ENGLISH VERB TENSES

Seonaid holding a book
A lot of students find the English tenses quite difficult, but I promise they're not that bad! Have a look at all my explanations of the 'form' (how to make the tense) and the 'use' (when we need to choose that tense) below.

Download all my infographics about the tenses in PDF here.
Download all my explanations of the tenses in PDF here.
How to make the tense: How to use the tense:
Present Simple Form Present Simple Use
Present Continuous Form Present Continuous Use
Present Perfect Simple Form Present Perfect Simple Use
Present Perfect Continuous Form Present Perfect Continuous Use
Past Simple Form Past Simple Use
Past Continuous Form Past Continuous Use
Past Perfect Simple Form Past Perfect Simple Use
Past Perfect Continuous Form Past Perfect Continuous Use
Future Simple Form Future Simple Use
Future Continuous Form Future Continuous Use
Future Perfect Simple Form Future Perfect Simple Use
Future Perfect Continuous Form Future Perfect Continuous Use

What's the difference?

Here are a few more things you might find useful:
  • Tenses Cheatsheet
  • This is a printable PDF of all the verb tenses and how to form them.

  • Grammar Exercises
  • This is a list of all the grammar exercises on this site, about verb tenses and other things.

  • Present Simple Spelling Changes
  • This is an explanation of how we sometimes need to change the spelling of a verb with 'he, she, it' in the present simple, for example why 'cry' becomes 'cries' but 'play' is 'plays'.

  • Adverbs of Frequency
  • Adverbs of Frequency are words like 'often' 'sometimes' 'never'. This page shows you how to use them with the present tense and where to put them in the sentence. I also explain about longer phrases like 'from time to time'.

  • Irregular Verbs, Lists and Exercises
  • How to pronounce 'ed'
  • How do you pronounce 'stopped'? Many students say 'stop-id' instead of 'stopt'. This page explains the rules of pronunciation for regular past simple verbs and past participles (verbs that end with 'ed')

  • Stative verbs
  • We can't use some verbs, like 'know' or 'believe' in continuous tenses. This page has lists and explanations.


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