"How to Study Verb Tenses
and Never Again Forget Them?"

Verb tenses is a topic we have learned in school or college year after year; yet few have confidence in the use of it.

This page will show you an approach to the study of tenses, so that...

you can have an intimate understanding of the topic, and
be able to guide others to a better understanding.

What is Tense?

In English, tense and aspect are two things which are intertwined. When people speak of tense, they usually include the aspect without making a special mention of it.

Tense refers to the time of an event - it could be present, past or future.

Aspect refers to the state of the event - the event could be...
- in progess (progressive or continuous aspect), or
- completed ( perfect aspect)

Three Distinct Things to Consider
When You Study Verb Tenses

Forms of tenses - A form refers to the spelling and combination of words used for a particular tense. It is the word-symbol to represent some meaning.
Names of tenses - A name refers to the name given to a particular tense form.
Uses of tenses - A use refers to the meaning(s) associated with a particular form.

Symbols are part of our lives

In our daily lives too, we can find these three facets (form, name, and meaning) in our use of symbols...

We use pictures, gestures, sounds, words, as symbols (forms)
We give each symbol a name to distinguish it from other symbols, and
we use the symbol to convey some message (meaning) to other people.

If you want an example,
See how we use picture symbols...

Symbol (i.e. the form)	Name of the Symbol	Meaning of the Symbol (i.e. its Use)
	"red flag"	"Stop"
	"black flag"	"We protest"

The symbol, which we call "red flag," may be of cloth or paper and may come in any number of sizes; but all of them are called "red flags" and can carry the intended message.

In the Study of Verb Tenses
We Use Phrase Symbols

In the table below, as symbols we have phrases (word-combinations) instead of pictures.

Just as there could be varieties of red flags, we can have many similar word-combinations which deserve the name "Present Continuous Tense."

Phrase-Symbol (Form)	Name of the Phrase-Form	Meaning of the Word-Form (i.e. its Use)
am/is/are singing am/is/are writing am/is/are playing	"Present Continuous tense"	An action or event in progress at the time the words of the tense are spoken. Sometimes, also used for announcing certain types of future events.
sang wrote played	"Simple Past tense"	An action or event which happened at a particular point of time before the time called "now." Exactly when it happened (a little before or long before) needs to be separately indicated.

What Seems to Me the Problem
in Learning or Teaching Verb Tenses

'Being' is different from 'Doing'. I think, the inability or carelessness or refusal to distinguish between the two is the problem.

Let's suppose, someone asked you, "What is a brick?"

Your answer shouldn't be "something that is used for building a house."
That is not the answer to the question asked. It is an answer to some other question: "What is the use of a brick?"

Similarly, in English Language Learning...

When learning or teaching grammar, the teacher-student dialogue should go something like this:

Question: What is the present continuous tense?
Answer: am/is/are eating; am/is/are studying; am/is/are working; etc.
Question: What do we use these forms for?
Answer: To convey the meaning that the action of eating or studying or working is in progress....

So, identify a tense by its form; you can then seek to know which meanings are conveyed by that particular form.