English Tenses

English Tenses
Simple Present
[VERB] + s/es in third person
Examples:
• You speak English.

• Do you speak English?
• You do not speak English.
Repeated Actions / Daily Routine / schedule events
Use the Simple Present to express the idea that an action is repeated or usual. The
action can be a habit, a hobby, a daily event, a scheduled event or something that often
happens. It can also be something a person often forgets or usually does not do.
Examples:
• I play tennis.
• She does not play tennis.
• Does he play tennis?
• The train leaves every morning at 8 AM.
• The train does not leave at 9 AM.
• Cats like milk.
• Birds do not like milk.
• Do pigs like milk?
• The train leaves tonight at 6 PM.
• The bus does not arrive at 11 AM, it arrives at 11 PM.
• When do we board the plane?
Present Continuous
[am/is/are + present participle]
Examples:
• You are watching TV.

• Are you watching TV?
• You are not watching TV.
Now / At the moment / Longer Actions in Progress Now
Use the Present Continuous with Normal Verbs to express the idea that something is
happening now, at this very moment. It can also be used to show that something is not
happening now.
In English, "now" can mean: this second, today, this month, this year, this century, and
so on. Sometimes, we use the Present Continuous to say that we are in the process of
doing a longer action which is in progress; however, we might not be doing it at this
exact second.
Examples:
• You are learning English now.

• You are not swimming now.
• Are you sleeping?
• I am sitting.
• I am not standing.
• I am studying to become a doctor.
• I am not studying to become a dentist.
• I am reading the book Tom Sawyer.
• I am not reading any books right now.
• Are you working on any special projects at work?
• Aren't you teaching at the university now?
Present Perfect
[has/have + past participle]
Examples:
• You have seen that movie many times.

• Have you seen that movie many times?
• You have not seen that movie many times.
Complete List of Present Perfect Forms
USE 1 Unspecified Time Before Now
We use the Present Perfect to say that an action happened at an unspecified time
before now. The exact time is not important. You CANNOT use the Present Perfect with
specific time expressions such as: yesterday, one year ago, last week, when I was a
child, when I lived in Japan, at that moment, that day, one day, etc. We CAN use the
Present Perfect with unspecific expressions such as: ever, never, once, many times,
several times, before, so far, already, yet, etc.
The Present Perfect is NOT used to describe a specific event.
Examples:
• I have seen that movie twenty times.

• I think I have met him once before.
• There have been many earthquakes in California.
• People have traveled to the Moon.
• People have not traveled to Mars.
• Have you read the book yet?
• Nobody has ever climbed that mountain.
• My English has really improved since I moved to Australia.
Simple Past
[VERB+ed] or irregular verbs
Examples:
•
You called Debbie.
• Did you call Debbie?
• You did not call Debbie.
Complete List of Simple Past Forms
USE 1 Completed Action in the Past
Use the Simple Past to express the idea that an action started and finished at a specific
time in the past. Sometimes, the speaker may not actually mention the specific time, but
they do have one specific time in mind.
Examples:
• I saw a movie yesterday.

• I didn't see a play yesterday.
• Last year, I traveled to Japan.
• Last year, I didn't travel to Korea.
• She was shy as a child, but now she is very outgoing.
• Did you play a musical instrument when you were a kid?
• I studied French in school.
Did + infinitive
Past Continuous
[was/were + present participle]
Examples:
• You were studying when she called.

• Were you studying when she called?
• You were not studying when she called.
Complete List of Past Continuous Forms
Interrupted Action in the Past
Use the Past Continuous to indicate that a longer action in the past was interrupted. The
interruption is usually a shorter action in the Simple Past. Remember this can be a real
interruption or just an interruption in time.
Examples:
• I was watching TV when she called.

• When the phone rang, she was writing a letter.
• While we were having the picnic, it started to rain.
• What were you doing when the earthquake started?
• I was listening to my iPod, so I didn't hear the fire alarm.
Parallel Actions
When you use the Past Continuous with two actions in the same sentence, it expresses
the idea that both actions were happening at the same time. The actions are parallel.
Examples:
• I was studying while he was making dinner.

• While Ellen was reading, Tim was watching television.
• Were you listening while he was talking?
• I wasn't paying attention while I was writing the letter, so I made several mistakes.
Past Perfect
[had + past participle]
Examples:
• You had studied English before you moved to New York.

• Had you studied English before you moved to New York?
• You had not studied English before you moved to New York.
USE 1 Completed Action Before Something in the Past
The Past Perfect expresses the idea that something occurred before another action in
the past. It can also show that something happened before a specific time in the past.
Examples:
• I had never seen such a beautiful beach before I went to Kauai.
• I did not have any money because I had lost my wallet.
• Tony knew Istanbul so well because he had visited the city several times.
• Had Susan ever studied Thai before she moved to Thailand?
• She only understood the movie because she had read the book.
• Kristine had never been to an opera before last night.
• She had visited her Japanese relatives once in 1993 before she moved in with them in
1996.
Future Simple will
Will future expresses a spontaneous decision, an assumption with regard to the future or an
action in the future that cannot be influenced.
Will + infinitive
Use of will Future
a spontaneous decision
example: Wait, I will help you.
an opinion, hope, uncertainty or assumption regarding the future

example: He will probably come back tomorrow.
a promise
example: I will not watch TV tonight.
an action in the future that cannot be influenced

example: It will rain tomorrow.
conditional clauses type I

example: If I arrive late, I will call you.
Signal Words
in a year, next …, tomorrow

I think, probably, we might …, perhaps
Future with be going to
In English, there are many ways of expressing future time. One of the most common is the "be going to"
construction. This page will explain how to form the future with "be going to", and what the main
meaning of this construction is.
To make a verb form with "be going to", you first put "be" into the correct form to agree with the
subject, and then add "going to" + the simple form of the verb.
I’ll make the supper. – Making a decision/volunteering to do something.
I’m going to make the supper. – This is already planned and organized.
Conditional Simple
The conditional simple expresses an action that might take place.
Form
Affirmative: He would talk.
Negative: He would not talk.
Question: Would he talk?
Use
action that might take place
if clause type II (If I were you, I would go home.)

English Tenses

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English Tenses

• You speak English.

Repeated Actions / Daily Routine / schedule events

• You are watching TV.

Now / At the moment / Longer Actions in Progress Now

• You are learning English now.

• You have seen that movie many times.

Complete List of Present Perfect Forms

USE 1 Unspecified Time Before Now

The Present Perfect is NOT used to describe a specific event.

• I have seen that movie twenty times.

USE 1 Completed Action in the Past

• I saw a movie yesterday.

• You were studying when she called.

Complete List of Past Continuous Forms

Interrupted Action in the Past

• I was watching TV when she called.

• I was studying while he was making dinner.

• You had studied English before you moved to New York.

USE 1 Completed Action Before Something in the Past

• I had never seen such a beautiful beach before I went to Kauai.

• I did not have any money because I had lost my wallet.

• Had Susan ever studied Thai before she moved to Thailand?

• Kristine had never been to an opera before last night.

Use of will Future

an opinion, hope, uncertainty or assumption regarding the future

an action in the future that cannot be influenced

conditional clauses type I

in a year, next …, tomorrow

I’ll make the supper. – Making a decision/volunteering to do something.

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