Every verb tells the reader not just what happened, but when. Here are all twelve English tenses, irregular verbs, voice, mood, and modals — explained clearly, with examples.
Tense is how English marks time. Get it right, and a reader knows exactly when something happened, is happening, or will happen — without a single extra word.
English has three basic time frames — past, present, and future — and four aspects within each: simple, continuous, perfect, and perfect continuous. Multiply these together and you get the twelve tenses that this guide covers in full, along with irregular verbs, active and passive voice, mood, and modal verbs. It ends with worked examples, a quick-check routine, common myths and ten practice questions. Spelling follows British English.
It works with Parts of Speech, Sentence Structure, Punctuation Rules and Common Errors in English. For the choice between formal and relaxed forms, see Formal vs. Informal English.
A verb tells the reader two things: when an action happens (the time frame) and how the speaker views it (the aspect). Strictly speaking, English changes the form of a verb for only two tenses, present and past; the future is built with will and other structures. Teachers still group verbs into 12 tenses (3 time frames × 4 aspects) because it is the clearest way to learn them.
To choose a tense, ask: When is it? then How do I see the action: whole, in progress, finished-with-a-result, or lasting?
A note on the "future tense". Many modern grammarians, including the authors of the Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, say English has no true future tense, because the future is expressed with will, be going to or present forms and not with a verb ending. The question is debated: some linguists argue that will can be treated as a future marker. For learning, the practical point is the same. You need to know how each form works, whatever name you give it.
Diagram 1. The twelve tenses are three time frames multiplied by four aspects.
Use: habits, permanent facts, timetables, instructions. Form: (+) base verb, with -s/-es for he/she/it; (−) do/does not + base; (?) Do/Does + subject + base. Signal words: always, usually, often, every day, never. Example: "She walks to school." / "She doesn't walk." / "Does she walk?"
Use: actions happening now, temporary situations, changing trends, arranged future plans. Form: am/is/are (not) + verb-ing. Signal words: now, at the moment, currently, these days, tonight. Example: "Prices are rising." / "We are meeting at 6."
Use: a past action with a present result, life experience, unfinished periods (today, this week). Form: have/has (not) + past participle. Signal words: already, yet, just, ever, never, so far, recently, since, for. Example: "I have lost my keys." (I still can't find them.)
Use: how long an activity has lasted up to now, or a recent activity with a visible result. Form: have/has (not) been + verb-ing. Signal words: for, since, all day, lately. Example: "Her eyes are red; she has been crying."
Use: a finished action at a definite time, a sequence of events in a story. Form: (+) verb-ed or irregular form; (−) did not + base; (?) Did + subject + base. Signal words: yesterday, ago, last week, in 2019, when I was young. Example: "She walked home." / "Did she walk?" (After did the verb returns to base.)
For past habits, use used to or would: "We used to play cricket every evening."
Use: an action in progress at a past moment, scene-setting, or a longer action interrupted by a shorter one. Form: was/were (not) + verb-ing. Signal words: while, as, at 8 p.m. yesterday. Example: "I was cooking when the power went out."
Use: the earlier of two past events. Form: had (not) + past participle. Signal words: before, after, by the time, already, until then. Example: "When we arrived, the film had started."
Use: how long something had been happening before a past moment, or the cause of a past situation. Form: had (not) been + verb-ing. Signal words: for, since, all morning. Example: "He was exhausted; he had been running."
Use: spontaneous decisions, offers, promises, opinions or predictions. Form: will (not) + base verb. Signal words: probably, I think, perhaps. Example: "I'll carry that for you."
Use: plans already made, or predictions based on present evidence. Form: am/is/are (not) going to + base. Signal words: tonight, next week. Example: "Look at those clouds! It is going to rain."
Use: arranged plans (continuous); timetables and schedules (simple). Form: as present forms. Signal words: tomorrow, next Monday. Example: "We are flying at noon." / "The train leaves at 9."
Use: an action in progress at a future time; polite enquiries. Form: will be + verb-ing. Signal words: this time tomorrow, at 8 a.m. Example: "Will you be using the car tonight?"
Use: an action finished before a future time. Form: will have + past participle. Signal words: by, by the time, before. Example: "By June, she will have graduated."
Use: duration up to a future point. Form: will have been + verb-ing. Signal words: by, for. Example: "By June, I will have been working here for ten years."
Time-clause rule: after when, as soon as, before, after, until, if, unless, use a present form for future meaning, not will. Correct: "I'll call you when I arrive." Incorrect: "when I will arrive."
| Tense | Structure | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Present Simple | V / V+s | She walks. |
| Present Continuous | am/is/are + V-ing | She is walking. |
| Present Perfect | have/has + V3 | She has walked. |
| Present Perfect Cont. | have/has been + V-ing | She has been walking. |
| Past Simple | V-ed / V2 | She walked. |
| Past Continuous | was/were + V-ing | She was walking. |
| Past Perfect | had + V3 | She had walked. |
| Past Perfect Cont. | had been + V-ing | She had been walking. |
| Future Simple | will + V | She will walk. |
| Future Continuous | will be + V-ing | She will be walking. |
| Future Perfect | will have + V3 | She will have walked. |
| Future Perfect Cont. | will have been + V-ing | She will have been walking. |
(V = base verb, V2 = past simple, V3 = past participle.)
| Ending | Rule | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| -s / -es | add -es after s, sh, ch, x, o; consonant + y becomes -ies | watches, goes, studies (but plays) |
| -ing | drop silent e; double a final consonant after a short stressed vowel; ie becomes y | making, running, beginning, lying |
| -ed | add -d after e; consonant + y becomes -ied; double as for -ing | liked, carried, played, stopped, preferred |
The first auxiliary does the work. It takes not for negatives and moves in front of the subject for questions: "She has walked" → "She hasn't walked" / "Has she walked?" Simple present and past have no auxiliary, so English adds do/does/did. After do, does, did the main verb is always the base form: "Does she walk?" (not "walks"), "She didn't go" (not "went").
Verbs of state, thought, feeling, possession and sense usually stay simple: know, understand, believe, like, love, hate, want, need, prefer, own, belong, seem. Incorrect: "I am knowing the answer." Correct: "I know the answer." Some verbs change meaning: "I think it's good" (opinion) but "I am thinking about moving" (process); "She has a car" (possession) but "She is having lunch" (activity).
Diagram 2. The past perfect looks back from a past moment. The present perfect connects a past start to now.
Diagram 3. This one choice causes more tense errors than any other.
Regular verbs add -ed. Irregular verbs look random but fall into patterns, which makes them easier to learn in groups.
| Pattern | Base – Past – Participle |
|---|---|
| All three the same | cut, put, hit, set, let, shut |
| Past = participle (-ought/-aught) | buy–bought–bought, bring–brought–brought, think–thought–thought, catch–caught–caught, teach–taught–taught |
| Past = participle (other) | make–made–made, say–said–said, find–found–found, leave–left–left, tell–told–told, meet–met–met, keep–kept–kept |
| i – a – u | sing–sang–sung, drink–drank–drunk, begin–began–begun, swim–swam–swum |
| Participle ends -en | break–broke–broken, speak–spoke–spoken, choose–chose–chosen, drive–drove–driven, write–wrote–written, eat–ate–eaten, take–took–taken, forget–forgot–forgotten |
| Participle ends -n (-wn) | know–knew–known, grow–grew–grown, throw–threw–thrown, fly–flew–flown, draw–drew–drawn |
| Base = participle | come–came–come, run–ran–run, become–became–become |
| Individual | be–was/were–been, go–went–gone, do–did–done, see–saw–seen, have–had–had |
Often confused: lie–lay–lain (rest) vs lay–laid–laid (put something down).
In the passive, the receiver of the action becomes the subject: be (in the right tense) + past participle. Use it when the doer is unknown, unimportant or obvious, or when the result matters more: "The samples were tested under controlled conditions." Only transitive verbs have a passive ("The accident happened", never "was happened"). Avoid it when it hides who is responsible.
| Tense | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| Present Simple | writes | is written |
| Present Continuous | is writing | is being written |
| Present Perfect | has written | has been written |
| Past Simple | wrote | was written |
| Past Continuous | was writing | was being written |
| Past Perfect | had written | had been written |
| Future (will) | will write | will be written |
| Future Perfect | will have written | will have been written |
| Modal | must write | must be written |
| Type | If-clause | Main clause | Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zero | present simple | present simple | general truths: If you heat ice, it melts. |
| First | present simple | will + base | real, likely future: If it rains, we will stay in. |
| Second | past simple (were for all subjects in formal English) | would + base | unreal or unlikely present: If I were you, I would apologise. |
| Third | past perfect | would have + V3 | unreal past: If she had studied, she would have passed. |
| Mixed | past perfect | would + base | past cause, present result: If I had taken that job, I would be abroad now. |
In everyday speech many people say "If I was you", but were is the form for formal writing and exams. Never put will or would in the if-clause: "If I will go" is wrong. Wishes: wish + past simple for present regret ("I wish I knew"); wish + past perfect for past regret ("I wish I had listened"); wish + would for annoyance ("I wish he would stop").
When the reporting verb is in the past ("She said…"), the tense usually shifts one step back, and pronouns and time words change (today → that day, tomorrow → the next day, here → there).
| Direct speech | Reported speech |
|---|---|
| present simple | past simple |
| present continuous | past continuous |
| present perfect / past simple | past perfect |
| will / can / may / must | would / could / might / had to |
No backshift is needed when the statement is still true or the reporting verb is present: "She said that the Earth orbits the Sun."
Modals add meaning (ability, possibility, obligation, advice) to a base verb. They take no -s, -ing or -ed, form questions and negatives themselves ("Can she swim?"), and are followed by the base verb (ought takes to).
| Modal | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| can / could | ability, permission; could = past ability, polite request | She could swim at five. |
| may / might | possibility (might is weaker), formal permission | It might rain. |
| must | obligation, strong deduction | He must be tired. |
| have to | external obligation | I have to wear a uniform. |
| should / ought to | advice, expectation | You should rest. |
| shall | offers, suggestions with I/we | Shall we begin? |
| will / would | future, requests, habits, hypotheticals | Would you help me? |
| Modal perfect | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| must have + V3 | confident deduction about the past | He must have missed the bus. |
| can't have + V3 | impossible in the past | She can't have known. |
| could / might have + V3 | past possibility | It could have been worse. |
| should have + V3 | regret or criticism | You should have called. |
| needn't have + V3 | did something unnecessary | I needn't have hurried. |
Key contrast: mustn't means forbidden ("You mustn't park here"); don't have to means not necessary ("You don't have to come").
Choose a main time frame and change only when the time really changes. In a past-tense story, use the past perfect for earlier events and the present simple for lasting truths. Incorrect: "He opened the door and sees a stranger." Correct: "He opened the door and saw a stranger who had been waiting for an hour." Before you submit, ask: does every verb match the time I mean?
Consider this line from a project update email: "By the time you read this, the team will have finished testing, and the results will be shared by Friday." The opening time clause, "By the time you read this," uses the present simple (read) with future meaning, exactly as the time-clause rule requires. The main clause uses the future perfect ("will have finished") for an action completed before that moment. The second clause uses the future simple passive ("will be shared") because the focus is on the results, not the sharer.
Fill each gap with the correct form of the verb in brackets. The passage is invented for practice:
"When I (1. arrive) at the station, the train (2. already / leave). I (3. wait) for an hour when my friend finally (4. call). By the time I get home tonight, I (5. travel) for six hours."
Try it yourself. Complete: "She (live) here since 2019."
Sample answer: "has lived". Since marks a starting point and links it to now, so the present perfect is needed.
Draft: "Yesterday I have gone to the market and buyed some mangoes. While I was walking home, it is starting to rain. If I will have an umbrella, I would not get wet."
Corrected: Yesterday I went to the market and bought some mangoes. While I was walking home, it started to rain. If I had had an umbrella, I would not have got wet.
Try it yourself. Correct: "Call me when you will arrive."
Sample answer: "Call me when you arrive." After a time word such as when, the present simple is used for future meaning.
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Tense places every sentence you write in time. Once you know the parts of speech, how to build a sentence and how to punctuate it, tense and verb form let you say exactly when something happened and how you see it. A small choice, such as saw or have seen, can change what the reader understands. Revisit Common Errors in English and Sentence Structure to put these forms to work.
Activity: give pupils a short story written in the present tense and ask them to rewrite it in the past, noting every irregular verb. Then ask them to add two sentences using the past perfect and one using the present perfect, and to explain each choice.
Please note: textbooks differ on how many tenses English has, and whether to call will + verb a tense. This guide uses the standard classroom grouping of twelve. Rules for the subjunctive vary between British and American English. The examples are original.
20 questions. Select an answer for each, then submit to see your score and an explanation for every answer.