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SIMPLE
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PROGRESSIVE
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PERFECT
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PERFECT PROGRESSIVE
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| FUTURE
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Future tense expresses an action or situation that will occur in the future.
I will walk.
You will walk.
She/he will walk.
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Future progressive tense describes a past action which was happening when another action occurred.
I will be walking.
You will be walking.
She/he will be walking.
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Future perfect tense describes an action that took place in the past before another past action.
I will have walked.
You will have walked.
She/he will have walked.
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Future perfect progressive tense describes a future, ongoing action that will occur before some specified future time.
I will have been walking.
You will have been walking.
She/he will have been walking.
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| PRESENT
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Present tense expresses an unchanging, repeated, or reoccurring action or situation that exists only now.
I walk.
You walk.
She/he walks.
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Present progressive tense describes an ongoing action that is happening at the same time the statement is written.
I am walking.
You are walking.
She/he is walking.
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Present perfect tense describes an action that happened at a past, unfixed time or began in the past and continues in the present.
I have walked.
You have walked.
She/he has walked.
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Present perfect progressive tense describes an action that began in the past, continues in the present, and may continue into the future.
I have been walking.
You have been walking.
She/he has been walking.
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| PAST
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Past tense expresses an action or situation that was started and finished in the past.
I walked.
You walked.
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Past progressive tense describes a past action which was happening when another action occurred.
I was walking.
You were walking.
She/he was walking.
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Past perfect tense describes an action that took place in the past before another past action.
I had walked.
You had walked.
She/he had walked.
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Past perfect progressive tense describes a past, ongoing action that was completed before some other past action.
I had been walking.
You had been walking.
She/he had been walking.
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Gerunds
1. A gerund is a verbal ending in -ing that is used as a noun.
2. A gerund phrase consists of a gerund plus modifier(s), object(s), and/or complement(s).
3. Gerunds and gerund phrases virtually never require punctuation.
Infinitives
1. An infinitive is a verbal consisting of the word to plus a verb; it may be used as a noun, adjective, or adverb.
2. An infinitive phrase consists of an infinitive plus modifier(s), object(s), complement(s), and/or actor(s).
3. An infinitive phrase requires a comma only if it is used as an adverb at the beginning of a sentence.
Participles
1. A participle is a verbal ending in -ing (present) or -ed, -en, -d, -t, -n, or -ne (past) that functions as an adjective, modifying a noun or pronoun.
2. A participial phrase consists of a participle plus modifier(s), object(s), and/or complement(s).
3. Participles and participial phrases must be placed as close to the nouns or pronouns they modify as possible, and those nouns or pronouns must be clearly stated.
4. A participial phrase is set off with commas when it:
o a) comes at the beginning of a sentence
o b) interrupts a sentence as a nonessential element
o c) comes at the end of a sentence and is separated from the word it modifies.
