Tense na di form of verb wey dey tell us wen, and haw long sometin wey happen happen.

For dis article, we go show yu haw we dey form tenses for Naija, kon join am wit haw we dey conjugate verbs for dese tenses.

Past tenses

Simple past

Di simple past tense dey tell us about actions wey don complete for past. To form dis tense, we dey use just di root verb, or we dey put di auxiliary verb go (yu gat use di correct tone) before di verb.

Examples:

• Dis morning I go market, but I forget to buy garri.
• I sleep for floor last night.
• I go find fuel yesterday.
• Dem go watch ball for stadium.

Now, make we conjugate di verbs wey we use for di example sentences for simple past tense.

Person	Number	Pronoun	To go	To forget	To sleep	To find	To watch
1st	Singular	I	go	forget	sleep	go find	go watch
2nd	Singular	yu	go	forget	sleep	go find	go watch
3rd	Singular	he/she/im/e	go	forget	sleep	go find	go watch
1st	Plural	we	go	forget	sleep	go find	go watch
2nd	Plural	una	go	forget	sleep	go find	go watch
3rd	Plural	dem	go	forget	sleep	go find	go watch

Past perfect

We dey use di past perfect tense show di order two events wey happen for di past take happen. To from dis tense, we dey put di auxiliary verb bin don before di verb root.

Examples:

• She bin don enter di motor wen she realize sey na one-chance.
• I go work after my pikin bin don go school.

See below haw di verbs wey dey di example sentences go take dey for di past perfect tense:

Person	Number	Pronoun	To enter	To go
1st	Singular	I	bin don enter	bin don go
2nd	Singular	yu	bin don enter	bin don go
3rd	Singular	he/she/im/e	bin don enter	bin don go
1st	Plural	we	bin don enter	bin don go
2nd	Plural	una	bin don enter	bin don go
3rd	Plural	dem	bin don enter	bin don go

Past continuous

We dey use di past continuous tense talk about actions wey dey happen for past, especially di kain actions wey be say anoda action interrupt am. Or actions wey happen for past but no dey happen again for present. To form di past continuous tense, we dey put di auxiliary verb bin dey before di verb root.

Examples:

• My papa bin dey cook wen my mama come house.
• Wen we bin small, me and my padis bin dey everly enter inside wahala.

Check out verb conjugation for di past continuous tense:

Person	Number	Pronoun	To cook	To enter
1st	Singular	I	bin dey cook	bin dey enter
2nd	Singular	yu	bin dey cook	bin dey enter
3rd	Singular	he/she/im/e	bin dey cook	bin dey enter
1st	Plural	we	bin dey cook	bin dey enter
2nd	Plural	una	bin dey cook	bin dey enter
3rd	Plural	dem	bin dey cook	bin dey enter

Past perfect continuous

We dey use di past perfect continuous tense show actions wey start for past, kon continue reach anoda point for past. We dey use di auxiliary verb bin don dey before di verb root to form dis tense.

Examples:

• Before Emeka become manager, im bin don dey work as cleaner.
• We bin don dey live for under-bridge for five years until government pursue us komot.

Check out verb conjugation for di past perfect continuous tense:

Person	Number	Pronoun	To work	To live
1st	Singular	I	bin don dey work	bin don dey live
2nd	Singular	yu	bin don dey work	bin don dey live
3rd	Singular	he/she/im/e	bin don dey work	bin don dey live
1st	Plural	we	bin don dey work	bin don dey live
2nd	Plural	una	bin don dey work	bin don dey live
3rd	Plural	dem	bin don dey work	bin don dey live

Present tenses

Simple present

We dey use di simple present tense talk about actions wey dey happen now-now, or action wey dey happen on a regular or indefinitely. E get two ways to form dis tense. Di first way na to just use di verb root, di same way wey we do for di simple past tense. For yu to sabi weda na simple past or weda na simple present, yu gat consider di context wey di verb dey inside. For instance, if di sentence get adverb of time, na most likely simple past. Di second way to form di simple present tense na to use di auxiliary verb dey before di verb root.

Examples:

• He like book too much.
• I dey feel am!

Check out verb conjugation for di simple present tense:

Person	Number	Pronoun	To like	To feel
1st	Singular	I	like	dey feel
2nd	Singular	yu	like	dey feel
3rd	Singular	he/she/im/e	like	dey feel
1st	Plural	we	like	dey feel
2nd	Plural	una	like	dey feel
3rd	Plural	dem	like	dey feel

Present continuous

We dey use di present continuous tense talk about actions wey dey happen for di current moment. To form di present continuous tense, we dey put di auxiliary verb dey for front of di root form of di verb. To sabi di difference between di present continuous and di simple present (wit dey), yu go need external context. For instance, if di speaker dey perform di action wey dem dey describe, then na di present continuous tense.

Examples:

• I dey solve problems.
• We dey drink ogogoro.

Check out verb conjugation for di present continuous tense:

Person	Number	Pronoun	To solve	To drink
1st	Singular	I	dey solve	dey drink
2nd	Singular	yu	dey solve	dey drink
3rd	Singular	he/she/im/e	dey solve	dey drink
1st	Plural	we	dey solve	dey drink
2nd	Plural	una	dey solve	dey drink
3rd	Plural	dem	dey solve	dey drink

Present perfect

We dey use dis tense describe different-different type of actions like: ongoing action wey dem start but dem neva finish, action wey dem don complete several times before and dem fit still do am again, or action wey dem complete very recently. To form di present perfect tense, we dey put di auxiliary verb don for front of di verb root.

Examples:

• I don study Dutch for three years now.
• She don travel go Europe plenty.
• He don send di email give di client.

Check out verb conjugation for di present perfect tense:

Person	Number	Pronoun	To study	To travel	To send
1st	Singular	I	don study	don travel	don send
2nd	Singular	yu	don study	don travel	don send
3rd	Singular	he/she/im/e	don study	don travel	don send
1st	Plural	we	don study	don travel	don send
2nd	Plural	una	don study	don travel	don send
3rd	Plural	dem	don study	don travel	don send

Present perfect continuous

We dey use dis tense for actions wey start for di past, kon continue reach di present. We dey usually use am emphasize di duration or continuity of di action wey we dey talk about, dey highlight haw e dey relevant to di present moment. To form di present perfect continuous tense, we dey put di auxiliary verb don dey before di root form of di verb.

Examples:

• I don dey read for four hours.
• Dem don dey live for Abuja for five years.
• He don dey work on dis project since morning.

Check out verb conjugation for di present perfect continuous tense:

Person	Number	Pronoun	To read	To live	To work
1st	Singular	I	don dey read	don dey live	don dey work
2nd	Singular	yu	don dey read	don dey live	don dey work
3rd	Singular	he/she/im/e	don dey read	don dey live	don dey work
1st	Plural	we	don dey read	don dey live	don dey work
2nd	Plural	una	don dey read	don dey live	don dey work
3rd	Plural	dem	don dey read	don dey live	don dey work

Future tenses

Simple future

We dey use dis tense for actions wey be future plans or intentions, predictions or forecasts or even scheduled events. To form di future tense, we dey put di auxiliary verb go (yu gat use di correct tone) before di verb root.

Examples:

• I go attend di meeting tomorrow.
• She go be great scientist one day.
• Dem go call yu wen dem arrive.

Check out verb conjugation for di simple future tense:

Person	Number	Pronoun	To attend	To be	To call
1st	Singular	I	go attend	go be	go call
2nd	Singular	yu	go attend	go be	go call
3rd	Singular	he/she/im/e	go attend	go be	go call
1st	Plural	we	go attend	go be	go call
2nd	Plural	una	go attend	go be	go call
3rd	Plural	dem	go attend	go be	go call

Future continuous

We dey use dis tense show future actions wey dey progress over some period of time. Di certainty of di action wey dis tense dey describe sure pass di one for simple future tense. To form di future continuous tense, we dey put di auxiliary verb go dey before di verb root.

Examples:

• Dem go dey renovate dia house for two months.
• Di company go dey start operations next quarter.

Check out verb conjugation for di future continuous tense:

Person	Number	Pronoun	To renovate	To start
1st	Singular	I	go dey renovate	go dey start
2nd	Singular	yu	go dey renovate	go dey start
3rd	Singular	he/she/im/e	go dey renovate	go dey start
1st	Plural	we	go dey renovate	go dey start
2nd	Plural	una	go dey renovate	go dey start
3rd	Plural	dem	go dey renovate	go dey start

Future perfect

We dey use dis tense for future actions wey dem suppose complete for specific time. Yu go noticed sey words like by, before, at and wen dey join bodi follow dis tense. Dis na becos di tense dey depend on anoda time to complete di action. To form dis tense, we dey put di auxiliary verb go don for front of di verb root.

Examples:

• She go don finish ha novel by end of di month.
• Dem go don build new stadium before di new season start.
• We go don move go anoda city by December.

Check out verb conjugation for di future perfect tense:

Person	Number	Pronoun	To finish	To build	To move
1st	Singular	I	go don finish	go don build	go don move
2nd	Singular	yu	go don finish	go don build	go don move
3rd	Singular	he/she/im/e	go don finish	go don build	go don move
1st	Plural	we	go don finish	go don build	go don move
2nd	Plural	una	go don finish	go don build	go don move
3rd	Plural	dem	go don finish	go don build	go don move

Future perfect continuous

We dey use dis tense for future ongoing actions wey go continue reach certain point. E dey show sey one action dey in progress before anoda action. We dey use am wit specified time. To form di future perfect continuous tense, we dey put di auxiliary verb go don dey before di root form of di verb.

Examples:

• She go don dey work for di company for ten years by di time she retire.
• By next year, I go don dey learn to play di guitar for five years.

Check out verb conjugation for di future perfect continuous tense:

Person	Number	Pronoun	To work	To learn
1st	Singular	I	go don dey work	go don dey learn
2nd	Singular	yu	go don dey work	go don dey learn
3rd	Singular	he/she/im/e	go don dey work	go don dey learn
1st	Plural	we	go don dey work	go don dey learn
2nd	Plural	una	go don dey work	go don dey learn
3rd	Plural	dem	go don dey work	go don dey learn

Haw to use di present continuous tense talk about di future

We dey express future actions wit di present continuous tense. Dese na actions wey be say dem don already decide haw e go happen, don plan am join. We no dey use di present continuous predict future actions.

Examples:

• I dey meet Gordon for airport.
• We dey lodge complaint next week.
• I dey take di train go Kaduna tomorrow.

Tenses Chart

Tense	Past	Present	Future
Simple	She study English last year.	She dey study English every day.	She go study English next semester.
Perfect	She bin don study English for three years wen she move go America.	She don study English for three years.	She go don study English for five years by di time she graduate.
Continuous	She bin dey study English wen I meet ha.	She dey study English.	She go dey study English abroad next year.
Perfect Continuous	She bin don dey study English for three years before she go university.	She don dey study English for two hours.	She go don dey study English for five years by di time she finish ha degree.