one did, is in simple past.

Past perfect with past-time-phrase

A verb in past perfect together with a past-time-phrase means the action of this verb happened before the mentioned time.

Some flexibility

There is no rigid relation between the facts of the actions and the verb tenses you can use. There is some flexibility allowing you to communicate what you think of the facts. In different contexts a same verb form can have different meanings.

Example, Present Perfect

Look at this phrase with present perfect.

It has different meanings in the following two contexts.

Context 1.

In this context it means that Julia came to live in Rio seven years ago and is still living here. Living in Rio for so long made that she got used to the heavy traffic and the noise so it doesn't bother her anymore.

Context 2.

Here it means that Peter used to live in Rio. He is not living there any more but he has lived there for a period of seven years. That's why he knows the city well. He can find his way around. Although he doesn't live in Rio any more, the time that he did live there gave him experience and knowledge of the city, which is useful now.

Example, Present Perfect - Present Perfect Continuous

On two occasions, someone needs to return a book to you. The circumstances are the same. You agree to meet in a café. Both make you wait for 45 minutes. On arrival the person says:

You can reply:

You can also reply:

If it is a good friend of yours you will probably say:

Like this, using present perfect, you just give the reason you’re still there.

If it is for instance a fellow-student you actually don’t like too much. You may say:

By using present perfect continuous, you show that you think it took him a long time to arrive and that you didn’t like having to wait that much.

Recognising verb tenses

The order in which the above described elements are presented in the names of the verb form is the same order as in which they appear in the sentence. By recognising the elements you can recognise the verb form.

Example: Past Perfect Continuous

Exercise