English Tenses Overview

Tenses Overview

• Tenses are verb forms that indicate the time of an action or state
• There are 12 basic tenses in English grammar:
  1. Present Simple
  2. Present Continuous
  3. Present Perfect
  4. Present Perfect Continuous
  5. Past Simple
  6. Past Continuous
  7. Past Perfect
  8. Past Perfect Continuous
  9. Future Simple
  10. Future Continuous
  11. Future Perfect
  12. Future Perfect Continuous

Present Tenses

• Present Simple:
  • Used to describe habits, general truths, and scheduled events
  • Example: I go to school every day
• Present Continuous:
  • Used to describe actions in progress at the moment of speaking
  • Example: I am studying for my exam right now
• Present Perfect:
  • Used to describe completed actions with a connection to the present
  • Example: I have eaten breakfast already
• Present Perfect Continuous:
  • Used to describe actions that started in the past and continue up to the present
  • Example: I have been studying English for three years

Past Tenses

• Past Simple:
  • Used to describe completed actions in the past
  • Example: I went to school yesterday
• Past Continuous:
  • Used to describe actions in progress at a specific point in the past
  • Example: I was studying for my exam last night
• Past Perfect:
  • Used to describe completed actions before another action in the past
  • Example: I had eaten breakfast before I went to school
• Past Perfect Continuous:
  • Used to describe actions that started before another action in the past
  • Example: I had been studying English for three years before I moved to the US

Future Tenses

• Future Simple:
  • Used to describe future actions or predictions
  • Example: I will go to school tomorrow
• Future Continuous:
  • Used to describe actions in progress at a specific point in the future
  • Example: I will be studying for my exam next week
• Future Perfect:
  • Used to describe completed actions before another action in the future
  • Example: I will have graduated by next year
• Future Perfect Continuous:
  • Used to describe actions that will continue up to a specific point in the future
  • Example: I will have been studying English for five years by next year