Tenses
6 Tenses
Each verb in English has six tenses: present, past, future, present perfect, past perfect, and future perfect. These six tenses are formed from the four principal parts of each verb.
| PRESENT | We are artists. We paint. [existing or happening now] |
| PAST | We were artists. We painted. [existing or happening in the past] |
| FUTURE | We will be artists. We will paint. [existing or happening in the future] |
| PRESENT PERFECT | We have been artists. We have painted. [existing or happening sometime before now; may be continuing now] |
| PAST PERFECT | We had been artists. We had painted. [existing or happening before a specific time in the past] |
| FUTURE PERFECT | We will have been artists. We will have painted. [existing or happening before a specific time in the future] |
- PRESENT
I paint. - PRESENT PERFECT
I have painted. - PAST
I painted. - PAST PERFECT
I had painted. - FUTURE
I will paint. - FUTURE PERFECT
I will have painted.
Notice that helping verbs are used with four of the tenses: the future, present perfect, past perfect, and future perfect tenses.
Progressive Forms of Verbs
Each of the six verb tenses has a form called the progressive form, which expresses continuing action or state of being. Each progressive form consists of a form of the verb be and the present participle (–ing form) of the verb.
- PRESENT PROGRESSIVE
am creating, is creating, are creating [continuous action in the present] - PAST PROGRESSIVE
was creating, were creating [continuous action in the past] - FUTURE PROGRESSIVE
will be creating [continuous action in the future] - PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE
has been creating, have been creating [continuous action that happens before and up to the present] - PAST PERFECT PROGRESSIVE
had been creating [continuous action that happened before a specific time in the past] - FUTURE PERFECT PROGRESSIVE
will have been creating [continuous action that will happen before a specific time in the future]
TIP
To tell the difference between the progressive form and the perfect progressive form, compare their structures. The perfect progressive form requires an extra word.
- PROGRESSIVE
a form of be plus the –ing verb - PERFECT PROGRESSIVE
a form of have plus a form of be plus the –ing verb
Here is a list of different types of tenses in English, along with five examples for each type:
1. Simple Present Tense:
- I play cricket every day.
- She reads a book every night.
- They go to school in the morning.
- He likes to ride his bike on the weekends.
- We enjoy playing games with our friends.
2. Present Continuous Tense:
- I am playing cricket right now.
- She is reading a book at the moment.
- They are going to school by bus.
- He is riding his bike in the park today.
- We are playing games with our friends this evening.
3. Simple Past Tense:
- I played cricket yesterday.
- She read a book last night.
- They went to school by car.
- He liked to ride his bike when he was a child.
- We enjoyed playing games with our friends last week.
4. Past Continuous Tense:
- I was playing cricket when it started to rain.
- She was reading a book when the phone rang.
- They were going to school when they saw a bus accident.
- He was riding his bike when his friend called him.
- We were playing games with our friends when it got dark.
5. Present Perfect Tense:
- I have played cricket before.
- She has read many books this week.
- They have gone to school together.
- He has ridden his bike for an hour.
- We have enjoyed playing games with our friends for a while.
6. Past Perfect Tense:
- I had played cricket before I got hurt.
- She had read the book before the movie came out.
- They had gone to school earlier than usual.
- He had ridden his bike before it broke down.
- We had enjoyed playing games with our friends before it started to rain.
7. Future Simple Tense:
- I will play cricket with my friends tomorrow.
- She will read another book tonight.
- They will go to school by bus tomorrow morning.
- He will ride his bike to the park next weekend.
- We will enjoy playing games with our friends next Saturday.
8. Future Continuous Tense:
- I will be playing cricket when you arrive.
- She will be reading a book when I call her.
- They will be going to school at this time tomorrow.
- He will be riding his bike in the park at 6 pm.
- We will be playing games with our friends when it gets dark.