Tense is the form of verb which indicates that the time can be classified as Present, Past and Future. if we go into further details of tenses, each tense is divided into Simple, Continuous, Perfect and Perfect Continuous. Tenses show us the time of happening of something. And it is important to know that without learning tenses, you cannot even imagine to be good at English Grammar or English Speaking. There are 12 Tenses in English Grammar.
Let’s have a general overview of tenses. Basically there are only three Main Tenses, Present, Past and Future. All these three tenses are divided into Four Types which gives us 12 Tenses Overall. Present Tense is divided into Present Indefinite Tense, Present Continuous Tense, Present Perfect Tense and Present Perfect Continuous Tense. In the same way, Past Indefinite Tense, Past Continuous Tense, Past Perfect Tense, Past Perfect Continuous Tense. And finally we have Future Indefinite Tense, Future Continuous Tense, Future Perfect Tense and Future Perfect Continuous Tense. All these 12 Tenses are discussed in detail here.
This Lesson is all about 12 Tenses of English Grammar. Each of the Tense with its each type is explained beautifully in a table with example sentences. You will get the structure of each kind of every tense. Important Tip: We are giving you an all important tip to learn these Tenses with so much ease ease that you would not believe. The tip is that, you need to focus only on TWO POINTS.
- Helping Verb
- Form of Verb
Only these two changes are responsible for the change of tenses. Helping verb and Form of Verb are the points where tense is changed, all the other things remain same.
Present Tense
| Type | Formula | Example | Signal Words | |
| Indefinite | + | S + V1 + O | I drive car | Everyday, Sometimes, Always , Often ,Usually , Seldom, Never , First , Then |
| – | S + Do/Does Not + V1 + O | I do not drive car. | ||
| ? | Do/Does + S + V1 + O | Do I drive car? | ||
| Continuous | + | S + Is ,Am , Are + V1 + ing + O | I am driving car. | Now , At the moment , Look , Listen |
| – | S + Is ,Am ,Are + Not + V1 + ing + O | I am not driving car. | ||
| ? | Is , Am , Are + S + V1 + ing + O | Am I driving car? | ||
| Perfect | + | S + Has/Have + V3 + O | I have driven car. | Just, yet, never, ever, already, so far, up to now, since ,for, recently |
| – | S + Has/Have + Not + V3 + O | I have not driven car. | ||
| ? | Has/Have + S + V3 + O | Have I driven car? | ||
| Perfect Continuous | + | S + Has/Have + Been + V1 + ing + O | I have been driving car. | all day, the whole day, how long, since, for |
| – | S + Has/Have + Not + Been + V1 + ing + O | I have not been driving car. | ||
| ? | Has/Have + S + Been + V1 + ing + O | Have I been driving car? |
Some more Examples of Present Tense
| She makes breakfast daily. |
| She wears new dresses |
| She goes to school daily |
| The boy plays football. |
| Ali helps others |
| She is watching T.V. |
| He is playing cricket. |
| They are going to Lahore. |
| I am going to Murree. |
| He has written a letter. |
| She has eaten meal. |
| It has broken. |
| They have gone to visit the zoo. |
| She has taken her new dress. |
| It has been raining for two hours. |
| He has been writing a story since morning. |
| She has been cleaning the floor for two hours. |
| I have been watching TV for one week. |
| They have been singing songs since evening. |
| She has been playing hockey for many years. |
| You have been writing a story for one month. |
| She has been washing clothes since morning. |
Past Tense
| Type | Formula | Example | Signal Words | |
| Indefinite | + | S + V2 + O | I drove car. | Last , Years Ago , Yesterday |
| – | S + Did Not + V1 + O | I Did not drive car. | ||
| ? | Did + S + V1 + O | Did I drive car? | ||
| Continuous | + | S + Was, Were + V1 + ing + O | I was driving car. | While |
| – | S + Was , Were + Not + V1 + ing + O | I was not driving car. | ||
| ? | Was , Were + S + V1 + ing + O | Was I driving car? | ||
| Perfect | + | S + Had + V3 + O | I had driven car. | Already , just , never |
| – | S + Had + Not + V3 + O | I had not driven car. | ||
| ? | Had + S + V3 + O | Had I driven car? | ||
| Perfect Continuous | + | S + Had + Been + V1 + ing + O | I had been driving car. | how long , since , for |
| – | S + Had + Not + Been + V1 + ing + O | I had not been driving car. | ||
| ? | Had + S + Been + V1 + ing + O | Had I been driving car? |
More Examples from Past Tense
| She helped me in difficulty. |
| We played the match. |
| When did you come? |
| I completed my work. |
| We spoke the truth. |
| He wrote a letter. |
| She Spoke to him. |
| The boy failed. |
| The girl was singing a song |
| The boys were playing football |
| The postman was delivering the posts. |
| The sun was rising in the east |
| Zainab was writing a story |
| They were playing cricket |
| The birds were chirping |
| The girls were playing with doll |
| He had reached office. |
| I had answered him. |
| I told him the truth. |
| She had washed the clothes. |
| The people had watched the Drama. |
| The Market had closed. |
| The boys had won the match. |
| Sehrish had decorated the home. |
| The gardener had watered the plants. |
| He had been studying in this college for two years. |
| She had been washing clothes since morning. |
| He had been writing his homework since morning. |
| I had been waiting for you since 10 A.M. |
| The farmer had been cutting the crop for two hours. |
| The girl had been dancing since evening. |
| People had been watching T.V for two hours. |
| Sara had been learning her lesson since morning. |
| The people had been walking since many years. |
| The ship had been sailing since 4:00 PM. |
Future Tense
| Type | Formula | Example | Signal Words | |
| Indefinite | + | S + Will + V1 + O | I will drive car. | |
| – | S + Will Not + V1 + O | I will not drive car. | ||
| ? | Will + S + V1 + O | Will I drive car? | ||
| Continuous | + | S + Will + Be + V1 + ing + O | I will be driving car. | |
| – | S + Will + Not + Be + V1 + ing + O | I will not be driving car. | ||
| ? | Will + S + Be + V1 + ing + O | Will I be driving car? | ||
| Perfect | + | S + Will + Have + V3 + O | I will have driven car. | |
| – | S + Will + Not + Have + V3 + O | I will not have driven car. | ||
| ? | Has/Have + S + V3 + O | Have I driven car? | ||
| Perfect Continuous | + | S + Will + Have + Been + V1 + ing + O | I will have been driving car. | |
| – | S + Will + Not + Have + Been + V1 + ing + O | I will not have been driving car. | ||
| ? | Will + S + Have + Been + V1 + ing + O | Will I have been driving car? |
