What is a tense?
A verb is a word that shows an action or a state: run, eat, is, become.
A tense is the change in the verb that shows time. We say I walk (now) and I walked (before). The word changed, so the time changed.
English has no special verb form for the future. We use a helper word, will, in front of the plain verb.
Three times: past, present, future
- Past: already happened. Raju played.
- Present: happens now or happens again and again. Raju plays every day.
- Future: has not happened yet. Raju will play.
Clue words help: yesterday, last week, ago (past); now, every day, usually (present); tomorrow, next year, soon (future).
Aspect: simple, continuous, perfect
Aspect answers a second question: how is the action seen?
- Simple: just a fact or a habit. She sings.
- Continuous (progressive): the action is in progress. be + verb-ing. She is singing.
- Perfect: the action is complete, and it links to another time. have + V3. She has sung.
Completed vs ongoing: I was reading when you called (ongoing, not finished) and I read the book (completed). Many languages keep this split too. French, for example, uses the imparfait for ongoing or repeated past and the passé composé for a finished event.
The tense table
| Simple | Continuous | Perfect | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Past | played | was / were playing | had played |
| Present | play / plays | am / is / are playing | have / has played |
| Future | will play | will be playing | will have played |
There is also a fourth aspect, perfect continuous: has been playing (started before, still going on).
Mood: fact, order or wish
Mood shows the speaker's attitude, not the time.
- Indicative: a fact. He is at home.
- Imperative: an order or request. Come here.
- Subjunctive: a wish, doubt or something unreal. I wish I were taller. It is important that he be on time.
Past conditional talks about something that did NOT happen: If I had studied, I would have passed. Here "had studied" is the unreal past and "would have passed" is the result that never came. Other languages, such as French and Spanish, use special subjunctive endings more often than English does.
Key formulas and definitions
- Simple present: V1 (+s/es for he, she, it)
- Simple past: V2 (played) Simple future: will + V1
- Continuous: be + V-ing (am/is/are, was/were, will be)
- Perfect: have + V3 (have/has, had, will have)
- Past conditional: If + had + V3, would have + V3
Worked examples
1. Name the tense: "The train left at 6."
Left is the past form of leave, and nothing says it is still going on. It is the simple past.
2. Name the tense: "Mina is drawing a peacock."
is + drawing (verb-ing) shows an action in progress now. It is the present continuous.
3. Rewrite in the future: "We eat mangoes."
Put will before the plain verb: "We will eat mangoes."
4. Choose the correct form: "I ___ my homework, so I can play now." (finish)
The work is complete and the result matters now, so use the present perfect: "I have finished my homework."
5. What is the difference between "I read" (yesterday) and "I was reading" (when you called)?
"I read" is a finished action. "I was reading" was in progress at one moment in the past, so it was not yet complete then.
6. Complete the unreal past: "If she ___ earlier, she ___ the bus." (leave, catch)
Past conditional: "If she had left earlier, she would have caught the bus."
Common mistakes
- Using will after if: say "If it rains, we stay in", not "If it will rain".
- Forgetting -s with he, she, it in the simple present: "She plays", not "She play".
- Mixing V2 and V3 after have: "I have eaten", not "I have ate".
- Using the continuous for states: say "I know the answer", not "I am knowing".