====== Tense ====== ===== Past ===== The past tense is most commonly used for writing stories. It gives the best sense of order to a situation because it lets people know when/how things happened. It also means that at the end of the paragraph that section of the story has been completed. In past tense words that are conveying actions (verbs) usually do not end with "s". (So for example you might write: "They ran to the store." you would not write "They runs to the store.") You could also write "They had gone to the store" or "They were at the store" because "had" and "were" are the past tense forms of "have" and "be". ===== Present ===== Present tense is most commonly used for when people are talking to each other. The present is typically not used for story telling because present tense actions are things that are still happening. Nothing is finalized yet so it can be very hard to tell what has happened when. Plus people sometimes find that the present tense when used to tell a story is distracting and hard to read. In present tense you will see words conveying actions end with "ing" and often see other helper words show that an action will be taking place (often using "is"). EX- "He is running to the store." You may see some words conveying action end with "s". EX- "He presses the big red button." ===== Future ===== Like present tense, the future tense is most commonly used when people are talking. Typically about things they want to do later (either at a known date or an unclear time in the future.) In future tense you see the word "will" used to show that something is going to be occurring. Sometimes this will have a set date added. EX- "They will go to the store tomorrow." ===== (Sample) Verb Comparison tables ===== ^ Verb - To Run ^^^^ ^ Subject ^ Past ^ Present ^ Future ^ | I | ran | am running | will run | | you | ran | are running | will run | | He/She | ran | is running | will run | | We | ran | are running | will run | | They | ran | are running | will run | ^ Verb - To Jump ^^^^ ^ Subject ^ Past ^ Present ^ Future ^ | I | jumped | am jumping | will jump | | you | jumped | are jumping | will jump | | He/She | jumped | is jumping | will jump | | We | jumped | are jumping | will jump | | They | jumped | are jumping | will jump | ^ Verb - To Shoot ^^^^ ^ Subject ^ Past ^ Present ^ Future ^ | I | shot | shoot | will shoot | | you | shot | shoot | will shoot | | He/She | shot | shoots | will shoot | | We | shot | shoot | will shoot | | They | shot | shoot | will shoot | ===== Sample sentences in each tense ===== Here are some sentences in each tense showing how to use them. ^ Past ^ Present ^ Future ^ | I came over earlier today | I'm coming over. | I will come over tomorrow | | I shook the juice | I'm shaking the juice | I'll shake the juice later | | I stood onto the ledge | I'm standing on the ledge | I'll stand on the ledge after a bit |