English Grammar Tenses Overview

Simple Present Tense

• Formed with "do" and "does" for negative sentences: "Don't" for plural subjects and "Doesn't" for singular subjects.
• Key indicators include frequency adverbs: every, always, often, usually, rarely, generally, frequently, once a week, every morning/afternoon/night.
• Expresses habitual actions or general truths.

Present Continuous Tense

• Recognizable by phrases like: at present, at the moment, now, look!, listen!
• Used for actions happening right now; not used with perception verbs (e.g., see, hear, know).
• Verbs form with the "-ing" suffix to indicate ongoing actions.

Simple Past Tense

• Identified by words such as: yesterday, ago, last night/week/month/year, when.
• Describes completed actions in the past.

Past Continuous Tense

• Signals include: was/were + verb-ing to denote actions that were ongoing in the past.
• Useful for setting scenes or indicating overlapping actions in past occurrences.

Present Perfect Tense

• Use "has" or "have" plus the past participle (V3).
• Known indicators include: just, already, before, ever, never, for + duration of time, since + time point.
• Highlights connections between past actions and the present.

Simple Future Tense

• Signal phrases often are: in + time, tomorrow, next day/week/month/year.
• Describes actions that will occur.

Near Future Tense

• Formulated as "S + am/is/are + going to + verb."
• Indicators include future time expressions, and often imply planned events or intentions.

General Notes

• Usage of tenses varies based on the timing and nature of the action whether habitual, ongoing, completed, or planned.
• Understand context clues in sentences to determine the appropriate tense to use.