Tenses in English

Tenses refer to different forms of a verb or verb phrase. We use different tenses to talk or write about different times.

For example, we usually use present tense verb forms to talk about states, events or actions that happen or are happening in the present time.

Past tense verb forms are used to talk about past time, to describe events, states or actions that have already happened.

We usually use future tense verb forms to talk about things that haven’t happened yet.

So, today in the lesson we will:

● discuss how to form and when to use English tenses;

And

● revise what time markers we typically use with each one of them.

There are 12 basic tenses in the English language. And they are…

Present Simple

Present Continuous

Present Perfect

Present Perfect Continuous

Past Simple

Past Continuous

Past Perfect

Past Perfect Continuous

Future Simple

Future Continuous

Future Perfect

Future Perfect Continuous

Now let’s talk about each one of these tenses in detail.

Present Simple

We use the Present Simple tense:

to talk about things that happen regularly, habits and repeated actions;

to talk about timetables or fixed plans in the future;

for permanent situations or states;

to talk about general things or laws of nature.

To form positive sentences we use the subject and the first form of the verb or the verb with the ending -s or -es.

In negative sentences we use the subject, “do/does”, “not” and the first form of the verb.

In questions we use “do/does”, the subject and the first form of the verb.

For example:

I really love my job.

Spiders do not (don’t) frighten me.

Do you live in London?

Present Continuous

We use the Present Continuous tense:

to describe things that are happening at this moment;

to talk about habits that irritate somebody;

to describe temporary situations;

to talk about planned events which will happen in the future.

To form positive sentences we use the subject, “am/is/are” and the verb with the -ing suffix.

In negative sentences we use the subject, “am/is/are”, “not” and the verb with the -ing suffix.

In questions we use “am/is/are”, the subject and the verb with the -ing suffix.

For instance:

Her mother is living with her at the moment.

I’m not drinking much coffee these days.

Is she working a lot in Rome at the moment?

Present Perfect

We use the Present Perfect tense:

for an action which has recently finished and whose result is visible in the present;

for an action which happened at an unstated time in the past;

for an action performed during a period that hasn’t finished yet;

to talk about our personal experience.

To form positive sentences we use the subject, “have/has” and the past participle.

In negative sentences we use the subject, “have/has”, “not” and the past participle.

In questions we use “have/has”, the subject and the past participle.

For example:

She has broken her arm in two places.

Your flowers have not (haven’t) arrived yet.

Have you ever tried to write your name with your left hand?

Present Perfect Continuous

We use the Present Perfect Continuous tense:

to talk about the duration of an action which started in the past and continues up to the present;

to talk about anger, irritation or annoyance;

for an action which started and finished in the past and lasted for some time.

To form positive sentences we use the subject, “have/has”, “been” and the verb with the -ing suffix.

In negative sentences we use the subject, “have/has”, “not”, “been” and the verb with the -ing suffix.

In questions we use “have/has”, the subject, “been” and the verb with the -ing suffix.

For instance:

I have been living here for 20 years.

I have not (haven’t) been working out for 2 months now.

Have you been working on this project for a week?

Past Simple

We use the Past Simple tense:

to talk about a complete action in the past;

to describe repeated actions or someone’s old habits in the past;

to talk about the actions which happened one after the other in the past;

after the construction “I wish” to express regret.

To form positive sentences we use the subject and the verb with the ending -ed or the second form of the verb.

In negative sentences we use the subject, “did”, “not” and the first form of the verb.

In questions we use “did”, the subject and the first form of the verb.

For example:

Jane washed his car two days ago.

I did not (didn’t) go to school yesterday.

Did you watch that film last week?

Past Continuous

We use the Past Continuous tense:

for an action which was in progress at a stated time in the past;

to describe the atmosphere, weather or place before we describe the main event;

to talk about old habits which irritated some people.

To form positive sentences we use the subject, “was/were” and the verb with the -ing suffix.

In negative sentences we use the subject, “was/were”, “not” and the verb with the -ing suffix.

In questions we use “was/or were”, the subject and the verb with the -ing suffix.

For instance:

I was listening to the radio when Helen phoned.

He was not (wasn’t) listening to me when I told him to turn the oven off.

Was she writing a letter when the phone rang?

Past Perfect

We use the Past Perfect tense:

for one past action which happened before another past action or a stated time in the past;

for an action which finished in the past and whose result was visible in the past;

to talk about our personal experience in the past.

To form positive sentences we use the subject, “had” and the past participle.

In negative sentences we use the subject, “had”, “not” and the past participle.

In questions we use “had”, the subject and the past participle.

For example:

I had seen all of Elvis Presley’s films by the time I was 20.

Julia had not (hadn’t) been to an opera before last night.

Had you studied English before you moved to New York?

Past Perfect Continuous

We use the Past Perfect Continuous tense:

to talk about actions or events which started before a particular time in the past and were still in progress up to that time in the past;

to talk about events which started before a particular time in the past and which finished, but where the effects or results were still important at a point in the past.

To form positive sentences we use the subject, “had”, “been” and the verb with the -ing suffix.

In negative sentences we use the subject, “had”, “not”, “been” and the verb with the -ing suffix.

In questions we use “had”, the subject, “been” and the verb with the -ing suffix.

For instance:

It had been raining, and the ground was still wet.

Kate failed the final test, because she had not (hadn’t) been attending the lessons.

Had you been waiting there for more than two hours when she finally arrived?

Future Simple

We use the Future Simple tense:

to describe single actions which will happen in the future;

for repeated or habitual actions in the future;

when we think, suspect or guess that something will happen in the future;

when we decide something instantly and inform everyone about this decision immediately.

To form positive sentences we use the subject, “will” and the first form of the verb.

In negative sentences we use the subject, “will”, “not” and the first form of the verb.

In questions we use “will”, the subject and the first form of the verb.

For example:

I will send you the information when I get it.

I will not (won’t) do all the housework myself!

Will you help me move this heavy table?

Future Continuous

We use the Future Continuous tense:

to refer to temporary actions and events that will be in progress at a particular time in the future;

to make predictions or guesses about future events.

To form positive sentences we use the subject, “will”, “be” and the verb with the -ing suffix.

In negative sentences we use the subject, “will”, “not”, “be” and the verb with the -ing suffix.

In questions we use “will”, the subject, “be” and the verb with the -ing suffix.

For instance:

Next week they will be flying to Australia from Spain.

Unfortunately, we will not (won’t) be attending the wedding.

Will she be working on Tuesday?

Future Perfect

We use the Future Perfect tense:

when we look back to the past from a point in the future;

to talk about something that will be completed before a specific time in the future.

To form positive sentences we use the subject, “will”, “have” and the past participle.

In negative sentences we use the subject, “will”, “not”, “have” and the past participle.

In questions we use “will”, the subject, “have” and the past participle.

For example:

I think they will have got there by 6 o’clock.

We will not (or won’t) have eaten breakfast before we get to the airport tomorrow morning.

Will they have finished decorating the float before the parade?

Future Perfect Continuous

We use the Future Perfect Continuous tense when we are looking back to the past from a point in the future, and we want to emphasize the duration of an activity or event.

To form positive sentences we use the subject, “will”, “have”, “been” and the verb with the -ing suffix.

In negative sentences we use the subject, “will”, “not”, “have”, “been” and the verb with the -ing suffix.

In questions we use “will”, the subject, “have”, “been” and the verb with the -ing suffix.

For instance:

In September she will have been living in France for a year.

He will not (won’t) have been studying long enough to qualify.

Will she have been studying English for three years by the end of this course?

Now look at the table, please! Here you can see what time markers we typically use with English tenses.

Present Simple – always, often, never, seldom, usually, every day/month/year

Present Continuous – now, right now, at this moment, still, Look!, Listen!

Present Perfect – already, just, ever, yet, since, for

Present Perfect Continuous – for a week/month/year, since morning, lately, recently, How long…?, Since when…?

Past Simple – yesterday, the day before yesterday, last week/month/year, ago

Past Continuous – the whole day yesterday, all the evening yesterday, still, while, when, from 4 till 6 yesterday

Past Perfect – by the time, by next week/month/year, before, after, as soon as, once

Past Perfect Continuous – by the time, before, after, all day, until, How long…?

Future Simple – tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, later, soon, next week/month/year, in a week/month/year

Future Continuous – this time tomorrow, this time next week, in the afternoon, while, when, next week on Sunday

Future Perfect – by the time, by noon, by 9 o’clock, already, before, when

Future Perfect Continuous – by this week/month/year, for an hour, for 5 years, by then, since morning, by tomorrow

– Guys, now you know how to form and when to use English tenses. You also know what time markers we typically use with each one of these tenses.

– That’s all for today. See you soon.