What tenses are there in the English language?
1.Present Tense,
2.Past Tense,
3.Future,
4.Present Perfect Tense,
5.Past Perfect Tense, and
6.Future Perfect Tense.
Progressive (continuous) forms all contain present participles:
1.Present Progressive: I am working now.
2.Past Progressive: I was working yesterday.
3.Future Progressive: I will be working all day tomorrow.
4.Present Perfect Progressive: I have been working this morning.
5.Past Perfect Progressive: I had been working before he came in.
6.Future Perfect Progressive: This time next year I will have been working for two years.
A present participle is an -ing form used in compound verb forms (as shown above) or as an adjective (frightening story, grinding poverty, grueling work, et cetera).
What's a gerund?
Gerunds are nouns ending in -ing.
*Smoking is bad for your health.
*I have given up on doing this homework.
*My favourite activity is listening to the radio.
*Do you mind extinguishing that cigarette?
How do we distinguish between gerunds and present participles in the following situations?
Compare:
*Running shoes
*Walking stick
*Dressing gown
*Running water
*Wedding ring
*Horrifying death
*Dashing young man
*Stirring sincerity
1.Gerunds answer to the question: "What's it for?"
2.Present Participles answer to the question: "What's it doing?"
What's a past participle?
A past participle is the third verb form, which can be regular (talk-talked-talked), in which case it ends in -ed, or irregular (speak-spoke-spoken). Past Participles are used:
*With "have" or "had" to form PERFECT TENSES:
oPresent Perfect: I have already talked with her this morning.
oPast Perfect: I had talked to her before she left the office.
*With "be" to form the PASSIVE:
oThe flight was delayed due to adverse weather conditions.
oThe door is locked and I can't come in.
*As adjectives:...