![]() We know verbs have tenses and aspects, but they also have moods - more here. So, if we consider the 3 tenses – past, present, and future - and then introduce 4 aspects for each, we can, for simplicity, say there are 12 tenses. The aspect of the verb depends on whether an action as described by the verb is ongoing (progressive), completed (perfect), was ongoing but ended (perfect progressive), or neither ongoing nor completed – just a fact (simple). ![]() To get to the answer 12, we need to consider the aspect of a verb. Most books and guidance refer to 12 different verb tenses. However, most people, for the purpose of teaching English consider there to be 3 tenses – past, present, and future. To be linguistically precise, the only tenses in the English language are the present and the past with the future “tense” being formed using a helping verb. ![]() This is obviously not a helpful answer so let’s have a brief and simplified explanation. How many verb tenses are there in English?Ībove we’ve described 3 verb tenses, but the answer to this question is either 2, 3, 12, or 16 depending on who you ask.
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