Simple Tense (I eat, I ate, I will eat)

Simple Tense does not tell if the action is finished.

1. Simple Past… (I ate)

It happened sometime in the past. It happened before the time or moment of speaking/writing.

I went to the grocery store yesterday.
Michaelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel in Rome.
She ate french fries and burger.

2. Simple Present…(I eat)

• The action is happening in the present, at the time of speaking/ writing.

The dog barks at the old man.
Our science project shows how we could stop global warming.
My baby plays with her doll.
My brother plays the piano.

• General truths or scientific facts

The sun rises on the East and sets on the West.
Snakes shed skin seasonally.
The apple falls to the ground because of gravity.

• Habitual action, those that you usually do

I go to the grocery store. (habitual, for example every week.)
I practice for soccer every Tuesday.
I usually sleep at 9pm.
I eat breakfast everyday.

3. Simple Future… (I will eat)

The action will happen in the future. The action will happen after the time of speaking/writing the sentence.

We will eat french fries and burger after the show.
She will go to the grocery store.
He will buy books tomorrow.
She will attend the party.

Note:

• Simple Past                        (I ate)
• Simple Present                 (I eat)
• Simple Future                   (I will eat)

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Verb Tense

A tense is a form of  a verb that tells the time of action or condition. The 3 kinds of tense:

1. Past
2. Present
3. Future

Other languages have no tense. They use a different method to tell the time of the action but in English we change the form of the verb to know the tense. Example:

(past – present – future)

• eat – ate – will eat
• sing- sang – will sing
• talk – talked – will talk

More examples for beginners.

What about simple, perfect and progressive tense?

These are called ASPECT, which tells about

• how long did it happen?
• did it continue?
• was it completed?

The 4 Aspects are:

1. Simple Tense
2. Perfect/ Complete tense
3. Progressive/ Incomplete Tense
4. Perfect Progressive/Continuous Tense

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