04 — Verb tenses & keeping them consistent

What this fixes for you: you’ll stop writing “I am fix the bug”, you’ll pick the right tense for commits and standups, and your sentences will stop jumping between past and present halfway through.

The rule in 30 seconds

• Present simple = states, habits, and how code works. “The function returns a UUID.” “We deploy on Fridays.”
• Past simple = a finished action at a finished time. “I fixed the bug yesterday.” “The build failed last night.”
• Present perfect (have/has + past participle) = done, and it still matters now. “I have pushed the fix.” “The build has finished.”
• Present continuous (am/is/are + verb-ing) = happening right now, in progress. “I am working on it.” “The tests are running.”
• Stay in one tense per thought. Don’t start in the past and drift into the present in the same sentence.

Why this trips you up

You reach for “I am” and then attach a plain verb — “I am fix” — but am/is/are must be followed by an -ing verb (am fixing) or you should drop the helper and use past simple (I fixed). You also slide between tenses inside one sentence because, in the moment of writing a standup or PR, the timeline in your head shifts and the verbs follow it. And small slips pile up — a lowercase “i”, a missing full stop, “u” for “you” — which make even correct tenses read as rushed.

See it / fix it

❌ What you tend to write	✅ Correct	Why
i am fix the login bug now	I am fixing the login bug now.	am needs an -ing verb; also capitalize “I” and the sentence start, and end with a full stop.
yesterday i am fixing the bug	Yesterday I fixed the bug.	”Yesterday” is finished time → past simple, not present continuous.
I have pushed the fix yesterday	I pushed the fix yesterday.	Present perfect can’t take a finished-time word like “yesterday”; use past simple.
the build finish, you can deploy	The build has finished, so you can deploy.	”Just done, matters now” → present perfect (has finished); add the article/connector and full stop.
this function return a token	This function returns a token.	How code works = present simple; third person singular needs -s (returns).
i already fix it but i make so much mistake	I already fixed it, but I’m making so many mistakes.	Past simple for the done action; many + plural mistakes (countable); fix “i”.
Fixed the typo in readme (PR title)	Fix the typo in README (PR title / commit).	Commit/PR titles use the imperative (“Fix”), not past tense.
we are deploy every friday	We deploy every Friday.	Habit/schedule = present simple, not continuous; capitalize “Friday”.
can u do reaseach on grammer for me	Can you do research on grammar for me?	Spelling: research, grammar; “u” → “you”; it’s a question → ”?“.
open pull request and i review it	Open a pull request and I’ll review it.	Missing article “a”; capitalize “I”; “I’ll” (future) reads cleaner here.

Patterns to remember

The four workhorse tenses, as a cheat sheet:

Tense	Shape	Use it for	Example
Present simple	verb (+s)	how code works, habits, schedules	”The API caches the response.”
Past simple	verb-ed / irregular	finished action, finished time	”I reverted the commit.”
Present perfect	have/has + participle	just done / still relevant now	”I have merged the branch.”
Present continuous	am/is/are + verb-ing	in progress right now	”CI is running.”

The “I am ___” trap: after am / is / are, the next verb almost always ends in -ing.

• ❌ I am fix → ✅ I am fixing
• ❌ It is run → ✅ It is running
• If you don’t want -ing, drop the helper: “I fixed it.”

Perfect vs. past — the time-word test: if the sentence names a finished time (yesterday, last week, at 3pm, on Monday), use past simple. If it’s already / just / so far / now, use present perfect.

• “I deployed it on Monday.” (named time → past)
• “I’ve already deployed it.” (relevance now → perfect)

Commits & PR titles are imperative on purpose. Git wants the title to complete the sentence “If applied, this commit will ___”. So write the bare command form: Fix, Add, Remove, Refactor — never “Fixed”, “Adds”, or “Fixing”.

• ✅ Add rate limiting to login endpoint
• ✅ Fix null pointer in cart total
• ❌ Added rate limiting / ❌ Fixing login / ❌ Adds endpoint

In your daily writing

• Commit messages / PR titles: imperative mood. “Fix”, “Add”, “Update”, “Remove”. One line, capital first letter, no full stop needed on the subject line.
• PR description (body): present perfect or past for what you did — “I’ve moved the validation into the service layer” or “Moved validation into the service layer.” Present simple for what the code now does — “The service now rejects empty payloads.”
• Standup (Slack): three clean tenses. Yesterday → past simple (“I fixed the webhook retry”). Today → present continuous (“I’m writing tests for it”). Blockers → present simple (“I need access to the staging DB”).
• Code comments / docs: present simple, because they describe how the code behaves every time it runs. “Returns the cached value if present.” Not “Returned” or “Will return”.
• Bug reports: past simple for what happened (“The page crashed when I clicked Save”), present simple for the steady behavior (“The error appears on every submit”).

Drills

For each, fix the sentence, fill the blank, or choose A/B. Write professional dev English — capitals, full stops, real spelling.

1. Fix: i am fix the failing test right now
2. Fix: yesterday i have deployed the new version
3. Fill the blank (commit title): ____ pagination to the orders list endpoint (choose: Added / Add / Adding)
4. Choose A or B: This function (A) return / (B) returns the user’s UUID.
5. Fix: the migration finish so u can run the seeder
6. Choose A or B: Right now I (A) work / (B) am working on the checkout flow.
7. Fix: i already fix the bug but i still make so much mistake in the tests
8. Fill the blank: I ____ (just push) the hotfix, can you review it? (use the right tense)
9. Choose A or B: We (A) are releasing / (B) release every two weeks, like clockwork.
10. Fix (PR title): Fixed the race condition in the queue worker
11. Fix the run-on: the build broke i looked at the logs the error was a missing env var i added it now its green
12. Fill the blank: The endpoint ____ (cache) the response for 60 seconds. (how the code works — pick the tense)

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Answer key

1. I am fixing the failing test right now. — After “I am”, the verb takes -ing (fixing); capitalize “I” and the start, add a full stop.
2. Yesterday I deployed the new version. — “Yesterday” is finished time, so use past simple, not present perfect.
3. Add pagination… — Commit titles use the imperative: “Add”, not “Added” or “Adding”.
4. B — returns. — How the code works = present simple, and third person singular adds -s.
5. The migration has finished, so you can run the seeder. — Just done / relevant now → present perfect (has finished); “u” → “you”; add article-less connector “so” and a full stop.
6. B — am working. — “Right now” + in progress = present continuous.
7. I already fixed the bug, but I still make so many mistakes in the tests. — Past simple for the done fix; many + plural mistakes (countable); fix “i”.
8. I’ve just pushed the hotfix… — “Just” + still relevant = present perfect (have/'ve + past participle pushed).
9. B — release. — A regular schedule/habit = present simple.
10. Fix the race condition in the queue worker. — PR/commit titles use the imperative (“Fix”), not past tense.
11. The build broke. I looked at the logs, and the error was a missing env var. I added it, and now it’s green. — Split the run-on into sentences with full stops/commas; keep past simple for the finished steps; “its” → “it’s” (it is).
12. caches — Steady behavior of the code = present simple; third person singular adds -s (caches).

Part of the Developer English course — see 00-index.md.