If you’ve ever been confused by English tenses, you’re not alone. Whether you’re writing an email, speaking with a friend, or doing an interview using the right tense helps you express when something happens. But with 12 main tenses in English, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed.
This guide will help you make sense of English tenses—what they are, why they matter, and how to use them with confidence.
Let’s start at the beginning.
What are English tenses?
In English, tenses show the time of an action or event. Is it happening now? Did it happen in the past? Will it happen in the future?
English tenses also help us understand the type of action—for example, whether something is finished, in progress, repeated, or likely to happen.
There are three main time periods in English:
- Past: Things that already happened
- Present: Things that are happening now or regularly
- Future: Things that will happen
Each of these time periods has four tenses, which gives us 12 in total. You don’t need to master all of them at once—but understanding the structure will help you use them correctly.
The 12 English tenses at a glance
Here’s a quick overview of all 12 English tenses. You’ll see the name, an example, and a short description of when it’s used.
| Tense Category | Tense Name | Example Sentence | When to Use It |
|---|---|---|---|
| Present | Present simple | I walk to work. | Habitual actions, facts, routines |
| Present continuous | I am walking to work. | Actions happening now or temporarily | |
| Present perfect | I have walked to work. | Past actions with results in the present | |
| Present perfect continuous | I have been walking to work. | Ongoing actions that started in the past and continue | |
| Past | Past simple | I walked to work. | Completed actions in the past |
| Past continuous | I was walking to work. | Past actions in progress or interrupted | |
| Past perfect | I had walked to work. | Action completed before another past action | |
| Past perfect continuous | I had been walking to work. | Ongoing past action before another event | |
| Future | Future simple | I will walk to work. | Decisions, promises, or future actions |
| Future continuous | I will be walking to work. | Action that will be in progress in the future | |
| Future perfect | I will have walked to work. | Action completed before a specific time in the future | |
| Future perfect continuous | I will have been walking to work. | Duration of action before a time in the future |
How English tenses work
Let’s look at how tenses work, one step at a time. You’ll notice that many tenses are based on a combination of time (past, present, future) and aspect (simple, continuous, perfect, perfect continuous).
1. Simple tenses
The simple tenses describe general facts, habits, completed actions, or scheduled future events.
Present simple
- Use: Habits, facts, routines
- Examples:
- She drives to work every day.
- Water boils at 100°C.
- I play the guitar.
Past simple
- Use: Completed actions in the past
- Examples:
- We watched a movie last night.
- He visited Tokyo in 2020.
- They moved to London last year.
Future simple
- Use: Future plans, promises, or predictions
- Examples:
- I will help you tomorrow.
- She will call after lunch.
- It will rain later today.
2. Continuous tenses
These tenses describe actions that are in progress at a specific time.
Present continuous
- Use: Actions happening now or temporarily
- Examples:
- I am writing a grammar guide.
- They are studying for the exam.
- We are staying at a hotel this week.
Past continuous
- Use: Past actions in progress, often interrupted
- Examples:
- He was cooking when I arrived.
- I was reading all night.
- We were walking when it started to rain.
Future continuous
- Use: Actions that will be in progress in the future
- Examples:
- I will be working at 10 a.m.
- She will be traveling next month.
- They will be waiting for us.
3. Perfect tenses
Perfect tenses show that an action is completed before another time or action.
Present perfect
- Use: Actions that happened in the past but affect the present
- Examples:
- I have lost my keys.
- She has visited Italy twice.
- They have just finished lunch.
Past perfect
- Use: Action completed before another action in the past
- Examples:
- He had left before I arrived.
- We had finished the report by Friday.
- She had already eaten when we called.
Future perfect
- Use: Action that will be completed before a future time
- Examples:
- I will have graduated by June.
- They will have left before the meeting starts.
- We will have built the house by next year.
4. Perfect continuous tenses
These tenses show the duration of actions that are ongoing and relate to another time.
Present perfect continuous
- Use: Ongoing action that started in the past and continues now
- Examples:
- I have been learning English for two years.
- She has been working since morning.
- They have been waiting for an hour.
Past perfect continuous
- Use: Ongoing action that happened before another event in the past
- Examples:
- He had been driving for hours when the car broke down.
- I had been thinking about it before you asked.
- They had been living abroad before they returned.
Future perfect continuous
- Use: Duration of an ongoing action up to a point in the future
- Examples:
- She will have been teaching here for 10 years by December.
- By next week, I will have been working on this project for a month.
- They will have been waiting for two hours when the doors open.
Why tenses matter
Using the correct tense helps your listener or reader understand:
- When something happens
- How long it takes
- Whether it’s finished or still happening
- If it’s a habit, a plan, or a decision
Let’s see how changing the tense changes the meaning:
- I cook dinner. (regular habit)
- I am cooking dinner. (happening now)
- I cooked dinner. (finished in the past)
- I have cooked dinner. (finished, relevant now)
A small change in tense can completely change the meaning of your sentence.
Tips for learning English tenses
Learning all the tenses at once can be too much. Here’s how to make it easier:
- Start with the basics: Master the simple tenses first.
- Use timelines: Visualize when actions happen.
- Look for time signals: Words like yesterday, now, already, tomorrow help you decide.
- Practice in context: Use the tenses in writing, speaking, and real situations.
- Review regularly: Repetition helps you remember.
Final thoughts
Tenses are the foundation of English grammar. Once you understand how they work, you can express your ideas clearly whether you’re talking about the past, making plans for the future, or describing something happening right now.
In the next lesson, we’ll dive deeper into the present simple tense, including how it works, when to use it, and how to avoid the most common mistakes.