Tenses

Verbs come in three tenses: past, present, and future. The past is used to describe things that have already happened e.g., earlier in the day, yesterday, last week, three years ago. The present tense is used to describe things that are happening right now, or things that are continuous. The future tense describes things that have yet to happen e.g., later, tomorrow, next week, next year, three years from now.

The following table illustrates the proper use of verb tenses:

Simple Present	Simple Past	Simple Future
I read nearly every day.	Last night, I read an entire novel.	I will read as much as I can this year.
Present Continuous	Past Continuous	Future Continuous
I am reading Shakespeare at the moment.	I was reading Edgar Allan Poe last night.	I will be reading Nathaniel Hawthorne soon.
Present Perfect	Past Perfect	Future Perfect
I have read so many books I can’t keep count.	I had read at least 100 books by the time I was twelve.	I will have read at least 500 books by the end of the year.
Present Perfect Continuous	Past Perfect Continuous	Future Perfect Continuous
I have been reading since I was four years old.	I had been reading for at least a year before my sister learned to read.	I will have been reading for at least two hours before dinner tonight.

The Present Tense

Simple Present

Present Perfect

Present Continuous

Present Perfect Continuous

The Past Tense

Simple Past

Past Perfect

Past Continuous

Past Perfect Continuous

The Future Tense

Simple Future

Future Perfect

Future Continuous

Future Perfect Continuous

The tense of a verb tells you when a person did something or when something existed or happened. The three main tenses are the present, the past, and the future.

Recap

Verbs come in three tenses: past, present, and future.
The past is used to describe things that have already happened. The present tense is used to describe things that are happening right now, or things that are continuous. The future tense describes things that have yet to happen.