My Brother's Great
Invention

The tense of a verb tells you the time of an action — when it happens.

• Present — happening now: She writes.
• Past — happened before now: She wrote.
• Future — will happen after now: She will write.

The same verb (write) simply changes its form to show the time. Pick the tense that matches when the action takes place.

The simple tenses state an action plainly, without saying it is in progress:

• Simple present — habits & facts: She writes every day.
• Simple past — a finished action: She wrote a letter.
• Simple future — yet to happen: She will write tomorrow.

With he/she/it, the simple present usually adds -s (write → writes). The simple future uses will + the verb.

The continuous (progressive) tenses show an action in progress. They use a form of be + the verb-ing form:

• Present continuous — happening now: She is writing. (is/am/are + writing)
• Past continuous — was happening: She was writing. (was/were + writing)