Structure: Complex Tense Forms I

The verb is the part of speech that indicates the time of the action in a sentence. The time of the action, called tense, may be in the present, in the past, or the future. Accordingly, the tense is generally classified into three forms – the present tense, the past tense, and the future tense. These three forms are what we know as simple tense forms.

Study the following sentences:

1.   I attend church every Sunday. (Simple present tense)

2.   He attended church last Sunday. (Simple past tense)

3.   We will attend church next Sunday. (Simple future tense)

Within the general classification of the tense into the three simple forms are several subdivisions of the tense. For instance, the present tense has been subdivided into continuous and perfect forms. It is the various forms that have resulted from the subdivision of the simple tense forms that we call complex tense forms.

Let us now consider examples of complex tenses.