Tense refers to the time when actions occur. Only two tenses are identified in English The present tense. The past tense. The future is not considered a tense because to form it, we need a helping verb, namely, the modal "will" or "shall". The tense/aspect combinations produce 12 verb tenses: 1. present simple 2. present progressive (continuous) 3. present perfect 4. present perfect progressive (continuous) 5. past simple 6. past progressive (continuous) 7. past perfect 8. past perfect progressive (continuous) 9. future simple 10. future progressive (continuous) 11. future perfect 12. future perfect progressive (continuous)