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How many tenses are there in the English language?
Tenses in the English Language
Tenses in the English Language
Verb Conjugation
Even though there are many tenses there are only two different conjugations of verbs: the present, and the past. Each verb has an infinitive, the form of the verb you use with "to ...", e.g. to be, to have, to eat. Each verb has a past participle which is used in some tenses. The past participle often ends in -ed, such as learned, finished, arrested, but many don't (sung, lost, done). Each verb also has a gerund, which is the infinitive of the verb plus an -ing ending. The gerund is used in continuous tenses.
PRESENT Simple
We use the present simple to talk about things in general. We are not thinking only about now. We use it to say that something happens all the time or repeatedly, or that something is true in general. It is not important whether the action is happening at the time of speaking. We use "do/does" for negative statements (I do not ...) or questions, by putting it in front of the pronoun (Do you drive ...?). When using "do/does" the verb following it must be in the infinitive (drive, go, love, etc.).
FORM:
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pronoun + present tense of VERB
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EXAMPLES:
Nurses look after patients in hospitals.
I usually go away on weekends.
The earth goes around the sun.
Did you go to the movies?
She didn't steal that necklace.
PRESENT Continuous
This tense is used when something has started in the past and is still continuing at the present time. To form questions we reverse the order of the pronoun and "am/are/is" (Are you ...?). Contractions are often used, such as I'm = I am, etc.
FORM:
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pronoun + present tense of be + infinitive of VERB -ing (gerund)
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EXAMPLES:
Ann is driving to work.
I am writing a letter.
I'm going to bed now.
Is she braiding her hair?
PRESENT Perfect
When we use the present perfect there is always a connection to now. The action in the past has a result now. You can use the present perfect with just, already and yet. To form questions we reverse the order of the pronoun and "have/has" (Has he ...?). Often the past participle of a verb is the same as the past tense of the verb.
FORM:
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pronoun + present tense of have + past participle of VERB
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EXAMPLES:
Have you seen my bag?
He has cut his finger.
I have finished my coffee.
PRESENT Perfect Continuous
The present perfect continuous is very similar to the present perfect. It refers to a past event that has recently ended. This tense can be used with for and since. The simple and continuous forms of present perfect can often be interchanged, but in those circumstances the continuous form is often used or preferred. To form questions we reverse the order of the pronoun and "have/has" (Has he ...?). Contractions are often used, such as I've = I have, etc.
FORM:
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pronoun + present tense of have + been + infinitive of VERB -ing (gerund)
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EXAMPLES:
I have been doing my homework.
He has been talking to Carol.
They've been singing all morning.
PAST Simple
The past simple is used when talking about something that happened in the past. We use "did" for negative statements (I didn't go ...) and questions (Did they eat ...?). When using "did" the verb following it must be in the infinitive (pass, eat, invite, etc.). The past tense of many words end in
"-ed" (invited, passed, greeted, etc.).
FORM:
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pronoun + past tense of VERB
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EXAMPLES:
We invited them to our party.
I ate the green apple.
She passed her examination.
Did she pass her examination?
I didn't eat the cake.
PAST Continuous
The past continuous is used to say that somebody was in the middle of doing something at a certain time. The action or situation had already started before this time but had not finished. To form questions we reverse the order of the pronoun and "was/were" (Was she ...?).
FORM:
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pronoun + past tense of be + infinitive of VERB -ing (gerund)
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EXAMPLES:
She was playing tennis.
They were working on the project.
She wasn't looking at me.
PAST Perfect
The past perfect is taking the present perfect and putting it in the past. We are talking about some point in the past, and an event started before that and just ended at that time in the past. Similarly, the form is the same as the present perfect except it is put in the past, i.e. we use had instead of have/has. To form questions we reverse the order of the pronoun and "had" (Had he made ...?).
FORM:
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pronoun + had + past participle of VERB
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EXAMPLES:
When Sarah arrived at the party, Paul had already gone home.
At first I thought I had done the right thing, but I soon realised that I had made a serious mistake.
We weren't hungry. We had just had lunch.
PAST Perfect Continuous
The past perfect continuous is the past of the present perfect continuous. At some point in the past some event or action that started before that time has just finished or ended. Similarly, we use the past tense of have, i.e. had instead of have/has. To form questions we reverse the order of the pronoun and "had" (Had he been playing ...?).
FORM:
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pronoun + had + been + infinitive form of VERB -ing (gerund)
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EXAMPLES:
We had been playing for half an hour before it started raining.
It has been raining.
He'd been smoking for 20 years.
FUTURE
We can take the four present tenses (simple, continuous, perfect, perfect continuous) and make them future tenses by inserting a will after the pronoun. What is does is move the point of time we are talking about (in the present tense it is now) some time into the future. Otherwise, the concepts are all the same. The form is almost identical. Besides inserting the "will" after the pronoun, in the continuous tense you change "is/am/are" to "be", and in the perfect tenses you change "have/has" to "have".
FORM:
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Simple: pronoun + will + present tense of VERB
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Continuous: pronoun + will + be + infinitive of VERB -ing (gerund)
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Perfect: pronoun + will + have + past participle of VERB
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Perfect Continuous: pronoun + will + have + been + infinitive of VERB -ing (gerund)
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EXAMPLES:
I will read my book.
He will sing a song to us.
I will be reading my book.
He will be singing a song to us at that point.
I will have read my book by then
He will have sung a song by then.
I will have been reading by then.
He will have been singing a long time by then.
Some Helpful Clues
There are some helpful clues to look out for in sentences. They can help you quickly figure out what tense the sentence is in.
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Clue | Tense Type | Past | Present
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to be + verb | Continuous | was/were | am/is/are
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to have + verb | Perfect | had | have/has
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