Tenses in English

1. SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE

The simple present tense is used to describe habits, unchanging situations, general truths, and fixed arrangements. The simple present tense is simple to form.

EX:
• I play the game
• You eat the food
• She reads the book

THE SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE IS USED:
 To express habits, general truths, repeated actions or unchanging situations, emotions and wishes:
• I smoke (habit)
• I work in London (unchanging situation)
• London is a large city (general truth)
 To give instructions or directions:
You walk for two hundred meters, then you turn left.
 To express fixed arrangements, present or future:
Your exam starts at 09.00
 To express future time, after some conjunctions: after, when, before, as soon as, until:
He'll give it to you when you come next Saturday.

Be careful! The simple present is not used to express action that is happening now.



2. SIMPLE PAST TENSE

The simple past tense is used to talk about a completed action in a time before now. The simple past is the basic form of past tense in English. The time of the action can be in the recent past or the distant past and action duration is not important.

EX:
• I went to Jogja.
• You skipped the class.
• He took the exam
. You always use the simple past when you say when something happened, so it is associated with certain past time expressions, such as:
 Frequency: often, sometimes, always
I sometimes walked home at lunchtime.
I often brought my lunch to school.
 A definite point in time: last week, when i was a child, yesterday, six weeks ago
we saw a good film last week.
Yesterday, i arrived in geneva.
She finished her work at seven o'clock
i went to the theatre last night
 An indefinite point in time: the other day, ages ago, a long time ago
people lived in caves a long time ago.
She played the piano when she was a child.
Note: the word ago is a useful way of expressing the distance into the past. It is placed after the period of time: a week ago, three years ago, a minute ago.


3. PRESENT CONTINUOUS TENSE

EX:
• They are watching football
• We are walking to the beach
• She is drinking milk

THE PRESENT CONTINUOUS IS USED:
 To describe an action that is going on at this moment: You are using the Internet. You are studying English grammar.
 To describe an action that is going on during this period of time or a trend: Are you still working for the same company? More and more people are becoming vegetarian.
 To describe an action or event in the future, which has already been planned or prepared: We're going on holiday tomorrow. I'm meeting my boyfriend tonight. Are they visiting you next winter?
 To describe a temporary event or situation: He usually plays the drums, but he's playing bass guitar tonight. The weather forecast was good, but it's raining at the moment.
 With "always, forever, constantly", to describe and emphasise a continuing series of repeated actions: Harry and Sally are always arguing! You're constantly complaining about your mother-in-law!

4. PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE

The past continuous describes actions or events in a time before now, which began in the past and is still going on at the time of speaking. In other words, it expresses an unfinished or incomplete action in the past.

EX:
• They were swiming
• I was having a nightmare.
It is used:
 Often, to describe the background in a story written in the past tense, e.g. "The sun was shining and the birds were singing as the elephant came out of the jungle. The other animals were relaxing in the shade of the trees, but the elephant moved very quickly. She was looking for her baby, and she didn't notice the hunter who was watching her through his binoculars. When the shot rang out, she was runningtowards the river..."
 To describe an unfinished action that was interrupted by another event or action, e.g. "I was having a beautiful dream when the alarm clock rang."
 To express a change of mind: e.g. "I was going to spend the day at the beach but i've decided to get my homework done instead."
 With 'wonder', to make a very polite request: e.g. "I was wondering if you could baby-sit for me tonight."


5. PRESENT PERFECT
The present perfect is used to indicate a link between the present and the past. The time of the action is before now but not specified, and we are often more interested in the result than in the action itself.

EX:
• I have taken out the trash
• We have lived here since 2009
THE PRESENT PERFECT IS USED TO DESCRIBE
 An action or situation that started in the past and continues in the present. I have lived in Bristol since 1984 (= and I still do.)
 An action performed during a period that has not yet finished. She has been to the cinema twice this week (= and the week isn't over yet.)
 A repeated action in an unspecified period between the past and now. We have visited Portugal several times.
 An action that was completed in the very recent past, expressed by 'just'. I have just finished my work.
 An action when the time is not important. He has read 'War and Peace'. (= the result of his reading is important)



6. PRESENT PERFECT CONTINOUOS TENSE
The present perfect continuous is used to refer to an unspecified time between 'before now' and 'now'. The speaker is thinking about something that started but perhaps did not finish in that period of time. He/she is interested in the process as well as the result, and this process may still be going on, or may have just finished.

EX:
• She has been running.
• I have been exercising.

ACTIONS THAT STARTED IN THE PAST AND CONTINUE IN THE PRESENT
• She has been waiting for you all day (= and she's still waiting now).
• I've been working on this report since eight o'clock this morning (= and I still haven't finished it).
• They have been travelling since last October (= and they're not home yet).
ACTIONS THAT HAVE JUST FINISHED, BUT WE ARE INTERESTED IN THE RESULTS
• She has been cooking since last night (= and the food on the table looks delicious).
• It's been raining (= and the streets are still wet).
• Someone's been eating my chips (= half of them have gone).


7. PAST PERFECT TENSE

The past perfect refers to a time earlier than before now. It is used to make it clear that one event happened before another in the past. It does not matter which event is mentioned first - the tense makes it clear which one happened first.

EX:
• YOU HAD GONE.
• I HAD DECIDED.


8. PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS

The past perfect continuous corresponds to the present perfect continuous, but with reference to a time earlier than 'before now'. As with the present perfect continuous, we are more interested in the process.

EX:
• We had been waiting.
• I had been trying.
• You had been leaving.

This form is also used in reported speech. It is the equivalent of the past continuous and the present perfect continuous in direct speech:
 Jane said, "I have been gardening all afternoon." = Jane said she had been gardening all afternoon.
 When the police questioned him, John said, "I was working late in the office that night." = When the police questioned him, John told them he had been working late in the office that night.



9. FUTURE TENSE

The simple future refers to a time later than now, and expresses facts or certainty. In this case there is no 'attitude'.

EX:
• I will graduate this year.
• We will be success together.