The big dilemma! Which tense to use?

Many latin languages are very regular in their grammatical forms, but English is often more “cut and dry” on when to use tenses. This means that it’s relatively easy to choose the correct tense, although doing so quickly requires practice.


For example, it can be quite difficult to translate the past directly from Italian into English. Generalising, this is because Italian refers to near and distant past, while English is concerned with finished or unfinished time frames. While “near” or “distant” past is open to interpretation, finished (last week) or unfinished (this week) time is not.

What does “distant” past actually mean? In my experience, it depends on who you speak to! Some might say yesterday is already distant (ieri andai dal dottore or yesterday I went to the doctor) while others might say last year is still recent (l’anno scorso sono stato a Londra or last year I went to London).

Which tense to choose

The first thing we need to decide is the time period we are speaking about, this can be:

  • finished (yesterday, last year, from 1973 to 1998) = PAST
  • unfinished (today, this year, at the moment, since 1998) = PRESENT
  • future (tomorrow, next year, in 2 years) = FUTURE

If we don’t mention a time period and it isn’t clear from context, we’re probably speak about an unfinished period of time (I am eating = in this moment, I have eaten = before the present).

The next step is to decide how the action or state we are speaking about relates to the time period:

So if we are speaking about something that is in progress now (I am writing this post) but we want to focus on the duration (for half an hour) then I would use the PRESENT (now) PERFECT CONTINUOUS (in progress, focus on duration) – I have been writing this post for half an hour.

Remember:

  • For state or “non-action” verbs, we shouldn’t use the continuous form, so we shouldn’t say “I am being here” (I am here) and we shouldn’t say “I have been being here for half an hour” (I have been here for half an hour).
  • We can substitute another action for our time period. This is useful to about events in relation to each other, for storytelling or narrative, rather than just listing out a series of events. For example:
    • If someone asks why you didn’t answer the phone when they rang and it was because you were in the shower, it would be strange to respond that you got into the shower, then they called. To show that “showering” was in progress (CONTINUOUS) at the time they called (PAST) it would be more usual to say “I was showering when you called“.
    • If someone asks why you didn’t answer the phone when they rang and it was because you went out and forgot your phone, it would be strange to respond that you forgot your phone, then they called. To show that “forgetting” was before (PERFECT) at the time they called (PAST) it would be more usual to say “I had forgotten my phone” – you can add the “when you called” but we usually understand from context.
Categories: GrammarTenses