Topic 2
English Tenses
What Is Tense?
Tenses in English grammar are a verb-based concept used to indicate the time of an action. It refers to time by showing when an action happened - whether it occurred in the past, present, or future.
Types Of Tenses
There are three main types of tenses in English and each major category is further divided into four subcategories. Here is everything you need to know:
1. Present Tense
The present tense is used to describe actions in the present or actions that are habitually performed. They are divided into four subcategories which are:
Simple Present Tense
The simple present tense uses a verb to tell about habits, general facts, and unchanging situations.
Example:She drinks. (habit)
She lives in Australia. (unchanging situation)
The red kangaroo is Australia’s national animal. (general fact)
Present Continuous Tense
The present continuous tense talks about an action that is happening exactly now and an action that is not happening at the moment but will happen around now
Example:
I am eating my dinner. (happening now)
Sia is looking for a house. (happening around now)
Present Perfect Tense
Present perfect tense talks about experiences from the past, a change and a continuing situation.
Example:
She has lived in the UK. (experience)
I have bought a new television. (change)
She has worked here for five years. (continuing situation)
Present Perfect Continuous Tense
Use present perfect continuous tense to talk about past actions that recently stopped and even past actions still continuing.
Example:
The grass is wet. Has it been raining? (past action that stopped)
I have been working since 8 am. (past action continuing)
2. Past Tense
Past tense is used to describe an action that has happened or something that existed previously. Their four subcategories are:
Simple Past Tense
Simple past tense is used to describe a situation in the past. The situation can be either short or long.
Example:
She went for lunch. (short)
She lived in New Zealand for five years. (long)
Past Continuous Tense
When someone wants to describe a particular action in the past, they use past continuous tense.
Example:
On this date last year, I was travelling to the UK.
Past Perfect Tense
A past perfect tense is used to describe an action that has happened and completed before some point in the past.
Example:
The plane had left before we arrived.
Past Perfect Continuous Tense
The past perfect continuous tense is a verb tense that expresses actions that happened in the past and continued up until another time in the past.
Example:
He had been waiting for her for the past two hours.
3. Future Tense
A future tense is a verb form that describes actions that have not yet happened but are expected to happen. Their subcategories are:
Simple Future Tense
The future simple tense is used when there is no plan before speaking and also when predicting the future.
Example:
We will decide what to do later. (no plan before speaking)
It will rain tomorrow. (making a prediction)
Future Continuous Tense
The future continuous tense is used to express action at a particular moment in the future.
Example:
I will be working at 8 am tomorrow.
Future Perfect Tense
The future past tense is used to express actions that will be completed before some other point in the future.
Example:
You can take this book back tomorrow. I will have finished reading it by then.
Future Perfect Continuous Tense
The future perfect continuous tense is a verb tense that indicates an action will occur in the future and will continue for a long time.
Example:
I will be meeting with my manager tomorrow at 5 p.m.
English tenses chart with examples
Now that you are aware of the types of tenses to teach your child, you also need to teach them the correct rules to apply in order to use these. We have prepared an English grammar tense chart to easily help your child understand grammar tenses.
