What You Need to Know About English Tenses

Starting to feel tense in thinking about the English Tenses? This is why I should probably stick to teaching and not be a comedian. Jokes aside, tenses are an essential part of the English language. They allow speakers to clarify the timing of when an action is happening. In this article, we will briefly go over each English tense and how it is used. But first, what are tenses?

What are Tenses?

Essentially a tense will indicate the timing of an action. There are three basic tenses in English: The Present, The Past, and The Future. Along with tenses, you will notice they it will be attached to the verb tense. There are 4 kinds of verb tenses that will be associated with the tenses.

Simple	It expresses a simple fact. Example: I study English… Meaning: In general, I study. I’m saying a statement. It’s a fact.
Progressive	It expresses something that takes place during a limited period of time.  Example: I am studying English. Meaning: I’m studying English in this moment.
Perfect	It expresses something that occurred in the past, but is linked to another point in the future.  Example: I had studied English. Meaning: I had studied English in the past and up until the present moment.
Perfect Progressive	Expresses something that began in the past, but continues into the future.  Example: I have been studying English. Meaning: I had started studying English in the past, up until the present moment. This emphasizes the duration of the past action.

These aspects affect how the verb is conjugated, as well as which auxiliary words are used in the sentence (if any). With each tense, you will learn how to conjugate verbs (changing verb forms). 

Don’t worry if this seems too complicated or overwhelming please remember that many native English speakers struggle with this, too. There’s some good news though, some verb tenses are more common than others. We’ll start with those. As you continue learning English, you can dive into more complex forms to express more specific ideas. In this article, I’ll be covering only the simple aspect of each tense. If you want to get more in-depth practice, I highly recommend checking out the Takelessons Live ESL Group Classes. Click here for a free trial.

1. Present Tense

EXAMPLE: I cook.

The present tense is used to refer to something that is happening now, in the present. It can also be used to describe something that occurs on a regular basis and to express facts and statements. 

To form the simple present, you simply take the infinitive form of the verb

EX: To cook

Then remove the word “to” to create the base infinitive. 

EX: cook

Let’s take a look at this table to see how the verb “To Cook” is conjugated.

Person	Present Tense Verb (“To Cook”)
I	Cook.
You [singular]	Cook.
He / She / It	Cooks.
We	Cook.
You [plural]	Cook.
They	Cook.

NOTE:  The third person requires the -s at the end. 

Of course, you can make these sentences longer and more specific by adding time words/phrases. These are words that indicate exactly when the action is taking place. 

Common Time Words & Phrases for Simple Present Tense

Today	She cooks today.
Every day	I cook every day.
Often	They cook often.
Sometimes	Sometimes, you cook.
At ___	We cook at night.

2. Past Tense

She cooked.

The past tense is used to refer to something that happened previously, in the past. 

To form the simple past for regular verbs, you’ll need to take the infinitive form of the verb (in this case, “to cook”) take away the word “to,” and add -ed to the end of the root verb:

Person	Past Tense Verb (“To Listen”)
I	cooked
You [singular]	cooked
He / She / It	cooked
We	cooked
You [plural]	cooked
They	cooked

As you will notice, all subjects take on the same verb form, even the third person singular. Their conjugation is identical. Now, let’s go ahead and add some time words that refer to the past.

Yesterday	We cooked yesterday.
Earlier	I cooked earlier.
A few hours ago	They cooked a few hours ago.
Last week	You cooked last week.
Last weekend	He cooked last weekend.

3. Future Tense

You will cook.

The future tense is used to refer to future actions or, in some cases, probable future actions. 

To form the simple future, take the infinitive form of the verb, remove the word “to,” and add the word “will” in front of the root verb. The auxiliary verb “will” indicates a future event. 

As you will notice, “will” does not take have a special conjugation. The same form is used for all verbs. 

Person	Future Tense Verb (“To Work”)
I	will cook.
You [singular]	will cook.
He / She / It	will cook.
We	will cook.
You [plural]	will cook.
They	will cook.

Let’s try adding time words that will indicate the future.

Tomorrow	I will cook tomorrow.
Soon	They will cook soon.
Next week	You will cook next week.
In a few hours	We will cook in a few hours.
Wedding ( a future event)	She will cook for the wedding.

Irregular Verbs

Now that we looked at the rules for regular verbs, let’s take a look at those lovely irregular verbs.

Irregular verbs are verbs that don’t conjugate the same way as regular verbs, which means you’ll have to remember separate conjugation rules for them. 

In the section below, I’ll introduce you to some of the common irregular verbs: “to be,” “to do,” and “to have.” Let’s take a look!

TO BE

PRESENT 

My ESL teacher is tired.

Person	Present Tense Verb (“To Be”)	Example Sentence
I	Am	I am tired.
You [singular]	Are	You are tired.
He / She / It	Is	He is tired.
We	Are	We are tired.
You [plural]	Are	You are tired.
They	Are	They are tired.

PAST

My ESL teacher was tired.

Person	Past Tense Verb (“To Be”)	Example Sentence
I	Was	I was tired.
You [singular]	Were	You were tired.
He / She / It	Was	She was tired.
We	Were	We were tired.
You [plural]	Were	You were tired.
They	Were	They were tired.

FUTURE

My ESL teacher will be tired.

Person	Future Tense Verb (“To Be”)	Example Sentence
I	Will be	I will be tired.
You [singular]	Will be	You will be tired.
He / She / It	Will be	He/She/It will be tired.
We	Will be	We will be tired.
You [plural]	Will be	You will be tired.
They	Will be	They will be tired.

TO DO

PRESENT

I do study.

Person	Present Tense Verb (“To Do”)	Example Sentence
I	Do	I do study.
You [singular]	Do	You do study.
He / She / It	Does	She does study.
We	Do	We do study.
You [plural]	Do	You do study.
They	Do	They do study.

PAST

I did  a good job.

Person	Past Tense Verb (“To Do”)	Example Sentence
I	Did	I did study.
You [singular]	Did	You did study.
He / She / It	Did	He did study.
We	Did	We did study.
You [plural]	Did	You did study.
They	Did	They did study.

Future Tense

I will do a good job.

Person	Future Tense Verb (“To Do”)	Example Sentence
I	Will do	I will do a good job studying.
You [singular]	Will do	You will do a good job studying  .
He / She / It	Will do	She will do a good job studying.
We	Will do	We will do a good job studying .
You [plural]	Will do	You will do a good job studying.
They	Will do	They will do a good job studying.

TO HAVE

PRESENT

We have a dog.

Person	Present Tense Verb (“To Have”)	Example Sentence
I	Have	I have a dog.
You [singular]	Have	You have a dog.
He / She / It	Has	He has a dog.
We	Have	We have a dog.
You [plural]	Have	You have a dog.
They	Have	They have a dog.

PAST

We had a dog.

Person	Past Tense Verb (“To Have”)	Example Sentence
I	Had	I had a dog.
You [singular]	Had	You hada dog.
He / She / It	Had	She had a dog.
We	Had	We had adog.
You [plural]	Had	You had a dog.
They	Had	They had a dog.

FUTURE

We will have a dog.

Person	Future Tense Verb (“To Have”)	Example Sentence
I	Will have	I will have dog.
You [singular]	Will have	You will have dog.
He / She / It	Will have	He will have dog.
We	Will have	We will have dog.
You [plural]	Will have	You will have dog.
They	Will have	They will have dog.

Let’s Practice!

Let’s go ahead and give what you read a try. There is nothing better than practicing what you have learned, right?

Here are three regular verbs that need to be conjugated according to the tense.  See if you can do answer them. The answers will be at the end of this article.

Present

“To Walk” (Present Tense)
I
You [singular]
He / She / It
We
You [plural]
They

Past

“To Sing” (Past Tense)
I
You [singular]
He / She / It
We
You [plural]
They

C- Future

“To Play” (Future Tense)
I
You [singular]
He / She / It
We
You [plural]
They

Final Thoughts

How did you do? 

With enough study time, dedication, and practice, you’ll be able to master all the English tenses and their conjugations.

I hope this English tenses lesson has been helpful for you! How do you feel about English tenses at this point?  At TakeLessons Live, it’s our goal to help you learn in the most fun and effective way possible through our group classes. I hope to see you there soon!

Answers

“To Walk” (Present Tense)
I	walk
You [singular]	walk
He / She / It	walks
We	walk
You [plural]	walk
They	walk

 

“To Play” (Past Tense)
I	played
You [singular]	played
He / She / It	played
We	played
You [plural]	played
They	played

 

“To Bake” (Future Tense)
I	will bake
You [singular]	will bake
He / She / It	will bake
We	will bake
You [plural]	will bake
They	will bake

How did you do?