3.3 Verb Tenses and Forms

The Tense System You Need

English builds tense from three families — simple, progressive (continuous), and perfect — across past, present, and future time. The TOEFL ITP does not test obscure tenses; it tests whether you can match a finite verb to the time signaled by the sentence and form each tense correctly. The most heavily tested contrasts are the simple past versus the present perfect, and the use of the base form after modals and to.

The table below shows the core tenses with original examples. Learn the form (how each is built) and the typical time signal.

Tense Consistency and Time Markers

A sentence's verb must agree with its time markers. ETS loves to pair a future-meaning clause with a present-tense rule.

• Time and conditional clauses use the present, not the future. After when, before, after, as soon as, until, if, use a present-tense verb even when the meaning is future: "When the experiment finishes, we will record the results" — never "When the experiment will finish." This is one of the most reliable traps in the section.
• Since vs for with the present perfect. Use since + a starting point (since 2019) and for + a duration (for five years). Both pair with the present perfect: "She has worked here since 2019" / "...for five years."
• Sequence of tenses in reported speech. When the main verb is past, shift the reported verb back: "He said he would call," not "He said he will call."

Base Form After Modals and 'To'

Two rules eliminate a large share of verb errors:

1. After a modal (can, could, will, would, shall, should, may, might, must), use the base verb with no ending: "She must submit the form" — never must submits or must to submit.
2. After 'to' (the infinitive marker), use the base verb: "They decided to revise the plan" — never to revised or to revising.

Worked Example: "The professor recommended that every student ________ the assignment by Friday." After verbs of recommendation and request (recommend, suggest, insist, require, demand), English uses the subjunctive base form: submit, not submits or submitted. So the answer is "submit the assignment." This base-form-after-recommendation pattern is a recurring TOEFL ITP structure item.

Common Irregular Past Participles

The past participle is the form used after have/has/had (perfect) and after be (passive). Irregular participles are tested constantly because learners often substitute the simple-past form (saying has wrote instead of has written). Memorize this high-frequency list.

The test sentence "The temperature has rose sharply" is wrong; it needs the participle risen. "She has wrote three papers" needs written.

Passive Voice Formation

The passive voice moves the receiver of an action into the subject slot and is built as be + past participle: "The bridge was built in 1932," "The data are analyzed by software." Two things make a passive wrong on the test: a missing or mismatched form of be (The bridge built in 1932 is missing was) and a wrong participle (was build, was builded). Always confirm both the be form and the participle.

Would and Used To for the Past

To describe repeated past habits, English uses used to + base or would + base: "Students used to register in person" / "Each summer the lake would freeze." Note that used to (past habit) differs from be used to + -ing (be accustomed to): "She is used to working late." Mixing these — writing used to working for a past habit — is a tested error.