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Table of English Tenses
Tense
Use


Present simple
Present
progressive
Form
Habit
General truths &
facts
 Stative verbs
(Think, believe,
agree, understand,
hate, love, wish,
want, forget, like,
remember, know,
smell, taste, sound,
feel, see, hear, seem,
cost, have, own,
belong, prefer,
wonder, appear,
weigh, realize )
 An activity
taking place at
the moment




Near future
(planned activity)

s = writes, sings
es = o/sh/ch/ x/ss/zz
goes/ washes/
watches/ fixes/
misses/ buzzes
ies = consonant+ y
studies / plays




Tense
Use
I/you/they/we
+ verb (base
form)
he/ she/ it
+ verb-s/ es/ ies
am / is / are +
verb+ing
Dance –
dancing
Lie – lying
Run (c.v.c) –
running
Begin (c.v.c
stressed) –
beginning
Happen –
happening
Form
Affirmative
Negative

I speak English.
You speak English.
We speak English.
They speak English.
He speaks English.
She speaks English.
It speaks English.
I/you/they/we
+ do not (don’t)
+ verb (base form)
** We don’t speak
English.

he/ she/ it
+ does not
(doesn’t)
+ verb (base form).
** She does not speak
English.
I am singing.
He is singing.
am / is / are + not +
verb+ing
She is singing.
I am not singing.
It is singing.
I’m not singing.
You are singing.
She is not singing.
We are singing.
He isn’t singing.
They are singing.
We are not singing.
They aren’t singing.
Affirmative
Negative
Interrogative
Time
expressions
 Do + subject
usually
+ verb (base form) always
** Do you speak English? never
sometimes
 Does + subject
rarely
+ verb (base form)
every day /
+ other words
week / month
** Does he speak
/ year
English?
once a day /
week /
 Wh- + do/does
month/ year
+ verb (base form)
occasionally
** When do you
often
speak English?
frequently
** Why does she speak
English?
generally
at the
 am / is / are +
subject + verb+ing moment
+ other words
at the present
* Are you singing?
right now
* Is she singing?
now
 Wh + yes/no
question.
tonight
* Why are you
today
singing?
next week
* What is he singing?
tomorrow
* When are we
singing?
Interrogative
Time
Present perfect



An action in the
past but the
present result is
important
An action in the
recent past, close
to the present
Something began
in the past and
continues to the
present

I/you/they/we +
have + v3
I have finished.
(haven’t) + v3

he/ she/ it +
has + v3
We have finished.
They have
Tense
An action that
happened and
ended in the past
Use
* I have not finished.
* We haven’t finished.
finished.
He has finished.
It has finished.

I/you/they/we +
have + not
You have finished.
She has finished.
Past simple


Regular verbs:
verb+ d/ed/ied
* walk – walked
* dance – danced
* study – studied
* play – played
* stop – stopped
* prefer – preferred
 Irregular verbs:
* break – broke
Form
I walked.
You walked.
He walked.
She walked.
It walked.
We walked.
They walked.
Affirmative

he/ she/ it + has +
not (hasn’t) + v3
* He has not finished.
* She hasn’t finished.

did not (didn’t ) +
verb
* I did not walk.
* You didn’t walk.
* He did not walk.
* She didn’t walk.
Negative

Have + subject +
V3 + other words?
* Have you finished?
Has + subject + V3 +
other words?
* Has she finished?
 Wh + yes/no
question?
* Where have you
finished?
* What has he
finished?
We use (how long)
instead of (when)

Did + subject +
verb + other
words?
* Did you walk?
* Did it walk?
 Wh + yes/no
question?
* When did he walk?
* Who walked?
Interrogative
expressions
just
already
ever
never
since
for
recently
lately
yesterday
last week/
month/ year
ago
in 1990 (year)
Time
Past progressive 


A continuous
action in the past

A continuous
action in the past
that was
interrupted by
another action

Two or more
actions taking
place in the same
time


I/ he/ she/ it +
was + verb+ing
* I was writing.
you/ we +
were+ verb+ing
*You were writing.

*He was writing.
*They were
past progressive writing when the
+ (when) + past
phone rang.
simple
* She was writing
past progressive
while her mother
+ (while) + past
was cooking.
progressive
I/ he/ she/ it + was +
not (wasn’t)
verb+ing
* I was not writing.
* She wasn’t writing.

you/ we + were+
not (weren’t)
verb+ing
* We were not writing.
* They weren’t writing.
Past perfect

An action in the

past occurred

before another
action in the past.
had + V3
The 1st action in
past perfect.
The 2nd in past
simple
The thief had
escaped before
the police arrived.
had + not (hadn’t) +
v3
* The thief had not
escaped.
* The thieves hadn’t
escape.
Future

An activity in the
future.
Something we
have a plan for.


will + verb
am/is/are +
going to + verb
*I will travel.
 will + not = won’t
* I will not travel.
 Am/is/are + not +
going to+ verb
* He isn’t going to
travel.

*She is going to
travel.

Was+ subject+
verb+ing + other
words?
* Was she writing?

Were + subject+
verb+ing + other
words?
* Were you writing?
expressions
in those days
while
when
at six O’clock
last night
yesterday
ago

Wh + yes/no
question?
* Why was he writing?
* When were we
writing?
 Had + subject + v3
+ other words?
* Had he escaped?
 Wh + yes/no
question?
* Why had he escaped?

will + subject+
verb+ other words?
* Will she travel?
 Wh + yes/no
question?
* Why will he travel?
going to = present progressive
before
when
after
ever
never
by the time
tomorrow
next week/
month/ year
in the future
soon