Tense in English grammar refers to the form of a verb that expresses the time of an action or event. It tells us when something happens – in the past, present, or future.
Types of Tenses
There are three main tenses, and each tense has four aspects, making a total of 12 tenses:
A. Present Tense
- Present Simple
- Present Continuous
- Present Perfect
- Present Perfect Continuous
B. Past Tense
- Past Simple
- Past Continuous
- Past Perfect
- Past Perfect Continuous
C. Future Tense
- Future Simple
- Future Continuous
- Future Perfect
- Future Perfect Continuous
Structures and Examples
A. Present Tense
Present Simple
- Structure: Subject + Base Verb (+ s/es for singular)
- Example: She writes a letter every day.
Present Continuous
- Structure: Subject + is/are/am + Verb-ing
- Example: They are playing football now.
Present Perfect
- Structure: Subject + has/have + Past Participle (V3)
- Example: I have finished my homework.
Present Perfect Continuous
- Structure: Subject + has/have + been + Verb-ing
- Example: He has been reading for two hours.
B. Past Tense
Past Simple
- Structure: Subject + Past Verb (V2)
- Example: She visited Paris last year.
Past Continuous
- Structure: Subject + was/were + Verb-ing
- Example: They were watching TV when I arrived.
Past Perfect
- Structure: Subject + had + Past Participle (V3)
- Example: She had left before I came.
Past Perfect Continuous
- Structure: Subject + had + been + Verb-ing
- Example: He had been working for five hours.
C. Future Tense
Future Simple
- Structure: Subject + will/shall + Base Verb
- Example: I will call you tomorrow.
Future Continuous
- Structure: Subject + will be + Verb-ing
- Example: She will be studying at 8 PM.
Future Perfect
- Structure: Subject + will have + Past Participle (V3)
- Example: By next year, I will have completed my degree.
Future Perfect Continuous
- Structure: Subject + will have been + Verb-ing
- Example: By 2027, she will have been teaching for 10 years.
Rules of Tenses
- Consistency: Do not shift tenses unnecessarily in a sentence.
- Verb Forms: Use correct verb forms (V1, V2, V3) for each tense.
- Time Expressions: Use suitable time markers (e.g., yesterday, now, tomorrow).
- Helping Verbs: Use correct auxiliaries (is/was/will have etc.).
- Perfect Tenses: Always use past participle (V3) with perfect tenses.
- Continuous Tenses: Always use -ing form after be verbs.
Examples of All 12 Tenses
- Present Simple: I play cricket every Sunday.
- Present Continuous: I am playing cricket now.
- Present Perfect: I have played cricket before.
- Present Perfect Continuous: I have been playing cricket for an hour.
- Past Simple: I played cricket yesterday.
- Past Continuous: I was playing cricket when it rained.
- Past Perfect: I had played cricket before dinner.
- Past Perfect Continuous: I had been playing cricket for two hours.
- Future Simple: I will play cricket tomorrow.
- Future Continuous: I will be playing cricket at 5 PM.
- Future Perfect: I will have played cricket by evening.
- Future Perfect Continuous: I will have been playing cricket for three hours by then.