1. Tenses
“Tense is the time of a verb’s action or state of being such as present, past or future” (Richard Nordquist)

2. Tense classification Tenses Present Simple Simple Past Simple
Future Simple
Present Perfect
Perfect
Past Perfect
Future Perfect
Present Continuous
Past Continuous
Continuous/ Progressive
Future Continuous
Present Perfect Continuous
Past Perfect Continuous
Future Perfect Continuous

3. Present simple tense
Expresses: a) habitual actions ( I play football twice a week)
b) present states ( He has a lot of homework)
c) facts true for a long time or forever ( They come from Portugal)
d) official arrangements ( The play starts at 9:00 pm)
Form affirmative (positive): I/you/we/you/they send s.
He/she/it sends s.
Form negative: I/you/we/you/they do not send s.
He/she/it does not send s.
Form interrogative (questions): Do I/you/we/you/they send s.
Does he/she/it send s.
Some time expression used more frequently in present simple are: all the time, always, every (day), most of the time, * never, often, rarely, seldom, hardly ever, sometimes, usually, etc.
* When we use ‘never’ in a sentence we do not use ‘not’ (don’t) to form negative since ‘never’ makes the negative itself.
Verb ‘be’ is found as ‘am, are, is’ and uses no auxiliary to make questions and negatives.
Verb ‘have’ changes its for into ‘has’ in third person singular positive.

4. Irregular verbs (dif. Forms)
Past simple tense
Expresses: a) actions finished in a specific past ( I played football last week)
b) duration of activities in the past ( I studied for 5 year)
c) a past state/condition ( It was cold yesterday)
Irregular verbs (dif. Forms)
Regular verbs (+ed)
Form affirmative (positive):
I/you/he/she/it/we/you/they sent an yesterday.
Form affirmative (positive):
I/you/he/she/it/we/you/they watched TV yesterday.
‘ed’ S. V. S. V.
Form negative:
I/you/he/she/it/we/you/they did not send an yesterday.
Form negative:
I/you/he/she/it/we/you/they did not watch TV yesterday. S.
aux V. S.
aux V.
Form interrogative (questions):
Did I/you/he/she/it/we/you/they send an yesterday?
Form interrogative (questions):
Did I/you/he/she/it/we/you/they watch TV yesterday?
aux S. V.
aux S. V.
Verb ‘be’ is found as ‘war, were’ and uses no auxiliary to make questions and negatives.
Irregular verbs have different forms in past simple and must be learnt by heart.
Some time expression used more frequently in past simple are: last (night), yesterday, (two days) ago, when (I was a child), etc.

5. Future simple tense
Expresses: a) a spontaneous decision for the future ( I will call him tomorrow)
b) future plans and ambitions ( I am going to study medicine)
c) personal arrangements ( He is seeing the doctor in the evening)
d) official arrangements ( The play starts at 8:00 pm)
Future with ‘will’:
Form affirmative (positive):
I/you/he/she/it/we/you/they will send an tomorrow.
Form negative:
I/you/he/she/it/we/you/they will not send an tomorrow.
Form interrogative (questions):
Will I/you/he/she/it/we/you/they send an tomorrow?
Future with ‘shall’:
Form affirmative (positive):
I/we shall send him an tomorrow.
Form negative:
I/we shall not send him an tomorrow.
Form interrogative (questions):
Shall I/we send him an tomorrow?
Future with ‘ be going to’:
Form affirmative (positive):
I am
You/we/they are going to study medicine.
He/she/(it) is
Future with ‘ be going to’:
Form negative:
I am
You/we/they are not going to study medicine.
He/she/(it) is
Future with ‘ be going to’:
Form interrogative (question):
Am I
Are you/we/they going to study medicine?
Is he/she/(it)
Note: other future forms are: might, present simple, present continuous, etc.

6. Note: in present perfect we do not ask questions with ‘when’
Present perfect tense
Expresses: a) actions finished at an indefinite past ( I have been there once)
b) present results that can change in the future ( He has written three novels)
c) duration of present activities/states ( We have been here for a long time) S
aux pp
Form affirmative (positive): I/you/we/you/they have sent s.
He/she/it has sent s.
Irregular verbs
Form negative: I/you/we/you/they have not sent s.
He/she/it has not sent s.
Form interrogative: Have I/you/we/you/they sent s?
Has he/she/it sent s?
aux S. pp
Form affirmative (positive): I/you/we/you/they have watched the match.
He/she/it has watched s.
Regular verbs
Form negative: I/you/we/you/they have not watched the match.
He/she/it has not watched s.
Form interrogative: Have I/you/we/you/they watched the match?
Has he/she/it watched the match?
Note: in present perfect we do not ask questions with ‘when’
Some time expression used more frequently in present perfect are: ever, never, adv of frequency, yet, already, just, for, since, etc.

7. Past perfect tense
Expresses: actions finished before other actions in the past (I had seen the movie when I read the book) S
aux pp
Form affirmative (positive): I/you/he/she/it/we/you/they had left, when John returned.
action one
action two
Form negative: I/you/he/she/it/we/you/they had not left when John returned.
aux S pp
Form interrogative: Had I/you/he/she/it/we/you/they left when John returned?

8. Future perfect tense
Expresses: actions that will have finished at some time in the future
(By this time next year you will have enrolled second term at university) S
aux
aux pp
Form affirmative (positive): I/you/he/she/it/we/you/they will have graduated.
Form negative: I/you/he/she/it/we/you/they will not have graduated.
aux S
aux pp
Form interrogative: Will I/you/he/she/it/we/you/they have graduated?

9. Present continuous tense
Expresses:
a) activities happening at the moment of sp ( They are brainstorming on how to write an essay)
b) activities happening around the moment of speaking ( We are planning a trip for next year)
c) personal arrangements ( He is going to U.S tomorrow)
d) annoying habits ( You are always complaining)
Form affirmative (positive):
I am
He/she/it is working on a project.
We/you/they are
Form negative:
I am
He/she/it is not working on a project.
We/you/they are S
aux S
aux
V-ing
V-ing
Form interrogative:
Am I
Is he/she/it working on a project?
Are we/you/they
aux S
V-ing

10. Past continuous tense
Expresses: actions that were in progress at a specific time in the past
(He was trying to get a book from the top shelf when he fell)
Form affirmative (positive):
I/He/she/it was working on a project.
We/you/they were
Form negative:
I/He/she/it was not working on a project.
We/you/they were S
aux
V-ing S
aux
V-ing
Form affirmative (positive):
Was I/He/she/it working on a project?
Were we/you/they
aux S
V-ing

11. Future continuous tense
Expresses: actions that are expected to be in progress at some time in the future
(Tomorrow at 01:00 pm I will be having a coffee) S
aux
aux
V-ing
Form affirmative (positive): I/you/he/she/it/we/you/they will be studying.
Form negative: I/you/he/she/it/we/you/they will not be studying.
aux S
aux pp
Form interrogative: Will I/you/he/she/it/we/you/they be studying?

12. Present perfect continuous tense
Expresses: duration/length of ongoing activities ( We have been learning English since we were 11)
recently finished activities with present impact ( I have been washing the dishes) S
aux
aux
V-ing
Form affirmative (positive): I/you/we/you/they have been writing an .
He/she/it has been
Form negative: I/you/we/you/they have not been writing an .
He/she/it has not been
aux S
aux
V-ing
Form interrogative: Have I/you/we/you/they been writing an ?
Has he/she/it been

13. Past perfect continuous tense
Expresses: continuous activities that finished before other activities in past
(He had been driving for 30 years when they cancelled his license) S
aux
aux
V-ing
Form affirmative (positive): I/you/we/you/they had been writing an .
Form negative: I/you/we/you/they had not been writing an .
aux S
aux
V-ing
Form interrogative: Had I/you/we/you/they been writing an ?

14. Future perfect continuous tense
Expresses: continuous activities that will have finished/completed at some time in the future
(In a couple of months I will have been going to this school for three years) S
aux
aux
aux
V-ing
Form affirmative (positive): I/you/he/she/it/we/you/they will have been walking
Form negative: I/you/he/she/it/we/you/they will not have been walking.
V-ing
aux S
aux
aux
Form interrogative: Will I/you/he/she/it/we/you/they have been walking?

15. Verb structure in different tenses
Present simple
Past simple
Future simple
Present perfect
Past perfect
Future perfect
Present continuous
Past continuous
Future continuous
Present perfect con.
Past perfect continuous
Future perfect continuous
V-s(es) in third person singular
Regular verb add –ed (ir. verbs change)
Will or am/are/is going to + V-infinitive
Have/has + V-past participle
Had + V-past participle
Will + have + V-past participle
Am/are/is + V-ing
Was/were + V-ing
Will + be + V-ing
Have/has + been + V-ing
Had + been + V-ing
Will + have + been + V-ing