English tenses are of three types: Present, Past and future. Tenses are divided on the basis of time.
This grammar lesson introduces the table of all English tenses (12 Verb Tenses)
English Verb Tenses List
Present Simple
The present simple tense is used to describe actions or states that are currently happening or are always true. It is formed by using the base form of the verb (e.g. “I walk to work” or “I am a student”). It is also used to describe habits, routines and general truths. For example “The sun rises in the east.”
Here are some examples of sentences in the present simple tense:
- I wake up at 6am every day.
- She works as a teacher.
- They play basketball on weekends.
- The train arrives at 9:30am.
- He speaks Spanish fluently.
- We eat dinner together every night.
- The dog barks at strangers.
- I am a student.
- She is happy.
- It rains in this city often.
Present Continuous
The present continuous tense is used to express an action that is currently happening or ongoing at the moment of speaking. It is formed by combining the present tense of the verb “to be” (am, is, are) with the present participle of the main verb (verb + ing). For example: “I am talking,” “He is playing,” “They are eating.” It can also be used to express a planned or scheduled action in the near future. For example: “I am meeting my friend later” or “The train is leaving in 5 minutes”.
Here are some examples of sentences using the present continuous tense:
- “I am studying for my exam.”
- “She is working on a project.”
- “They are playing soccer in the park.”
- “He is writing a novel.”
- “The sun is shining brightly today.”
- “I am reading a book right now.”
- “We are having a meeting at 2pm”
- “I am not feeling well today”
- “They are not listening to music”
- “You are learning English”
Present Perfect
The present perfect tense is used to talk about actions or events that began in the past and continue to the present. It is formed by using the present tense of the verb “to have” (have or has) + the past participle of the main verb. For example: “I have eaten,” “He has worked,” “They have traveled.” The present perfect is used to indicate a connection between the past and the present. Some examples of situations where we use the present perfect are:
- To express an action that began in the past and continues until now, such as “I have lived here for 10 years.”
- To express an action that happened at an unspecified time in the past, such as “I have seen that movie before.”
- To express a change that has occurred, such as “She has grown taller.”
- To talk about experiences, such as “I have ridden on an elephant.”
Present Perfect Continuous
The present perfect continuous tense is used to describe an action that started in the past and is still continuing in the present. It is formed using the present perfect form of the verb “to be” (have/has been) and the present participle (-ing) of the main verb. For example, “I have been studying for three hours” or “They have been playing soccer for the whole afternoon.” It is used to indicate how long an action has been continuing and to emphasize its duration.
Past Simple
The past simple tense is used to describe an action or event that occurred and was completed in the past. It is formed using the base form of the verb for regular verbs or the past participle for irregular verbs. For example, “I walked to the store” or “He ate dinner.” It is used to describe a completed past action or event and does not indicate anything about the present or future.
Past Continuous
The past continuous tense (also known as the past progressive) is used to describe an action that was in progress at a specific time in the past. It is formed using the past form of the verb “to be” (was/were) and the present participle (-ing) of the main verb. For example, “I was studying when my friend called” or “They were playing soccer when the rain started.” It is often used in conjunction with the past simple tense to describe two actions happening at the same time in the past. The past continuous action is usually longer and gives background information, while the past simple action is shorter and more specific.
Past Perfect
The past perfect tense is used to describe an action that was completed before another past action or event. It is formed using the past participle of the auxiliary verb “to have” (had) and the past participle of the main verb. For example, “I had finished my homework before I watched TV” or “They had left the party before we arrived.” This tense is used to indicate the order of past events, and it emphasizes the fact that one event occurred before another one in the past. It helps to indicate the background of the story or conversation.
Past Perfect Continuous
The past perfect continuous tense is used to describe an action that was in progress before and up to another past action or event. It is formed by using the past perfect form of the verb “to be” (had been) and the present participle (-ing) of the main verb. For example, “I had been studying for hours before my friend called” or “They had been playing soccer for an hour when the rain started.” It is used to show how long an action had been continuing before a specific point in the past and also emphasizes on the duration of the action before that point in the past. It is also used to indicate the background of the story or conversation, it helps to establish a temporal relationship between two past events or actions.
Future Simple
The future simple tense is used to describe an action or event that will occur in the future. It is formed using the base form of the verb “will” + base form of the main verb. For example, “I will go to the store tomorrow” or “He will eat dinner at 8 PM.” It can also be formed using the base form of the verb “shall” + base form of the main verb, which is more formal, but less common than “will” in modern English. This tense is used to describe a future action or event that has not yet happened and is certain to happen. It’s also used to make predictions or promises, or to express willingness or intention to do something.
Future Continuous
The future continuous tense is used to describe an action that will be in progress at a specific time in the future. It is formed using the future form of the verb “to be” (will be) and the present participle (-ing) of the main verb. For example, “I will be studying at 8 PM tonight” or “They will be playing soccer at 3 PM tomorrow.” This tense is used to describe a future action that is expected to be in progress at a specific time. It is also used to describe an action that will be in progress in the future but with no specific time. It’s also used to express plans or arrangements that have been made, or to make assumptions or predictions about what someone else will be doing in the future.
Future Perfect
The future perfect tense is used to describe an action that will be completed before a specific time or event in the future. It is formed using the future form of the auxiliary verb “to have” (will have) and the past participle of the main verb. For example, “I will have finished my homework by 8 PM tonight” or “They will have left the party before we arrive.” This tense is used to indicate the completion of an action before a certain point in the future. It is used to express how much time will have passed or how long an action will have been completed by a certain point in the future. It also expresses the plan or assumption that something will be completed by a certain time in future.
Future Perfect Continuous
The future perfect continuous tense is used to describe an action that will have been in progress for a certain period of time before a specific time or event in the future. It is formed using the future perfect form of the verb “to be” (will have been) and the present participle (-ing) of the main verb. For example, “I will have been studying for three hours by 8 PM tonight” or “They will have been playing soccer for the whole afternoon by the time it starts raining.” This tense is used to indicate the duration of an action that will have been in progress up to a certain point in the future. It also emphasizes on the continuity of an action till a specific point in the future.
English Tenses | Images
caro
Thursday 9th of March 2023
hello I find this chart really useful. However, there`s a mistake in the first example of the past perfect simple. It should be `she HAD already finished her work when....
Norma
Monday 30th of August 2021
What happened with the conditional tenses (simple and perfect)?
sahadeva
Wednesday 14th of July 2021
how to downlooad igrrammer charts
SORMRITHY
Monday 29th of March 2021
nithequestions
Shella Mae Basarte Bido
Wednesday 3rd of March 2021
Yes. I am interested to join the discussion.
SORMRITHY
Monday 29th of March 2021
SORMRITHY Caeboodia