English Tenses Grammar

1. Simple Present Tense

How do we make the Simple Present Tense?

subject	+	auxiliary verb	+	main verb
		do		base

There are three important exceptions:

1. For positive sentences, we do not normally use the auxiliary.
2. For the 3rd person singular (he, she, it), we add s to the main verb or es to the auxiliary.
3. For the verb to be, we do not use an auxiliary, even for questions and negatives.

Look at these examples with the main verb like:

	subject	auxiliary verb		main verb
+	I, you, we, they			like	coffee.
	He, she, it			likes	coffee.
-	I, you, we, they	do	not	like	coffee.
	He, she, it	does	not	like	coffee.
?	Do	I, you, we, they		like	coffee?
	Does	he, she, it		like	coffee?

Look at these examples with the main verb be. Notice that there is no auxiliary:

	subject	main verb
+	I	am		French.
	You, we, they	are		French.
	He, she, it	is		French.
-	I	am	not	old.
	You, we, they	are	not	old.
	He, she, it	is	not	old.
?	Am	I		late?
	Are	you, we, they		late?
	Is	he, she, it		late?

How do we use the Simple Present Tense?

We use the simple present tense when:

• the action is general
• the action happens all the time, or habitually, in the past, present and future
• the action is not only happening now
• the statement is always true

John drives a taxi.
past	present	future
It is John's job to drive a taxi. He does it every day. Past, present and future.

Look at these examples:

• I live in New York.
• The Moon goes round the Earth.
• John drives a taxi.
• He does not drive a bus.
• We meet every Thursday.
• We do not work at night.
• Do you play football?

Note that with the verb to be, we can also use the simple present tense for situations that are not general. We can use the simple present tense to talk about now. Look at these examples of the verb "to be" in the simple present tense - some of them are general, some of them are now:

Am I right? Tara is not at home. You are happy.
past	present	future
The situation is now.

 

I am not fat. Why are you so beautiful? Ram is tall.
past	present	future
The situation is general. Past, present and future.

2. Present Continuous Tense

We often use the present continuous tense in English. It is very different from the simple present tense, both in structure and in use.
In this lesson we look the structure and use of the present continuous tense, followed by a quiz to check your understanding:

How do we make the Present Continuous Tense?

The structure of the present continuous tense is:

subject	+	auxiliary verb	+	main verb
		be		base + ing

Look at these examples:

	subject	auxiliary verb		main verb
+	I	am		speaking	to you.
+	You	are		reading	this.
-	She	is	not	staying	in London.
-	We	are	not	playing	football.
?	Is	he		watching	TV?
?	Are	they		waiting	for John?

3. Present Perfect Tense

The present perfect tense is a rather important tense in English, but it gives speakers of some languages a difficult time. That is because it uses concepts or ideas that do not exist in those languages. In fact, the structure of the present perfect tense is very simple. The problems come with the use of the tense. In addition, there are some differences in usage between British and American English.

How do we make the Present Perfect Tense?

The structure of the present perfect tense is:

subject	+	auxiliary verb	+	main verb
		have		past participle

Here are some examples of the present perfect tense:

	subject	auxiliary verb		main verb
+	I	have		seen	ET.
+	You	have		eaten	mine.
-	She	has	not	been	to Rome.
-	We	have	not	played	football.
?	Have	you		finished?
?	Have	they		done	it?

Contractions with the present perfect tense

When we use the present perfect tense in speaking, we usually contract the subject and auxiliary verb. We also sometimes do this when we write. 

I have	I've
You have	You've
He has She has It has John has The car has	He's She's It's John's The car's
We have	We've
They have	They've

Here are some examples:

• I've finished my work.
• John's seen ET.
• They've gone home.

He's or he's??? Be careful! The 's contraction is used for the auxiliary verbs h

4. Present Perfect Continuous Tense

How do we make the Present Perfect Continuous Tense?

The structure of the present perfect continuous tense is:

subject	+	auxiliary verb	+	auxiliary verb	+	main verb
		have has		been		base + ing

Here are some examples of the present perfect continuous tense:

	subject	auxiliary verb		auxiliary verb	main verb
+	I	have		been	waiting	for one hour.
+	You	have		been	talking	too much.
-	It	has	not	been	raining.
-	We	have	not	been	playing	football.
?	Have	you		been	seeing	her?
?	Have	they		been	doing	their homework?

Contractions

When we use the present perfect continuous tense in speaking, we often contract the subject and the first auxiliary. We also sometimes do this in informal writing.

I have been	I've been
You have been	You've been
He has been She has been It has been John has been The car has been	He's been She's been It's been John's been The car's been
We have been	We've been
They have been	They've been

Here are some examples:

• I've been reading.
• The car's been giving trouble.
• We've been playing tennis for two hours.

How do we use the Present Perfect Continuous Tense?

This tense is called the present perfect continuous tense. There is usually a connection with the present or now. There are basically two uses for the present perfect continuous tense:

1. An action that has just stopped or recently stopped

We use the present perfect continuous tense to talk about an action that started in the past and stopped recently. There is usually a result now.

I'm tired because I've been running.
past	present	future
!!!
Recent action.	Result now.

• I'm tired ^[now] because I've been running.
• Why is the grass wet ^[now]? Has it been raining?
• You don't understand ^[now] because you haven't been listening.

2. An action continuing up to now

We use the present perfect continuous tense to talk about an action that started in the past and is continuing now. This is often used with for or since.

I have been reading for 2 hours.
past	present	future
Action started in past.	Action is continuing now.

• I have been reading for 2 hours. [I am still reading now.]
• We've been studying since 9 o'clock. [We're still studying now.]
• How long have you been learning English? [You are still learning now.]
• We have not been smoking. [And we are not smoking now.]

For and Since with Present Perfect Continuous Tense

We often use for and since with the present perfect tense.

• We use for to talk about a period of time - 5 minutes, 2 weeks, 6 years.
• We use since to talk about a point in past time - 9 o'clock, 1st January, Monday.

for	since
a period of time	a point in past time
	x
20 minutes	6.15pm
three days	Monday
6 months	January
4 years	1994
2 centuries	1800
a long time	I left school
ever	the beginning of time
etc	etc

Here are some examples:

• I have been studying for 3 hours.
• I have been watching TV since 7pm.
• Tara hasn't been feeling well for 2 weeks.
• Tara hasn't been visiting us since March.
• He has been playing football for a long time.
• He has been living in Bangkok since he left school.

5. Simple Past Tense

The simple past tense is sometimes called the preterite tense. We can use several tenses to talk about the past, but the simple past tense is the one we use most often.
In this lesson we look at the structure and use of the simple past tense, followed by a quiz to check your understanding:

How do we make the Simple Past Tense?

To make the simple past tense, we use:

• past form only
  or
• auxiliary did + base form
• Here you can see examples of the past form and base form for irregular verbs and regular verbs:

	V1 base	V2 past	V3 past participle
regular verb	work explode like	worked exploded liked	worked exploded liked	The past form for all regular verbs ends in -ed.
irregular verb	go see sing	went saw sang	gone seen sung	The past form for irregular verbs is variable. You need to learn it by heart.
			You do not need the past participle form to make the simple past tense. It is shown here for completeness only.

The structure for positive sentences in the simple past tense is:

subject	+	main verb
		past

The structure for negative sentences in the simple past tense is:

subject	+	auxiliary verb	+	not	+	main verb
		did				base

The structure for question sentences in the simple past tense is:

auxiliary verb	+	subject	+	main verb
did				base

The auxiliary verb did is not conjugated. It is the same for all persons (I did, you did, he did etc). And the base form and past form do not change. Look at these examples with the main verbs go and work:

	subject	auxiliary verb		main verb
+	I			went	to school.
	You			worked	very hard.
-	She	did	not	go	with me.
	We	did	not	work	yesterday.
?	Did	you		go	to London?
	Did	they		work	at home?

Exception! The verb to be is different. We conjugate the verb to be (I was, you were, he/she/it was, we were, they were); and we do not use an auxiliary for negative and question sentences. To make a question, we exchange the subject and verb. Look at these examples:

	subject	main verb
+	I, he/she/it	was		here.
	You, we, they	were		in London.
-	I, he/she/it	was	not	there.
	You, we, they	were	not	happy.
?	Was	I, he/she/it		right?
	Were	you, we, they		late?

6. Past Continuous Tense
The past continuous tense is an important tense in English. We use it to say what we were in the middle of doing at a particular moment in the past.
In this lesson we look at the structure and the use of the past continuouse tense, followed by a quiz to check your understanding:

How do we make the Past Continuous Tense?

The structure of the past continuous tense is:

subject	+	auxiliary verb BE	+	main verb
		conjugated in simple past tense		present participle
		was were		base + ing

For negative sentences in the past continuous tense, we insert not between the auxiliary verb and main verb. For question sentences, we exchange the subject and auxiliary verb. Look at these example sentences with the past continuous tense:

	subject	auxiliary verb		main verb
+	I	was		watching	TV.
+	You	were		working	hard.
-	He, she, it	was	not	helping	Mary.
-	We	were	not	joking.
?	Were	you		being	silly?
?	Were	they		playing	football?

7. Past Perfect Tense

The past perfect tense is quite an easy tense to understand and to use. This tense talks about the "past in the past".
In this lesson we look at:
How do we make the Past Perfect Tense?
The structure of the past perfect tense is:

subject	+	auxiliary verb HAVE	+	main verb
		conjugated in simple past tense		past participle
		had		V3

For negative sentences in the past perfect tense, we insert not between the auxiliary verb and main verb. For question sentences, we exchange the subject and auxiliary verb. Look at these example sentences with the past perfect tense:

	subject	auxiliary verb		main verb
+	I	had		finished	my work.
+	You	had		stopped	before me.
-	She	had	not	gone	to school.
-	We	had	not	left.
?	Had	you		arrived?
?	Had	they		eaten	dinner?

When speaking with the past perfect tense, we often contract the subject and auxiliary verb:

I had	I'd
you had	you'd
he had she had it had	he'd she'd it'd
we had	we'd
they had	they'd

 

8. Past Perfect Continuous Tense How do we make the Past Perfect Continuous Tense? The structure of the past perfect continuous tense is: subject + auxiliary verb HAVE + auxiliary verb BE + main verb conjugated in simple past tense past participle present participle had been base + ing For negative sentences in the past perfect continuous tense, we insert not after the first auxiliary verb. For question sentences, we exchange the subject and first auxiliary verb. Look at these example sentences with the past perfect continuous tense: subject auxiliary verb auxiliary verb main verb + I had been working. + You had been playing tennis. - It had not been working well. - We had not been expecting her. ? Had you been drinking? ? Had they been waiting long? When speaking with the past perfect continuous tense, we often contract the subject and first auxiliary verb: I had been I'd been you had been you'd been he had she had been it had been he'd been she'd been it'd been we had been we'd been they had been they'd been How do we use the Past Perfect Continuous Tense? The past perfect continuous tense is like the past perfect tense, but it expresses longer actions in the past before another action in the past. For example: Ram started waiting at 9am. I arrived at 11am. When I arrived, Ram had been waiting for two hours. Ram had been waiting for two hours when I arrived. past present future Ram starts waiting in past at 9am. 9 11 I arrive in past at 11am. Here are some more examples: John was very tired. He had been running. I could smell cigarettes. Somebody had been smoking. Suddenly, my car broke down. I was not surprised. It had not been running well for a long time. Had the pilot been drinking before the crash? You can sometimes think of the past perfect continuous tense like the present perfect continuous tense, but instead of the time being now the time is past. past perfect continuous tense present perfect continuous tense had | been | doing | >>>> | | | | | | | | | have | been | doing | >>>> | past now future past now future For example, imagine that you meet Ram at 11am. Ram says to you: "I am angry. I have been waiting for two hours." Later, you tell your friends: "Ram was angry. He had been waiting for two hours."

9.   Simple Future Tense

The simple future tense is often called will, because we make the simple future tense with the modal auxiliary will.

How do we make the Simple Future Tense?

The structure of the simple future tense is:

subject	+	auxiliary verb WILL	+	main verb
		invariable		base
		will		V1

For negative sentences in the simple future tense, we insert not between the auxiliary verb and main verb. For question sentences, we exchange the subject and auxiliary verb. Look at these example sentences with the simple future tense:

	subject	auxiliary verb		main verb
+	I	will		open	the door.
+	You	will		finish	before me.
-	She	will	not	be	at school tomorrow.
-	We	will	not	leave	yet.
?	Will	you		arrive	on time?
?	Will	they		want	dinner?

When we use the simple future tense in speaking, we often contract the subject and auxiliary verb:

I will	I'll
you will	you'll
he will she will it will	he'll she'll it'll
we will	we'll
they will	they'll

For negative sentences in the simple future tense, we contract with won't, like this:

I will not	I won't
you will not	you won't
he will not she will not it will not	he won't she won't it won't
we will not	we won't
they will not	they won't

How do we use the Simple Future Tense?

No Plan

We use the simple future tense when there is no plan or decision to do something before we speak. We make the decision spontaneously at the time of speaking. Look at these examples:

• Hold on. I'll get a pen.
• We will see what we can do to help you.
• Maybe we'll stay in and watch television tonight.

In these examples, we had no firm plan before speaking. The decision is made at the time of speaking.
We often use the simple future tense with the verb to think before it:

• I think I'll go to the gym tomorrow.
• I think I will have a holiday next year.
• I don't think I'll buy that car.

Prediction

We often use the simple future tense to make a prediction about the future. Again, there is no firm plan. We are saying what we think will happen. Here are some examples:

• It will rain tomorrow.
• People won't go to Jupiter before the 22nd century.
• Who do you think will get the job?

Be

When the main verb is be, we can use the simple future tense even if we have a firm plan or decision before speaking. Examples:

• I'll be in London tomorrow.
• I'm going shopping. I won't be very long.
• Will you be at work tomorrow?

10.  Future Continuous Tense

How do we make the Future Continuous Tense?

The structure of the future continuous tense is:

subject	+	auxiliary verb WILL	+	auxiliary verb BE	+	main verb
		invariable		invariable		present participle
		will		be		base + ing

For negative sentences in the future continuous tense, we insert not between will and be. For question sentences, we exchange the subject and will. Look at these example sentences with the future continuous tense:

	subject	auxiliary verb		auxiliary verb	main verb
+	I	will		be	working	at 10am.
+	You	will		be	lying	on a beach tomorrow.
-	She	will	not	be	using	the car.
-	We	will	not	be	having	dinner at home.
?	Will	you		be	playing	football?
?	Will	they		be	watching	TV?

When we use the future continuous tense in speaking, we often contract the subject and will:

I will	I'll
you will	you'll
he will she will it will	he'll she'll it'll
we will	we'll
they will	they'll

For spoken negative sentences in the future continuous tense, we contract with won't, like this:

I will not	I won't
you will not	you won't
he will not she will not it will not	he won't she won't it won't
we will not	we won't
they will not	they won't

11.  Future Perfect Tense

The future perfect tense is quite an easy tense to understand and use. The future perfect tense talks about the past in the future.

How do we make the Future Perfect Tense?

The structure of the future perfect tense is:

subject	+	auxiliary verb WILL	+	auxiliary verb HAVE	+	main verb
		invariable		invariable		past participle
		will		have		V3

Look at these example sentences in the future perfect tense:

	subject	auxiliary verb		auxiliary verb	main verb
+	I	will		have	finished	by 10am.
+	You	will		have	forgotten	me by then.
-	She	will	not	have	gone	to school.
-	We	will	not	have	left.
?	Will	you		have	arrived?
?	Will	they		have	received	it?

In speaking with the future perfect tense, we often contract the subject and will. Sometimes, we contract the subject, will and have all together:

I will have	I'll have	I'll've
you will have	you'll have	you'll've
he will have she will have it will have	he'll have she'll have it'll have	he'll've she'll've it'll've
we will have	we'll have	we'll've
they will have	they'll have	they'll've

 12. Future Perfect Continuous Tense

How do we make the Future Perfect Continuous Tense?

The structure of the future perfect continuous tense is:

subject	+	auxiliary verb WILL	+	auxiliary verb HAVE	+	auxiliary verb BE	+	main verb
		invariable		invariable		past participle		present participle
		will		have		been		base + ing

For negative sentences in the future perfect continuous tense, we insert not between will and have. For question sentences, we exchange the subject and will. Look at these example sentences with the future perfect continuous tense:

	subject	auxiliary verb		auxiliary verb	auxiliary verb	main verb
+	I	will		have	been	working	for four hours.
+	You	will		have	been	travelling	for two days.
-	She	will	not	have	been	using	the car.
-	We	will	not	have	been	waiting	long.
?	Will	you		have	been	playing	football?
?	Will	they		have	been	watching	TV?

When we use the future perfect continuous tense in speaking, we often contract the subject and auxiliary verb:

I will	I'll
you will	you'll
he will she will it will	he'll she'll it'll
we will	we'll
they will	they'll

For negative sentences in the future perfect continuous tense, we contract with won't, like this:

I will not	I won't
you will not	you won't
he will not she will not it will not	he won't she won't it won't
we will not	we won't
they will not	they won't

How do we use the Future Perfect Continuous Tense?

We use the future perfect continuous tense to talk about a long action before some point in the future. Look at these examples:

• I will have been working here for ten years next week.
• He will be tired when he arrives. He will have been travelling for 24 hours.