Transcript:

Just as all sentences need to have verbs, all verbs need to have tenses. Tenses tell your reader when an action happened. Whether it happened in the past, whether it’s happening in the present, or whether it’s going to happen in the future. And as I talk about verb tenses, I’m going to use this little chart up here to sort of map out these verb tenses. If you’re a visual learner like me, this might be helpful.

I want to stress that there’s no reason to memorize what these tenses are called. I’m not going to quiz you on the names of these tenses or anything like that. Instead my goal is just to make you a little bit aware of the verb tenses in your sentences.

So let’s start off by talking about the present tense. The present tense describes things that always happen or usually happen. They describe general truths or observations or facts. So for example, “The teacher uses an authoritarian teaching style.” He used it yesterday, he’s using it today, he’ll use it tomorrow. This is just a basic observation. “The university offers an accelerated program.” They offered it yesterday, they’re offering it today, they’ll offer it tomorrow. This is a basic observation, a basic fact, so I want to use the present tense.

[ Source: Walden University. https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/c.php?g=465757&p=3437756 ]

See also:
Verbs
Verbs: Past Tense
Verbs: Future Tense
Verbs: Helping Verbs
Common Verb Errors

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