The Future Perfect Tense and The Future Perfect Progressive (Continuous) Tense

THE FUTURE PERFECT TENSE

FORM Future Perfect with "Will"
[ will have + past participle ]

EXAMPLES:

• You will have perfected your English by the time you come back from the U.S.
• Will you have perfected your English by the time you come back from the U.S.?
• You will not have perfected your English by the time you come back from the U.S.

FORM Future Perfect with "Be Going To"
[am/is/are + going to have + past participle]

EXAMPLES:

• You are going to have perfected your English by the time you come back from the U.S.
• Are you going to have perfected your English by the time you come back from the U.S.?
• You are not going to have perfected your English by the time you come back from the U.S.

The future perfect is used to refer to an action that will be completed sometime in the future before another action takes place.

Each of the highlighted verbs in the following sentences is in the future perfect tense.

• The surgeon will have operated on 6 patients before she attends a luncheon meeting.

- In this sentence, the act of operating ("will have operated") takes place in the future sometime before the act of attending ("attends").

• The plumber and his assistant will have soldered all the new joins in pipes before they leave for the next job.

- Here, the plumber's act of soldering ("will have soldered") will precede the act of leaving ("leave").

• By the time you get back from the corner store, we will have finished writing the thank you letters.

- In this sentence, the act of finishing ("will have finished") occurs well before the act of starting ("starts").

• They will have written their first exam by the time we get out of bed.

- Here, the act of getting out of bed occurs sometime after the writing of the exam.

THE FUTURE PERFECT PROGRESSIVE (CONTINUOUS) TENSE

FORM Future Perfect Continuous with "Will"
[will have been + present participle]

EXAMPLES:

• You will have been waiting for more than two hours when her plane finally arrives.
• Will you have been waiting for more than two hours when her plane finally arrives?
• You will not have been waiting for more than two hours when her plane finally arrives.

FORM Future Perfect Continuous with "Be Going To"

[am/is/are + going to have been + present participle]

EXAMPLES:

• You are going to have been waiting for more than two hours when her plane finally arrives.
• Are you going to have been waiting for more than two hours when her plane finally arrives?
• You are not going to have been waiting for more than two hours when her plane finally arrives.

The future perfect progressive tense is used to indicate a continuing action that will be completed at some specified time in the future. This tense is rarely used.

Each of the highlighted verbs in the following sentences is in the future perfect progressive tense.

• I will have been studying Greek for three years by the end of this term.

- In this sentence, the future perfect progressive is used to indicate the ongoing nature of the future act of the studying. The act of studying ("will have been studying") will occur before the upcoming end of term.

• By the time the meeting is over, the committee will have been arguing about which candidate to interview for three hours.

- Similarly in this sentence, the ongoing nature of a future act ("will have been arguing") is emphasized by the use of the future perfect progressive. The act of sustained arguing will take place before the meeting is over.

• When he returns, the wine will have been fermenting for three months.

- Here the ongoing action of fermentation will precede ("will have been fermenting") the act of returning.

EXERCISES [ THE FUTURE PERFECT TENSE AND THE FUTURE PERFECT PROGRESSIVE (CONTINUOUS) TENSE ]

The Simple Future Tense and The Future Progressive ( Continuous ) Tense

THE SIMPLE FUTURE TENSE

FORM Will
[ will + verb ]

EXAMPLES:

• You will help him later.
• They will meet us at the newest cafe in the market.
• I will send you the information when I get it.
  

FORM Be going to
[ am/is/are + going to + verb ]

• You are going to meet Dave tonight.
• He is going to spend his vacation in Hawaii.
• I am going to spend my vacation in Singapore.

The simple future is used to refer to actions that will take place after the act of speaking or writing.

Each of the highlighted verbs in the following sentences is in the simple future tense.

• Will you walk the dog tonight?
• At the feast, we will eat heartily.
• Bobby will call you tomorrow with details about the agenda.
• The Smiths say that they will not move their chicken coop
• The year 2222 will be a very interesting year.
• The year 2222 is going to be a very interesting year.
• John Thomas will be the next President.
• John Thomas is going to be the next President.

THE FUTURE PROGRESSIVE ( CONTINUOUS ) TENSE

FORM Future Continuous with "Will"
[ will be + present participle ]

EXAMPLES:

• You will be waiting for her when her plane arrives tonight.
• Will you be waiting for her when her plane arrives tonight?
• You will not be waiting for her when her plane arrives tonight.

FORM Future Progressive ( Continuous ) with "Be Going To"
[ am/is/are + going to be + present participle ]

EXAMPLES:

• You are going to be waiting for her when her plane arrives tonight.
• Are you going to be waiting for her when her plane arrives tonight?
• You are not going to be waiting for her when her plane arrives tonight.

The future progressive (continuous) tense is used to describe actions ongoing in the future. The future progressive (continuous) is used to refer to continuing action that will occur in the future.

Each of the highlighted compound verbs in the following sentences is in the future progressive (continuous) tense.

• The glee club will be performing at the celebration of the town's centenary.
• Keith will be working on the computer system for the next two weeks.
• The selection committee will be meeting every Wednesday morning.
• We will be writing an exam every afternoon next week.
• They will be ringing the bells for Hypatia next month.

EXERCISES [ THE SIMPLE FUTURE TENSE AND THE FUTURE PROGRESSIVE (CONTINUOUS) TENSE ]

The Past Perfect Tense and The Past Perfect Progressive (Continuous) Tense

THE PAST PERFECT TENSE

FORM
[ had + past participle ]

EXAMPLES:

• You had studied English before you moved to New York.
• When I woke up this morning, my roommate had left already.
• After I had eaten my dinner, I went to see a movie.

The past perfect tense is used to refer to actions that took place and were completed in the past. The past perfect is often used to emphasize that one action, event or condition ended before another past action, event, or condition began.

Each of the highlighted verbs in the following sentences is in the past perfect.

• Angelo arrived at 5:00 p.m. but Mr. Kintanar had closed the store.
  

- All the events in this sentence took place in the past, but the act of closing the store takes place before Angelo arrives at the store.

• After we located the restaurant that Keith had raved about, we ate supper there every Friday.

- Here the praise ("had raved") precedes the finding ("located") of the restaurant. Both actions took place sometime before the moment of speaking or writing.

• The elephant had eaten all the hay so we fed it oats for a week.

- In this sentence, both actions take place in the past, but the eating of the hay ("had eaten") preceded the eating of the oats ("fed").

• The heat wave had lasted three weeks.

- While the sentence "The heat wave has lasted three weeks" suggests that a condition began in the past and continues into the present, this sentence describes an action that began and ended sometime in the past ("had lasted"). By using the the past perfect the writer indicates that the heat wave has no connection to any events occurring in the present.

• After she had learned to drive, Alice felt more independent.

- Here the learning took place and was completed at a specific time in the past. By using the past perfect rather than the simple past ("learned"), the writer emphasizes that the learning preceded the feeling of independence.

THE PAST PERFECT PROGRESSIVE (CONTINUOUS) TENSE

FORM
[ had been + present participle ]

EXAMPLES:

• You had been writing there for more than two hours when she finally arrived.
• She had been working at that company for three years when it went out of business.
• Jason was tired because he had been jogging.

The past perfect progressive (continuous) tense is used to indicate that a continuing action in the past began before another past action began or interrupted the first action.

Each of the highlighted compound verbs in the following sentences is in the past perfect progressive tense.

• The toddlers had been running around the school yard for ten minutes before the teachers shooed them back inside.

- Here the action of the toddlers ("had been running") is ongoing in the past and precedes the actions of the teachers ("shooed") which also takes place in the past.

• We had been talking about repainting the front room for three years and last night we finally bought the paint.

- In this example, the ongoing action of "talking" precedes another past action ("bought").

• A construction crew had been digging one pit after another in the middle of my street for three days before they found the water main.

-Here, the action of digging ("had been digging") took place in the past and occurred over a period of time. The digging was followed by the action of finding ("found").

• Sheila had been reading mystery novels for several years before she discovered the works of Agatha Christie.

- In this sentence, the act of discovery ("discovered") occurred in the past but after the ongoing and repeated action of reading ("had been reading").

• The chief's assistant had been chopping vegetables for several minutes before he realized that he had minced his apron strings.

- This sentence is a bit more complex in that it contains three different past verb tenses. The sequence of tenses conveys a complex set of information. The past perfect progressive ("had been chopping") is used to emphasize the ongoing nature of the past act of chopping. While a second past progressive ("had been mincing") could be used, the past perfect ("had minced") is used to suggest the act of mincing was completed. The simple past ("realized") is used to describe the action closest to the present, an action that followed both the chopping and the mincing.

EXERCISES [ THE PAST PERFECT TENSE AND THE PAST PERFECT PROGRESSIVE (CONTINUOUS) TENSE ]

The Simple Past Tense and The Past Progressive (Continuous) Tense

SIMPLE PAST TENSE

FORM [ verb + ed ] or irregular verbs

EXAMPLES:

• I saw a movie yesterday.
  
• She washed her car.
• They sat at the beach all day.

The simple past is used to describe an action, an event, or condition that occurred in the past, sometime before the moment of speaking or writing.

Each of the highlighted verbs in the following sentences is in the simple past tense and each sentence describes an action taking place at some point in past.

• A flea jumped from the dog to the cat.
• Angelo gripped the hammer tightly and nailed the boards together.
• The gem-stones sparkled in a velvet lined display case.
• Artemisia Gentilsechi probably died in 1652.

PAST PROGRESSIVE (CONTINUOUS) TENSE

FORM
[ was/were + present participle ]

EXAMPLES:

• I was watching TV when she called.
• While we were having the picnic, it started to rain.
• Apple was waiting for us when we got off the plane.

The past progressive tense is used to described actions ongoing in the past. These actions often take place within a specific time frame. While actions referred to in the present progressive have some connection to the present, actions referred in the past progressive have no immediate or obvious connection to the present. The on-going actions took place and were completed at some point well before the time of speaking or writing.

Each of the highlighted verbs in the following sentences is in the past progressive tense.

• The cat was walking along the tree branch.

This sentence describes an action that took place over a period of continuous time in the past. The cat's actions have no immediate relationship to anything occurring now in the present.

• Apple was telling a story about the exploits of a red cow when a tree branch broke the window.

Here the action "was telling" took place in the past and continued for some time in the past.

• When the recess bell rang, Jesse was writing a long division problem on the blackboard.

This sentence describes actions ("ran" and "was writing") that took place sometime in the past, and emphasizes the continuing nature of one of the actions ("was writing").

• The archivists were eagerly waiting for the delivery of the former prime minister's private papers.

Here the ongoing action of "waiting" occurred at some time unconnected to the present.

• Between 1942 and 1944, the Frank and Van Damm families were hiding in a Amsterdam office building.

In this sentence, the action of hiding took place over an extended period of time and the continuing nature of the hiding is emphasized.

EXERCISES (SIMPLE PAST TENSE AND PAST PROGRESSIVE (CONTINUOUS) TENSE)

The Present Perfect Tense and The Present Perfect Progressive (Continuous) Tense

PRESENT PERFECT TENSE

FORM
[ has / have + past participle ]

EXAMPLES:

• He has lived here since he was young.
• For the past two years, she has worked at the stock exchange.
• I have been to London but I haven't been to New York.

The present perfect tense is used to describe action that began in the past and continues into the present or has just been completed at the moment of utterance. The present perfect is often used to suggest that a past action still has an effect upon something happening in the present.

Each of the highlighted compound verbs in the following sentences is in the present perfect tense.

• They have not delivered the documents we need.

This sentence suggest that the documents were not delivered in the past and that they are still undelivered.

• The health department has decided that all high school students should be immunized against meningitis.

The writer of this sentence uses the present perfect in order to suggest that the decision made in the past is still of importance in the present.

• The government has cut university budgets; consequently, the dean has increased the size of most classes.

Here both actions took place sometime in the past and continue to influence the present.

• The heat wave has lasted three weeks.

In this sentence, the writer uses the present perfect to indicate that a condition (the heat wave) began in past and continues to affect the present.

• Donna has dreamt about frogs sitting in trees every night this week.

Here the action of dreaming has begun in the past and continues into the present.

PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE (CONTINUOUS) TENSE

FORM
[ has / have + been + present participle ]

EXAMPLES:

• We have been playing tennis for two hours.
• They have been talking for the last hour.
• Apple has been teaching at the university since June.

Like the present perfect, the present perfect progressive is used to describe an action, event, or condition that has begun in the past and continues into the present. The present perfect progressive, however, is used to stress the on-going nature of that action, condition, or event.

Each of the highlighted verbs in the following sentences is in the present prefect progressive tense and each sentence suggests that the action began in the past and is continuing into the present.

• That dog has been barking for three hours; I wonder if someone will call the owner.
• I have been relying on my Christmas bonus to pay for the gifts I buy for my large family.
• They have been publishing this comic book for ten years.
• We have been seeing geese flying south all afternoon.
• Even though the coroner has been carefully examining the corpse discovered in Sutherland's Gully since early this morning, we still do not know the cause of death.

EXERCISES [PRESENT PERFECT TENSE AND PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE (CONTINUOUS) TENSE ]

The Simple Present Tense and The Present Progressive (Continuous) Tense

SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE

FORM
[ verb + s/es in third person ]

The simple present tense is used to describe an action, an event, or condition that is occurring in the present, at the moment of speaking or writing. The simple present is used when the precise beginning or ending of a present action, event, or condition is unknown or is unimportant to the meaning of the sentence.

Each of the highlighted verbs in the following sentences is in the simple present tense and each sentence describes an action taking place in the present:

• Deborah waits patiently while Bridget books the tickets.
• The shelf holds three books and a vase of flowers.
• The crowd moves across the field in an attempt to see the rock star get into her helicopter.

The simple present is used to express general truths such as scientific fact, as in the following sentences:

• Rectangles have four sides.
• The moon circles the earth once every 28 days.
• Calcium is important to the formation of strong bones.

The simple present is used to indicate a habitual action, event, or condition, as in the following sentences:

• Leonard goes to The Jumping Horse Tavern every Thursday evening.
• My grandmother sends me new mittens each spring.
• In fairy tales, things happen in threes.
• We never finish jigsaw puzzles because the cat always eats some of the pieces.

The simple present is also used when writing about works of art, as in the following sentences:

• Lolly Willowes is the protagonist of the novel Townsend published in 1926.
• The play ends with an epilogue spoken by the fool.

The simple present can also be used to refer to a future event when used in conjunction with an adverb or adverbial phrase, as in the following sentences:

• The doors open in 10 minutes.
• The premier arrives on Tuesday.
• Classes end next week.

PRESENT PROGRESSIVE (CONTINUOUS) TENSE

FORM
[ am/is/are + present participle ]

The present progressive emphasizes the continuing nature of an act, event, or condition.

Each of the highlighted verbs in the following sentences is in the present progressive tense. In each sentence the on-going nature of the action is emphasized by the use of the present progressive rather than the simple present.

• Nora is looking for the first paperback editions of all Raymond Chandler's books.
• Apple is dusting all the shelves on the second floor of the shop.
• The union members are pacing up and down in front of the factory.

The present progressive is occasionally used to refer to a future event when used in conjunction with an adverb or adverbial phrase, as in the following sentences:

• The doors are opening in 10 minutes.
• The premier is arriving on Tuesday.
• Classes are ending next week.

EXERCISES (Simple Present Tense and Present Progressive Tense)