"I wake up early, have breakfast and then catch my school bus." This sentence was created with knowledge of the 12 tense rules in English. The 12 tenses in English help you denote the time of an action - to show when the work is done.
"She come day before yesterday." "I go there last week. Next week, I went." If you think something is wrong with these sentences, then you're right. This sense of incorrect timing in your sentences comes from the correct knowledge of tenses. Tenses are one of the main topics of English grammar that tell you how to frame sentences in English correctly - in the correct order of elements. For Indian students aiming to study abroad, mastering the 12 tenses in English grammar is not just about passing a test. It is the key to cracking your IELTS, TOEFL, or PTE exams, writing a flawless Statement of Purpose (SOP), and clearing your visa interviews with confidence.
Tenses are a kind of verb that, by certain rules, help us make sentences in English for diff. sets of time. By combining your knowledge of tense rules with good vocabulary- you can articulate sentences that will not only impress people but also provide you with a wide array of words to choose from to hold good conversations with your friends, family, colleagues and seniors.
This article includes details on tenses definition, their rules, examples and exercises. You can get in-depth details on tenses in English and can also download "Tenses in English grammar with examples PDF" by clicking on the “Download Guide” button at the top of the page.
- What are Tenses in Grammar?
- Types of Tenses in English Grammar
- 12 Tenses Formula Chart with Examples with PDF
- What are Present Tenses?
- What are Past Tenses?
- What are Future Tenses?
- Examples of 12 Tenses in English
- How to Learn the 12 Tenses Easily?
- Tenses Exercise
- 12 Tenses in English FAQs
What are Tenses in Grammar?
Tenses are a form of verb used to express the time of an action and its degree of completeness. They are essential structural elements of sentences and help to express when an event occurred, when a person did something, or the exact time something happened
Tense Definition
Tenses are the grammatical forms of verbs used to describe the time of an action or state, indicating whether it happened in the past, is happening now, or will happen in the future. Put simply, tenses indicate the time, duration, and completion status of an action.
As per the Merriam-Webster dictionary, tense is defined as "a distinction of form in a verb to express distinctions of time or duration of the action or state it denotes."
Types of Tenses in English Grammar
Tenses are of three main types, as given below.
- Past tense
- Present tense
- Future tense
To describe the degree of completeness of an action or situation, the above tenses are further divided into 4 sub-parts, thus giving us the 12 tenses in English structure.
All tenses in English are given in the table below.
| 12 Tenses in English | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Types of Tenses
|
Tenses Sub-types |
|||
| Simple Tense |
Continuous Tense |
Perfect Tense |
Perfect Continuous Tense |
|
| Past Tense |
Past Indefinite Tense | Past Continuous Tense |
Past Perfect Continuous Tense |
|
| Present Tense |
||||
| Future Tense |
Future Indefinite Tense
|
Future Continuous Tense | Future Perfect Tense |
Future Perfect Continuous Tense |
Now that we have understood “What is the meaning of tense” and "How many tenses are there in English", let us continue to understand each of the 12 tenses in English briefly, followed by the tenses chart that contains the rules for making sentence structure in English.
12 Tenses Formula Chart with Examples with PDF
The rules and examples that make all 12 tenses in English are given in the tenses chart table below. Download the 12 Tenses PDF with rules/formuls and examples here.
| Tenses Chart: Affirmative, Negative and Interrogative Sentences Rules | Instructions on Usage Tenses Chart for Indian Students |
| 12 Tenses Formula Chart with Examples | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Types of Tenses | Present Tense Rule and Example | Past Tense Rule and Example | Future Tense Rule and Example |
| Indefinite/Simple | Rule: Subject + V1 (-s/-es) + Object Example: I do my homework daily. |
Rule: Subject + V2 + Object Example: I did my homework early this evening. |
Rule: Subject + will/shall + V1 + Object Example: I will do my homework while listening to music later today. |
| Continuous | Rule: Subject + is/are/am + V1 + ing + Object Example: I am doing my homework. |
Rule: Subject + was/were + V1 + ing + Object Example: I was doing my homework when you arrived. |
Rule: Subject + will/shall be + V1 + ing + Object Example: I will be doing my homework at 7 pm. |
| Perfect | Rule: Subject + has/have + V3 + Object Example: I have done my homework. |
Rule: Subject + had + V3 + Object Example: I had done my homework before you arrived. |
Rule: Subject + will/shall have + V3 + Object Example: I will have done my homework by tomorrow. |
| Perfect Continuous | Rule: Subject + has/have been + V1 + ing + Object Example: I have been doing my homework. |
Rule: Subject + had been + V1 + ing + Object Example: I had been doing my homework for hours when I finished. |
Rule: Subject + will/shall have been + V1 + ing + Object Example: I will have been doing my homework for 3 days by Friday. |
Where V1 is the first form of the verb, V2 is the second form of the verb and V3 is the third form of the verb.
However, it must be noted that the above ones are the basic rules of tenses for making affirmative sentences through each of the mentioned tense rules. The rules slightly differ in each of the 12 types of tenses when making affirmative, negative and imperative sentences. The rules for making affirmative, negative and interrogative sentences in each of the above-discussed tenses will be discussed in their specified articles. Their examples will be discussed in the later part of this article.
What are Present Tenses?
Present tense describes work/habit that is occurring at present and its degree of completeness is described by 4 different tense forms. This section contains a brief description of 4 present tenses in English to clarify the difference between each one of them and where and when they’re used. We have also given rules for each present tense later in the tense chart below.
- Present Indefinite Tense- Also known as the Simple Present tense, these tenses do not clarify whether the work that is talked about in the sentence is still ongoing or has been completed. The simple present tense describes a habit, a daily routine, a general fact, the current moment or a near-future event.
- Present Continuous Tense- These tenses describe that an action/condition is occurring in the current moment and may continue into the future.
- Present Perfect Tense- This tense describes an action that has been started in the past and has been completed up to the current time. This means that the Present Perfect tense describes the work/action that has been “completed”; however, some of its effect remains in the present time as well.
- Present Perfect Continuous Tense- These tenses describe an action that has started in the past and is still continuing in the present/current time. These actions are not “complete” and are continuing till the present time.
What are Past Tenses?
The past tense describes actions, states, or habits that occurred at an earlier point in time and are now finished. Its degree of completeness is described by four distinct tense forms:
- Past Indefinite Tense, also known as the Simple Past tense, describes a single, completed action or a habit that occurred in the past. It simply states that the event happened at a specific time, without focusing on its duration or ongoing nature.
- Past Continuous Tense describes an action or condition that was actively in progress at a specific moment in the past. It is frequently used to show that a longer background action was interrupted by a shorter event.
- Past Perfect Tense describes an action that was completely finished before another past action, milestone, or specific time occurred. It is often referred to as the "past of the past" because it establishes the chronological order of two past events.
- Past Perfect Continuous Tense describes an action that started in the past, continued progressively for a period of time, and was still ongoing right up until another specific moment or event in the past. It emphasises the duration or cause of the past event.
What are Future Tenses?
The future tense describes a situation that doesn’t exist in the present moment or an action that has not happened in the present yet and may happen in the future. The 4 different types of future tenses in English are given below.
- Future Indefinite Tenses describe actions that are going to happen in the near future.
- Future Continuous Tenses describe an action that will continue or remain in progress in future.
- Future Perfect Tenses describe actions that will be completed by some time in future.
- Future Perfect Continuous Tenses describe actions that will remain progressing until a certain time in future.
You may also read Future Forms
Examples of 12 Tenses in English
You can construct basic sentence structure in English using broad rules of the 12 tenses in English given above. But you can also create more sentences by learning the intricacies of all tenses in detail. Here are examples of all 12 tenses in English-
| Tenses Examples |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| Tenses |
Present Tense |
Past Tense |
Future Tense |
| Indefinite |
I go shopping every weekend. |
I went shopping yesterday. |
I will go shopping tomorrow. |
| Continuous |
I am going shopping right now. |
I was going shopping when you called. |
I will be going shopping at 3 pm tomorrow. |
| Perfect |
I have gone shopping already. |
I had gone shopping before the stores closed. |
I will have gone shopping by the time you arrive. |
| Perfect Continuous |
I have been going shopping all afternoon. |
I had been going shopping for hours when I finally found what I needed. |
I will have been going shopping for two hours by the time we meet. (Check out Future Plans) |
How to Learn the 12 Tenses Easily?
The 12 tenses in English can be memorised by learning their rules and then regularly putting them into use. Now, here is the strategy to learn the tenses easily:
- Group the tenses- Separate tenses into past, present and future tenses.
- Understand the action type described by the different sub-types- Understand which type of actions are described by different sub-classes of tenses viz., simple, continuous, perfect and perfect continuous tenses
- Write down your understanding of each tense, as writing promotes learning.
- Keep on reading different books and different examples so you will get to learn the usage of tenses in different cases.
- Practice speaking English with the usage of tenses. Make sure you speak with a fluent/native/expert English speaker so that you will have the scope to identify and correct your mistakes.
Tip: Create short stories or examples to associate with the type of tenses to create a storyline and memorise easily.
Tenses Exercise
Practice attempting the following tenses exercises to test your current knowledge.
Fill in the Blanks
- They ............. (not like) spicy food.
- I .............. (watch) a movie yesterday.
- She ............ (study) for her test last week.
- I was .............. (watch) a movie when you called.
- I will be .......... (work) at 3 PM tomorrow.
- They will be ............ (play) basketball at the park at 5 PM.
- I had .............. (finish) my homework before dinner.
- They will have .............. (not play) basketball by the end of the week.
- They will have been ............... (play) basketball for two hours by the end of the game.
Answers:
- don't like
- watched
- studied
- watching
- working
- playing
- finished
- not played
- playing
This was all about the verb tenses, 12 types of tenses with examples and formulas, and the tenses rules chart with examples (tenses chart). If you wish to download the 12 tenses in English PDF, you can do so by clicking on the "Download Guide" button in the top right corner of the page.
If you wish to ace your study-abroad dream by improving your English communication and comprehension skills, then you can join Shiksha’s FREE IELTS Classes, wherein our experienced expert trainers will prepare you for each section of your upcoming IELTS exam for free!
12 Tenses in English FAQs
Commonly asked questions
12 basic rules of English writing and speech are given below -
- Subject-verb agreement - Singular subjects take singular verbs and plural subjects take plural verbs (for example, the dog barks; the dogs bark)
- Sentences should be complete - Each sentence must contain a subject and a predicate or verb (the action). It should make complete sense.
- Tenses - Keep verb tenses consistent throughout your sentence or paragraph unless the timeline of events genuinely changes.
- Use of Articles - Use "a" or "an" for non-specific and singular countable nouns; and use "the" for specific or previously mentioned nouns.
- Pronouns - Pronouns must be in agreement with the words that they replace - both in terms of their number and gender.
- Placement of Modifiers - Adjectives and adverbs must be placed close to the words they describe.
- Active vs. passive voice - Always use the active voice for clearer and more direct writing approach
- Preposition usage - Choose correct prepositions (in, on, at) because changing the preposition changes the spatial or logical meaning of your sentence
- Capitalisation - Capitalise the first letter of the first word of every sentence, the pronoun I, and all proper nouns like names and specific places.
- Punctuation - End every complete sentence with a period (.), question mark (? ) or an exclamation mark (!) and use commas (, ) to separate clauses.
- Avoid double negatives - Do not combine two negative words in one clause - as it creates an unintended positive or a non-standard form. Example - use "I don't know anything" not "I don't know nothing".
- Conditional patterns - Use the correct mix of verb tenses in conditional sentences to show real, hypothetical or past possibilities
The 12 tenses in English are given in the table below.
| 12 Tenses in English | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Types of Tenses
| Simple Tense | Continuous Tense | Perfect Tense | Perfect Continuous Tense |
Past Tense | Past Indefinite Tense | Past Continuous Tense | Past Perfect Continuous Tense | |
Present Tense | ||||
Future Tense | Future Indefinite Tense
| Future Continuous Tense | Future Perfect Tense | Future Perfect Continuous Tense |
Tenses are verb forms in English grammar which specify when an action took place through 3 diff. sets of time i.e. present, past and future. Tenses show time of some actions/events and their level of completeness.
V1, V2, and V3 refer to the different forms of verbs used in English tenses. The explanations of each of V1, V2 and V3 are given below:
- V1 (First form of the verb): It is used in Simple Present Tense, Simple Past Tense, and the Present, Past and Future forms of the Continuous and Perfect Continuous tenses. The examples of some first form of verbs are - play, sing, eat, go
- V2 (Second form of the verb): The V2 verb is used exclusively in Simple Past Tense. The examples of the second form of the verb are - played, sang, ate, went
- V3 (Third form of the verb): Also known as the past participle, the V3 verbs are used in Perfect Tenses and passive voice of the sentence. The examples of the third form of the verb are - played, sung, eaten, gone
Let us understand the variation of the verb "play" in its V1, V2 and V3 forms:
- V1: I play tennis every Sunday. (Simple Present Tense)
- V2: I played tennis last Sunday. (Simple Past Tense)
- V3: I have played tennis for ten years. (Present Perfect Tense)
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Priya Garg is an Assistant Manager in the Editorial Team of Shiksha Study Abroad (Shiksha.com, InfoEdge India Ltd), where she has served as the primary content owner on studying in the UK, Ireland, France, Spai
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