The 12 Tenses
By Mark McDowell, M.A.
(eslwideworld.com)
1 ?Present (speaks of events that
repeat themselves, sensory events that are going on now, or states)
? ?I
eat (every day).?I see him eating
(now).?I love to eat.
2 ?Past (speaks of past events)
? ?I
ate (yesterday, this morning, etc.).
3 ?Future (speaks of future events)
? ?I
will eat.?I’m going to eat (tomorrow,
this evening, etc.)
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4 ?Present Perfect (speaks of an
event that occurred in a time period that has not ended)
? ?I
have eaten (today, this week, etc).
5 ?Past Perfect (relates two past
events)
? ?I
had eaten before lunch.
6 ?Future Perfect (relates two future
events, one of which is usually a point in time)
? ?I
will have eaten by noon.
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7 ?Present Continuous (speaks of a
continuous action in the present)
? ?I
am eating (now).
8 ?Past Continuous (speaks of a
continuous action in the past)
? ?I
was eating (yesterday evening at 6 o’clock).
9 ?Future Continuous (speaks of a
continuous action in the future)
? ?I
will be eating (at six).?I’m going to
be eating (this evening at 6 o’clock).
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10 ?Present Perfect Continuous (speaks
of a time period that has not ended and an continuous action)
? ?I
have been eating (all day, for one hour, etc.)
11 ?Past Perfect Continuous (relates a
past continuous action with another event)
? ?I
had been eating before he arrived.
12 ?Future Perfect Continuous (relates a
future continuous action with a future time or event)
I will have been
eating for ten minutes by the time you get here.