What are Tenses?

- Definition, Types, Rules

Priya Garg
Study Abro ad Expert

Updated on Sep 29, 2024 12:06 IST

English Tenses: Imagine describing your morning routine by saying, "I wake up early, have
breakfast, and then catch the bus." These sentences use simple present tense, which
describes habits, facts, and general truths. But what if you want to talk about something
happening right now? Here's where the present continuous tense comes in. You could say, "I
am waking up (right now) and am having breakfast." Expressing all these events with time
would not be possible without the use of tenses rules. Tenses in English add a crucial layer
of meaning to your sentences, allowing you to express the timing and duration of
actions.

Mastering the 12 tenses in English grammar is the key to establishing ef f ective

communication in English with conf ident expression. T enses, a form of verb, are a set of
certain rules that help us to make sentences in English for different sets of time.
Adjoining your knowledge of tenses rules with a good vocabulary can help you articulate
impressive sentences to hold good conversations among your peers.

T his blog includes the tenses definition, tenses rules, tense chart and 12 types of
tenses in English grammar with examples. Students can f ind in-depth details on tenses in

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this article and they can also download the T enses in English grammar with examples PDF by
clicking on the “Download Guide” button given at the top of the page.

T able of Contents:

What is T ense?

12 T ypes of T enses in English Grammar

What is Present T ense?

What is Past T ense?

What is Future T ense?

T ense Chart

12 T enses Examples

What is T ense FAQs

What are Tenses in English Grammar?

T enses, the building blocks of sentences, are a f orm of the verb used to express the time
of an action and its degree of completeness. T he tenses help us to express the time of an
event, the time when a person did something or the time when something happened.

Types of Tenses in English Grammar

T enses are of three main types, as given below.

1. Present tense

2. Past tense

3. Future tense

T o describe the degree of completeness of an action or a situation, the above grammar

tenses are f urther divided into 4 parts each, thus giving us the 12 tenses in English grammar.
So, we can say that there are 4 types of present tense, past tense and f uture tense each.

All tenses in English are given in the table below.

12 T enses in English

T ypes of T enses Present T ense Past T ense Future T ense

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 Present Indef inite Past Indef inite Future Indef inite
Indefinite/Simple T ense T ense T ense

Present Continuous Past Continuous Future Continuous

Continuous
T ense T ense T ense

Present Perf ect Future Perf ect

Perfect Past Perf ect T ense
T ense T ense

Perfect Present Perf ect Past Perf ect Future Perf ect
Continuous Continuous T ense Continuous T ense Continuous T ense

Now that we have understood “What is the meaning of tense” and "How many tenses are
there in English", let us continue to understand each of the 12 tenses in English brief ly,
f ollowed by the tenses chart that contains the rules f or making sentence structure in
English.

What is Present Tense?

A present tense describes the work/habit that is occurring at present and the degree of its
completeness is described by 4 dif f erent tenses. Below we have listed all 4 present tenses
to help you understand what is the dif f erence between either of them and where and when
to use them. We have also given the rules f or each present tense later in the tense chart
below.

1. Present Indefinite T ense: Also known as the Simple Present tense, these tenses do
not clearly describe whether the work (that is talked about in the sentence) is still
ongoing or is complete. Usually, by simple present tense, we describe a habit, a daily
routine, a general f act, the current moment or a near f uture event.

2. Present Continuous T ense: T hese tenses describe that an action/condition is

occurring in the current moment and may continue into the f uture.

3. Present Perfect T ense: T his tense describes an action that has been started in the
past and has been completed until the current time. T his means that the Present
Perf ect tense describes the work/action that has been “completed” however, some of
its ef f ect remains in the present time as well.

4. Present Perfect Continuous T ense: T hese tenses describe an action that has
started in the past and is still continuing in the present/current time. T hese actions are

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 not “complete” and are continuing till the present time.

What is Past Tense?

A past tense describes an action that has been completed/happened or a state/situation
that existed in the past. T he 4 types of past tenses in English are described brief ly below.

1. Past Indefinite T ense: Also known as the Simple Past T ense, this tense describes an
action that has happened in the past or a situation that occurred in the past. Present
Indef inite tense is used to describe past actions:
that are described by time (such as by using words - yesterday, last, ago, never,
etc.),

that have occurred as a habit in the past, and

which are described using “since” as an adverb

2. Past Continuous T ense: T his tense describes an action that continued to occur f or
some certain time in the past.

3. Past Perfect T ense: T his tense describes an action already completed bef ore the
start of another event in the past. It also sometimes describes the actions that were
completed at a certain point in the past.

4. Past Perfect Continuous T ense: T his tense describes actions that started and
continued till a certain point in time in the past. T his tense also describes an
action/situation that continued till another action/situation occurred in the past.

What is Future Tense?

T he f uture tense describes a situation that doesn’t exist in the present moment or an action
that has not happened in the present yet and may happen in the f uture. T he 4 dif f erent
types of f uture tenses in English are given below.

1. Future Indefinite T ense: Also known as the Simple Future T ense, the Future
Indef inite T ense describes the actions that are going to happen in the near f uture or in
the coming time.

2. Future Continuous T ense: Also known as the f uture progressive tense, this tense is
used to describe an action that will continue or remain in progress in the f uture. It is
simply the f uture f orm of the present continuous tense.

3. Future Perfect T ense: T his tense is used to describe the actions that will be
completed by a certain time in the f uture.

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 4. Future Perfect Continuous T ense: Also known as the Future Perf ect Progressive
T ense, the f uture perf ect continuous tense is used to describe actions that will remain
progressing until a certain time in f uture.

Tenses Chart
T he 12 tenses rules with examples are given below.

T ense Chart with Rules and Examples

Present T ense Future T ense

Past T ense Rule
T ypes of T enses Rule and Rule and
and Example
Example Example

Rule: Subject +
Rule: Subject + V2 will/shall + V1 +
Rule: Subject +
+ Object Object
V1 + Object
Indefinite/Simple Example: I did my Example: I will do
Example: I do my
homework early this my homework
homework daily.
evening. while listening to
music later today.

Rule: Subject +
Rule: Subject + Rule: Subject +
will/shall be + V1
is/are/am + V1 + was/were + V1 +
+ ing + Object
ing + Object ing + Object
Continuous Example: I will be
Example: I am Example: I was
doing my
doing my doing my homework
homework at 7
homework. when you arrived.
pm.

Rule: Subject +
Rule: Subject +
Rule: Subject + had will/shall have +
has/have + V3 +
+ V3 + Object V3 + Object
Object
Perfect Example: I had done Example: I will
Example: I have
my homework have done my
done my
bef ore you arrived. homework by
homework.
tomorrow.

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 Rule: Subject +
Rule: Subject + had
Rule: Subject + will/shall have
been + V1 + ing +
has/have been + been + V1 + ing
Object
V1 + ing + Object + Object
Perfect Continuous Example: I had been
Example: I have Example: I will
doing my homework
been doing my have been doing
f or hours when I
homework. my homework f or
f inished.
3 days by Friday.

Where, V1 = f irst f orm of verb, V2 = second f orm of verb and V3 = third f orm of verb.

Note: You can make sentences in English by using the above tenses rules, you just need to
have prior knowledge of all three f orms of the commonly used verbs (V1, V2 and V3) and a
clear understanding of the subject and object in a sentence.

However, it must be noted that the above ones are the basic rules of tenses f or making
af f irmative sentences through each of the mentioned tense rules. T he rules slightly dif f er in
each of the 12 types of tenses when making af f irmative, negative and imperative sentences.
T he rules f or making af f irmative, negative and interrogative sentences in each of the above-
discussed tenses will be discussed in their specif ied articles. and their examples will be
discussed in the later part of this article.

T o download the T ense Chart PDF, click on the "Download Guide" button on the top right
corner of the page.

12 Tenses Examples
T he examples of the 12 tenses in English grammar are given below.

T enses Examples

T enses Present T ense Past T ense Future T ense

I go shopping every I went shopping I will go shopping

Indefinite
weekend. yesterday. tomorrow.

I was going I will be going

I am going shopping
Continuous shopping when you shopping at 3 pm
right now.
called. tomorrow.

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 I had gone shopping I will have gone
I have gone
Perfect bef ore the stores shopping by the
shopping already.
closed. time you arrive.

I will have been

I had been going going shopping f or
I have been going
Perfect shopping f or hours two hours by the
shopping all
Continuous when I f inally f ound time we meet.
af ternoon.
what I needed. (Check out Future
Plans)

Tenses Exercise
Fill in the blanks with the correct f orm of the verb in parentheses.

a. She _______ (study) every day.

b. T hey _______ (not like) spicy f ood.

c. I _______ (watch) a movie yesterday.

d. She _______ (study) f or her test last week.

e. I was _______ (watch) a movie when you called.

f . I will be _______ (work) at 3 PM tomorrow.

g. T hey will be _______ (play) basketball at the park at 5 PM.

h. I had _______ (f inish) my homework bef ore dinner.

i. T hey will have _______ (not play) basketball by the end of the week.

j. T hey will have been _______ (play) basketball f or two hours by the end of the game.

Answers:

a. studies

b. don't like

c. watched

d. studied

e. watching

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 f . working

g. playing

h. f inished

i. not played

j. playing

T his was all about the verb tenses, 12 the types of tenses with examples and f ormulas, and
the tenses rules chart with examples (tenses chart). If you wish to download the 12 tenses in
English PDF, you can do so by clicking on the "Download Guide" button on the top right
corner of the page.

Also Read:

Simple Present T ense Present Continuous T ense

Present Perf ect T ense Present Perf ect Continuous T ense

Want to learn more? If you wish to ace your study-abroad dream by improving your English
communication and comprehension skills then, you can join Shiksha’s FREE IELT S Classes;
wherein our experienced expert trainers will prepare you f or each section of your upcoming
IELT S exam f or f ree!

What is Tense FAQs

Q. What is the use of tenses in different English language proficiency exams?
A. T enses are important f or scoring well in dif f erent English exams like IELT S, T OEFL, PT E
and Duolingo f or the f ollowing reasons:

Correct understanding of tenses shows your grammar accuracy (subject-verb

agreement, verb conjugation).

T he ability to inter-convert sentences easily f rom one tense f orm to another

demonstrates your ability to express actions in dif f erent timef rames (past, present,
f uture).

T enses help you understand the “reading passages” and “listening tasks” which are
present in most of the English exams.

With your good knowledge of tenses, you can even eliminate the wrong choices in
multiple-choice questions and thus get to a correct choice in the exam.

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Q. What is tense definition?
A. In grammar, tenses show the time of an action or state of being expressed by a verb.
T enses indicate when something happened (past), is happening (present), or will happen
(f uture).

Q. What is the present perfect tense?

A. T he Present Perf ect T ense is used to describe an action that has started in the past and
continues up to the present time. T his tense f ocuses on the completion of the action, not
the exact time of the start of the action in the past.

Q. Which are the 12 tenses in English grammar?

A. T he 12 tenses in grammar, f ormed by combining f our aspects (Simple, Continuous,
Perf ect, and Perf ect Continuous) with three time periods (Present, Past, and Future) help to
express the status and degree of completeness of an action or the existence of a situation.
Each tense serves a specif ic purpose in describing when an action occurs and whether it's
ongoing, completed, or anticipated.

All the tenses in English are given in the table below.

T enses in English

Present Indef inite T ense Past Indef inite T ense Future Indef inite T ense

Present Continuous T ense Past Continuous T ense Future Continuous T ense

Present Perf ect T ense Past Perf ect T ense Future Perf ect T ense

Present Perf ect Continuous Past Perf ect Continuous Future Perf ect Continuous
T ense T ense T ense

Q. What are V1, V2 and V3 in tenses?

A. V1, V2, and V3 ref er to the dif f erent f orms of verbs used in English tenses. Here is a brief
explanation of each:

1. V1 (First form of the verb):

Used in present and past simple tense and the present, past and f uture f orms of
the continuous and perf ect continuous tenses.

Examples of the f irst f orm of verb: play, sing, eat, go

2. V2 (Second form of the verb):

Used exclusively in simple past tense

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 Examples of the second f orm of the verb: played, sang, ate, went

3. V3 (T hird form of the verb):

Also known as the past participle

Used in perf ect tenses and passive voice

Examples of the third f orm of the verb: played, sung, eaten, gone

Examples of V1, V2 and V3 verbs in sentences:

1. V1: I play tennis every Sunday. (Simple Present T ense)

2. V2: I played tennis last Sunday. (Simple Past T ense)

3. V3: I have played tennis f or ten years. (Present Perf ect T ense)

Understanding these verb f orms is crucial f or constructing correct sentences in various

tenses and voices in English.

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