Form and Function of English Tenses

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When teaching ESL verb tenses to students of English as a Second Language or English as a Foreign Language, verb conjugation is only one part of verb tense lesson plans. Students can often easily memorize the conjugation for all tenses, but the more difficult part of verb usage is knowing which verb tense to use when.
In addition to conjugation, the two main things an ESL teacher has to teach about verb tenses are form and function. Here's an overview of these two elements.

Five Forms of ESL Verb Tenses (using the Present Progressive/Present Continuous, for example)
Here are the five forms students of English need to learn for every verb tense.
1. Affirmative Usage (e.g., She is eating dinner.)

2. Negative Usage (e.g., She is not eating dinner.)

3. Yes/No Questions (e.g., Is she eating dinner?)

4. Short Answers (e.g., Yes, she is. No, she isn't.)

5. WH- Questions (e.g., Where is she eating dinner?)
Of course, in addition to the five forms, you should teach the conjugation of the verb (based on the subject pronouns I, you, he/she/it, they, and we). Here's an example of the verb "dance" conjugated in the Present Progressive.
I am dancing in the street.

You are dancing in the street.

He/She/It is dancing in the street.

They are dancing in the street.

We are dancing in the street.

Yippee!

Function(s) of the ESL Verb Tenses
The next important thing to teach English learners is the "function" of a particular verb tense. Knowing the function(s) of a tense helps the student determine which is the correct verb tense to use.
Let's continue to use the Present Progressive for our example.
The main function of the Present Progressive is to describe something that is in process at this very moment (e.g., Right now, I am writing about ESL verb tenses and verb tense lesson plans. You are reading this page.).
We also use the Present Progressive (or Present Continuous) to talk about things that are happening "these days" or at this time in our lives or in history. For example:
Q: So, what are you doing these days?
A: I am teaching ESL to adults.
And the last function (an often ignored function of the Present Continuous, but very commonly used by native English speakers) is to talk about future plans. For example:
Q: What are you doing tonight?
A: I'm cooking dinner for some friends.
I've picked the easier Present Progressive to illustrate what must be taught for each of the ESL verb tenses. It becomes a little more complicated to teach the functions for something like the Present Perfect, but the basics are still the same. For each verb tense, verb tense lesson plans should include the following:
1. Conjugation
2. Forms
3. Function(s)
When a student learns these three elements of a verb, he or she will have mastered the main elements of all tenses on the verb tense list.

VERB TENSE CHART

Past	Present	Future
Simple Past	Simple Present	Future Simple
Past Progressive/ Past Continuous	Present Progressive/ Present Continuous	Future Progressive/ Future Continuous
Past Perfect	Present Perfect	Future Perfect
Past Perfect Continuous/ Past Perfect Progressive	Present Perfect Continuous/ Present Perfect Progressive	Future Perfect Continuous/ Future Perfect Progressive

Irregular Verbs List

Here's an irregular verbs list for ESL teachers and English Language Learners.

BASE FORM/SIMPLE FORM	SIMPLE PAST TENSE	PAST PARTICIPLE OF VERBS
List of Irregular Verbs (a to c)
arise	arose	arisen
be	was/were	been
bear	bore	borne/born
beat	beat	beaten/beat
become	became	become
begin	began	begun
bend	bent	bent
bet	bet	bet
bid	bid	bid
bind	bound	bound
bite	bit	bitten
bleed	bled	bled
blow	blew	blown
break	broke	broken
breed	bred	bred
bring	brought	brought
broadcast	broadcast	broadcast
build	built	built
burn	burned/burnt	burned/burnt
burst	burst	burst
buy	bought	bought
cast	cast	cast
catch	caught	caught
choose	chose	chosen
cling	clung	clung
come	came	come
cost	cost	cost
creep	crept	crept
cut	cut	cut
Irregular Verbs List (d to f)
deal	dealt	dealt
dig	dug	dug
dive	dive/dove	dived
do	did	done
draw	drew	drawn
dream	dreamed/dreamt	dreamed/dreamt
drink	drank	drunk
drive	drove	driven
eat	ate	eaten
fall	fell	fallen
feed	fed	fed
feel	felt	felt
fight	fought	fought
find	found	found
fit	fit/fitted	fit/fitted
flee	fled	fled
fling	flung	flung
fly	flew	flown
forbid	forbade	forbidden
forecast	forecast	forecast
forget	forgot	forgotten
forgive	forgave	forgiven
forgo	forwent	forgone
forsake	forsook	forsaken
freeze	froze	frozen
Irregular Verbs List (g to l)
get	got	gotten/got
give	gave	given
go	went	gone
grind	ground	ground
grow	grew	grown
hang	hung	hung
have	had	had
hear	heard	heard
hide	hid	hidden
hit	hit	hit
hold	held	held
hurt	hurt	hurt
keep	kept	kept
kneel	kneeled/knelt	kneeled/knelt
knit	knitted/knit	knitted/knit
know	knew	known
lay	laid	laid
lead	led	led
lean	leaned/leant	leaned/leant
leap	leaped/leapt	leaped/leapt
learn	learned/learnt	learned/learnt
leave	left	left
lend	lent	lent
let	let	let
lie	lay	lain
light	lit	lit
lose	lost	lost
Irregular Verbs List (m to s)
make	made	made
mean	meant	meant
meet	met	met
mishear	misheard	misheard
mislay	mislaid	mislaid
mislead	misled	misled
misspeak	misspoke	misspoken
mistook	mistake	mistaken
misunderstand	misunderstood	misunderstood
mow	mowed	mown
offset	offset	offset
pay	paid	paid
put	put	put
quit	quit	quit
read	read	read
rebuild	rebuilt	rebuilt
redo	redid	redone
remake	remade	remade
repay	repaid	repaid
reread	reread	reread
retell	retold	retold
rethink	rethought	rethought
rewrite	rewrote	rewritten
rid	rid	rid
ride	rode	ridden
ring	rang	rung
rise	rose	risen
run	ran	run
say	said	said
see	saw	seen
seek	sought	sought
sell	sold	sold
send	sent	sent
set	set	set
sew	sewed	sewn/sewed
shake	shook	shaken
shed	shed	shed
shine	shone/shined	shone/shined
shoot	shot	shot
show	showed	shown/showed
shred	shredded/shred	shredded/shred
shrink	shrank/shrunk	shrunk
shut	shut	shut
sing	sang	sung
sink	sank	sunk
sit	sat	sat
sleep	slept	slept
slide	slid	slid
sling	slung	slung
slink	slunk/slinked	slunk/slinked
slit	slit	slit
smell	smelled/smelt	smelled/smelt
sneak	sneaked/snuck	sneaked/snuck
speak	spoke	spoken
speed	sped/speeded	sped/speeded
spell	spelled/spelt	spelled/spelt
spend	spent	spent
spill	spilled/spilt	spilled/spilt
spin	spun	spun
spit	spit/spat	spit/spat
split	split	split
spoil	spoiled/spoilt	spoiled/spoilt
spread	spread	spread
spring	sprang/sprung	sprung
stand	stood	stood
steal	stole	stolen
stick	stuck	stuck
sting	stung	stung
stink	stank/stunk	stunk
stride	strode	stridden
strike	struck	struck/stricken
string	strung	strung
strive	strove/strived	striven/strived
swear	swore	sworn
sweat	sweat/sweated	sweat/sweated
sweep	swept	swept
swim	swam	swum
swing	swung	swung
Irregular Verbs List (t to w)
take	took	taken
teach	taught	taught
tear	tore	torn
tell	told	told
think	thought	thought
throw	threw	thrown
thrust	thrust	thrust
tread	trod/treaded	trodden/trod
typecast	typecast	typecast
unbend	unbent	unbent
undergo	underwent	undergone
underlie	underlay	underlain
undersell	undersold	undersold
understand	understood	understood
undertake	undertook	undertaken
undo	undid	undone
unwind	unwound	unwound
upset	upset	upset
wake	woke/waked	woken/waked
wear	wore	worn
weave	wove/weaved	woven/weaved
wed	wed/wedded	wed/wedded
weep	wept	wept
wet	wet	wet
win	won	won
wind	wound	wound
withdraw	withdrew	withdrawn
withhold	withheld	withheld
withstand	withstood	withstood
wring	wrung	wrung
write	wrote	written