Sarah is walking inside her school today.

Sarah walked inside her school yesterday.

Sarah will walk inside her school tomorrow.

There are three basic tenses: present, past, and future.

Each tense has the following forms:

Simple - the end of the action is unknown or unimportant. Things are simple when time isn't important.

Perfect - indicating an action has ended or will end; it is or will be completed. It starts. It ends. Things are perfect when you know everything about them.

Progressive - indicating an ongoing, progressive, or will be ongoing action; it is continuous. We have no idea when it will end; it is incomplete.

Perfect Progressive - indicating an ongoing action that will be completed at some definite time.

Here is a handy chart with all the major verb tenses:

If you need further explanation, read below for more details on how each form applies to each tense.

Simple Forms

Present Tense:

Present tense expresses an unchanging, repeated, or recurring action or situation that exists only now. It can also represent a widespread truth.

Past Tense:

Past tense expresses an action or situation that was started and finished in the past. Most past tense verbs end in -ed. The irregular verbs have special past tense forms, which must be memorized.

Future Tense:

Future tense expresses an action or situation that will occur in the future. This tense is formed by using will/shall with the simple form of the verb.

The principal said a new teacher will replace him soon.

The future tense can also be expressed by using am, is, or are with going to.

She heard the new candidates are going to perform a more thorough drug test this time around.

We can also use the present tense form with an adverb to show future time.

The principal speaks again tomorrow about their no drug policy.

Tomorrow is a future time adverb.

Progressive Forms

Present Progressive Tense:

Present progressive tense describes an ongoing action that is happening at the same time the statement is written. This tense is formed by using am/is/are with the verb form ending in -ing.

The principal is pacing on the stage while scolding the student body.

Past Progressive Tense:

Past progressive tense describes a past action, which was happening when another action occurred. This tense is formed by using was/were with the verb form ending in -ing.

Sarah thought the whole thing was boring and pointless.

Future Progressive Tense:

Future progressive tense describes an ongoing or continuous action that will take place in the future. This tense is formed by using will be or shall be with the verb form ending in -ing.

High school students will be doing drugs no matter what the principal says.

Perfect Forms

Present Perfect Tense:

Present perfect tense describes an action that happened at an indefinite time in the past or that began in the past and continues in the present. This tense is formed by using has/have with the past participle of the verb. Most past participles end in -ed. Irregular verbs have special past participles that must be memorized.

Past Perfect Tense:

Past perfect tense describes an action that took place in the past before another past action. This tense is formed by using had with the past participle of the verb.

The students, including Sarah, had stopped paying attention.

Future Perfect Tense:

Future perfect tense describes an action that will occur in the future before some other action. This tense is formed by using will have with the past participle of the verb.

Sarah joked by the time the assembly was finally over, the student body will have traded cash for more drugs.

Perfect Progressive Forms

Present Perfect Progressive:

Present perfect progressive tense describes an action that began in the past, continues in the present, and may continue into the future. This tense is formed by using has/have been and the present participle of the verb (the verb form ending in -ing).

Sarah has been considering on whether or not to transfer to a safer school, but didn't think her parents could afford it.

Past Perfect Progressive:

Past perfect progressive tense describes a past, ongoing action that was completed before some other past action. This tense is formed by using had been and the present perfect of the verb (the verb form ending in -ing).

Before Sarah attended Stafford High, she had been excelling in all her classes.

Future Perfect Progressive:

Future perfect progressive tense describes a future, ongoing action that will occur before some specified future time. This tense is formed by using will have been and the present participle of the verb (the verb form ending in -ing).

By the time Sarah will have been accepting college admissions, she'd probably be repeating another year at Stafford.

So what do y'all think about the war on drugs at Stafford High? I don't know why I decided to have Sarah go to a drug-infested school for the examples in this part, but it just flowed right out of me.

I'm hoping Sarah's situation will help you better understand the differences in verb tenses.

A tip: Write slower and read each sentence aloud one-by-one. Doing this will break up the plot and the flow, leaving only the syntax of the sentence, so you may focus on the technical side of writing.

Then go to the next line and compare the verb tenses. If they are the same, great! If they are different, figure out which tense you want to write in and then stick to it!

The biggest issue I find with Wattpad writers (or even just writers in general) is the inconsistencies with verb tenses.  If you utilize this tip and reference this part every time you write a new chapter of your story, you'll be one step closer to editing like an editor.

Please share your struggles with verb tenses or even some suggestions you may have for other Wattpad writers that help you stay consistent in your writing.

And if you have any questions, don't hesitate to comment below or PM me!

If this part has clarified verb tenses for you, please give it a vote! :)