16 Tenses in English Grammar: Pattern and Examples

1. Simple Present Tense

Simple Present Tense adalah bentuk tense yang paling umum digunakan. Bentuk ini
biasanya digunakan untuk menunjukan fakta, kebiasaan, dan kejadian yang terjadi
pada saat ini.

Rumus
Untuk membentuk kalimat tense ini, biasanya yang perlu kita gunakan adalah kata kerja
bentuk dasar atau Verb 1. Selain itu, Simple Present Tense terbagi menjadi verbal
simple present dan nominal simple present. Verbal simple present menggunakan kata
kerja yang menunjukkan sebuah aksi atau tindakan, sedangkan nominal simple present
menggunakan kata kerja be atau biasa disebut to be. Berikut adalah rumus dari Simple
Present Tense:
a. Verbal Simple Present
(+) Positive: Subject + V1 s/es + Object
(-) Negative: Subject + Do/does + not +V1 + Object
(?) Interrogative: Do / Does + Subject + Verb 1 + Object?
Yang perlu kalian perhatikan, kata do digunakan jika subjeknya adalah I, you, they, atau
we. Namun, kata does digunakan jika subjeknya adalah bentuk orang ketiga (she, he,
it).
Contoh Kalimat
(+) She reads Harry Potter books every day.
(-) She doesn’t read Harry Potter books every day.
(?) Does she read a Harry Potter book?

b. Nominal Simple Present

(+) Positive: Subject + To be (is, am, are) + adjective/Noun/Adv
(-) Negative: Subject + To be (is, am, are) + not + adjective/Noun/Adv
(?) Interrogative: To be (is, am, are) + Subject + adjective/Noun/Adv
Contoh Kalimat
(+) He is a teacher
(-) He is not a teacher
(?) Is He a teacher?

2. Present Continuous Tense

Present continuous tense Present continuous tense biasa digunakan untuk menyatakan
hal yang sedang dilakukan atau sedang terjadi di masa sekarang.

Rumus present continuous tense, sebagai berikut:

Kalimat positif: S + to be (is, am, are) + Ving+ Object

Ving. Kalimat negatif: S + to be (is, am, are) + not + Ving+ Object.

Kalimat tanya: to be (is, am, are) + S + Ving+ Object?

Contoh kalimat:

(+) Rani is writing a letter. / Rani sedang menulis surat.

(-) Rani isn’t writing a letter. / Rani tidak sedang menulis surat.

(?) Is Rani writing a letter? / Apakah Rani sedang menulis surat?

3. Present Perfect Tense

Present Perfect Tense menekankan pada hasil. Tense ini menunjukkan aksi yang
masih sedang berlangsung atau baru saja selesai.
Rumus
Present Perfect Tense dibentuk dengan auxiliary verb have atau has, dan past
participle (verb-have digunakan untuk I, you, dan plural subject seperti:
Plural pronoun (they, we)
Plural noun (boys, men)
Compound subject dengan kata hubung and (you and I, Carla and Salsa)
Sedangkan has untuk singular subject, seperti:
Third-person singular pronoun (he, she, it)
Singular noun (Carla, girl)

Past participle dibentuk dengan menambahkan -ed, -en, -d, -t, -n, atau -ne pada base
form yang berupa regular verb. Pada base form berupa irregular verb, bentuk past
participle tidak konsisten.
(+) Positive: Subject + Have/Has + V3 + Object
(-) Negative: Subject +Have/Has + Not + V3 + Object
(?) Interrogative: Have/Has + Subject + V3 + Object?

Bagaimana cara mengidentifikasi bahwa sebuah kalimat memiliki bentuk Present

Perfect Tense? Atau, kapan saat yang tepat menggunakan tense ini? Kamu bisa
melihat ciri-cirinya dengan contoh keterangan waktu alias time expression berikut ini.
already
just
recently/lately
ever
yet
for + keterangan waktu yang menunjukkan masa lalu hingga sekarang
since + keterangan waktu yang menunjukkan pertama kali kejadian atau kegiatan
dimulai
Contoh Kalimat
I think I have seen that movie before.
Joan has studied two foreign languages.
I’ve been to Bali three times. Have you ever been there?
How many times have you traveled abroad?

4. Present Perfect Continuous

Present Perfect Continuous Tense digunakan untuk mengungkapkan aksi yang telah
selesai pada suatu titik dimasa lampau atau aksi telah dimulai di masa lalu dan terus
berlanjut sampai sekarang. Biasanya aksi tersebut ada durasi waktu tertentu dan ada
relevansinya dengan kondisi sekarang.
Rumus
(+) Positive: Subject + Have/Has + been + Ving + Object
(-) Negative: Subject +Have/Has + Not + been + Ving + Object
(?) Interrogative: Have/Has + Subject+ been + Ving + Object?

Pada bentuk positif, kamu bisa menggunakan singkatan I’ve untuk I have, you’ve untuk
you have, they’ve untuk they have, dan seterusnya. Singkatan ini tidak berlaku untuk
subjek he, she, dan it. Sedangkan pada bentuk negatif, singkatan yang benar untuk
digunakan adalah haven’t dan hasn’t. Contohnya, I haven’t been living here for 4 years,
bukan I’ve not been living here for 4 years.
Contoh Kalimat
I have not been living here for 4 years.
I have been owning my Mazda since 2007.
Sarah has been coming late for work recently.

5. Simple Past Tense

Simple Past Tense digunakan untuk mengungkapkan suatu kejadian yang terjadi di
masa lampau. Dalam kalimat Simple Past Tense, kata kerja yang digunakan
merupakan bentuk kata kerja kedua. Terdapat dua jenis kata kerja, yakni regular verb
dan irregular verb.

Untuk regular verb, tambahkan -ed/-d di belakang setelah kata kerja bentuk pertama.
Sebagai contoh:
stay – stayed (tinggal)
punch – punched (memukul)
play – played (bermain)
touch – touched (menyentuh)
Untuk irregular verb , termasuk di dalamnya to be, bentuk kata kerja keduanya sangat
berbeda. Sebagai contoh:
awake – awoke (terbangun)
begin – began (memulai)
drink – drank (minum)
eat – ate (makan)
Rumus
(+) Positive: Subject + V2 + O
(-) Negative: Subject +Did + Not + V1 + Object
(?) Interrogative: Did + Subject + V1 + Object?
Contoh Kalimat
She joined the English club class at school yesterday.
Last Monday, Joni got in an accident at the office.
Dani bought new laptops last night.
Ade went to school with his new car this morning.

6. Past Continuous Tense

Past Continuous Tense digunakan untuk mengungkapkan bahwa suatu aksi sedang
terjadi pada waktu tertentu di masa lampau. Biasanya ada dua kejadian di masa
lampau dan satu kejadian menginterupsi kejadian yang lain. Kejadian yang sedang
diinterupsi tersebut yang menggunakan Past Continuous Tense.
Sebelum masuk ke dalam rumusnya, mari kita ketahui sedikit lagi mengenai tense ini
dengan melihat poin-poin di bawah ini.

- Past Continuous Tense dibentuk dengan auxiliary verb be, berupa was atau were. Hal
ini dikarenakan peristiwanya terjadi di masa lalu dalam past tense dan present
participle.
- Was untuk singular subject berupa singular noun (seperti: Andi, book, dan cat) dan
singular pronoun (seperti: I, she, he, dan it) kecuali you.
- Sebaliknya, were yang merupakan plural verb digunakan pada plural subject berupa
plural noun (seperti: cats, people, books) dan plural pronoun (seperti: you, they, we, dan
cats).
Rumus
(+) Positive: Subject + was/were + Ving + Object
(-) Negative: Subject +was/were + Not + Ving + Object
(?) Interrogative: Was/were + Subject + Ving + Object?
Contoh Kalimat
I was having dinner at this time yesterday.
What was she doing at 7 am this morning?
They were making toasts at this time last night.
I was doing physical exercises all day yesterday.
In July she was working as a waitress at a well-known restaurant.

7. Past Perfect Tense

Past Perfect Tense digunakan untuk menunjukkan sebuah kejadian yang terjadi
sebelum waktu tertentu di masa lampau dan lebih menekankan pada fakta daripada
durasi.
Past Perfect Tense dibentuk dengan auxiliary verb had, dan past participle (verb-3).
Had digunakan baik untuk singular maupun plural subject. Sedangkan past participle
dibentuk dengan menambahkan –ed, -en, -d, -t, -n, atau -ne pada base form berupa
regular verb.
Rumus
(+) Positive: Subject + Had + V3 + Object
(-) Negative: Subject +Had + Not + V3 + Object
(?) Interrogative: Had + Subject + V3 + Object?
Contoh Kalimat
When he came last night, the cake had run out.
The student had gotten a verbal warning before his parents were called.
I had already eaten my breakfast by the time he picked me up.
Prior to the proclamation, Indonesia had been colonized by Japan for 3 years.

8. Past Perfect Continuous Tense

Hampir serupa dengan Past Perfect Tense, Past Perfect Continuous Tense digunakan
untuk mengungkapkan suatu aksi yang terjadi di masa lalu dan telah selesai pada suatu
titik waktu tertentu di masa lalu. Bedanya, Past Perfect Continuous Tense menekankan
pada durasi kejadiannya.
Past Perfect Continuous Tense dibentuk dengan auxiliary verb had dan been serta
present participle. Secara umum Past Perfect Continuous Tense hanya terjadi pada
aksi berupa dynamic atau action verb, tidak stative verb karena umumnya hanya
dynamic verb yang memiliki bentuk continuous.
Rumus
(+) Positive: Subject + Had + been + Ving + Object
(-) Negative: Subject +Had + Not + been + Ving + Object
(?) Interrogative: Had + Subject + been + Ving + Object?
Contoh Kalimat
She was annoyed since she had been waiting for 2 hours at the bus station.
By the time the teacher came, the students had been reading half part of the text.
I had been working with my computer all day, and all I wanted to do was eat some
chocolate.

9. Simple Future Tense

Simple Future Tense mengindikasikan suatu aksi di masa yang akan datang dan tidak
dapat dipengaruhi. Tense ini dapat juga digunakan untuk pembuatan keputusan di
masa depan yang spontan atau asumsi yang berhubungan dengan masa yang akan
datang. Will dan be going to merupakan dua indikator umum pada tense ini.
Rumus
Will (dilakukan secara spontan)
(+) Positive: Subject + will + V1 + Object
(-) Negative: Subject +will + not + V1 + Object
(?) Interrogative: Will + Subject + V1+ Object?

Going to (dilakukan secara terencana)

(+) Positive: Subject + tobe (is, am, are) going to + V1 + Object
(-) Negative: Subject + tobe (is, am, are) + not + going to + V1 + Object
(?) Interrogative: tobe (is, am, are) + Subject + going to + V1 + Object?
Contoh Kalimat
They will take a school examination next month.
Budi will take a public speaking class tomorrow.
Peter is going to move to his new house next week.
Dini is going to finish her homework tonight.
I am going to take an English class at Aku Pintar next monday.

10. Future Continuous Tense

Future Continuous Tense menunjukkan aksi yang terjadi pada waktu tertentu di masa
yang akan datang dan aksi yang pasti akan terjadi dalam waktu dekat.
Rumus
(+) Positive: Subject + will + be + Ving + Object
(-) Negative: Subject +will + not + be + Ving + Object
(?) Interrogative: Will + Subject + be + Ving + Object?
Contoh Kalimat
Mikaela will be running in a marathon race this Sunday morning.
I will be staying with my sister for a week.
I will not be staying with my sister for a week.
Erika will not be competing against Mikaela in the race when the race starts.

11. Future Perfect Tense

Future Perfect Tense menekankan pada aksi yang sudah berakhir pada waktu tertentu
di masa yang akan datang.
Rumus
(+) Positive: Subject + will + have + V3 + Object
(-) Negative: Subject +will + have + not + V3 + Object
(?) Interrogative: Will + Subject + have + V3 + Object?
Contoh Kalimat
Call me at 2 p.m. I’ll have eaten lunch by then.
By next Friday we’ll have moved into our new home!
Let’s wait until 5 p.m. The game will have finished by then.
We’ll have resolved the IT problem by this afternoon.
In May she’ll have been in Australia for ten years.
12. Future Perfect Continuous Tense
Hampir sama dengan semua jenis Perfect Continuous Tense, Future Perfect
Continuous Tense merupakan serangkaian aksi yang terjadi sebelum waktu tertentu di
masa yang akan datang.
Rumus
(+) Positive: Subject + will + have + been + Ving + Object
(-) Negative: Subject +will + have + not + been + Ving + Object
(?) Interrogative: Will + Subject + have + been + Ving + Object?
Contoh Kalimat
I will have been waiting here for three hours by six o'clock.
By 2015 I will have been living in London for sixteen years.
When I finish this course, I will have been learning English for twenty years.
Next year I will have been working here for four years.

13. Past Future Tense

Past Future Tense pada dasarnya digunakan dalam kalimat yang tidak langsung.
Terdapat perubahan bentuk untuk menyesuaikan dengan rangkaian peristiwa yang ada.
Rumus
(+) Positive: Subject + would + bare infinitive + Object
(-) Negative: Subject +would + not + bare infinitive + Object
(?) Interrogative: Would + Subject + bare infinitive + Object?
Contoh Kalimat
My uncle told me that he would come on time.
She promised she would give me a box of banana cake.
They said that they were going to visit Lombok.

14. Past Future Continuous Tense

Past Future Continuous Tense menekankan pada serangkaian atau durasi sebuah aksi
terjadi. Sebagai tambahan, Past Future Continuous Tense juga biasanya digunakan
pada kalimat tidak langsung.
Rumus
(+) Positive: Subject + would + have been + V-ing.
(-) Negative: Subject + would + not + have been + V- ing.
(?) Interrogative: Would + subject + have been + V-ing?
Contoh Kalimat
I would have been working in leading companies for 5 years.
I would not have been working in leading companies for 5 years.
Would you have been working in leading companies for 5 years?
15. Past Future Perfect Tense
Terdapat tiga waktu dalam Past Future Perfect yang terjadi di masa lalu. Tiga waktu
tersebut menunjuk pada waktu yang akan datang, waktu tertentu di masa lalu, tetapi
aksi yang terjadi harus sudah selesai sebelum waktu yang akan datang. Past Future
Perfect biasanya digunakan pada kalimat tidak langsung.
Rumus
(+) Positive: Subject + should/would + have + V3 + Object
(-) Negative: Subject +should/would + not + have +V3 + Object
(?) Interrogative: Should/ Would + Subject+ V3+ Object?
Contoh Kalimat
If you had saved your jewelry and foreign currency in a safety deposit box, they wouldn’t
have gone.
Before taking a leave of absence yesterday, he would complete his work for the client.
He would have submitted it two days ago.

16. Past Future Perfect Continuous Tense

Past Future Perfect Continuous Tense merupakan bentuk tense yang cukup sulit.
Namun, kamu dapat mempelajarinya dari Past Future Perfect Tense. Bedanya, Past
Future Perfect Tense menekankan pada durasi waktu yang sudah berlalu dan hasil.
Rumus
(+) Positive: Subject + would + have + been + Ving + Object
(-) Negative: Subject + would +have + not + been +Ving + Object
(?) Interrogative: Would + Subject+ have+ been+ Ving+ Object?
Contoh Kalimat
I heard that you should have been teaching here for ten years by this July.
I did not know that he would have been working for the past three hours by that time.
Would he have been explaining to the workers if he had made the information clear?