12 Tense Chart, Formulas and Examples (Download PDF)

The English language is filled with verb tenses that can be confusing for both native and non-native speakers. This tense chart includes all of the English verb tenses, their formulas and examples. It will help you to better understand how to use each tense correctly in your writing. With this guide, you’ll be able to speak and write with confidence about any topic.

What are Tenses in English Grammar?

Are you interested in mastering the English language but feel overwhelmed by all of its complex parts? Grammar, unfortunately, is one of them. English grammar can seem complicated to learn, especially if you’re coming from a different language. But fear not! If you want to become an expert at expressing yourself in English, you must understand how syntax works – including learning tenses.

Tenses give your words flexibility and help clarify when something happens or happened relative to the present moment. In this blog post, we’ll focus on defining tenses in English grammar and exploring their particular functions so that ESL students like you will be able to have complete control over your sentence structure!

12 Tense Chart

Tense	Formula	Example
Present Simple	Subject+Verb (v1)+s/es+Obj	He goes to Dubai by air.
Present Continuous	Subject+is/am/are+Verb(+ing)+Obj	He is going to Dubai by air.
Present Perfect	Subject+Has/have+Verb (v3)+Obj	He has gone to Dubai by air.
Present Perfect Continuous	Subject+Has/have+been+Verb(+ing)+Obj	He has been going to Dubai by air.
Past Simple	Subject+Verb (v2)+Obj	He went to Dubai by air.
Past Continuous	Subject+was/were+Verb(+ing)+Obj	He was going to Dubai by air.
Past Perfect	Subject+had+Verb (v3)+Obj	He had gone to Dubai by air.
Past Perfect Continuous	Subject+had+been+Verb(+ing)+Obj	He had been going to Dubai by air.
Future Simple	Subject+will/shall+verb (v1)+Obj	He will go to Dubai by air.
Future Continuous	Subject+will be/shall be+verb(+ing)+Obj	He will be going to Dubai by air.
Future Perfect	Subject+will have+verb(v3)+Obj	He will have gone to Dubai by air
Future Perfect Continuous	Subject+will have been+verb(+ing)+Obj	He will have been going to Dubai by air for two years.

Tense Formula and Examples

To define tenses, let’s start by looking at the formula for creating them:

Tense = time + verb form.

For example, if you wanted to say “I was eating breakfast,” the past simple tense formula would be used. The time is ‘past,’ and the verb form is ‘was eating.’

The most common tenses in English grammar are present simple, past simple, future simple, present continuous, past continuous, future continuous, present perfect, past perfect, and future perfect. Each verb tense has its own unique characteristics that can be used to convey different meanings.

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1- Present Simple Tense:

Used to describe habits, general truths, or events that take place regularly in the present.

• Formula: Subject+Verb1+Object
• +VE: He cooks food.
• -VE: He does not cook food.
• Question?: Does he cook food?
• -Ve Question: Does not he cook food?

Examples of Present Indefinite Tense:

1. They play hockey.
2. We go to school.
3. She teaches us.
4. I write a letter.
5. He does not come here.

2- Present Continuous Tense:

Used to describe ongoing actions or events taking place at the current moment.

Formula: Subject+is/am/are+Verb1+ing+Object

+VE: He is writing a book.

-VE: He is not writing a book.

Question?: Is he writing a book?

-Ve Question: Is not he writing a book?

Examples of Present Continuous Tense:

1. I am playing football now.
2. They are making a noise.
3. What are you doing?
4. He is not swimming.
5. She is baking a cake.

3- Past Simple Tense:

Used to describe completed actions that happened in the past.

Formula: Subject+Verb2+Object

+VE: He wrote a book.

-VE: He did not write a book.

Question?: Did he write a book?

-Ve Question: Did not he write a book?

Examples of Past Simple Tense:

1. I played football yesterday.
2. They made a noise last night.
3. What did you do?
4. He did not swim.
5. Did he play hockey.

4- Present Perfect Tense:

Used to express a connection between the past and present.

Formula: Subject+has/have+Verb3+Object

+VE: He has written a book.

-VE: He has not written a book.

Question?: Has he written a book?

-Ve Question: Has not he written a book?

Examples of Present Perfect Tense:

1. I have played football.
2. They have made a noise.
3. Have you done your work?
4. He has not gone there.
5. She has cooked food.

5- Past Continuous Tense:

Used to describe an action that was in progress at a specific point in the past.

Formula: Subject+was/were+Verb1+ing+Object

+VE: He was writing a book.

-VE: He was not writing a book.

Question?: Was he writing a book?

-Ve Question: Was not he writing a book?

Examples of Past Continuous Tense:

1. I was playing football.
2. They were making a noise.
3. What were you doing?
4. He was not going there.
5. She was cooking food.

6- Future Simple Tense:

Used to describe events that will happen in the future.

Formula: Subject+will/shall+Verb1+Object

+VE: He will write a book.

-VE: He will not write a book.

Question?: Will he write a book?

-Ve Question: Will not he write a book?

Examples of Future Simple Tense:

1. I will play football.
2. They will make a noise.
3. What will you do?
4. He will not go there.
5. She will cook food.

7- Future Continuous Tense:

Used to express an action that will be in progress at some point in the future.

Formula: Subject+will/shall+be+Verb1+ing+Object

+VE: He will be writing a book.

-VE: He will not be writing a book.

Question?: Will he be writing a book?

-Ve Question: Will not he be writing a book?

Examples of Future Continuous Tense:

1. I will be playing football.
2. They will be making a noise.
3. What will you be doing?
4. He will not be going there.
5. She will be cooking food.

8- Future Perfect Tense:

Used to describe an event that will happen before another event in the future.

Formula: Subject+will/shall+have+Verb3+Object

+VE: He will have written a book.

-VE: He will not have written a book.

Question?: Will he have written a book?

-Ve Question: Will not he have written a book?

Examples of Future Perfect Tense:

1. I will have played football.
2. They will have made a noise.
3. What will you have done?
4. He will not have gone there.
5. She will have cooked food.

9- Past Perfect Tense:

Used to express an action that happened in the past before another action.

Formula: Subject+had+Verb3+Object

+VE: He had written a book.

-VE: He had not written a book.

Question?: Had he written a book?

-Ve Question: Had not he written a book?

Examples of Past Perfect Tense:

1. I had played football.
2. They had made a noise.
3. What had you done?
4. He had not gone there.
5. She had cooked food.

10- Present Perfect Continuous Tense:

Used to describe an action that started in the past and is still continuing.

Formula: Subject+has/have+been+Verb1+ing+Object

+VE: He has been writing a book.

-VE: He has not been writing a book.

Question?: Has he been writing a book?

-Ve Question: Has not he been writing a book?

Examples of Present Perfect Continuous Tense:

1. I have been playing football.
2. They have been making a noise.
3. What have you been doing?
4. He has not been going there.
5. She has been cooking food.

11- Past Perfect Continuous Tense:

Used to describe an action that took place before a specific point in the past and continued for some time after.

Formula: Subject+had+been+Verb1+ing+Object

+VE: He had been writing a book.

-VE: He had not been writing a book.

Question?: Had he been writing a book?

-Ve Question: Had not he been writing a book?

Examples of Past Perfect Continuous Tense:

1. I had been playing football.
2. They had been making a noise.
3. What had you been doing?
4. He had not been going there.
5. She had been cooking food.

12- Future Perfect Continuous Tense:

Used to describe an action that will continue until a certain point in the future.

Formula: Subject+will/shall+have+been+Verb1+ing+Object

+VE: He will have been writing a book.

-VE: He will not have been writing a book.

Question?: Will he have been writing a book?

-Ve Question: Will not he have been writing a book?

Examples of Future Perfect Continuous Tense:

1. I will have been playing football.
2. They will have been making a noise.
3. What will you have been doing?
4. He will not have been going there.
5. She will have been cooking food.

Examples of All English Tenses

Below are some examples of the most common tenses in English:

1. Present Simple: I go to the store every day.
2. Present Continuous: I am going to the store now.
3. Present Perfect: I have gone to the store today.
4. Past Simple: I went to the store yesterday.
5. Past Continuous: I was going to the store when you called me.
6. Past Perfect: I had gone to the store before you arrived.
7. Future Simple: I will go to the store tomorrow.
8. Future Continuous: I will be going to the store at 3 o’clock.
9. Future Perfect: I will have gone to the store by 4 o’clock.
10. Present Perfect Continuous: I have been going to the store for the last two weeks.
11. Past Perfect Continuous: I had been going to the store since Monday.
12. Future Perfect Continuous: I will have been going to the store for three days by Friday.
13. Conditional Present Simple: If I go to the store, I will buy some milk.
14. Conditional Present Continuous: If I am going to the store, I will buy some chocolate.
15. Conditional Past Simple: If I went to the store, I would buy some ice cream.
16. Conditional Past Continuous: If I was going to the store, I would buy some bread.
17. Conditional Future Simple: If I will go to the store, I will get some cheese.
18. Conditional Future Continuous: If I will be going to the store, I will pick up some eggs.
19. Conditional Present Perfect: If I had gone to the store, I would have bought some fruit.
20. Conditional Past Perfect: If I had been going to the store, I would have got some juice.
21. Conditional Future Perfect: If I will have gone to the store, I will have purchased some cereal.
22. Imperative Present Simple: Go to the store!
23. Imperative Present Continuous: Be going to the store!
24. Imperative Past Simple: Went to the store!
25. Imperative Past Continuous: Was going to the store!
26. Imperative Future Simple: Will go to the store!
27. Imperative Future Continuous: Will be going to the store!
28. Imperative Present Perfect: Have gone to the store!
29. Imperative Past Perfect: Had gone to the store!
30. Imperative Future Perfect: Will have gone to the store!
31. Infinitive Present Simple: To go to the store.
32. Infinitive Present Continuous: To be going to the store.
33. Infinitive Past Simple: To have gone to the store.
34. Infinitive Past Continuous: To have been going to the store.
35. Infinitive Future Simple: To will go to the store.
36. Infinitive Future Continuous: To will be going to the store.
37. Infinitive Present Perfect: To have gone to the store.
38. Infinitive Past Perfect: To had gone to the store.
39. Infinitive Future Perfect: To will have gone to the store.
40. Gerund Present Simple: Going to the store.
41. Gerund Present Continuous: Being going to the store.
42. Gerund Past Simple: Having gone to the store.
43. Gerund Past Continuous: Having been going to the store.
44. Gerund Future Simple: Willing to go to the store.
45. Gerund Future Continuous: Willing to be going to the store.
46. Gerund Present Perfect: Having gone to the store.
47. Gerund Past Perfect: Having been gone to the store.
48. Gerund Future Perfect: Will have gone to the store.
49. Participle Present Simple: Going to the store.
50. Participle Present Continuous: Going to the store.
51. Participle Past Simple: Gone to the store.
52. Participle Past Continuous: Going to the store.
53. Participle Future Simple: Going to the store.
54. Participle Future Continuous: Going to the store.
55. Participle Present Perfect: Gone to the store.
56. Participle Past Perfect: Gone to the store.
57. Participle Future Perfect: Going to the store.

12 Tenses (Infographics)