Tenses: What, Why, How

Ah yes, tenses; the sticky glue that forms the very backbone of our sentences and in doing so, gives our stories some spine. Their importance stems from the fact that they alone are responsible for establishing a time line for the events taking place in our stories. The slightest inaccuracy while using tenses could result in an entirely different sequence of events; perhaps the most irksome way to slowly suffocate the brilliance of a story.

Oft-times, an excellently conceptualized sentence is let down due to a scattered use of tenses; inconsistency while using tenses often confuses the readers as to when exactly an action happened and how it relates to the rest of the story. After all, why has the protagonist been seeking revenge for the last ten years when his mother died a minute ago? It makes no chronological sense; begone confusing tenses.

The following is a simple how-to regarding tenses; all except three of the most complicated tenses are listed AND illustrated with appropriate example. Additionally, if you don't really know which tense you want to use, there's also a succinct description of the situation each tense is generally used in.

It's like a power-up during a game; give you that lil' extra push you need to keep going while fighting the big, bad boss. Go on, I believe in you.

Present Simple tense

1) Structure:

-Positive sentence: Subject+ main verb+ object.

Example: I like coffee.

-Negative sentence: Subject+auxiliary verb+main verb+object.

Example: I do not like vegetables.

-Interrogative sentence: Auxiliary verb+ subject+ main verb+ object.

Example: Do you like giraffes?

2) Use: to talk about general time (action verbs) and current situations (stative verbs)

Present Continuous tense

1) Structure: Subject+ auxiliary "be" conjugated in present simple (am, are, is)+ main verb+ object.

-Positive sentence: I am writing this.

-Negative sentence: She is not paying attention.

2) Interrogative sentence: Auxiliary verb+ subject+ main verb+ object.

Example: Are they playing a game?

3) Use: for actions happening now and actions happening in the future.

Present Perfect tense

1) Structure: Subject+ auxiliary "have" conjugated in present simple (have, has)+ main verb in past participle form+ object.

-Positive sentence: I have seen Sherlock.

-Negative sentence: I have not played football.

2) Interrogative sentence: Auxiliary verb+ subject+ main verb+ object.

Example: Has she finished the work?

3) Uses: There's always a connection between the past and the present while using this tense. Hence we use this tense to talk about experience, change or continuing situations.

4) Utilizing "for" and "since":

-For: used to talk about a period of time i.e. ten minutes, two months etc.

Example: I have studied for two hours.

-Since: used to talk about a point in past time i.e. 2nd January, Saturday etc.

Example: I have studied since 2 o'clock.

Present Perfect Continuous tense

1) Structure: Subject+ auxiliary "have" conjugated in present simple (have, has)+ auxiliary "be" in past participle (been)+ main verb in present participle (+ing)+ object.

-Positive sentence: I have been studying for two hours.

-Negative sentence: We have not been working on the project.

2) Interrogative sentence: Auxiliary verb (has, have)+ subject+ auxiliary verb (been)+ main verb+ object.

Example: Has she been playing video games?

3) Use: Usually a connection with the present; used to talk about a past action recently-stopped or a past action still-continuing.

Past Simple tense

1) Structure:

-Positive sentences: Subject+ main verb+ object

Example: I went to work yesterday.

-Negative sentences: Subject+ auxiliary verb ("do" conjugated in past simple "did")+ main verb in base form+ object.

Example: She did not go to school.

-Interrogative sentences: Auxiliary verb+ subject+ main verb in base form+ object.

Example: Did you clean your room?

2) Use: to talk about an event in the past. The event may be short or long.

Past Continuous tense

1) Structure: Subject+ auxiliary "be" conjugated in past simple (was, were)+ main verb in present participle (+ing)+ object.

-Positive sentence: I was watching a movie.

-Negative sentence: You were not helping Daria.

2) Interrogative sentence: Auxiliary verb+ subject+ main verb+ object

Example: Were they playing chess?

3) Use: to express an action at a particular moment in the past. The afore-mentioned action started before that particular moment but has not yet finished at that moment.

Past Perfect tense

1) Structure: Subject + auxiliary "have" conjugated in past simple (had) + main verb in past participle form+ object.

-Positive sentence: I had finished my homework.

-Negative sentence: She had not gone to work.

2) Interrogative sentence: Auxiliary verb+ subject+ main verb+ object.

Example: Had they eaten dinner?

3) Use: expresses action in the past before another action in the past.

Example: When we arrived, the train had left.

Future Simple tense

1) Structure: Subject+ auxiliary "will"+ main verb in base form+ object.

-Positive sentence: I will finish my work.

-Negative sentence: She will not attend the seminar.

2) Interrogative sentence: Auxiliary "will"+ subject+ main verb in base form+ object.

Example: Will you arrive on time?

3) Use:

-No plan: Hold on. I'll get a pen.

-Prediction: It will rain tomorrow.

-With main verb "be": I'll be in London tomorrow. (can be used even if we have a firm plan, as long as the main verb is "be").

Future Continuous tense

1) Structure: Subject: Subject+ auxiliary verb "will" in invariable form (will)+ auxiliary verb "be" in invariable form (be)+ main verb in present participle (base+ing)+ object.

-Positive sentence: I will be sleeping in the afternoon.

-Negative sentence: I will not be using the car.

2) Interrogative sentences: Auxiliary verb "will"+ subject+ auxiliary verb "be"+ main verb in present participle form+ object.

Example: Will they be watching a movie?

3) Use: expresses an action at a particular moment in the future. The action will have started before that moment but it will not have finished at that moment.

Example: At 4 p.m. tomorrow, I will be working.

And there we have it folks! A concise summary of all the tenses important to story-telling, important to that delicious story you got cookin' on the back burner. Use one, use all, they're ripe for the picking. But for the sake of simplicity, stick to one or max two when writing a linear story. There were three advanced tenses that weren't discussed in the above list, but these should suffice for anyone looking to brush-up on their basics. Don't hesitate to Google a tense, we've all been there at some point and honestly, it's the smart thing to do. Onwards, writers!

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