English Verb Tenses

Every language in the world has verb tenses. These tenses, which refer to the present, past, and future, explain when something — such as an action, event, or state -– happened. The problem is that although all languages have verb tenses, not all languages have the same verb tenses or use them in a similar way. That’s why English tenses are often confusing to ESL students.

The charts below provide a quick reference to help you understand the tenses in English more easily:

Chart 1 lists each English tense and explains when to use it.
Chart 2 gives an example of each tense, in active and passive form.
Chart 3 provides time words and expressions commonly used with the verb tenses, to help you recognize when to use each tense.

Overview of English Verb Tenses
Present Simple	Usage:	general action, habitual action, general truth
Present Simple	Example:	I work in a hospital.
Present Continuous Present Progressive	Usage:	ongoing or temporary action
Present Continuous Present Progressive	Example:	Sorry, I can’t talk right now. I am working.
Past Simple	Usage:	completed action or condition
Past Simple	Example:	I worked for ten hours yesterday.
Past Continuous Past Progressive	Usage:	past ongoing action, past interrupted action
Past Continuous Past Progressive	Example:	I was working on my project when you called.
Future	Usage:	planned or unplanned future action
Future	Example:	I will work at the main branch next week.
Present Perfect	Usage:	action that happened at an indefinite time in the past and continues to the present
Present Perfect	Example:	I have worked at the bank for three years.
Past Perfect	Usage:	past action that happened before another past action.
Past Perfect	Example:	I had already worked for several years before I got married.
Future Perfect	Usage:	future action that will happen before another future action
Future Perfect	Example:	I will have worked here for five years next July.
Present Perfect Continuous Present Perfect Progressive	Usage:	past action that started in the past and continues to the present
Present Perfect Continuous Present Perfect Progressive	Example:	I have been working on that project for the last two weeks.
Past Perfect Continuous Past Perfect Progressive	Usage:	past ongoing action that was completed before some other past action
Past Perfect Continuous Past Perfect Progressive	Example:	I had been sleeping at my desk when my boss fired me.
Future Perfect Continuous Future Perfect Progressive	Usage:	future ongoing action that will occur before another action
Future Perfect Continuous Future Perfect Progressive	Example:	I will have been working here for ten years tomorrow, so we’re having a party.

Examples of English Verb Tenses
Verb Tense	Example – ACTIVE	Example – PASSIVE
Present Simple	I work.	The work is done.
Present Continuous Present Progressive	I am working.	The work is being done.
Past Simple	I worked.	The work was done.
Past Continuous Past Progressive	I was working.	The work was being done.
Future	I will work. I’m going to work.	The work will be done. The work is going to be done.
Present Perfect	I have worked.	The work has been done.
Past Perfect	I had worked.	The work had been done.
Future Perfect	I will have worked.	The work will have been done.
Present Perfect Continuous Present Perfect Progressive	I have been working.	–
Past Perfect Continuous Past Perfect Progressive	I had been working.	–
Future Perfect Continuous Future Present Progressive	I will have been working.	–

Common Time Expressions for English Verb Tenses
Verb Tense	Example – ACTIVE	Time Clues
Present Simple	I work.	every day / morning / night always never sometimes usually frequently rarely seldom
Present Continuous Present Progressive	I am working.	now right now at the present time this weekend
Past Simple	I worked.	yesterday last night last week / month / year last summer / winter
Past Continuous Past Progressive	I was working.	while when
Future	I will work. I’m going to work.	tomorrow next week / month /year in the future soon
Present Perfect	I have worked.	since until now ever never for two hours / days / months many times
Past Perfect	I had worked.	already by the time till then till that time
Future Perfect	by the time… already	The work will have been done.
Present Perfect Continuous Present Perfect Progressive	for the past four years for the last two days up to now	–
Past Perfect Continuous Past Perfect Progressive	I had been working.	before since for three hours / days / weeks
Future Perfect Continuous Future Present Progressive	I will have been working.	by the time for six months / years

English Verb Tenses

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