English tenses

English tenses

English tenses

The tense of a verb tells you when a person did something or when something existed or happened. In English, there are three main tenses ( English tenses): the present, the past, and the future.

The present

The present tense (e.g. I am, she works, we swim, they believe) is also called the present simpleor simple present. It's mainly used in the following ways:

to describe things that are currently happening or that are currently or always the case (love chocolate ice cream; my parents are in New York this weekhe has fair hair and blue eyessome birds eat worms and insects).

to talk about something that exists or happens regularly (she goes out every Saturday night; it always rains here in winter; I start work at 7.30 a.m.).

to refer to a future situation in certain cases and in some subordinate clauses (the bus arrives in London at 6 p.m.;  I'll make us some coffee when we get home).

The past

The past tense (e.g. I washe talkedwe hadthey worked) is also called the past simple or simple past. As its description implies, it’s used to talk about things or situations which happened in the past, that is, before the present time of speaking. Its main uses are as follows:

to refer to an event or situation which happened once and is now finished (met Lisa yesterday; we ate a huge breakfast this morning; they walked ten miles that day; you told me that before).

to describe a situation that lasted for a longer time in the past but is now finished (he went to college for four years; my  family lived in Oxford in the 1980s;  I loved her for ages but never told her).

to talk about an event that happened regularly or repeatedly but is now over (she calledfor help over and over again; we ate out every night last week; I phoned him three times today).

The future

The future tense (e.g. I shall [or will] gohe will talkwe shall [or will] have; they will work) is used to refer to things that haven’t yet happened at the present time of speaking, but which are due, expected, or likely to occur in the future.  Here are the main situations in which the future is used:

to give or ask for information about the future (you will be in California tomorrow; how long will the journey take?; OK,  I’ll write that report on Thursday).

to talk about things that we think are likely or possible to happen in the future, but which aren’t completely certain (I think she’ll retire soonhe won’t [will notstay married to her for longyou’ll never lose weight, you like food too much).

to refer to conditional situations, namely things that will or may happen if something else occurs (if it’s hot I’ll go swimming later; you’ll get stressed out if you work all the time).

to make promises or threats, or to state decisions at the time of speaking (Fine, I’ll call you soonAre you going into town? We’ll give you a lift; I’ll never speak to you again).

The future tense is formed with will (or shall) and the infinitive of the verb without ‘to’. Learn more about when to use will or shall.

Continuous and perfect tenses 

There are two further types of tense: the continuous and the perfect. These tenses are sometimes referred to as aspects or forms rather than tenses. The term aspect/form is used in grammar to talk about the form of a verb that shows, for example, whether the action happens once or repeatedly, is completed or still continuing.

Continuous

These tenses (also called progressive tenses) are used to talk about actions that continue for a period of time. They are formed with the relevant tense of the auxiliary verb  to be and the present participle of the main verb. There are three main continuous tenses:

the present continuous (I am working)

the past continuous (I was working)

the future continuous (I will be working)

Perfect

Perfect tenses are typically used to talk about actions that are completed by the present or a particular point in the past or future. They are formed with the relevant tense of the auxiliary verb to have and the past participle of the main verb. There are three main perfect tenses:

the present perfect (I have worked)

the past perfect (I had worked)

the future perfect (I will have worked)

Perfect continuous

There is a final set of tenses which combine features of the perfect and continuous tenses. They are formed and used as follows:

the present perfect continuous (I have been working): used to talk about how long something has continued up till now (I have been working there for a week)

the past perfect continuous (I had been working): used to talk about something which continued up to a particular moment in the past but is now completed (I had been working there for a week before I resigned)

the future perfect continuous (I will have been working): used to talk about something which is expected to end by a particular time in the future (By December, I will have been working there for 6 months)

Lessons

  1. The past perfect progressive  (also called past perfect continuous) is a verb tense which is used to show that an action started in the past and continued up to another point in the past.
  2. The tense of a verb tells you when a person did something or when something existed or happened. In English, there are three main tenses: the present, the past, and the future.
  3. The simple present is a verb tense with two main uses. We use the simple present tense when an action is happening right now, or when it happens regularly (or unceasingly, which is why it's sometimes called present indefinite).
  4. The present progressive puts emphasis on the course or duration of an action. The present progressive is used for actions going on in the moment of speaking and for actions taking place only for a short period of time. ... Present progressive is also known aspresent continuous.
  5. The verb to be is the most irregular verb in the English language. It is normally a linking verb showing existence or the condition of the subject.
  6. The simple past is a verb tense that is used to talk about things that happened or existed before now. Unlike the past continuous tense, which is used to talk about past events that happened over a period of time, the simple past tense emphasizes that the action is finished.
  7. The past progressive , also called past continuous, is used to refer to an action that was continuous (i.e. an action that was going on) at a particular time in the past.
  8. The simple future is a verb tense that's used to talk about things that haven't happened yet. Use the simple future to talk about an action or condition that will begin and end in the future.
  9. The future progressive tense  indicates an action that will occur over a period of time at some point in the future. It expresses events that will last for a duration of time at some point in the future. It is also called the future continuous tense. The future progressive tense is also used in the future perfect progressive.
  10. The present continuous is used when we say what we have planned and arranged to do at a specific time in the future. These are fixed plans with definite time and/or place.
  11. The present perfect is used to indicate a link between the present and the past. The time of the action is before now but not specified, and we are often more interested in the result than in the action itself.
  12. The present perfect continuous is used to refer to an unspecified time between 'before now' and 'now'. The speaker is thinking about something that started but perhaps did not finish in that period of time. He/she is interested in the process as well as the result, and this process may still be going on, or may have just finished.
  13. The past perfect refers to an event that was completed at some point in the past before something else happened. It is formed by combining the auxiliary verb had with the past participle of the main verb.
  14. Future Perfect Tense is used to express an action which, the speaker assumes, will have completed or occurred in the future. It gives a sense of completion of a task that will happen in the future.
  15. Future perfect continuous refers to a progressive event that will be completed at some point in the future. Here are the forms and uses of this tense.
  16. The verb to be is the most important verb in the English language. It is difficult to use because it is an irregular verb in almost all of its forms. 
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