Tenses chart

The 12 Basic English Tenses The English Tense System The links below are to lessons for each of the 12 basic English tenses*. For each tense we look at: • Structure: How do we make the tense? • Use: When and why do we use the tense? Some lessons look at additional matters, and most of them finish with a quiz to check your understanding. • Present Simple I do, I do do • Present Continuous I am doing • Present Perfect I have done • I have been doing • Past Simple I did, I did do • Past Continuous I was doing • I had done • I had been doing • I will do • I will be doing • I will have done • I will have been doing Many English learners worry too much about tense. If you stopped 100 native English speakers in the street and asked them about tense, 1 of them might give you an intelligent answer - if you were lucky. The other 99 would know little about terms like "past perfect" or "present continuous". And they would know nothing about aspect, voice or mood. But they can all speak fluent English and communicate effectively. Of course, for ESL it helps to know about tenses, but don't become obsessed with them. Be like those native speakers! Speak naturally! *Some grammarians consider that strictly-speaking there are only two English tenses. Others argue six or other quantities. For the sake of simplicity, Learners of English as a Foreign or Second Language are usually taught that - taking into account aspect and future modals - there are 12 tenses in English.

The tense of a verb indicates the time at which an action or state of being happens. The verbs change form to show the various tenses. Some verbs are regular in their changes, some are irregular. See a list of Subject Exercises: Also See: 1) SIMPLE TENSES Simple Present Tense It snows in Alaska. I watch television everyday. I visit my cousin all the time. In general, the simple present expresses events or situations that exist always, usually, habitually; they exist now, they have existed in the past, and will probably exist in the future. See PDFs: Simple Past Tense It snowed yesterday. I watched television last night. I visited my cousin last year. At one particular time in the past, this happened. It began and ended in the past. PDFs: Simple Future Tense It will snow tomorrow. I will watch television tonight. I will visit my cousin later. At one particular time in the future, this will happen. See See 2) PROGRESSIVE VERB TENSES Present Progressive Tense He is sleeping right now. He is asleep at the moment. His sleep is in progress at the present time, and will probably continue.(at least for a while) See PDFs: Past Progressive Tense He was sleeping when I arrived. He went to sleep at 10:00 last night. I arrived at 11:00. He was still asleep. His sleep began before and was in progress at a particular time in the past. It probably continued.(at least for a while) See PDFs: Future Progressive Tense He will be sleeping when we arrive. He will go to sleep at 10:00 tomorrow n...

If you are a beginner in tenses and are looking for a comprehensive resource to learn all the different tenses, here I have created a basic tense chart. This chart includes rules and examples that can aid you in easily remembering all the necessary rules and formulas. You can save and access this chart offline, allowing you to study it at your convenience during your spare time. The table below shows a chart of tenses in English. Tense Formula Example 1. Present Simple Sub + Verb (v1) + s/es + Obj She goes to school by bus. 2. Past Simple Sub + Verb (v2) + Obj She went to school by bus. 3. Future Simple Sub + will/shall + verb (v1) + Obj She will go to school by bus. 4. Present Continuous Sub + is/am/are + Verb(+ing) + Obj She is going to school by bus. 5. Past Continuous Sub + was/were + Verb(+ing) + Obj She was going to school by bus. 6. Future Continuous Sub + will be/shall be + verb(+ing) + Obj She will be going to school by bus. 7. Present Perfect Sub + Has/have + Verb (v3) + Obj She has gone to school by bus. 8. Past Perfect Sub + had + Verb (v3) + Obj She had gone to school by bus. 9. Future Perfect Sub + will have + verb(v3) + Obj She will have gone to school by bus 10. Present Perfect Continuous Sub + Has/have + been + Verb(+ing) + Obj She has been going to school by bus since a year. 11. Past Perfect Continuous Sub + had + been + Verb(+ing) + Obj She had been going to school by bus since a year. 12. Future Perfect Continuous Sub + will have been + verb(+ing) + Ob...

If you’re familiar with basic English grammar, we bet you can describe a the boy walks and the girl ran, the words walks and ran are the verbs. Did you also recognize that walks is in the present tense, or that ran is in the past tense? Whether you did or didn’t, we’re here to review verb tenses with you and also astound you with the fact that there are 12—count them, 12—verb tenses in all! What is a verb tense? Generally speaking, verb walks communicates not only how many people completed the action (it’s singular), but also when it occurred. In this case, the tense is present. The person walks right now. Interestingly, not all languages treat verb tenses the same way. In English, the ending on a verb communicates what tense it’s in. ( Walk becomes walks and walked.) In some cases, an will or need) is required as well. In Chinese languages, for example, a verb doesn’t change its spelling depending on the tense. A separate word (or particle) is combined with the verb to explain when it occurred. 12 types of verb tenses The simple tenses ( past, present, and future) are the most basic forms, but there are 12 major verb tenses in English in all. We’ll review the tenses here. Past tenses The past tenses use verbs to say that something happened in the past, meaning any time before this moment right now. There are four variations of past tenses: • Simple past: describes events that began and ended in the past. • Past continuous: describes events that began in the past, continue...

Summary: This handout explains and describes the sequence of verb tenses in English. Only two tenses are conveyed through the verb alone: present (“sing") and past (“sang"). Most English tenses, as many as thirty of them, are marked by other words called auxiliaries. Understanding the six basic tenses allows writers to re-create much of the reality of time in their writing. Simple Present: They walk. Present Perfect: They have walk ed. Simple Past: They walk ed. Past Perfect: They had walk ed. Future: They will walk. Future Perfect: They will have walk ed. Usually, the perfect tenses are the hardest to remember. Here’s a useful tip: all of the perfect tenses are formed by adding an auxiliary or auxiliaries to the past participle, the third principal part. 1 st principal part (simple present): ring, walk 2 nd principal part (simple past): rang, walked 3 rd principal part (past participle): rung, walked In the above examples, will or will have are the auxiliaries. The following are the most common auxiliaries: be, being, been, can, do, may, must, might, could, should, ought, shall, will, would, has, have, had. Present Perfect The present perfect consists of a past participle (the third principal part) with "has" or "have." It designates action which began in the past but which continues into the present or the effect of which still continues. 1. Simple Past: “Betty taught for ten years.” This means that Betty taught in the past; she is no longer teaching. 2. Present Perfect:...

• Simple tenses focus on complete events. • Continuous tenses focus on action at a specific moment in time and cannot be used with stative verbs. • Perfect tenses focus on what has been completed from one time to another. • Perfect continuous tenses focus on how long something has been happening from one time to another. • Each English tense has an auxiliary verb. • Positive, negative, and questions always include an auxiliary verb. • Continuous tenses focus on completed events. • It's possible to place an adverb of frequency such as 'usually' between the auxiliary and main verb. • Perfect tenses focus on an action or a state that begins at one point in time and continues to the next. • Perfect continuous tenses focus on how long an action or continues from one point to the next. Answers • True: All tenses in English have an auxiliary verb. However, auxiliary verbs are dropped in the positive form of the present simple and past simple. • False: Drop auxiliary verbs in present simple and past simple positive sentences. • False: Continuous tenses focus on actions happening at a specific moment in time. • True: It's possible to place adverbs of frequency between the auxiliary and main verb. • True: Perfect tenses focus on events and states over periods of time. • False: Stative verbs are not used in continuous forms. Tense Subject Helping Verb Main Verb (String) Objects / Time / Place I - eat breakfast at 8 in the morning. You - eat breakfast at 8 in the morning. He - eats br...

Do you wish to improve the quality of your English verb tense knowledge? In the present, past, and future, do you understand the tenses of your verbs? This article for teachers can aid in boosting your memory. English Tenses can be useful when learning to speak the Three major kinds of tenses are explained when the event mentioned in the statement took place. Many English learners are worried about the tense. If you met 100 native English users in public and asked questions about the tense of their sentences, only one could give you an answer – if lucky enough. The remaining 99 will be clueless about phrases such as “past perfect” or “present continuous.” They can communicate fluently in English and communicate with ease. Of course, to communicate effectively in ESL, it’s helpful to learn about the tenses. But don’t get obsessed with the tenses. Learn to speak like native speakers! Naturally, speak! 16.1 Future Perfect Progressive Tense Example Sentences Various verb forms to describe various actions at various moments in time are thought to be grammatical Tenses, also known as Verb Tenses. What is the definition of verb tenses, and how can you make use of these words? This article will look at verb tenses and will cover frequent mistakes, regional usages, and examples, as well as an examination of verb tenses and their variants. What Are English Verb Tenses? The verb’s tense tells that a person has done an act or was involved in something or took place. There are three pr...