Tenses in English Grammar

Tenses in English grammar are one of the most important topics you should study thoroughly to become an expert in the English language.

In English Grammer, Tenses express time reference. Tenses are used to define the time of a verb.

There are three basic tenses; present, past and future. And these three tenses have four aspects (simple, continuous, perfect, perfect continuous), which express how an action relates to time.

Tenses

	Simple	Continuous	Perfect	Perfect Continuous
Present	Present Simple	Present Continuous	Present Perfect	Present Perfect Continuous
Past	Past Simple	Past Continuous	Past Perfect	Past Perfect Continuous
Future	Future Simple	Future Continuous	Future Perfect	Future Perfect Continuous

Present Simple Tense

Present simple tense is also called Present Indefinite Tense. Present simple tense is used when an action occurs in the present or happens regularly.

Structure: Subject + Verb(V1/V5) + Object

Example:
I live in America.
He works there.
Does he work there?
Why do you study English?

Present Continuous Tense

We use present continuous tense when any work/action is still going on.

Structure: Subject + am/is/are + Verb(V4) + ing + Object

Example :
I am drinking beer right now.
We are having a party.
It is raining.

Present Perfect Tense

We use the present perfect tense when any work/action is completed, but the time period is uncertain.

Structure: Subject + has/have + verb(V3) + Object

Example:
I have visited India four times.
We have seen three Bollywood movies this week.

Present Perfect Continuous Tense

The present perfect continuous tense is used when something started in the past but is still in continuation.

Structure: Subject + has been/have been + verb + ing + Object

Example:
I have been living here for one year.
She has been learning English for 6 months.
It has been raining since 5 p.m.

Past Simple Tense

Any work/action completed in the past.

Structure: Subject + V2 + Object

Example:
I played cricket with John last Sunday.
I visited Paris every year.

Past Continuous Tense

Past continuous tense is used when any work/action was ongoing for a certain period of time in the past.

Structure: Subject + was/were + verb(V4) + ing + Object

Example:
The children were shouting when the teacher came in.
It was raining when I left for work.
My mother was cooking food for me.

Past Perfect Tense

Any work/action that happened or was completed before another action/work in the past.

Structure: Subject + had + verb(V3) + Object

Example:
When we got to the stadium, the match had started.
The train had left before they arrived.

Past Perfect Continuous Tense

Past perfect continuous tense tells us about any work/action started in the past and ended with a specific time clause. In the past perfect continuous tense, the first past action is a continuous one.

Structure: Subject + had been + verb + ing + Object

Example:
She had been waiting for two hours when her lover finally arrived.

Future Simple Tense

Future simple tense is used when any work/action will happen in future.

Structure: Subject + shall/will + verb + Object

Example:
I am going to buy a cricket bat.
John is going to open a liquid shop.

Future Continuous Tense

Future continuous tense expresses a work/action that is ongoing in the future.

Structure: Subject + shall be/will be + verb + ing + Object

Example:
At 10 a.m. tomorrow, I will be going to the office.

Future Perfect Tense

The future perfect tense is used when any work/action will be completed within a specific time in future.

Structure: Subject + shall have/will have + verb(V3) + Object

Example:
By June, I will have saved $1000.

Future Perfect Continuous Tense

We use future perfect continuous tense when any work/action started in the past and still going to the present and also will continue in future.

Structure: Subject + shall have been/will have been + verb + ing + Object

Example:
I shall have been living in this house for 5 years when I get married.

Construction of Tenses

Here is the different construction of the three tenses (present, past, future) using various aspects.

	Simple	Continuous	Perfect	Perfect Continuous
Present	do(es)	am/is/are doing	have/has done	have/has been doing
Past	did	was/were doing	had done	had been doing
Future	will do	will be doing	will have done	will have been doing

Related Topics:

Parts of Speech	Noun	Pronoun
Adverb	Verbs	Adjective
Phrasal Verbs	Synonyms	Antonyms