|Incorrect:||When I open the door, my dog greeted me.|
|Correct:||When I opened the door, my dog greeted me. (past tense)|
|When I open the door, my dog greets me. (present tense)|
See More Verb Rules
The present tense shows that an action is taking place in the present but does not indicate when the action will end.
|Examples:||We go to the store.|
|They study at the university.|
Special uses of the present tense:
Use the present tense to describe something that is universally true and not limited to a particular time.
|Example:||The boiling point of water is 100 degrees Celsius.|
Use the present tense to discuss the contents of a book, a poem, or an essay even though the work might be written in the past.
|Example:||Julius Caesar is murdered by Brutus in Shakespeare's play.|
The present continuous tense shows that something is happening in the present and will have a definite end.
|Examples:||We are going to the store now.|
|They are studying at the university.|
The past tense shows that something was completed in the past.
|Examples:||We went to the store yesterday.|
|They studied at the university in 1980.|
The past participle tense shows that something was completed in the past before another action. Usually, the past participle and the past tense are used in the same sentence.
|Examples:||We had gone to the store when she arrived.|
|They had studied at the university before they found jobs.|
The future tense shows that something will happen in the future.
|Examples:||We will go to the store later today.|
|They will study at the university in the coming September.|