Verb Tenses in the Active Voice

Click HERE for a table describing the appropriate sequence of tenses.

 SingularPlural
Simple tenses
Indicate that an action is present, past or future relative to the speaker or writer.
Present
1st personI walk/drawwe walk/draw
2nd personyou walk/drawyou walk/draw
3rd personhe/she/it
  walks/draws
they walk/draw
Past
1st personI walked/drewwe walked/drew
2nd personyou walked/drewyou walked/drew
3rd personhe/she/it
  walked/drew
they walked/drew
Future
1st personI will walk/drawwe will walk/draw
2nd personyou will walk/drawyou will walk/draw
3rd personhe/she/it will
  walk/draw
they will walk/draw
Perfect tenses
Indicate that an action was or will be completed before another time or action.
Present perfect
1st personI have walked/drawnwe have walked/drawn
2nd personyou have walked/drawnyou have walked/drawn
3rd personhe/she/it has
  walked/drawn
they have walked/drawn
Past perfect
1st personI had walked/drawnwe had walked/drawn
2nd personyou had walked/drawnyou had walked/drawn
3rd personhe/she/it had
  walked/drawn
they had walked/drawn
Future perfect
1st personI will have walked/drawnwe will have walked/drawn
2nd personyou will have walked/drawnyou will have walked/drawn
3rd personhe/she/it will have
  walked/drawn
they will have walked/drawn
Progressive tenses
Indicate continuing action.
Present progressive
1st personI am walking/drawingwe are walking/drawing
2nd personyou are walking/drawingyou are walking/drawing
3rd personhe/she/it is
  walking/drawing
they are walking/drawing
Past progressive
1st personI was walking/drawingwe were walking/drawing
2nd personyou were walking/drawingyou were walking/drawing
3rd personhe/she/it was
  walking/drawing
they were walking/drawing
Future progressive
1st personI will be walking/drawingwe will be walking/drawing
2nd personyou will be walking/drawingyou will be walking/drawing
3rd personhe/she/it will be
  walking/drawing
they will be walking/drawing
Present perfect progressive
1st personI have been
  walking/drawing
we have been
  walking/drawing
2nd personyou have been
  walking/drawing
you have been
  walking/drawing
3rd personhe/she/it has been
  walking/drawing
they have been
  walking/drawing
Past perfect progressive
1st personI had been
  walking/drawing
we had been
  walking/drawing
2nd personyou had been
  walking/drawing
you had been
  walking/drawing
3rd personhe/she/it had been
  walking/drawing
they had been
  walking/drawing
Future perfect progressive
1st personI will have been
  walking/drawing
we will have been
  walking/drawing
2nd personyou will have been
  walking/drawing
you will have been
  walking/drawing
3rd personhe/she/it will have been
  walking/drawing
they will have been
  walking/drawing

Guide to Grammar and Writing