Tenses
Simple and continuous present and past, present and past perfect, future and future perfect.
Overview
Tense shows when an action happens; aspect shows whether it is simple, continuous or perfect.
- Simple present: habits and facts. “Water boils at 100 °C.”
- Present continuous: actions happening now. “She is reading.”
- Present perfect: past actions linked to now. “I have finished.”
- Simple past: finished actions at a stated past time. “I finished yesterday.”
- Past perfect: the earlier of two past actions. “The train had left when we arrived.”
- Future perfect: completed before a future time. “By May, I will have finished.”
Common error
Do not use the present perfect with a specific past time: say “I saw him yesterday”, not “I have seen him yesterday”.
Practice questions
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