English Tenses

The Future Continuous Tense talks about actions that will go on in the future as well. Also known as the Future Progressive Tense, this verb tense is the future version of the present continuous tense, which uses a similar construction. For example, “I will be watching a movie tonight.”

The 'simple past tense', according to the Cambridge Dictionary, is defined as “the form of a verb used to describe an action that happened before the present time and is no longer happening. It is usually made by adding -ed.” The Collins Dictionary defines the 'simple past tense' as “a tense used to refer to the past.” The Macmillan Dictionary defines the simple past tense as “the tense used to talk about habitual actions, behaviour, or situations that happened or existed before now.”

The simple past tense of the verb “go” is “went”. Irregular verbs like “go” don't follow a specific pattern and do not use suffix like 'ed' to be changed into simple past tense. For example, I went to the market yesterday. Went is the simple past tense word of 'go'. There is no suffix in the verb. 

The simple past tense of the verb “read” is “read” (for ex: “I read a book last week”). While “read” is spelled the same in both its past and present forms, its pronunciation differs depending on the tense. For example, I read the book last night. Here 'read' is used in simple past tense, but the spelling remains the same as they are used in present tense. 

The basic formula of the simple past tense is as follows: Subject + verb in the past tense (verb + 'ed/d' for regular verbs). For regular verbs, the past tense form is usually formed by adding "-ed" to the base form of the verb. For irregular verbs, the past tense form is unique and must be learnt by the students. 

The simple past tense, in English, is used to describe an action that took place in the past. In most cases, the simple past tense is formed by adding an 'ed' or a 'd' to the end of the base verb. However, there are other verbs which have different spellings when used in the simple past form. They need to be summarized.

To understand the key differences between Simple Present Tense and Present Continuous Tense, look at the table below:

Yes, simple present tense cna be used when describing certain future events which are already scheduled, for example:

• The bus departs at 6 PM sharp. 
• My Spanish classes begin next week. 

The following mistakes should be avoid when using the Simple Present Tense:

• Forgetting the -s/-es in third-person singular

Example: She go to school. (Incorrect)

She goes to school. (Correct)

• Using do/does in affirmative sentences

Example: She does eat the dinner. (Incorrect)

She eats dinner. (Correct)

• Incorrect word order in questions

Example: He goes where? (Incorrect)

Where does he go? (correct)

Simple Present Tense is the kind of verb tense which is used in our everyday life. The scenarios where Simple Present Tense can be used are:

• To describe daily routine 
• To describe facts or universal truths
• To describe scheduled events
• To describe feelings and state of being
• To describe directions and instructions
• To describe habits