Verb Tenses

There are three main verb tenses:

• past tense - use when an action happened in the past
• present tense - use when an action is happening or happens in the present
• future tense - use when an action has not yet happened, but will happen in the future

Each of these three tenses can then be categorized into three more tenses: 

• Simple tense: expresses facts or things that are known to happen
• Perfect tense: describes a completed action at some point in time
• Continuous/progressive tense: shows an ongoing action at some point in time
• Perfect progressive/perfect continuous tense: a combination of the perfect and continuous/progressive tenses

The following example shows the verb “to say” in each of the 12 different tenses.

	Past	Present	Future
Simple	I said	I say	I will say
Perfect	I had said	I have said	I will have said
Continuous	I was saying	I am saying	I will be saying
Perfect Continuous	I had been saying	I have been saying	I will have been saying

Past Tense

Simple Past

The simple past tense of a verb is usually the verb form that ends in “-ed.” However, some simple past tense verbs become a different word, such as in the case of the verb “to go.” 

• I called
• She delivered
• He went

Perfect Past

The perfect past tense of a verb usually adds the word “had” before the simple past tense of a verb. 

• I had called
• She had delivered
• He had gone

Past Continuous

The past continuous (also known as the past progressive) tense of a verb contains the word “was” combined with the verb form ending in “-ing.”

• I was calling
• She was delivering
• He was going

Past Perfect Continuous

The past perfect continuous (also known as the past perfect progressive) tense of a verb combines the perfect and continuous tenses. It will contain the words “had been” followed by the verb form ending in “-ing.”

• I had been calling
• She had been delivering
• He had been going

Present Tense

Simple Present

The simple present tense is the base form of the verb.

• I call
• She delivers
• He goes 

Perfect Present

The perfect present tense consists of the word “have” or “has” followed by the “-ed” form of the verb.

• I have called
• She has delivered
• He has gone

Present Continuous

The present continuous (also known as present progressive) tense of a verb contains the words “am” or “is” followed by the “-ing” form of the verb.

• I am calling
• She is delivering
• He is going

Present Perfect Continuous

The present perfect continuous (also known as the present perfect progressive) tense of a verb combines the perfect and continuous tenses. It will contain the words “have been” or “has been” followed by the “-ing” form of the verb.

• I have been calling
• She has been delivering
• He has been going

Future Tense

Future Simple

The future simple tense includes the present form of the verb preceded by “will.”

• I will call
• She will deliver
• He will go

Future Perfect

The future perfect tense includes the past form of the verb preceded by “will have.”

• I will have called
• She will have delivered
• He will have gone

Future Continuous

The future continuous (or future progressive) tense is created by adding the words “will be” before the “-ing” form of the verb.

• I will be calling
• She will be delivering
• He will be going

Future Perfect Continuous

The future perfect continuous (or future perfect progressive) tense is a combination of the perfect and progressive tenses. It is formed by adding the words “will have been” to the “-ing” form of the verb.

• I will have been calling
• She will have been delivering
• He will have been going