English has 12 Tenses to help talk about actions taken place in different times. Some refer to them as “Verb Tenses” because the tense or the time the action takes place is depicted through different forms of the verbs in use.
The verb in the first example is “go”. It is the “Simple Present plural verb form of the base verb “go”. Looking at the verb you can say that this sentence expresses an action that belongs to the Simple Present Tense.
The verb in the second example is “went”. It is the “Simple Past verb form of the base verb “go”. Looking at the verb you can say that the second sentence expresses an action that happened in the past and it belongs to the Simple Past Tense.
Accordingly, we need to learn the correct verb forms or phrases that indicate different tenses.
There are 3 basic tenses namely;
The three basic tenses in combination with four grammatical aspects create 12 comprehensive tenses. The following table will elaborate how they combine with each other to create 12 Tenses in English.
| Aspects | Present | Past | Future |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple | Present Simple | Past Simple | Future Simple |
| Continuous | Present Continuous | Past Continuous | Future Continuous |
| Perfect | Present Perfect | Past Perfect | Future Perfect |
| Perfect Continuous | Present Perfect Continuous | Past Perfect Continuous | Future Perfect Continuous |
These four aspects when combined with three basic tenses help us provide more details about the time and duration of the actions we are describing. 12 Verb Tenses thus provide a vivid standpoint on the location of the actions in the TimeLine.
Let’s identify the five most used Tenses in English for the benefit of the beginners so that they feel quite comfortable and confident to use the language in their daily conversations without any hesitations. On the other hand, learning can be quite satisfying if one could apply and use them as quickly as they grasp the rules.
The knowledge of the three simple tenses namely;
And the following two tenses are very much used in English Conversations.
Idea - I do this action as a habit. I usually don’t fail to go to school.
As depicted in the TimeLine, Simple Present Tense describes habitual actions, universal truths, facts and certain permanent situations which may occur along the timeline irrespective of the time differences. It is also used to talk about the present state of being.
Idea - Talks about an action that was completed at a specific point of time in the past.
Past Simple is used to talk about a finished action in the past or about past state of being.
Eg: I was the leader of the school cricket team.
Idea - Talks about an action you intend to perform in the future.
Will go
Future Simple is used to talk about actions that will take place in the future or about future state of being.
Eg: I will be a teacher one day.
Idea - Talks about an action that is going on at the moment of speaking. (right now)
am going, is going, are going
Present Continuous Tense is used to talk about an action that is going on right now.
Idea - This action has just taken place and you are experiencing its results right now.
has gone / have gone
Present Perfect Tense is very often used to describe actions that have happened right before the time of speaking (Recently) and when you are experiencing the results of such actions in the present. Further, this tense is very useful when you talk about your previous experiences.
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