16 Tenses In English

English Grammar All 16 Tenses

16 Tenses in English Grammar (Formula and Examples)

Verb Tenses are different forms of verbs describing something happened in the past, happening at present or will happen in the future. By expanding these three forms, you will learn 16 tenses in all.

There are three main types of verb tenses past, present and future.

PRESENT TENSE

Present tense shows the current action that is going to be performed. It has four types which are briefly described here.

1. Simple Present Tense

Structure:

Subject + Verb (vI) + es/es

Examples:

I take exercise daily.
She reads a book in the library.

Simple Present Tense Examples & Exercise

2. Present Continuous Tense

Structure:

Subject + is/am/are + Verb(+ing)

Example:

He is playing football.
I am studying in a high school.

Present Continuous Tense Exercise, Formula and Usage

3. Present Perfect Tense

Structure:

Subject + Has/have + Verb (v3)

Example:

He has made this colorful chart.
I have completed my assignment.

View: Present Perfect Tense Exercise, Formula and Usage

4. Present Perfect Continuous Tense

Structure:

Subject + Has/have + been + Verb(+ing)

Example:

I have been completing my assignment for the last three days.
She has been working in this department since 2017.

View: Present Perfect Continuous Tense Formula and Usage

PAST TENSE

Past tense expresses the actions that happened in the past. It has also four types.

5. Simple Past Tense

Structure:

Subject + Verb (v2) or irregular verb:

Example:

He completed the assignment.
I read the newspaper.

View: Simple Past Tense Formula, Usage & Examples

6. Past Continuous Tense

Structure:

Subject + was/were + Verb(+ing)

Example:

He was reading the book.
I was going to the park for a morning walk.

View: Past Continuous Tense Formula, Usage & Examples

7. Past Perfect Tense

Structure:

Subject + had + Verb (v3)

Example:

I had finished my homework.
He had completed his task.

View: Past Perfect Tense Formula, Exercise & Examples

8. Past Perfect Continuous Tense

Structure:

Subject + had + been + Verb(+ing)

Example:

He had been completing his assignment for the last two hours.
I had been playing football since morning.

View: Past Perfect Continuous Tense Formula, Exercise & Examples

FUTURE TENSE

Future tense expresses the actions that have not happened yet OR “the actions that will likely to happen in future”. Its four types are described here.