Now that we know the principal parts of the regular and irregular verbs, we are ready to discuss the tenses and how they are formed.  Tense shows the time of a verb's action in relation to the time of writing and speaking about that action.  Basically, there are three groups of tenses: the simple tenses, the perfect tenses, and the progressive tenses.  One of the most common problems writers have with verb tenses are unnecessary verb tense shifts in a piece of writing.  When writing, the rule of thumb to follow is to be consistent with verb tense.  If one starts writing about an event or subject in the past tense, for example, then one should consistently use the past tense unless there is a change in the time of action.

The simple tenses indicate that an action is past, present, or future relative to the speaker or writer. Present tense is primarily used for actions occurring at the time of the writing/speaking or to indicate actions occurring regularly.  The past tense indicates an action completed in the past.  The future tense indicates actions that will occur in the future.  The present tense and past tense are formed from the present/infinitive and the past principal parts respectively and the future tense is formed by adding the auxiliary verbs will or shall to the present/infinitive form of the verb.
 
 

Present	Singular	Plural
1st person	I walk I hide	we walk we hide
2nd person	you walk you hide	you walk you hide
3rd person	he/she/it walks he/she/it hides	they walk they hide
Past
1st person	I walked I hid	we walked we hid
2nd person	you walked you hid	you walked you hid
3rd person	he/she/it walked he/she/it hid	they walked they hid
Future
1st person	I will/shall walk I will/shall hide	we will/shall walk we will/shall hide
2nd person	you will/shall walk you will/shall hide	you will/shall walk you will/shall hide
3rd person	he/she/it will/shall walk he/she/it will/shall hide	they will/shall walk they will/shall hide

 

The perfect tenses indicate that an action was or will be completed at the time of another action.  The present perfect tense indicates an action that began in the past and is linked to the present and can also indicate an action begun in the past and continued into the present.  The past perfect tense is used for an action already completed before the time of another past action.  The future perfect tense is used for an action that will be completed by the time of another action in the future.  The perfect tenses are composed of the verb's past participle preceded by a form of the auxiliary verb have.
 
 

Present Perfect	Singular	Plural
1st person	I have walked I have hidden	we have walked we have hidden
2nd person	you have walked you have hidden	you have walked you have hidden
3rd person	he/she/it has walked he/she/it has hidden	they have walked they have hidden
Past Perfect
1st person, 2nd person, 3rd person	I/you/he/she/it had walked I/you/he/she/it had hidden	we/you/they had walked we/you/they had hidden
Future Perfect
1st person, 2nd person, 3rd person	I/you/he/she/it will/shall have walked I/you/he/she/it will/shall have hidden	we/you/they will/shall have walked we/you/they will/shall have hidden

 

The progressive tenses indicate continuing (progressive) action.  The present progressive tense indicates a continuing action in the present time, while the present perfect progressive tense indicates an action that began in the past and is continuing in the present.  The past progressive tense indicates a a continuing action that occurred in the past, while the past perfect progressive tense indicates an action beginning at an earlier time and continuing at the time of a later past action.  The future progressive tense is used to indicate an action that will be ongoing in the future, while the future perfect progressive tense is used to indicate an action that begins at an earlier time and will be continuing at the time of a another future action.  The progressive tense consists of the present participle form of the verb (ending in -ing) preceded by a form of the verb be.  The perfect progressive tenses consist of the present participle form of the verb preceded by a form of have and the past participle of be(been). Regular and irregular verbs form the progressive tenses in the same way.
 

Present Progressive	Singular	Plural
1st person	I am walking I  am hiding	we are walking we are hiding
2nd person	you are walking you are hiding	you are walking you are hiding
3rd person	he/she/it is walking he/she/it is hiding	they are walking they are hiding
Past Progressive
1st person	I was walking  I was hiding	we were walking we were hiding
2nd person	you were walking you were hiding	you were walking you were hiding
3rd person	he/she/it was walking he/she/it was hiding	they were walking they were hiding
Future Progressive
1st person	I will/shall be walking I will/shall be hiding	we will/shall be walking we will/shall be hiding
2nd person	you will/shall be walking you will/shall be hiding	you will/shall be walking you will/shall be hiding
3rd person	he/she/it will/shall be walking he/she/it will/shall be hiding	they will/shall be walking they will/shall be hiding
Present Perfect Progressive
1st person	I have been walking I have been hiding	we have been walking we have been hiding
2nd person	you have been walking you have been hiding	you have been walking you have been hiding
3rd person	he/she/it has been walking he/she/it has been hiding	they have been walking they have been hiding
Past Perfect Progressive
1st person, 2nd person, 3rd person	I/you/he/she/it had been walking I/you/he/she/it had been hiding	we/you/they had been walking we/you/they had been hiding
Future Perfect Progressive
1st person, 2nd person, 3rd person	I/you/he/she/it will/shall have been walking  I/you/he/she/it will/shall have been hiding	we/you/they will/shall have been walking  we/you/they will/shall have been hiding