Verbal Tenses Review

Download all my infographics about the tenses in PDF here.
Download all my explanations of the tenses in PDF here.

How to make the tense:	How to use the tense:
Present Simple Form	Present Simple Use
Present Continuous Form	Present Continuous Use
Present Perfect Simple Form	Present Perfect Simple Use
Present Perfect Continuous Form	Present Perfect Continuous Use
Past Simple Form	Past Simple Use
Past Continuous Form	Past Continuous Use
Past Perfect Simple Form	Past Perfect Simple Use
Past Perfect Continuous Form	Past Perfect Continuous Use
Future Simple Form	Future Simple Use
Future Continuous Form	Future Continuous Use
Future Perfect Simple Form	Future Perfect Simple Use
Future Perfect Continuous Form	Future Perfect Continuous Use

What's The Difference?

• How to choose: Future with 'will' or future with 'be going to'?
• How to choose: Present Perfect or Past Simple?
• How to choose: Present Simple or Present Continuous?
• How to choose: Present Perfect Simple or Present Perfect Continuous?

Here are a few more things you might find useful:

• Tenses Cheatsheet
This is a printable PDF of all the verb tenses and how to form them.
• Grammar Exercises
This is a list of all the grammar exercises on this site, about verb tenses and other things.
• Present Simple Spelling Changes
This is an explanation of how we sometimes need to change the spelling of a verb with 'he, she, it' in the present simple, for example why 'cry' becomes 'cries' but 'play' is 'plays'.
• Adverbs of Frequency
Adverbs of Frequency are words like 'often' 'sometimes' 'never'. This page shows you how to use them with the present tense and where to put them in the sentence. I also explain about longer phrases like 'from time to time'.
• Irregular Verbs, Lists and Exercises
• How to pronounce 'ed'
How do you pronounce 'stopped'? Many students say 'stop-id' instead of 'stopt'. This page explains the rules of pronunciation for regular past simple verbs and past participles (verbs that end with 'ed')
• Stative verbs
We can't use some verbs, like 'know' or 'believe' in continuous tenses. This page has lists and explanations.

Verb Tenses

Verbs come in three tenses: past, present, and future. The past is used to describe things that have already happened (e.g., earlier in the day, yesterday, last week, three years ago). The present tense is used to describe things that are happening right now, or things that are continuous. The future tense describes things that have yet to happen (e.g., later, tomorrow, next week, next year, three years from now).

The following table illustrates the proper use of verb tenses:

Simple Present	Simple Past	Simple Future
I read nearly every day.	Last night, I read an entire novel.	I will read as much as I can this year.
Present Continuous	Past Continuous	Future Continuous
I am reading Shakespeare at the moment.	I was reading Edgar Allan Poe last night.	I will be reading Nathaniel Hawthorne soon.
Present Perfect	Past Perfect	Future Perfect
I have read so many books I can’t keep count.	I had read at least 100 books by the time I was twelve.	I will have read at least 500 books by the end of the year.
Present Perfect Continuous	Past Perfect Continuous	Future Perfect Continuous
I have been reading since I was four years old.	I had been reading for at least a year before my sister learned to read.	I will have been reading for at least two hours before dinner tonight.

The Present Tenses

Simple Present  Present Perfect  Present Continuous  Present Perfect Continuous

The Past Tenses

Simple Past   Past Perfect   Past Continuous  Past Perfect Continuous

The Future Tenses

Simple Future  Future Perfect   Future Continuous  Future Perfect Continuous