Tenses

Present Tense:
1. Present Simple tense.
2. Present Continuous tense.
3. Present Perfect tense.
4. Present Perfect Continuous tense.
Present Simple Tense
Form of sentence: subject + verb.

The verb must always be in its present form.

If the subject of the sentence is I/You/We/They, the verb will have NO ‘s’.
E.g. I play soccer. (The word play is the verb and it has no ‘s’ because the subject
is I).

If the subject is He/ She/ it, the verb WILL HAVE an ‘s’.
E.g. Stella plays soccer (The word plays is the verb and it has an ‘s’ because the
subject is she (Stella))
Present Continuous Tense
Form of sentence: subject + am/is/are + verb(ing).
The subject of the sentence determines which auxiliary verb to use. The
verb is also always followed by -ing in the continuous form showing us that
it is an action that is still happening.
If your subject is: Your auxiliary verb will be:

I am

He/ She/ it is

You/ they/ we are

E.g. She is playing soccer.

I am riding my bicycle.
We are walking to school. Note: Your subject & verb must agree.
Present Perfect Tense
Form of sentence: subject + have/has + verb(in its past tense).
The subject of the sentence determines which auxiliary verb to use.

If your subject is: Your auxiliary verb will be:

I /You /We /They have

He/ She/ it has

E.g. I have taught English to many students.

Ashleigh has visited France four times.
We have seen two movies this week.
Present Perfect Continuous Tense
Form of sentence: subject + have/ has been + verb(ing).

If your subject is: Your auxiliary verb will be:

I /You /We /They have been

He/ She/ it has been

E.g. I have been waiting to see the doctor for two hours.
He has been playing tennis all day.

Note: When making reference to a time frame e.g. two hours/ all day, etc. Your
sentence must always be written in the present perfect continuous tense.
Past Tense
1. Past Simple tense.
2. Past Continuous tense.
3. Past Perfect tense.
4. Past Perfect Continuous tense.
Past Simple Tense
Form of sentence: subject + verb (in its past tense).
We use the past simple tense when an action was completed in the past. Most
past forms of words are created by adding ‘ed’ to the end of the word. However
there are exceptions which are known as irregular verbs.
E.g’s of irregular verbs:
Give - gave
Build - built
Come - came
Eat - ate
Go - went
E.g. My friend surprised me.
My grandfather built this house.
Past Continuous Tense
Form of sentence: subject + was/were + verb(ing).
We use the past continuous tense when we speak about an unfinished ongoing
action in the past which is interrupted by a finished action.

If your subject is: Your verb will be:

I /He /She /it was

You/ We / They were

E.g. The power went out while the children were studying.
It was raining when Priya left for work.
Past Perfect Tense
Form of sentence: subject + had + verb(in its past tense).
The past perfect tense consists of two actions that happen in the past and
indicates which action occurred first.

E.g. I was sick because I had eaten too much. (As a result of eating too much,
he/she was sick. Therefore eating too much was the action that occurred first).

The girl looked very familiar, I had seen her before. (I had seen her before and that
is why the girl looked familiar. Therefore seeing her before was the action that
occurred first).
Past Perfect Continuous Tense
Form of sentence: subject + had been + verb(ing).

The past perfect continuous tense shows two actions that happened in the past
with a verb ending in -ing.

E.g. I felt really tired because I had been driving all day.

The ground was wet because it had been raining.

Future Tense
1. Future Simple tense.
2. Future Continuous tense.
3. Future Perfect tense.
4. Future Perfect Continuous tense.
Future Simple Tense
We use the words ‘going to’ / ‘will’ to indicate the future simple tense.

The words ‘going to’ shows plans and intentions.

Form of sentence: subject + am/ is/ are going to + verb.
E.g. We are going to buy a car.

The word ‘will’ is used in a sentence that indicates an instant decision being made.

Form of sentence: subject + will + verb.

E.g. I will have the burger and fries combo.
Future Continuous Tense
Form of sentence: subject + will be/ am going to be + verb(ing).

For the future continuous tense, either ‘going to’ or ‘will’ can be used.

E.g. At 11a.m. tomorrow, I will be driving to Johannesburg.

I am going to be driving to Johannesburg.
Future Perfect Tense
Form of sentence: subject + will have + verb (in its past tense).

E.g. By August, Sarah will have saved R600.

Future Perfect Continuous Tense
Form of sentence: subject + will have been + verb(ing).

E.g. By August, Sarah will have been saving money for six months.