English Tenses - Present, Past, and Future with Examples for Students

Understanding tenses is one of the most important steps in learning English grammar. Tenses help us describe when an action happens — in the past, present, or future.

In this article, we’ll explain all 12 English tenses with clear rules, examples, and charts, based on the images you’ve shared. Each tense is broken down simply so that students and beginners can master them easily.

What Are Tenses?

A tense shows the time of an action or event.
It tells whether something happens:

• Now (Present)
• Before now (Past)
• After now (Future)

Each of these three time frames has four sub-types:

1. Simple
2. Continuous (Progressive)
3. Perfect
4. Perfect Continuous

So, there are 12 tenses in total.

1. Present Tense

The Present Tense describes actions that happen now, regularly, or as general truths.

A. Present Simple

Structure: Subject + Base Verb (1st form) + s/es (for he, she, it)
Example:

• I study English every day.
• She plays piano.

Use:

• Daily habits or routines
• Universal truths (The sun rises in the east.)

B. Present Continuous (Progressive)

Structure: Subject + am/is/are + Verb + ing
Example:

• I am studying English.
• They are playing football.

Use:

• Actions happening right now
• Temporary actions

C. Present Perfect

Structure: Subject + has/have + Past Participle (3rd form)
Example:

• I have finished my homework.
• She has gone to school.

Use:

• Actions completed recently
• Life experiences (I have seen that movie.)

D. Present Perfect Continuous

Structure: Subject + has/have + been + Verb + ing
Example:

• I have been studying for two hours.
• They have been working since morning.

Use:

• Actions that started in the past and continue in the present

Quick Chart for Present Tense

Tense	Structure	Example Sentence
Simple	1st form (+ s/es)	I study English.
Continuous	am/is/are + V-ing	I am studying English.
Perfect	has/have + 3rd form	I have studied English.
Perfect Continuous	has/have been + V-ing	I have been studying English.

2. Past Tense

The Past Tense shows actions that have already happened.

A. Past Simple

Structure: Subject + Verb (2nd form)
Example:

• I studied English yesterday.
• She went to school.

Use:

• Completed actions in the past
• Past habits (I played cricket when I was a child.)

B. Past Continuous

Structure: Subject + was/were + Verb + ing
Example:

• I was studying when you called.
• They were watching TV at 8 p.m.

Use:

• Actions happening at a specific time in the past
• Interrupted actions

C. Past Perfect

Structure: Subject + had + Past Participle (3rd form)
Example:

• I had finished my work before dinner.
• She had gone home before it rained.

Use:

• An action completed before another past action

D. Past Perfect Continuous

Structure: Subject + had been + Verb + ing
Example:

• I had been studying for two hours before you came.
• They had been playing football all morning.

Use:

• Ongoing action in the past that continued until another event

Quick Chart for Past Tense

Tense	Structure	Example Sentence
Simple	2nd form	I studied English.
Continuous	was/were + V-ing	I was studying English.
Perfect	had + 3rd form	I had studied English.
Perfect Continuous	had been + V-ing	I had been studying English.

3. Future Tense

The Future Tense expresses actions that will happen later.

A. Future Simple

Structure: Subject + will/shall + Verb (1st form)
Example:

• I will study English tomorrow.
• She will go to college next week.

Use:

• Promises, plans, predictions

B. Future Continuous

Structure: Subject + will be + Verb + ing
Example:

• I will be studying at 8 p.m. tonight.
• They will be traveling tomorrow.

Use:

• Actions happening at a specific time in the future

C. Future Perfect

Structure: Subject + will have + Past Participle (3rd form)
Example:

• I will have finished my homework by 6 p.m.
• She will have reached home before sunset.

Use:

• Actions completed before a future point

D. Future Perfect Continuous

Structure: Subject + will have been + Verb + ing
Example:

• I will have been studying for two hours by 10 p.m.
• They will have been working here for a year.

Use:

• Actions continuing over a period in the future

Quick Chart for Future Tense

Tense	Structure	Example Sentence
Simple	will/shall + 1st form	I will study English.
Continuous	will be + V-ing	I will be studying English.
Perfect	will have + 3rd form	I will have studied English.
Perfect Continuous	will have been + V-ing	I will have been studying English.

Verb Forms in Three Tenses

Base Verb	Past Form	Future Form
I am	I was	I will be
I do	I did	I will do
I make	I made	I will make
I have	I had	I will have
I go	I went	I will go
I see	I saw	I will see
I play	I played	I will play
I read	I read	I will read
I speak	I spoke	I will speak
I buy	I bought	I will buy
I eat	I ate	I will eat

Days Vocabulary for Tense Clarity

Past	Present	Future
Yesterday	Today	Tomorrow
Last week	This week	Next week
Last month	This month	Next month
Last year	This year	Next year
Earlier / Before	Now / Currently	Later / Upcoming
Long ago / In the past	Right now / Presently	In the coming days / In the future

Tense Formula Summary Chart

Tense	Helping Verb	Formula	Example
Present Simple	do/does	V1 (+s/es)	I read.
Present Continuous	am/is/are	am/is/are + V1 + ing	I am reading.
Present Perfect	has/have	has/have + V3	I have read.
Present Perfect Continuous	has/have been	has/have been + V1 + ing	I have been reading.
Past Simple	did	V2	I read (past).
Past Continuous	was/were	was/were + V1 + ing	I was reading.
Past Perfect	had	had + V3	I had read.
Past Perfect Continuous	had been	had been + V1 + ing	I had been reading.
Future Simple	will/shall	will + V1	I will read.
Future Continuous	will be	will be + V1 + ing	I will be reading.
Future Perfect	will have	will have + V3	I will have read.
Future Perfect Continuous	will have been	will have been + V1 + ing	I will have been reading.

Examples Across All Tenses Using “Study”

Tense	Example
Present Simple	I study English every day.
Present Continuous	I am studying English now.
Present Perfect	I have studied English before.
Present Perfect Continuous	I have been studying English for two hours.
Past Simple	I studied English yesterday.
Past Continuous	I was studying when you called.
Past Perfect	I had studied before the test started.
Past Perfect Continuous	I had been studying for two hours before dinner.
Future Simple	I will study tomorrow.
Future Continuous	I will be studying at 8 p.m.
Future Perfect	I will have studied by tomorrow morning.
Future Perfect Continuous	I will have been studying for five hours by 10 p.m.

Tips to Remember Tenses

1. Simple = completed or regular actions.
2. Continuous = ongoing actions (use -ing).
3. Perfect = finished actions (use have/has/had + V3).
4. Perfect Continuous = started in the past, still continuing.

Mnemonic to Remember Tense Order:

👉 Simple → Continuous → Perfect → Perfect Continuous

FAQ

Q1. What are the three main tenses?

Present, Past, and Future.

Q2. How many sub-tenses are there?

There are 12 tenses in total (4 in each time frame).

Q3. What is the difference between “I have studied” and “I have been studying”?

• I have studied = focus on result (completed action).
• I have been studying = focus on duration (still happening).

Q4. Which tense is used for general truth?

Present Simple: The sun rises in the east.

Q5. How can students improve their tense usage?

Practice writing short sentences daily using all tenses and note time indicators like yesterday, today, tomorrow, for two hours, etc.

📘 English Grammar & Vocabulary Series – Learn & Practice

English skills with easy-to-understand grammar lessons and vocabulary designed for students and language learners.

• 🕒 Present, Past and Future Tenses – Explanation with Examples
• 🗓️ English Tenses with Examples – Simple Guide for Students
• 🧩 English Collocations with Have, Take, Do, Make, Go, Get & Come
• ⏰ Telling the Time & Prepositions of Time – In, On, At
• 🔤 Synonyms for “But”, “Also”, and “So” – Smart Connectors for Writing
• 📚 Top IELTS Vocabulary Words with Meanings & Usage Examples
• 📍 Common Prepositions – For, To, At, From (With Examples)