English Tenses Through Images
Everything you need to know about using tense in English!
Present Continuous
The sun is setting over the sea.
Present Continuous Tense
• actions that are happening at the moment
• actions that are programmed in the future
How to Form the Present Continuous
I am drinking.I am…You are…He/She/It is…We are…They are…
Present SimplePresent Simple Tense
• Facts and generalization • Habits and routines • Permanent situations • State verbs (e.g. be, have, think, know) • Fixed/ official arrangement that we can't change
How to Form the Present Simple
I drinkI…You…He/She/It…We…They…
He watches too much television.
Present Perfect ContinuousPresent Perfect Continuous Tense
• actions that started in the past and continue in the present
• actions which began in the past and have recently stopped
How to Form the Present Perfect Continuous
I have been drinkingI have been…You have been…He/She/It has been…We have been…They have been….
The mother and her daughter have been walking along the river.
Present PerfectPresent Perfect Tense
• actions that happened at an indefinite time
• actions that began in the past and continue in the present
How to Form the Present Perfect
I have drunk.I have…You have…He/She/It has…We have…They have…
I have won the race.
Past ContinuousPast Continuous Tense
• past actions in progress.
How to Form the Past Continuous
I was drinkingI was…You were…He/She/It was…We were…They were…
He was throwing balls in the air.
Past Simple
Past Simple Tense
• actions that happened at a specific time in the past
How to Form the Past Simple
I drank.I…You…He/She/It…We…They…
She rang the doorbell.
Past Perfect
Past Perfect Tense
• one action in the past occurred before another action in the past
How to Form the Past Perfect
I had drunk.I had…You had…He/She/It had…We had…They had…
The goalkeeper had made the wrong decision.
Past Perfect ContinuousPast Perfect Continuous Tense
• one action in the past occurred before another action in the past
• focus on the duration of an activity rather than the result of it
How to Form the Past Perfect Continuous
I had been drinking.I had been…You had been…He/She/It had been…We had been…They had been…
He had been working all night.
Future SimpleFuture Simple Tense
• Promises
• Unplanned actions
• Predictions based on experience or intuition
How to Form the Future Simple
I will drink.I will…She will…He/She/It will…We will…They will…
You will meet a tall, dark stranger.
Future ContinuousFuture Continuous Tense
• will be in the middle of doing something in a specified time in the future.
How to Form the Future Continuous
I will be drinking.I will be…You will be…He/She/It will be…We will be…They will be… What will you be having for dessert?
Future Perfect
Future Perfect Tense
• an action that will be finished before some point in the future
How to Form the Future Perfect
I will have drunk.I will have…You will have…He/She/It will have…We will have…They will have… He will have solved the case soon.
Future Perfect Continuous
Future Perfect Continuous
• actions that will be happening at a definite moment in the future
How to Form the Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been drinking.I will have been…You will have been…He/She/It will have been…We will have been…They will have been… They will have been running all day.