It can be used in the present ( she is sleeping ), past ( she was sleeping ), or future ( she will be sleeping ). For example, the continuous tense shows that an action is ongoing. However, for each of the past, present, and future tenses, there are four different aspects that add additional details. The past and future tenses often require changes or additions to the root form, such as the suffix – ed for the past tense and the modal verb will for the future. The standard tense in English is the present tense, which is usually just the root form of the verb. Verb tenses list: How many tenses are there in English? These grammatical aspects are the simple tense, perfect tense, continuous tense, and perfect continuous tense.

There are also additional aspects that give extra details, such as the length of time the action occurred, which actions happened first, or whether a past action has an impact on the present. The main verb tenses are the past, present, and future. Verb tenses show when an action took place, as well as how long it occurred.

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