Past tenses

The past tenses use verbs to say that something happened in the past,
meaning any time before this moment right now. There are four variations
of past tenses:
• Simple past: describes events that began and ended in the past.
 • Past continuous: describes events that began in the past, continued
for a length of time, and ended in the past.
• Past perfect: describes a past event that occurred before another past
event.
• Past perfect continuous: describes an event that began in the past,
continued for a length of time, and was in progress when another
past event happened.

Simple past
The simple past tense describes events that have already happened and
are completely finished. Most verbs can be made past tense by adding -
ed, –d, or sometimes the variant –t at the end of a present tense verb, as
in liked and watched.
However, many irregular verbs have unique past tense forms. For
example, go becomes went, and think becomes thought.
Simple past is usually used to write about historical events, like so:

• Galileo observed the stars.

In this example, the verb tense indicates that the astronomer Galileo
completely finished the act of observing the stars at some point in the past.

Past continuous
The past continuous tense describes an ongoing activity that occurred in
the past. It is formed by combining the past tense verb to be (which must
be correctly conjugated to agree with the subject) and the present
participle of a verb (ending in –ing):

• The planet was moving along an elliptical orbit.

In this example, the verb tense says that the planet began moving
sometime in the past and continued to do so for a period of time (in the
past).

Past perfect
The perfect tenses involve more complex time relationships. They build
upon simple tenses by combining a verb with has, have, or had.
The past perfect tense, also called the pluperfect tense, describes a past
event in relation to another event that occurs closer to the present. It is
formed by combining had and the past participle of the verb.

• The girl bought the telescope her teacher had recommended to her.
The girl bought (simple past) what the teacher had recommended (past
perfect tense). One action occurred (had recommended) before the other
(bought).

Past perfect continuous

The past perfect continuous tense describes an ongoing action that—like
the past perfect—was performed in relation to another event that occurs
closer to the present. It is formed by combining had been with the present
participle of the verb.

• He had been studying for his astronomy final when the doorbell rang.

The above example uses the verb tense to indicate that he was studying
for a length of time before another event (the doorbell ringing) interrupted
or stopped his act of studying.

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Present tenses
Generally speaking, we use the present tenses to say that an event is
happening right now in the present time. Like the past tenses, there are
four variations of present tenses:

• Simple present: Describes an event as happening in the present.

• Present continuous: Describes an event as being in progress in the
present and likely continuing into the future.
• Present perfect: Describes an event that occurred in the past but has
some connection to the present.
• Present perfect continuous: Describes an event that began in the past
but still continues to happen in the present.

Simple present
The simple present tense describes events happening now. It’s also useful
for describing a direct action that’s not exclusive to the past or future.
Sentences in present tense often have the most straightforward structure
because they use the root form of the verb or a conjugation of the
verb to be. The root form of the verb is the form you will find if you look up a
verb in our dictionary.
We often use the simple present tense to state facts:

• Cats eat mice and birds.

In this sentence, the simple present tense is used to state the fact that cats
regularly eat mice and birds.
When you use the verb be in the simple present tense, it must agree with
the subject of the sentence. For example:

• I am tall.
• You are my best friend.
• She is my older sister.
• We are hungry.
• They are late for work.

Present continuous
The present continuous tense describes an ongoing activity that is
happening now, in the present. It is formed by combining the verb to
be and the present participle of the verb (ending in –ing):

• The baby is laughing at Shelly’s monkey puppet.

In this example, the verb tense is used to state that the baby is currently in
the process of laughing at Shelly’s silly puppet and will likely continue to do
so for a while yet.

Present perfect
The present perfect tense describes a past event that’s still happening in
the present. It is formed by combining the word has or have (depending on
the subject) with the past participle of the verb.
Let’s look at this sentence:

• The baby has played this game before.

In this example, the verb tense states that a past event is related to the
present. In this case, the sentence is saying that the baby is currently
playing a game that they have also played at another time in the past.

Present perfect continuous

The present perfect continuous tense describes an ongoing action that
began in the past and is still occurring in the present. It is formed by
combining the phrase has been or have been (depending on the subject)
with the present participle of the verb.

• Shelly has been babysitting for years.

In this example, the verb tense is used to say that Shelly started babysitting
children in the past, continued to babysit for years, and still continues to
babysit now.

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Future tenses
We use the future tenses to say that an event will happen sometime in the
future. Like past and present tenses, there are four variations of future
tenses:

• Simple future: Describes an event that will begin and end in the future.
• Future continuous: Describes an event that will begin in the future and
continue for a length of time.
• Future perfect: Describes a future event that will happen before another
future event.
• Future perfect continuous: Describes a future event that will begin,
continue for a length of time, and still be in progress when another
future event occurs.

Simple future
The simple future tense describes events that haven’t happened yet. It’s
useful for describing an intended action or a prediction. It’s typically formed
by combining the word will or, less commonly, shall with a root verb.
For example:

• Molly will finish her chores when she has time.

• We shall travel to France next summer.

The word will is an auxiliary verb, and finish is the root verb. Together, they
explain that Molly intends to do her chores at a later point in time.

Future continuous tense

The future continuous tense describes an activity that will extend over a
period of time and will happen in the future. It is formed by combining the
phrase will be and the present participle of the verb (ending in –ing):

• I will be working all afternoon, so I can’t help Olivia with her report.

In this sentence, the verb tense is used to say that I plan to work for a
period of time in the future.
Future perfect tense
The future perfect tense describes an upcoming action in relation to
another event farther in the future. It is formed by combining the phrase will
have and the past participle of the verb:

• By tomorrow afternoon, Olivia will have finished her report.

This sentence uses the future perfect tense to say that Olivia’s report is
incomplete right now, but it will be finished before tomorrow afternoon.

Future perfect continuous

The future perfect continuous tense describes an action that will extend
over a period of time and will be performed in relation to another future
event. It is formed by combining the phrase will have been with the present
participle of the verb (ending in –ing):

• When this show ends, Molly will have been watching TV for three hours.

This sentence uses the future perfect continuous tense to say that, in the
future, Molly will be watching TV for three hours when this show ends
(which will also happen in the future). By using the future perfect
continuous tense, this sentence also implies that Molly may still continue to
watch TV even after the show is over.

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Perfect grammar has never been easier
To avoid confusion, you should use one consistent tense whenever
possible.

Incorrect: The crowd claps and laughed at the comedian.

Correct: The crowd clapped and laughed at the comedian.

The incorrect example contains both a present tense verb (claps) and a
past tense verb (laughed). This can be confusing. If both actions are past
or present, both verbs should have the same tense.