Both the present perfect and past simple refer to past action. However, they have different functions:
The “-ing” form of a verb is called the present participle. Present participles can be used as adjectives (e.g., “a thrilling story”) and to form the continuous verb tenses (e.g., the present continuous: “We are partying”).
Gerunds also use the “-ing” form of a verb, but they function only as nouns (e.g., “I don’t enjoy studying”).
The present participle of the verb “be” is “being” (e.g., “you are being callous”). The past participle of “be” is “been.”
The present participle of the verb “lie” is “lying.” The present participles of verbs ending in “ie” are usually formed by replacing “ie” with “y” and adding the suffix “-ing.”
In the simple present tense, the stative verb “be” is used to describe temporary present situations (e.g., “I am tired”) and unchanging situations (e.g., “Laura is a doctor”). The form of the verb varies depending on the subject:
The present perfect tense and the present perfect continuous can both be used to refer to the present consequences of a past action or situation:
The past participle form of “ride” is ridden. It’s used to form perfect tenses (e.g., “I have ridden on an elephant before”) and to form the passive voice (e.g., “The bike hasn’t been ridden in a long time”).
It’s wrong to use the past simple form “rode” instead in these contexts. For example, “The bike hasn’t been rode” is incorrect.
The past simple form of “ride” is rode. It’s used to describe a past action or event (e.g., “We rode our bikes”).
The past participle form of “beat” is beaten. It’s used to form perfect tenses (e.g., “I have beaten the record”) and to form the passive voice (e.g., “The champion has been beaten”).
It’s wrong to use the past simple form “beat” instead in these contexts. For example, “The champion has been beat” is incorrect.
The past simple form of “beat” is beat. It’s used to describe a past action or event (e.g., “You beat me”).
We use the present continuous tense (also called the present progressive) to describe a temporary action that is currently occurring (e.g., “I am gardening right now”) or sometimes a planned future event (e.g., “We are traveling to Greece this summer”).
It’s used differently from the simple present, which instead indicates a habit (e.g., “I garden on Tuesdays”), a general truth (e.g., “Bears hibernate in the winter”), or a fixed situation or state (e.g., “She speaks French and German”).
The function of an action verb is to describe what the subject of the sentence is doing. For example, in the sentence “You have been working since 7 o’clock this morning,” the action verb “work” shows us what the subject (“you”) has been doing.
If you are unsure whether a word is an action verb, consider whether it is describing an action (e.g., “run”) or a state of being (e.g., “understand”). If the word describes an action, then it’s an action verb.
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