Academics

Present Tenses

Present Simple

  • Use: To show repeated action, belief, opinion, characteristics
  • How to Form: Verb + -s/-es
  • Example: work / works
  • Sentence Examples: They work sometimes. She works at Gallaudet.

Present Perfect

  • Use: To show what has happened in the past and continues in the present; to show how long something has happened (often uses for and since).
  • How to Form: have/has + Past Participle
  • Example: have worked / has worked
  • Sentence Examples: I have worked at Gallaudet for seven years. Kelly has worked at Gallaudet since 1993.

Present Continuous (Progressive)

  • Use: To show an event that is going on right now.
  • How to Form: am/is/are + Verb + ing
  • Example: am working / is working / are working
  • Sentence Examples: Sue is working in the yard. She and her sister are working at Gally now.

Present Perfect Continuous (Progressive)

  • Use: To show how long something has been happening and is still happening.
  • How to Form: have/has + been + Verb + -ing
  • Example: have been working / has been working
  • Sentence Examples: I have been working at Gallaudet for seven years. Kelly has been working at Gallaudet since 1993.

Past Tenses

Past Simple

  • Use: To show what happened at a time in the past and is finished.
  • How to Form: Verb + -d/-ed
  • Example: worked
  • Sentence Examples Yesterday Jim worked with Harry.

Past Perfect

  • Use: To show an action in the past that happened even before another event in the past.
  • How to Form: had + Past Participle
  • Example: had worked
  • Sentence Examples: The car had worked before the truck hit it

Past Continuous (Progressive)

  • Use: To show an event that was going on when something else happened (often uses before, after, when).
  • How to Form: was/were + Verb + -ing
  • Example: was working / were working
  • Sentence Examples: I was working on the paper when my friend interrupted me. Sara and Jill were working at the Abbey when I stopped by.

Past Perfect Continuous (Progressive)

  • Use: To show how long something had been happening before something else happened.
  • How to Form: had + been + Verb + -ing
  • Example: had been working
  • Sentence Examples: The car had been working fine before the truck hit it.

Future Tenses

Future Simple

  • Use: To show what will happen in the future.
  • How to Form: will + Verb
  • Example: will work
  • Sentence Example: In the future I will work on Mars every week.

Future Perfect

  • Use: To show something that has not yet been done but that will be done before a set time in the future.
  • How to Form: will have + Past Participle
  • Example: will have worked
  • Sentence Example: By tomorrow Steve will have worked on his term paper.

Future Continuous (Progressive)

  • Use: To show an event that will be going on when something else happens.
  • How to Form: will be + Verb + -ing
  • Example: will be working
  • Sentence Example: The guard will be working on his project when we sneak up on him.

Future Perfect Continuous (Progressive)

  • Use: To show how long something will have been happening by a future time.
  • How to Form: will have + been + Verb + -ing
  • Example: will have been working
  • Sentence Example: By tomorrow Steve will have been working for five days on his term paper.

Contact Us

Grammar and Vocabulary

JSAC 1225

202.448-7036

202-448-7036

Monday
Closed
Tuesday
Closed
Wednesday
Closed
Thursday
Closed
Friday
Closed
Saturday
Closed
Sunday
Closed

Select what best describes your relationship to Gallaudet University so we can effectively route your email.
By submitting this form, I opt in to receive select information and deaf resources from Gallaudet University via email.
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.