The 12 Basic English Tenses | Rules

When reading anything, how do we know if the events are happening in the past, present, or the possible future? In grammar, we indicate time by modifying the verbs accordingly. Let us see how this is done in Introduction to Tenses.

Tenses can be divided into three parts:

Present Tense
Past Tense
Future Tense

Each of the three above mentioned tenses can further be divided into subparts. These subparts include:

Simple
Continuous
Perfect
Perfect Continuous

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Present Tense

Present Tense can be defined as an expression for an activity that is currently in action or is habitually performed. It is used for a state that generally exists or is currently ongoing.

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Simple Present

Simple Present Tense
Singular	Plural
Rule: Subject + V1 + s/es + Object	Rule: Subject + V1 + Object
Example: The girl sings a song Here the subject is Girl (singular) and “s” has been added to the verb (sing), followed by the object (song)	Example: The girls sing a song Here the subject is Girls (plural) and no changes have been made with V1 (first form of verb) and the object

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Present Continuous

Present Continuous Tense

Rule: Subject + is/am/are + V1 + ing + object

Example: She is eating food

Here the subject is She, followed by “is”

The first form of verb (V1) here is “eat” and “ing” has been added to it, followed by the object “food”

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Present Perfect

Present Perfect Tense
Singular	Plural
Rule: Subject + has + V3 + Object	Rule: Subject + have + V3 + Object
Example: He has cleaned the utensils Here, “He” is the subject + has “Cleaned” is the third form of verb and utensils is the object	Example: They have cleaned the utensils Here, “They” is the subject + have “Cleaned” is the third form of verb and utensils is the object

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Present Perfect Continuous Tense

Present Perfect Continuous Tense
Singular	Plural
Rule: Subject + has been + V1 + ing + Object	Rule: Subject + have been + V1 + ing + Object
Example: She has been practising since morning Here “She” is the subject + has been, followed by “ing” added to the the first form of verb “practise” and then the object	Example: They have been practising since morning Here “They” is the subject + have been, followed by “ing” added to the the first form of verb “practise” and then the object

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Given below are a few examples that may help you differentiate between the four sub parts of present tense easily:

Raj speaks German (Simple Present for Singular)
They speak German (Simple Present for Plural)
She is speaking German (Present Continuous)
He has learnt German (Present Perfect for Singular)
They have learnt German (Present Perfect for Plural)
She has been learning German (Present Perfect Continuous for Singular)
They have been learning German (Present Perfect Continuous for Plural)

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Past Tense

Any event or action that took place in the past can be referred to as the past tense. Below we have discussed in detail the four sub parts of past tense in English grammar.

Simple Past

Simple Past Tense

Rule: Subject + V2 + Object

For example: He ran away

Here, the subject is “He” and “ran” is the second form of verb (V2) of “run” followed by the object

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Past Continuous

Past Continuous Tense
Singular	Plural
Rule: Subject + was + V1 + ing + Object	Rule: Subject + were + V1 + ing + Object
For example: She was going shopping Here, the subject is “She” + was It is followed by the first form of verb (V1) “go” + “ing” and then the object “shopping”	For example: They were going shopping Here, the subject is “They” + were Followed by the first form of verb (V1) “go” + “ing” and then the object “shopping”

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Past Perfect

Past Perfect Tense

Rule: Subject + had + V3 + Object

For example: Sumit had left the job

Here the subject is “Sumit” + had

Then “left”, which is the third form of verb (V3) “leave” is given followed by the object

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Past Perfect Continuous

Past Perfect Continuous Tense

Rule: Subject + had been + V1 + ing + Object

For example: They had been preparing for their performance for two months

Here the subject is “They” + had been

It is followed by “preparing”, which is the first form of verb (V1) of “prepare” and then the object

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Future Tense

The actions that are to take place in the future fall in the category of the future tense. We have discussed the subparts of the future tense in detail further below in the article, followed by the examples for the same.

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Simple Future

Simple Future Tense

Rule: Subject + will/shall + V1 + Object

For Example: I will visit my Uncle tomorrow

Here, the subject is “I” + will

It is followed by the first form of verb (V1) “visit” and then the object

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Future Continuous

Future Continuous Tense

Rule: Subject + will be/shall be + V1 + ing + Object

For Example: I shall be going to the market tomorrow

In this example, the subject is “I” + shall be

Following it is the first form of verb (V1) “go”+ing and then the object

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Future Perfect

Future Perfect Tense

Rule: Subject + will have/shall have + V3 + Object

For Example: I shall have prepared the notes by tomorrow morning

In this example, the subject is “I” + shall have

It is followed by “prepared”, which is the third form of Verb (V3) “prepare” and then the object

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Future Perfect Continuous

Future Perfect Continuous Tense

Rule: Subject + will have been + V1 + ing + Object

For Example: She will have been working here since 2015

Here, the subject is “She” + will have been

It is followed by the first form of verb “work”+ing and then the object

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Given below are a few examples that may help you clarify the future tense concept clearly:

She will go to school tomorrow (Simple Future)
She will be going to school tomorrow (Future Continuous)
She will have gone to school tomorrow (Future Perfect)
She will have been going to school tomorrow (Future Perfect Continuous)

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