All Verb Tenses In English

Grammar is always a word that frightens a lot of people. Among many other things that can be classified under this umbrella term, verb tenses can be an especially difficult aspect for English as an additional language learners to master. This is due to the fact that each of them has a very specific reference to certain aspects of the past, present, or future time.

If you’re one of those people who are afraid of verb tenses in English, this overview of all 12 tenses will help you out.

There are 12 verb tenses in English. Their names are past simple, past continuous, past perfect, past perfect continuous, present simple, present continuous, present perfect, present perfect continuous, future simple, future continuous, future perfect, and future perfect continuous.

If you think there are too many names to remember, the table below will make it a lot easier for you to remember them.

All Verb Tenses in English in a Table

	PAST	PRESENT	FUTURE
SIMPLE	past simple	present simple	future simple
CONTINUOUS	past continuous	present continuous	future continuous
PERFECT	past perfect	present perfect	future perfect
PERFECT CONTINUOUS	past perfect continuous	present perfect continuous	future perfect continuous

You can see all verb tenses, their uses and example sentences for each tense below.

Past Simple

The past simple is used to describe something that happened in a finished period of time in the past.

	AFFIRMATIVE	NEGATIVE	QUESTION
I	I studied	I didn’t study	Did I study?
You	You studied	You didn’t study	Did you study?
He/she/it	He/she/it studied	He/she/it didn’t study	Did he/she/it study?
We	We studied	We didn’t study	Did we study?
You	You studied	You didn’t study	Did you study?
They	They studied	They didn’t study	Did they study?

Past Continuous

The past continuous is used to describe something that was happening in the past, especially when another thing happened.

	AFFIRMATIVE	NEGATIVE	QUESTION
I	I was sleeping	I wasn’t sleeping	Was I sleeping?
You	You were sleeping	You weren’t sleeping	Were you sleeping?
He/she/it	He/she/it was sleeping	He/she/it wasn’t sleeping	Was he/she/it sleeping?
We	We were sleeping	We weren’t sleeping	Were we sleeping?
You	You were sleeping	You weren’t sleeping	Were you sleeping?
They	They were sleeping	They weren’t sleeping	Were they sleeping?

Past Perfect

The past perfect is used to describe something that happened before another thing in the past.

	AFFIRMATIVE	NEGATIVE	QUESTION
I	I had eaten	I hadn’t eaten	Had I eaten?
You	You had eaten	You hadn’t eaten	Had you eaten?
He/she/it	He/she/it had eaten	He/she/it hadn’t eaten	Had he/she/it eaten?
We	We had eaten	We hadn’t eaten	Had we eaten?
You	You had eaten	You hadn’t eaten	Had you eaten?
They	They had eaten	They hadn’t eaten	Had they eaten?

Past Perfect Continuous

The past perfect continuous is used to describe something that started, developed, and finished (there’s an emphasis on the ongoing action) before another thing in the past.

	AFFIRMATIVE	NEGATIVE	QUESTION
I	I had been playing	I hadn’t been playing	Had I been playing?
You	You had been playing	You hadn’t been playing	Had you been playing?
He/she/it	He/she/it had been playing	He/she/it hadn’t been playing	Had he/she/it been playing?
We	We had been playing	We hadn’t been playing	Had we been playing?
You	You had been playing	You hadn’t been playing	Had you been playing?
They	They had been playing	They hadn’t been playing	Had they been playing?

Present Simple

The present simple is used to describe routine activities, facts, and general truths.

	AFFIRMATIVE	NEGATIVE	QUESTION
I	I work	I don’t work	Do I work?
You	You work	You don’t work	Do you work?
He/she/it	He/she/it works	He/she/it doesn’t work	Does he/she/it work?
We	We work	We don’t work	Do we work?
You	You work	You don’t work	Do you work?
They	They work	They don’t work	Do they work?

Present Continuous

The present continuous is mainly used to talk about something that is happening at the moment. It can, however, be used to describe something that is happening these days and future actions, too.

	AFFIRMATIVE	NEGATIVE	QUESTION
I	I’m going	I’m not going	Am I going?
You	You’re going	You’re not going	Are you going?
He/she/it	He/she/it’s going	He/she/it’s not going	Is he/she/it going?
We	We’re going	We’re not going	Are we going?
You	You’re going	You’re not going	Are you going?
They	They’re going	They’re not going	Are they going?

Present Perfect

The present perfect is used to describe something that started in the past but is true (or has an impact) until the present moment.

	AFFIRMATIVE	NEGATIVE	QUESTION
I	I’ve done	I haven’t done	Have I done?
You	You’ve done	You haven’t done	Have you done?
He/she/it	He/she/it’s done	He/she/it hasn’t done	Has he/she/it done?
We	We’ve done	We haven’t done	Have we done?
You	You’ve done	You haven’t done	Have you done?
They	They’ve done	They haven’t done	Have they done?

Present Perfect Continuous

The present perfect continuous is used to describe something that started in the past and is still ongoing in the present.

	AFFIRMATIVE	NEGATIVE	QUESTION
I	I’ve been saying	I haven’t been saying	Have I been saying?
You	You’ve been saying	You haven’t been saying	Have you been saying?
He/she/it	He/she/it’s been saying	He/she/it hasn’t been saying	Has he/she/it been saying?
We	We’ve been saying	We haven’t been saying	Have we been saying?
You	You’ve been saying	You haven’t been saying	Have you been saying?
They	They’ve been saying	They haven’t been saying	Have they been saying?

Future Simple

The future simple is used to describe something that will happen at a specific time in the future.

	AFFIRMATIVE	NEGATIVE	QUESTION
I	I’ll think	I won’t think	Will I think?
You	You’ll think	You won’t think	Will you think?
He/she/it	He/she/it’ll will think	He/she/it won’t think	Will he/she/it think?
We	We’ll think	We won’t think	Will we think?
You	You’ll think	You won’t think	Will you think?
They	They’ll think	They won’t think	Will they think?

Future Continuous

The future continuous is used to describe events that will take place in the future and are expected to last for a while.

	AFFIRMATIVE	NEGATIVE	QUESTION
I	I’ll be helping	I won’t be helping	Will I be helping?
You	You’ll be helping	You won’t be helping	Will you be helping?
He/she/it	He/she/it’ll be helping	He/she/it won’t be helping	Will he/she/it be helping?
We	We’ll be helping	We won’t be helping	Will we be helping?
You	You’ll be helping	You won’t be helping	Will you be helping?
They	They’ll be helping	They won’t be helping	Will they be helping?

Future Perfect

The future perfect is used to describe events that someone will complete in a time span between the present moment and a specific time in the future.

	AFFIRMATIVE	NEGATIVE	QUESTION
I	I’ll have talked	I won’t have talked	Will I have talked?
You	You’ll have talked	You won’t have talked	Will you have talked?
He/she/it	He/she/it’ll have talked	He/she/it won’t have talked	Will he/she/it have talked?
We	We’ll have talked	We won’t have talked	Will we have talked?
You	You’ll have talked	You won’t have talked	Will you have talked?
They	They’ll have talked	They won’t have talked	Will they have talked?

Future Perfect Continuous

The future perfect continuous is used to describe events that will take place between the present moment and a specific moment in the future, emphasizing their duration.

	AFFIRMATIVE	NEGATIVE	QUESTION
I	I’ll have been waiting	I won’t have been waiting	Will I have been waiting?
You	You’ll have been waiting	You won’t have been waiting	Will you have been waiting?
He/she/it	He/she/it’ll have been waiting	He/she/it won’t have been waiting	Will he/she/it have been waiting?
We	We’ll have been waiting	We won’t have been waiting	Will we have been waiting?
You	You’ll have been waiting	You won’t have been waiting	Will you have been waiting?
They	They’ll have been waiting	They won’t have been waiting	Will they have been waiting?