Similar to the verb systems of other Germanic languages, the English verb system is largely periphrastic, which means phrases of two or more words express grammatical relationships that could otherwise be expressed by the inflection of single words. As described in the article The English Verb System for ESL Students—which presents a general overview of the English verb system including verb tense, verb aspect, verb mood, and verb voice—English verbs express two tenses, four aspects, three moods, and two voices.
The article Common English Verbs lists the three auxiliary verbs, twenty most common, and nine modal verbs that English language learners should memorize early in their English language studies. Auxiliary verbs help form verb phrases in the progressive aspect, perfect aspect, perfect-progressive aspect, and passive voice as well as interrogative sentences. Modal verbs are common English verbs that express modality, which is the expression of possibility, necessity, and contingency.
Grammatical tense is the expression of location in time of an action or state. Grammatical aspect is the expression of the temporal structure of an action or state. English verbs express two tenses and four aspects for a total of eight verb forms.
Simple (Non-continuous) Present Tense
The term simple present tense refers to verbs in the simple aspect, present tense, indicative mood, and active voice. In the English language, the simple present tense form of verbs is used to describe habits and routines, to state general facts and truths, and to express thoughts and feelings. The article Forming the Simple Present Tense of English Verbs: Spelling Changes and Pronunciation explains the rules for forming the simple present tense of English verbs including spelling changes and pronunciation.
The article Present-Tense: How to Use Non-continuous Verbs in English for ESL Students explains the use of non-continuous, or simple present tense, verbs as compared to continuous, or progressive aspect, verbs in the English language.
Simple (Non-continuous) Past Tense
The term simple past tense refers to verbs in the simple aspect, past tense, indicative mood, and active voice. In the English language, the simple past tense form of verbs is used to describe completed actions, to describe past habits and routines, to state past facts and truths, and to express past thoughts and feelings. The article Forming the Simple Past Tense of English Verbs: Spelling Changes and Pronunciation explains the rules for forming the simple past tense of English verbs, both regular and irregular, including spelling changes and pronunciation.
Progressive (Continuous) Aspect
The progressive aspect is a verb aspect that expresses incomplete or ongoing actions or states at a specific time in the past, present, or future. The article The Formation and Use of the Progressive Aspect in English explains the verb phrase patterns, which require some form of the verb be followed by a present participle, for the progressive aspect as well as the use of the present progressive and past progressive in the English language.
The article How To Conquer That Present/Past Indicative and Progressive Verb Trap explains the difference in meaning among the simple present tense, the present progressive aspect, and the present emphatic forms and among the simple past tense, the past progressive aspect, and the past emphatic forms.
Perfect Aspect
The perfect aspect is a verb aspect that expresses and emphasizes the past, present, or future consequences resulting from past actions or states. The article The Formation and Use of the Perfect Aspect in English explains the verb phrase patterns, which require some form of the verb have followed by a past participle, for the perfect aspect as well as the use of the present perfect and past perfect in the English language.
Perfect-Progressive Aspect
The perfect-progressive aspect is a verb aspect that expresses ongoing actions or states that began in the past and continue to a specific time in the past, present, or future. The article The Formation and Use of the Perfect-Progressive Aspect in English explains the verb phrase patterns, which require some form of the verb have followed by the past participle been and then a present participle, for the perfect-progressive aspect as well as the use of the present perfect-progressive and past perfect-progressive in the English language. The perfect-progressive aspect is closely related to the perfect and progressive aspects.