16 Tenses in English Grammar (Formula and Examples)

Verb Tenses are different forms of verbs describing something happened in the past, happening at present
or will happen in the future. By expanding these three forms, you will learn 16 tenses in all.

There are three main types of verb tenses past, present and future.

PRESENT TENSE

Present tense shows the current action that is going to be performed. It has four types which are briefly
described here.

1. Simple Present Tense

Structure:
Subject + Verb (vI) + es/es

Examples:

1. I take exercise daily.

2. She reads a book in the library.

2. Present Continuous Tense

Structure:

Subject + is/am/are + Verb (+ing)

Example:

1. He is playing football.
2. I am studying in a high school.

3. Present Perfect Tense

Structure:

Subject + Has/have + Verb (v3)

Example:

1. He has made this colorful chart.

2. I have completed my assignment.

4. Present Perfect Continuous Tense

Structure:
Subject + Has/have + been + Verb (+ing)

Example:

1. I have been completing my assignment for the last three days.

2. She has been working in this department since 2017.

PAST TENSE

Past tense expresses the actions that happened in the past. It has also four types.

5. Simple Past Tense

Structure:

Subject + Verb (v2) or irregular verb:

Example:

1. He completed the assignment.

2. I read the newspaper.

6. Past Continuous Tense

Structure:

Subject + was/were + Verb(+ing)

Example:

1. He was reading the book.

2. I was going to the park for a morning walk.

7. Past Perfect Tense

Structure:

Subject + had + Verb (v3)

Example:

1. I had finished my homework.

2. He had completed his task.

8. Past Perfect Continuous Tense

Structure:
Subject + had + been + Verb(+ing)

Example:

1. He had been completing his assignment for the last two hours.
2. I had been playing football since morning.

FUTURE TENSE

Future tense expresses the actions that have not happened yet OR “the actions that will likely to happen in
future”. Its four types are described here.

9. Simple Future Tense

Structure:

Subject+ will/shall+ verb(v1)

Example:

1. I shall go to the park for a walk.

2. She will perform his duty.

10. Future Continuous Tense

Structure:

Subject + will be/shall be + verb(+ing)

Example:

1. He will be playing football.

2. We shall be eating the meal.

11. Future Perfect Tense

Structure:

Subject + will have + verb(v3)

Example:

1. He will have played football.

2. I will have completed my assignment.
12. Future Perfect Continuous Tense

Structure:

Subject + will have been + verb(+ing)

Example:

He will have been watching the football match for over fifty minutes.

PAST FUTURE TENSE

13. Past Future Tense

Structure:

Subject + would + verb (v1)

Example:

I told that I would leave in one hour.

14. Past Future Continuous Tense

Structure:

Subject + should be/would be + Verb(+ing)

Example:

I told that I would be doing my homework all day long.

15. Past Future Perfect Tense

Structure:

Subject + should have/ would have + Verb(v3)

Example:

She said that she would have completed her assignment.

16. Past Future Perfect Continuous Tense

Structure:

Subject + would have been + Verb(+ing)

Example:

He said that I should have been working here for two hours by that time.

Tenses Chart & Table

The table below shows a chart of tenses in English. The structure and example of each tense is also given to
construct the grammatically correct sentence.

Tenses Structure / Formula Examples

Simple Past Affirmative S+V2+… He read a book yesterday.

Simple Past Negative S+Did+not+V1+… He did not read a book yesterday.

Simple Past Questions Did+S+V1+…+? Did he read a book yesterday?

Simple Present Affirmative S+V1+‘s’ or ‘es’+ … He reads a book daily.

Simple Present Negative S+Do/Does+not+V1+… He does not read a book daily.

Simple Present Questions Do/Does+S+V1+…+? Does he read a book daily?

Simple Future Affirmative Will/Shall+V1+… He will read a book tomorrow.

Simple Future Negative S+Will/Shall+not+V1+… He will not read a book tomorrow.

Simple Future Questions Will/Shall+S+V1+…+? Will he read a book tomorrow?

S+was/were +
Past Progressive Affirmative He was reading a book yesterday.
(V1+ ‘ing’)+…

S+was/were + not+
Past Progressive Negative He was not reading a book yesterday.
(V1+ ‘ing’)+…

Was/were+S+
Past Progressive Question Was he reading a book yesterday?
(V1+ ‘ing’)+…+?

S+is/am/are +
Present Progressive Affirmative He is reading a book.
(V1+ ‘ing’)+…

S+is/am/are + not+
Present Progressive Negative He is not reading a book.
(V1+ ‘ing’)+…

Is/am/are +S+
Present Progressive Question Is he reading a book?
(V1+ ‘ing’)+…+?

S+Will/Shall+ be+ (V1+’ing’)+

Future Progressive Affirmative He will be reading a book tomorrow.
…

S+Will/Shall + not+ be+

Future Progressive Negative He will not be reading a book tomorrow.
(V1+’ing’)+…

Future Progressive Question Will/Shall+S+ be+(V1+’ing’)+… Will he be reading a book tomorrow?

 Tenses Structure / Formula Examples

+?

Past Perfect Affirmative S+Had + V3+… He had read a book.

Past Perfect Negative S+Had+not+V3+… He had not read a book.

Past Perfect Question Had+S+V3+…+? Had he read a book?

Present Perfect Affirmative S+has/have+V3+… He has read a book.

Present Perfect Negative S+Has/have+not+V3+… He has not read a book.

Present Perfect Question Has/have+S+V3+…+? Has he read a book?

Future Perfect Affirmative S+Will/Shall have +V3+… He will have read a book.

S+Will/Shall+not+
Future Perfect Negative He will not have read a book.
have +V3+…

Future Perfect Question Will/Shall+S+have +V3+…+? Will he have read a book?

Past Perfect Progressive Affirmative S+had+been + (V1+ing)+… He had been reading a book since morning.

He had not been reading a book since

Past Perfect Progressive Negative S+had+not+been +(V1+ing)+…
morning.

Past Perfect Progressive Question Had +S+been+ (V1+ing)+…+? Had he been reading a book since morning?

Present Perfect Progressive Affirmative S+has/have+been+ (V1+ing)+… He has been reading a book since morning.

S+has/have +not+ been + He has not been reading a book since

Present Perfect Progressive Negative
(V1+ing)+… morning.

Has/have+S+been + (V1+ing)+
Present Perfect Progressive Question Has he been reading a book since morning?
…+?

S+will/shall have + been+ He will have been reading a book since

Future Perfect Progressive Affirmative
(V1+ing)+… morning.

S+will/shall+not+have +been+ He will not have been reading a book since

Future Perfect Progressive Negative
(V1+ing)+… morning.

Will/shall+S+have+ been+ Will he have been reading a book since

Future Perfect Progressive Question
(V1+ing)+…+? morning?

S = Subject

V1 (1st form of verb) = Base Form

V2 (1nd form of verb) = Past
V3 (3r form of verb) = Past Participle