English tenses

English tenses for beginners to advanced learners of English as a foreign language.

Present tenses rules PDF

Present simple tense:

1. Repeated actions: I play golf every week.
2. Permanent truths: Lions live in Africa.
3. Timetables: The bus departs at 10.

Present continuous tense:

1. Activities that are happening just now: I am playing golf now.
2. Temporary activities happening about this time: We are staying at the hotel this week.
3. Definite future arrangements: He is moving to Leeds tomorrow.

Past tenses rules PDF

Past simple tense:

1. Repeated actions in the past: We worked in Seattle last week.
2. An action completed in the past: I had a shower in the morning.
3. Events that follow each other: Bill came home. He took off his coat and went to the kitchen.

Past continuous tense:

1. An action that started before another action in the past and continued after it: When she saw me, I was looking at the trees.
2. An action that started before a point in time and continued after it: At 8 o'clock Jane was doing her homework.
3. To describe situations: The sun was shining. Jack and Jill were lying on the beach.

Future tenses rules PDF

Future simple tense:

1. General intentions: He will change his job.
2. Predictions or opinions: The horse will win.
3. Decisions or offers made at the moment of speaking: I'll take you home. - No, thank you. We'll take a taxi.

Future continuous tense:

1. Activities that will be in progress at a point of time: This time tomorrow we'll be lying on the beach.
2. Routine activities that will happen in the normal course of events: Everybody will be working on a computer sooner or later.

Present perfect rules PDF

Present perfect simple:

1. Activities that started in the past and still continue: She has known me for more than two years.
2. Experience that happened in the past, but the effects are important now: She has been to London.
3. Activities that have a present result: The bus hasn't arrived yet.

Present perfect continuous:

1. Events that began at a point of time, are continuing now and will probably continue in the future: I have been playing tennis since I was 6 years old.
2. Actions that began in the past and have only just finished: I've been skiing all day. I'm so tired.

Past perfect rules PDF

Past perfect simple:

1. An event that was completed before another event: The door bell rang at last. I had been in the room since breakfast.
2. Activities that were completed before a point of time: In 2005 I had lived in the same place for ten years.

Past perfect continuous:

1. Activities that began before a point of time and were still continuing at that point of time: Last summer Josh had been renovating his house for two years.
2. Actions that began before a point of time in the past and continued to that point: Josh sat down. He had been cutting the grass all morning.

Future perfect rules PDF

Future perfect simple:

1. Activities that will be completed before a certain time in the future: She will have written her book by the end of this year.
2. Activities that will be completed at a certain time in the future: When I return home, I will have been away for a year.

Future perfect continuous:

1. Activities that will continue until a point of time and will not be completed: In June we will have been travelling around the world for five months.
2. Activities that will continue until a point of time and will finish at that point of time: I will leave my office at 6 o'clock. By then I will have been working on my computer all day.

Going to versus present tenses rules PDF

1. Future plans: I am going to buy a new house. Predictions: Be careful! You are going to fall.
2. Timetables: The train leaves at 3.35.
3. Future arrangements: I am leaving on Monday.