The 12 English tenses: one chart with forms and examples
English tenses look like a long list to memorise. They are not. They are a small system with a clear logic, and once you see the grid behind them the twelve tenses stop feeling like twelve separate things to learn.
The logic: three times, four aspects
Every English tense is built from two choices.
First, :
- - before now.
- - now, or generally true.
- - after now.
Second, aspect, which describes how the action sits in that time:
- - a complete action or a general fact. You are not interested in whether it is in progress; you just state it. I work. I worked. I will work.
- Continuous - the action is in progress, unfinished, happening around a point in time. I am working. I was working. I will be working.
- - you look back from one point to an earlier action that is already complete, and the link between the two points matters. I have worked. I had worked. I will have worked.
- continuous - you look back from a point at the duration of something leading up to it. I have been working. I had been working. I will have been working.
Three times multiplied by four aspects gives twelve tenses. That is the whole map. Learn what each aspect signals, and you can read any tense by reading its two parts.
The master table: all twelve tenses
The example verb is work throughout, so you can see only the form change.
| Tense | Form | Main use | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| verb (+s) | , , | She works in Madrid. | |
| continuous | // + -ing | , | She is working right now. |
| / + participle | linked | She has worked here for years. | |
| continuous | / + -ing | duration | She has been working since dawn. |
| (-ed) | She worked yesterday. | ||
| continuous | / + -ing | She was working at six. | |
| + participle | She had worked there for years before they arrived. | ||
| continuous | + -ing | duration | She had been working for hours. |
| + verb | predictions, , | She will work tomorrow. | |
| continuous | + -ing | She will be working at noon. | |
| + participle | She will have worked there for ten years by Friday. | ||
| continuous | + -ing | duration | She will have been working for a year. |
Each row is just a time plus an aspect. Past perfect continuous is past time plus perfect continuous aspect: looking back from a point in the past at how long something had been going on. Nothing more.
A note on the future
English has no true future tense. Past and present each have a verb form built in (work / worked), but there is no single future ending. We borrow other tools to point at the future: (I will call), (I am going to call), the present continuous for arrangements (I am calling her tonight), and even the present simple for timetables (the train leaves at nine). For teaching, plus the four aspects fills the future column above, but the real future system is wider. The future tenses page sets out when to use each form.
How to choose the right tense
You do not need to scan all twelve every time. Ask three questions in order.
- - , ? That fixes the time, and so the column.
- , ? In progress points you to a continuous aspect; complete or general points you to simple or perfect.
- ? If you are looking back from a later moment at something already done, you need a perfect aspect. If you also care about how long it lasted up to that moment, use perfect continuous.
Worked example. You want to talk about a report. It is happening now (present), it is unfinished (continuous): I am writing the report. You finished it and it matters now (present, perfect): I have written the report. You finished it before the meeting started (past, perfect): I had written the report before the meeting. Same verb, three answers, driven entirely by the three questions.
For the detail behind each box, see the individual pages: present simple, present continuous, past simple, present perfect and future tenses.
Common mistakes
These three account for most tense errors, regardless of first language.
- vs . If you say exactly when something happened, use the past simple. I have seen him yesterday is wrong; it is I saw him yesterday. Keep the present perfect for unfinished or unstated time: I have seen him (so I know the news). This is the single most common tense error in English, and the present perfect page covers the split in full.
- continuous . For an action in progress right now, the simple sounds wrong: Be quiet, I work should be Be quiet, I am working. If it is happening around the moment you are speaking, reach for the continuous.
- Overusing continuous stative verbs. Verbs of state - know, want, like, believe, own, understand - normally avoid the continuous. I am knowing the answer and I am wanting tea are wrong; say I know the answer and I want tea. State verbs prefer the simple even when the meaning feels ongoing.
A quick rule of thumb: when a sentence feels off, check the aspect before the time. Most learner errors are the wrong aspect, not the wrong time.
Practice
Choose the correct tense. Answers are below.
- Listen - someone
___(knock) at the door right now. - By next June, I
___(live) here for ten years. - I
___(see) that film last weekend. - She
___(already / finish) her dinner, so she is not hungry. - I
___(want) to tell you something. (state verb)
: 1. is knocking (in progress now, present continuous) 2. will have lived (duration completed before a future point, future perfect continuous is also accepted: will have been living) 3. saw (a finished time, "last weekend", forces the past simple) 4. has already finished (completed action linked to now, present perfect) 5. want (a state verb, so the present simple, not "am wanting").
Ready to check yourself? The English grammar test has 30 questions on tenses and more, with every answer explained.