English has 12 main tenses, built from three times (past, present, future) and four aspects (simple, continuous, perfect, perfect continuous). You don't need to learn 12 separate rules — learn the 4 aspect patterns once, then apply them to past, present and future.
The 12 tenses at a glance
| Aspect | Past | Present | Future |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple | I worked | I work | I will work |
| Continuous | I was working | I am working | I will be working |
| Perfect | I had worked | I have worked | I will have worked |
| Perfect continuous | I had been working | I have been working | I will have been working |
What each aspect means
| Aspect | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Simple | A fact, habit, or single complete action | She drinks tea every morning. |
| Continuous | An action in progress at a particular time | She is drinking tea right now. |
| Perfect | An action completed before a point in time | She has already drunk her tea. |
| Perfect continuous | An action continuing up to a point, with focus on duration | She has been drinking tea since 7 a.m. |
Tense formula chart: positive, negative and question
V1 = base verb (go), V2 = past simple (went), V3 = past participle (gone), V-ing = present participle (going).
Present tenses
| Tense | Positive | Negative | Question |
|---|---|---|---|
| Present simple | S + V1(s/es) She works. | S + do/does not + V1 She doesn't work. | Do/Does + S + V1? Does she work? |
| Present continuous | S + am/is/are + V-ing She is working. | S + am/is/are not + V-ing She isn't working. | Am/Is/Are + S + V-ing? Is she working? |
| Present perfect | S + have/has + V3 She has worked. | S + have/has not + V3 She hasn't worked. | Have/Has + S + V3? Has she worked? |
| Present perfect continuous | S + have/has been + V-ing She has been working. | S + have/has not been + V-ing She hasn't been working. | Have/Has + S + been + V-ing? Has she been working? |
Past tenses
| Tense | Positive | Negative | Question |
|---|---|---|---|
| Past simple | S + V2 She worked. | S + did not + V1 She didn't work. | Did + S + V1? Did she work? |
| Past continuous | S + was/were + V-ing She was working. | S + was/were not + V-ing She wasn't working. | Was/Were + S + V-ing? Was she working? |
| Past perfect | S + had + V3 She had worked. | S + had not + V3 She hadn't worked. | Had + S + V3? Had she worked? |
| Past perfect continuous | S + had been + V-ing She had been working. | S + had not been + V-ing She hadn't been working. | Had + S + been + V-ing? Had she been working? |
Future tenses
| Tense | Positive | Negative | Question |
|---|---|---|---|
| Future simple | S + will + V1 She will work. | S + will not + V1 She won't work. | Will + S + V1? Will she work? |
| Future continuous | S + will be + V-ing She will be working. | S + will not be + V-ing She won't be working. | Will + S + be + V-ing? Will she be working? |
| Future perfect | S + will have + V3 She will have worked. | S + will not have + V3 She won't have worked. | Will + S + have + V3? Will she have worked? |
| Future perfect continuous | S + will have been + V-ing She will have been working. | S + will not have been + V-ing She won't have been working. | Will + S + have been + V-ing? Will she have been working? |
Note: shall (I/we shall) is an older, more formal alternative to will, still common in Indian and British school textbooks. Both are correct.
Helping (auxiliary) verbs by tense
| Aspect | Past | Present | Future |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple | did (negative/question only) | do / does (negative/question only) | will / shall |
| Continuous | was / were | am / is / are | will be |
| Perfect | had | has / have | will have |
| Perfect continuous | had been | has been / have been | will have been |
Signal words: how to identify the tense
| Tense | Typical time words |
|---|---|
| Present simple | always, usually, often, every day, on Mondays, never |
| Present continuous | now, right now, at the moment, currently, these days, Look! |
| Present perfect | already, yet, just, ever, never, so far, recently, since, for |
| Present perfect continuous | for two hours, since morning, all day, how long |
| Past simple | yesterday, last week, ago, in 2020, when I was young |
| Past continuous | while, when (interrupted), at 8 p.m. yesterday |
| Past perfect | before, after, by the time, already (in past stories) |
| Past perfect continuous | for/since + a past point: "had been waiting for an hour when…" |
| Future simple | tomorrow, next week, soon, I think, probably |
| Future continuous | at this time tomorrow, at 10 a.m. next Monday |
| Future perfect | by tomorrow, by the end of the year, by then |
| Future perfect continuous | by + future time + for + duration: "By June, I'll have been working here for 5 years." |
For Hindi speakers: tense ki pehchan (tense identification)
If you think in Hindi before speaking English, the ending of the Hindi verb is a reliable clue to the English tense. Use this as a bridge — the goal is to stop translating once the patterns feel natural.
| Hindi clue | English tense | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ता है / ती है / ते हैं | Present simple | वह रोज़ पढ़ता है → He studies every day. |
| रहा है / रही है / रहे हैं | Present continuous | वह पढ़ रहा है → He is studying. |
| चुका है / लिया है / दिया है | Present perfect | वह पढ़ चुका है → He has studied. |
| रहा है + से (since/for) | Present perfect continuous | वह दो घंटे से पढ़ रहा है → He has been studying for two hours. |
| आ / ई / ए (पढ़ा, गया) | Past simple | उसने पढ़ा → He studied. |
| रहा था / रही थी | Past continuous | वह पढ़ रहा था → He was studying. |
| चुका था / लिया था | Past perfect | वह पढ़ चुका था → He had studied. |
| रहा था + से (since/for) | Past perfect continuous | वह दो घंटे से पढ़ रहा था → He had been studying for two hours. |
| गा / गी / गे | Future simple | वह पढ़ेगा → He will study. |
| रहा होगा / रही होगी | Future continuous | वह पढ़ रहा होगा → He will be studying. |
| चुका होगा | Future perfect | वह पढ़ चुका होगा → He will have studied. |
| रहा होगा + से (since/for) | Future perfect continuous | वह दो घंटे से पढ़ रहा होगा → He will have been studying for two hours. |
Note that "रहा होगा" can also mean a guess about now ("He must be studying"). Context decides. For full Hindi-medium explanations, see our sister site HindiNotes.com.
Which tenses to learn first
At A1–B1 level, focus on these five — they cover the vast majority of everyday English: present simple, present continuous, past simple, present perfect and future (will / going to). The other seven are used less often and become easy once these feel automatic. The present simple vs. present continuous contrast is the best place to start.
Explore each tense in depth
Every tense has its own guide — structure, uses, signal words, mistakes and practice.
Tenses also control passive voice (every tense has a passive form) and reported speech (where tenses shift back).
Practice
Name the tense, then put the verb in the correct form.
- Look! It ______ (snow).
- I ______ (live) in Delhi since 2018.
- When I arrived, the train ______ already ______ (leave).
- This time tomorrow, we ______ (fly) to Dubai.
- She ______ (not / go) to work yesterday.
- By next March, he ______ (work) here for ten years.
- Water ______ (boil) at 100°C.
- They ______ (play) football when it started to rain.
Show answers
- is snowing — present continuous
- have lived / have been living — present perfect (continuous)
- had … left — past perfect
- will be flying — future continuous
- didn't go — past simple
- will have been working — future perfect continuous
- boils — present simple
- were playing — past continuous
Frequently asked questions
How many tenses are there in English?
There are 12 main tenses: simple, continuous, perfect and perfect continuous forms of the past, present and future. Some grammarians say English technically has only two tenses (past and present) with aspects added, but 12 is the standard teaching model.
What is the formula of the present perfect continuous tense?
Subject + has/have been + verb-ing, for example “She has been working here since 2020.” Negative: “She hasn’t been working.” Question: “Has she been working?”
What is the formula of the future perfect continuous tense?
Subject + will have been + verb-ing, for example “By June, I will have been studying English for five years.” It is used for a duration up to a point in the future.
How can I identify the tense of a sentence?
Look at the helping verb and the main verb form, then at time words. For example, “has/have + past participle” is present perfect; “was/were + -ing” is past continuous; words like “yesterday” or “ago” point to past simple.
Which tenses are most important?
Present simple, present continuous, past simple, present perfect and future with will/going to cover most everyday English. Learn these five first.