Aspect and Time Frame Notes

The Four Aspects

Simple

Present—general truths, things that happen all the time

Juan always checks his appearance before he goes to school.

Past & Future—things that happen at a particular time

One hundred years ago people believed that a woman’s place was in the home.

If we are late, Mom will worry about us.

The soup tastes good.

Progressive—actions in progress, incomplete actions

Present: I am still working on my homework.

Past: When I entered the room, the students were studying.

Future: I will be sleeping when you get home.

Perfect—happens before, relates two different times, not at a particular time, continues to have an effect, true in past and true now

Present: I have reviewed the vocabulary but I haven’t studied the grammar.

Past: Sam had already left when Ann got there.

Future: I will have left by the time you get there.

Perfect Progressive—like perfect but emphasizes that something is continuing.

Present: I have been sitting here since seven o’clock and I’m ready to go!

Past: The police had been looking for the criminal for two years before they caught him.

Future: By the time you get there I will have been sleeping for two hours.

Important!

Use the simple aspect for stative verbs except when they show action. Stative verbs show mental states, emotional states, possession, senses, and other existing states.

Try to stay in the same time frame. Change time frames for these reasons.

To move from general to specific.	Dogs love their owners. My girlfriend’s dog, Mabel gets very excited when she comes home. Our old dog, pumpkin, used to jump and bark when I came home from school.
To show contrast between one time and another	One hundred years ago people lived an average of 65 years. Today people live an average of 75 years. Soon most people might live into their nineties.
To make a statement of general truth.	I saw an interesting old lady yesterday. You don’t see people like her anymore.

Simple Aspect

Expresses general truths	Geology is the study of rocks. The people of ancient Rome spoke Latin. A criminal will always return to the scene of the crime.
Describes actions that happen again and again.	Juan usually brushes his teeth in the morning. Hemingway sometimes wrote in cafes. I will always give you homework.
Describes emotions and senses	Piotr loves his mother. My arm hurts. That soup smells good.
Expresses possession and logical relationship	Bob has two brothers. Roberta’s job requires that she commute.
State	You seem happy. You look tired.
Talks about a specific time in the past or future.	She ate two hamburgers yesterday. She will be here at 4:00.

Progressive Aspect (be + verb + -ing)

Expresses actions in progress (not actions that happen after.)	Other people are always waiting when Jeff gets to the bus stop. (They’re waiting before he gets there.)
Actions at a specific time (not actions that happen again and again)	I teach French, but I’m not teaching today. She will be here at 4:00. Juan usually brushes his teeth in the morning. She ate two hamburgers yesterday.
Temporary situations	Mary still lives with her parents but she is staying with her grandmother this weekend.
Incomplete actions	Dorota is still working on her English.
Actions rather than states	He is tasting the soup. It tastes good.

Perfect Aspect (have + past participle)

Describes actions that happen before other actions.	He had finished the project before I talked to him. He had already slept for five hours when I talked to him.
Describes actions that are true in the past and true now.	Cynthia has lived in Chicago for two years. (She still lives here) Cynthia lived in Chicago for two years. (She doesn’t live here anymore)
Focus on the idea of completion.	I have reviewed the vocabulary words but I haven’t studied the grammar yet.

Perfect Progressive Aspect (have been verb + -ing)

Actions that are uncompleted.	Jeff has been working on that project all day. He still hasn’t finished it.
Actions that are continuous.	You have been talking for the last hour. Please give someone else a chance.