Tenses

12 tenses

Simple: Subject + will or be going to + infinitive + Object
Continuous: Subject + will or be going to + be + V ing + Object
Perfect: Subject + will + have + Past Participle + Object + time clause or time marker
Perfect Continuous: Subject + will + have + been + V ing + Object

Simple: Subject + Past Simple Verb + Object
Continuous: Subject + be (was, were) + V ing + Object
Perfect: Subject + had + Past Participle + Object (usually with past simple)
Perfect Continuous: Subject + had + been + V ing + Object (usually with past simple)

Everything in English always comes back to SVO.

Past simple: S + (Verb in the past) + O
- What did you eat, yesterday? (Question or interrogative)
- I ate a pizza yesterday. (SImple tense easily takes time)
- I was late for school this morning.
Past continuous: S + (be verb was or were) + V ing + O
- What were you doing yesterday?
- I was eating a pizza when a man approached me.
- She was studying while her boyfriend was working yesterday.
- We were studying for a test.
Past perfect: S + had + (P.P. or Ed Verb) + O (Short action) (usually with past simple)
- I had just eaten a pizza when I got the phone call.
- I had just finished teaching my class when the earthquake began.
- The pizza had been eaten by me. (Passive voice)
- He had finished his homework before he went to school.
- He had finished this homework before going to school. (Before is now a preposition which requires a noun or gerung)
Past perfect continuous: S (had been + V ing) + O (Long action)
- I had been eating a pizza when I got the phone call.
- I had been visiting his grandmother when his grandfather walked int the door.
- I had been watching a movie when my friend called me.

Present simple:
- Subject + Verb (base or infinitive) + Object: I like eating puzza with my firneds.
- Subject + Verb (base or infinitive): My friend cries all the time.
- Verb (base or infinitive) + Object: Go and get me a puzza for lunch. (Imperative)
Present continuous: Subject + be verb + V ing + Object
- I am eating pizza at the moment.
- I am getting married tomorrow. (Transitive) (also used as a futures time clause)
- My friend is going to the beach after school. (Intransitive)
Present perfect: Subject + have/has + Past Participle + Object (Usually a completed action)
- Mr McDougle has taught English for 20 years.
Present perfect continuous: Subject + have/has + Present Participle + Object (Started in the past and keeps going)
- I have been studying Science for 10 years now but I would like to keep going.
- You have been messing around with that computer for 3 hours now!

Future simple: Subject + will or be going to + infinitive + Object
- I will be at the party tomorrow night.
- My friend Tom will come too.
- I am going to eat a whole pizza.
Future continuous: Subject + will or going to + be + V ing + Object
- John will be trying to score a goal in tonight's soccer match.
- Andrew is going to be arriving here anytime now.
- I will be drinking lovely cocktails on the beach in Fiji when I win the lottery.
- I will be practicing for my examination tomorrow.
- He is going to be practicing for his examination tomorrow.
Future perfect: Subject + will or be going to + have + Past Participle + Object + time clause or time marker.
- My friend Julien will have drunk many mojitos by the time I finish this sentence.
- I will have changed many nappies by the time my children grow up.
- We will have played many sports by the time the Langports games finishes.
- My son is going to have played many sports in the future. (Possible)
- My son will have played many sports in the future. (More commonly used)
Future perfect continuous: Subject + will or be going to + have + been + V ing + Object
- I will have been teaching English for 20 years by next September.
- You will have been studying TOIEC for 5 weeks by the time this course finishes.
- She is going to have been studying for 20 years when she finishes her PHD.