Verb Tenses in English Grammar

How many tenses does English have?

English has a lot of tenses — 12 in fact!

We can categorise the tenses into three basic types: present, past and future.

In addition to these basic forms, each tense then also has the following aspects:

  • progressive aspect (ing form)
  • perfect aspect (have + past participle)
  • perfect progressive aspect (have/had been + ing)

But what is a tense aspect? They are a bit like different flavours of the same tense.

The tense (present/past/future) situates the action in time, while the aspect gives more detail about whether it was in progress, already completed, etc.

This gives us our total of 12 tenses:

Present tenses:

Past tenses:

Future tenses:

Click on the links below to learn about each tense in detail and practise using it in the exericses.

Overview of English Tenses

Our tense overview summarises all English tenses in one handy table with plenty of examples.

Example:
he goes
he is going
he has gone
he went
he will go

Simple Present Tense

The simple present expresses facts, repeated and sequential actions as well as timetabled future events.

Example:
She often goes to the cinema.

Present Progressive Tense

The present progressive (also called present continuous) describes actions that take place at the moment of speaking, temporary situations and future arrangements.

Example:
We are standing in front of the cinema.

Simple Past Tense

The simple past expresses actions that started and ended in the past.

Example:
We went to the cinema yesterday.

Past Progressive Tense

The past progressive (also called past continuous) expresses an action that was already in progress at a specific moment in the past.

Example:
They were waiting in front of the cinema when we arrived.

Present Perfect Simple

The present perfect simple connects the past with the present. It expresses a completed past action without a concrete time marker. It appears with signal words like ever, never, just, yet and already.

Example:
She has already bought the tickets.

Present Perfect Progressive

The present perfect progressive (also called present perfect continuous) tells us how long an action has been in progress up to now. Common signal words are how long, for and since.

Example:
We have been queuing for the tickets for half an hour.

Past Perfect Simple

The past perfect simple expressed actions that took place prior to another point in the past.

Example:
Before they went to the cinema, they had booked their tickets.

Past Perfect Progressive

The past perfect progressive (also called past perfect continuous) shows how long an action was in progress up to another point in the past.

Example:
Before they got their tickets, they had been queuing for half an hour.

Future tense: will + infinitive

The English future tense with will expresses spontaneous decisions, predictions and promises.

Example:
I will go to the cinema tonight.

Future Tense: going to + infinitive

The English future tense with going to expresses intentions, plans and logical conclusions.

Example:
Jane and I are going to the cinema tonight.

Future Progressive

The future progressive (also called future continuous) expresses an action that will be in progress at a certain time in the future.

Example:
At 9 pm, we will be watching the film.

Future Perfect Simple

The future perfect simple expresses actions that will already be completed by a certain point in the future.

Example:
They will have returned from the cinema by 11 pm.

Future Perfect Progressive

The future perfect progressive (also called future perfect continuous) shows how long an action will have already been in progress up to a certain point in the future.

Example:
In two more minutes, we will have been queuing for half an hour.

Irregular Verbs

Many common English verbs have irregular forms in multiple tenses.

Example:
do – did – done
be – was/were – been