Subjects related to the English verb tenses

Here is a list of subjects that it is good to know before proceeding to reading pages about the English tenses.

1. Each and every tense allows you to form questions. This can be done using inversion.
2. Past tenses use the past form of the verb. Perfect tenses employ the past participle. Either form can sometimes be irregular.
3. In informal writing and speech, contractions are often used.
4. Each tense uses at least one auxiliary verb  (some as many as four!)
5. If we say what somebody else said (=relate it), the sequence of tenses is affected.
6. The conjugation of the auxiliary verb "to be" is required to form the Present Continuous
7. The conjugation of the auxiliary verb "to have" is required to form perfect tenses.
8. What is a verb / subject?