Part of your question is referring to aspect, which is technically what Tagalog has instead of verb tense. That would be the infinitive, contemplative, uncompleted/progressive, and completed. I can give you a basic overview of this. In these examples, "ro" represents the first syllable of a root word like talon [to jump]. The other part of your question has to do with focuses, which are generally summarized as actor, object, and location/beneficiary. First, I'll show the actor focus aspects for mag- verbs. In phrases using actor focus conjugations, the doer of the verb is marked with an "ang", meaning the action done is marked with "ng" and the recipient or location is marked with "sa". This would be used in sentences like "Pupunta tayo sa tindahan" [We will go to the store]. Infinitive: mag-root Contemplative: nag-root Uncompleted: nag-ro-root Completed: mag-ro-root The format for another common actor focus conjugation, -um-, goes like this. You could use it in sentences like "Umaahit ang lalaki" [The man is shaving]. Infinitive: r-um-oot Contemplative r-um-oot Uncompleted: r-um-o-root Completed: ro-root Object focus -in- conjugations follow the same pattern as -um-. In these phrases, the actor is marked with "ng" while the object being verbed is marked with "ang". For example, you'd say "Kinain ng bata ang mansana" [The apple was eaten by the child]. There is also the location focus I mentioned, which marks the location or recipient of a verb with "ang". An example would be "Bibigyan ko siya ng pera" [I will give him the money]. I hope this clears up some of the confusion about how these work. There are more conjugations and ways to understand the focus system but this is a good foundation for continuing study.