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Strictly speaking, the English language has only two tenses, the present (go, eat, die) and the past (went, ate, died). All other expressions of time are formed by combining auxiliary verbs with the present participle, past participle, or infinitive, as in the progressive or continuous aspect (I was going), the perfect or perfective aspect (They have eaten), and the future (He will die). They are, however, commonly referred to as tenses.
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