Learning Tenses: Present Tense Past Tense Future Tense

 Learning Tenses

What is a Tense?

A Tense is a form of a verb that is used to show the time of an action. For example: when an action happened. 

Types of Tenses

There are 3 types of tense.

1. Present Tense

2. Past Tense

3. Future Tense

Each tense is divided into 4 types sub tense.

Present Tense

1. Present Simple Tense

2. Present Continuous Tense

3. Present Prefect Tense

4. Present Prefect Continuous Tense

Past Tense

1. Past Simple Tense

2. Past Continuous Tense

3. Past Perfect Tense

4. Past Perfect Continuous Tense

Future Tense

1. Future Indefinite Tense

2. Future Continuous Tense

3. Future Perfect Tense

4. Future Perfect Continuous Tense

Simple Present Tense

Tense	Signal words	Use	Form	Examples Positive	Examples Negative	Examples Interrogative
Simple Present     Simple Present     Simple Present         Simple Present           Simple Present	Every day   Sometimes   Always   Often   Usually   Seldom   Never	1.      Something happens repeatedly.   2.      How often something happens.     3.      Things in general.   4.      With verbs like to love, to hate, to think.   5.      To express habits or general truth   6.      To indicate a future event on a designated date as part of a plan	S+V1+0   I eat pizza every day.   He/She/It+Verb with s/es   He eats pizza   They eat pizza   I eat pizza   We eat pizza   It eats pizza   (Always 1st form of the verb)	I work.   He works.     They work.     I go.   He goes.	I don’t work.    He doesn’t work.   They don’t work.   I don’t go.   He doesn’t go.	Do I work?   Does he work?   Do they work?     Do I go?   Does he go?

Present Continuous Tense

Tense	Signal words	Use	Form	Examples Positive	Examples Negative	Examples Interrogative
Present Continuous Tense         Present Continuous Tense               Present Continuous Tense	Now   At the moment   Look!   Listen!	1.      Something is happening at the same time of speaking or around it.   2.      Future meaning: When you have already decided and arranged to do it. (A fixed plan or date)       3.      With a habitual action verb especially to indicate a stubborn habit.     4.      To indicate a future event on a designated date as part of a plan	S+Am/Is/Are+ (V+ing)+O   Verb with ing   Be forms (am/is/are)   I am eating pizza right now.   He is eating.   She is eating pizza.   They are eating pizza.	I am working.   He is working.   He is going.	I am not working.   He isn’t working.   He is not going.	Am I working?   Is he working?     Is he going?

Present Perfect Tense

Tense	Signal words	Use	Form	Examples Positive	Examples Negative	Examples Interrogative
Present Perfect Tense           Present Perfect Tense               Present Perfect Tense	Just   Yet   Never   Ever   Already   So far   Since   For recently	1.      You say that something has happened or is finished in the past and it has a connection to the present.   2.      Action started in the past and continues up to the present.     3.      To indicate past action which is not defined by a time of occurrence.	S+has/have+V3+O   Singular: has He/She has finished her studies.   Plural: have They/We have finished our studies.   I have eaten all of the pizza.	I have worked.   He has worked.   They have worked.	I haven’t worked.   He hasn’t worked.   They haven’t worked.	Have I worked?   Has he worked?   Have they worked?

Present Perfect Continuous Tense

Tense	Signal words	Use	Form	Examples Positive	Examples Negative	Examples Interrogative
Present Perfect Continuous Tense           Present Perfect Continuous Tense               Present Perfect Continuous Tense	All day   The whole day   How long   Since   For	1.      Action began in the past and has just stopped.   2.      Indicates how long the action has been happening.   3.      Emphasis:  Length of time of an action.   4.      The action may or may not be complete.	S+has/have+ (V+ing)+O   Singular: has She has been eating pizza.   Plural: have They have been eating pizza.   Adam and Eve have been eating mangoes.	I have been working.     He has been working.   I have been going.   They have been going.	I haven’t been working.    He hasn’t been working.   I haven’t been going.   They haven’t been going.	Have I been working?     Has he been working?     Have I been going?   Have they been going?

Simple Past Tense

Tense	Signal words	Use	Form	Examples Positive	Examples Negative	Examples Interrogative
Simple Past Tense	Last…   …ago   In 1990   Yesterday	1.      Action took place in the past, mostly connected with an expression of time (no connection to the present)	S+ to be (was/were +O   S+V2+O   S+ did not+V2+O   (-) S + to be (was/were) + not + O/C   S + did not + V1 + O/C   (?) Did + S + V1 + O/C   (+) He was a businessman in 1999. He visited me yesterday. (-) He was not a businessman in 1999. He did not visit me yesterday. (?) Did he visit you yesterday? Yes, he did. / No, he did not.	I worked     He ate     He cried     He sang     He went	I did not work    He did not eat   He did not cry   He did not sing.   He did not go	Did I work?     Did he eat?     Did he cry?     Did he sing?     Did he go?

 

Past Continuous Tense

Tense	Signal words	Use	Form	Examples Positive	Examples Negative	Examples Interrogative
Past continuous Tense		1.	S+was/were +(V+ing)+O	He was going   They were going	He wasn’t going	Had he ben going?

Past Perfect Tense

Tense	Signal words	Use	Form	Examples Positive	Examples Negative	Examples Interrogative
Past Perfect Tense	Already   Just   Never	1.      Mostly when two actions are related to each other: the action which had already happened is put into past perfect and the other into simple past.	S+had+V3+O   (+) S + had + V3 + O   (-) S+had+not+ V3+O   (?) Had + S + V3 + O   (+) He had gone to Bali when I called him. (-) He had not gone to Bali when I called him. (?) Had he gone to Bali when you called him? Yes, he had. / No, he had not.	He had finished.   They had finished.	He hadn’t finished.   They hadn’t finished.	Had he finished?   Had they eaten?

Past Perfect Continuous Tense

Tense	Signal words	Use	Form	Examples Positive	Examples Negative	Examples Interrogative
Past Perfect continuous Tense	How long?   Since   For	1.      How long something had been happening before something else happened.	S+had been+(V+ing)+O   (+) S + to be (was/were) + V+ing + O (-) S + to be (was/were) + not + V+ing + O (?) Was/were + S +(V+ing)+ O   (+) She was sleeping when I came. (-) She was not sleeping when I came. (?) Was she sleeping when you came? Yes, she was. / No, she was not.	He had been crying.   They had been starving.	He hadn’t been working.   They hadn’t been starving.	Had he been working?     Had they been working?

Simple Future Tense

Tense	Signal words	Use	Form	Examples Positive	Examples Negative	Examples Interrogative
Simple Future Tense	in a year, next …,   tomorrow	*Predictions about the future (you think that something will happen.)   *You decide to do something spontaneously at the time of speaking.   *Action in the future that cannot be influenced.	S+will/shall+(V1+O   (+) S+will/shall + V1 +O S + am/is/are + going to + V1 + O (-) S + will/shall + not + V1 + O S + am/is/are + not + going to + V1 + O (?) Will/shall + S + V1 + Am/is/are + S + going to + V1 +O   (+) She will eat fried rice. She is going to eat fried rice. (-) She will not eat fried rice. She is not going to eat fried rice. (?) Will she eat fried rice? Is she going to eat fried rice? Yes, she will. / No, she will not. Yes, she is. / No, she is not.	He will eat     They will do	He will not be eating.   They will not be eating.	Will he be eating?   Will they be eating?

Future Continuous Tense

Tense	Signal words	Use	Form	Examples Positive	Examples Negative	Examples Interrogative
Future Continuous Tense	In one year   Next week   tomorrow	*An action will be in progress at a certain time in the future.   *Something happens because it normally happens.	S+will/shall+(V+ing)+O   (+) S + will/shall + be + V+ing + O (-) S + will/shall + not + be + V+ing + O (?) Will/shall + S + be + V+ing + O   (+) I will be watching a movie tonight. (-) I will not be watching a movie tonight. (?) Will you be watching a movie tonight? Yes, I will. / No, I will not.	He will be crying.   They will be starving.	He will not be working.   They will not be starving.	Will he be working?     Will they be working?

Future Perfect Tense

Tense	Signal words	Use	Form	Examples Positive	Examples Negative	Examples Interrogative
Future Perfect Tense	How long?   Since   For	1.      How long something had been happening before something else happened.	S+had been+(V+ing)+O   (+) S + to be (was/were) + V+ing + O (-) S + to be (was/were) + not + V+ing + O (?) Was/were + S +(V+ing)+ O   (+) She was sleeping when I came. (-) She was not sleeping when I came. (?) Was she sleeping when you came? Yes, she was. / No, she was not.	He had been crying.   They had been starving.	He hadn’t been working.   They hadn’t been starving.	Had he been working?     Had they been working?

Future Perfect Continuous Tense

Tense	Signal words	Use	Form	Examples Positive	Examples Negative	Examples Interrogative
Future Perfect Continuous Tense	In one year   Next week   Tomorrow	*Something will already have happened before a certain time in the future.      *Emphasis: Length of time of an action.	S+will have been +(V+ing)+O   (+) S + shall/will + have + been + V+ing + O (-) S + shall/will + not + have + been + V+ing + O (?) Shall/will + S + have + been + V+ing + O   (+) She will have been visiting us tomorrow. (-) She will not have been visiting us tomorrow. (?) Will she have been visiting us tomorrow? Yes, she will. / No, she will not.	He will have been crying.   They will have been eating.	He will not/won’t have been	Will he have been crying?     Will they have been working?