Tenses

We use the simple tenses to talk about facts, routines, finished actions, and future plans or predictions. • Simple present is for habits and facts: "I walk to school." "Water boils at 100°C." • Simple past is for finished actions in the past: "I watched TV yesterday." "She played tennis last week." • Simple future is for things that will happen later: "I will call you tomorrow." "It will rain tonight." In the simple present, we often use a base verb, but with he/she/it we add -s or -es: "He works," "She goes." In the simple past, many verbs add -ed, but some are irregular: "go" becomes "went," "eat" becomes "ate." For the simple future, we often use will + base verb: "will study," "will come." Common time markers help us choose the tense. • Present: always, usually, every day, often, on Mondays • Past: yesterday, last night, ago, in 2020 • Future: tomorrow, next week, soon, later Remember: simple tenses usually show one action, one time, and a clear time word is often present.

These tenses tell us more about the time of an action and how it happens. • Continuous tenses show an action in progress: am/is/are + verb-ing, was/were + verb-ing, will be + verb-ing. • Perfect tenses show that one action is completed before another time: have/has + past participle, had + past participle, will have + past participle. • Perfect continuous tenses show duration: have/has been + verb-ing, had been + verb-ing, will have been + verb-ing. For beginners, the most important idea is this: • Continuous = action is happening now, was happening, or will be happening. • Perfect = action is finished before now, before another past action, or before a future time. • Perfect continuous = action started earlier and continued for some time. Examples: • I am studying now. (present continuous) • They were playing when I arrived. (past continuous) • She has finished her homework. (present perfect) • We had left before the rain started. (past perfect) • I have been waiting for ten minutes. (present perfect continuous) Common markers include now, at the moment, while, already, yet, for, since, before, by the time. Do not use all markers in every sentence; choose the tense that matches the meaning.

Sequence of tenses means we choose the tense that matches the time of the action. The time in the sentence helps us decide. • If something happens now, use a present tense. • If it happened before now, use a past tense. • If it will happen later, use a future tense. When one action happens before another, we often use different tenses together. • "I ate breakfast before I went to school." Both actions are past, but the first action happened earlier. • "She will call after she arrives." The future action "will call" depends on the future time "arrives." Useful time markers can guide you: • Present: usually, every day, now, at the moment • Past: yesterday, last week, ago, in the past • Future: tomorrow, next year, soon, in a minute • Perfect forms: already, yet, just, for, since, by Common mistakes include: • Saying "He play every day" instead of "He plays every day." • Saying "I am go yesterday" instead of "I went yesterday." • Saying "She has went" instead of "She has gone." • Using the wrong time word with the wrong tense. A good habit is to find the time word first, then choose the tense, then check the verb form.