Understanding tenses is crucial for effective communication in English. There are 12 tenses categorized into Present, Past, and Future.
1. Present Tense (Describes current or habitual actions)
- Simple Present: Used for general truths, habits, and routines.
- Example: He plays football every evening.
- Present Continuous: Describes actions happening now or planned future events.
- Example: He is playing football right now.
- Present Perfect: Expresses an action completed at an unspecified time before now.
- Example: He has played football many times.
- Present Perfect Continuous: Describes an action that began in the past and is still continuing.
- Example: He has been playing football for two hours.
2. Past Tense (Describes actions that happened before now)
- Simple Past: Used for completed actions in the past.
- Example: He played football yesterday.
- Past Continuous: Describes an action that was happening at a specific time in the past.
- Example: He was playing football when it started raining.
- Past Perfect: Describes an action completed before another past action.
- Example: He had played football before going home.
- Past Perfect Continuous: Used for actions that continued for some time before another event.
- Example: He had been playing football for an hour before it got dark.
3. Future Tense (Describes actions that will happen later)
- Simple Future: Used for decisions, promises, and future predictions.
- Example: He will play football tomorrow.
- Future Continuous: Describes an ongoing action in the future.
- Example: He will be playing football at 5 PM.
- Future Perfect: Expresses an action that will be completed before a future time.
- Example: He will have played football before dinner.
- Future Perfect Continuous: Describes an action continuing up to a future point.
- Example: He will have been playing football for an hour by the time you arrive.