Find out what the 12 verb tenses are in English

 

     There are 4 types of verb tenses in English in each of the periods – present, past and future. Each of them will be explained below with examples of the correct way to put together affirmative, negative and interrogative sentences.

You can use this content to try to create your own sentences and practice speaking.

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Simple Present

 

Starting with the easiest of verb tenses, the Simple Present is used when we talk about something habitual, which is happening at the moment or with a certain frequency.

 

To indicate this time, you must use the verb in the infinitive, added in the particles –s or –es when the subject is He/She/It.

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See some examples:

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Affirmative: “She likes pizza.”;

Negative: “He doesn’t like comedy movies.”;

Interrogative: “Do you watch Suits?”

 

Present Continuous

 

Used to indicate actions that are occurring at the exact moment of speech, therefore the subject has not yet completed the task. As in other “Continuous” tenses, it corresponds to the Portuguese gerund, when we add “-endo”, “-ando” or “-indo” to the end of a verb. Present Continuous sentences are formed with: subject + verb to be + gerund verb.

See what this rule looks like when applied:

 

Affirmative: “I am running.”;

Negative: “They aren’t going to Mexico.”;

Interrogative: “Is he practicing the piano now?”

 

Present Perfect

 

This tense is used when some action began in the past, but continued until now and is now completed. Or, that this event occurred in the past, but it is not known exactly when. Prayers in this tense are formed by: subject + has/have + verb in participle + complement. Check out some examples:

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Affirmative: “I have lived here all my life.”;

Negative: “She hasn’t worked here very long.”;

Interrogative: “Have you visited your mother?”

 

Present Perfect Continuous

 

Similar to the previous one, this verb tense also indicates something that started in the past and continued until the present. The difference is that, when we use the Present Perfect Continuous, it means that the action has not yet been completed. To form sentences of this type, you will have to use: subject + has/have + been + gerund verb + complement.

Check out some ways to apply this verb tense:

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Affirmative: “I have been studying.”;

Negative: “She has not been traveling.”;

Interrogative: “Have they been going to other countries?”

 

Simple Past

 

The Simple Past is used when we talk about something that happened in the past and concluded at this moment. For these sentences, you only need to use: subject + verb in the past + complement. In the case of regular verbs, simply add the particle -ed or -d to the end of the word and this is already its form in the past, however irregular verbs do not have a defined form. When applied, sentences in the simple past look as follows:

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Affirmative “I liked my prom.”;

Negative: “She didn’t love the gift.”;

Interrogative: “Did they eat the whole pizza?” “Ate” is the past form of the verb “eat”, which is an irregular verb. In these cases, you need to use good old memorization, as there are no rules. To better memorize the past tense forms of this group of words, check out the list of irregular verbs that we have already made available here on the blog.

 

Past Continuous

 

The Past Continuous should be used when you want to talk about something that was done or occurred continuously in the past. In other words, something that lasted for a while. The affirmative form of the sentences in this case is composed of: subject + was/were + gerund verb + complement.

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Examples:

Affirmative: “I was studying when I remembered I had a doctor’s appointment.”;

Negative: “She wasn’t running when she saw the accident.”;

Interrogative: “Were they playing football when it started to rain?”

 

Past Perfect

 

This verb tense is used when we talk about an action or state that has already ended at some point in the past, but which happened before another event. To use the Past Perfect you must form the sentence as follows: subject + had + verb in the participle.

Examples of affirmative, negative and interrogative sentences in this verb tense:

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Affirmative: “I had already cleaned the house when my brother arrived.”;

Negative: “This exercise wasn’t as easy as you had told me.”;

Interrogative: “Had you finished your work when I called you?”

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Past Perfect Continuous

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Esse tempo verbal refere-se a algo que iniciou em algum momento do passado e seguiu por um tempo, até outro momento ainda no passado.

Para formar frases com o Past Perfect Continuous, é preciso: sujeito + had + been + verbo no gerúndio + complemento.

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Confira como essa regra pode ser aplicada em frases dos três tipos:

Afirmative: “She had been studying English for five months when she got a job offer.”;

Negative: “They had not been waiting there for more than one hour when she finally arrived.”;

Interrogative: “Had you been swimming long when we got there?”.

 

 

Simple Future

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Bom, já passamos por presente e passado, está na hora de entender as conjugações no futuro. A primeira e mais simples delas é o Simple Future que é usado para indicar alguma ação ou estado que ainda não aconteceu.

A forma afirmativa de frases nesse tempo verbal é: sujeito + will + verbo no infinitivo.

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Exemplos:

Afirmative: “I will travel to Japan next month.”;

Negative: “It will not be a rainy month.”;

Interrogative: “What time will he leave the apartment?”.

 

 

Future Continuous

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Essa flexão verbal indica uma ação que se iniciará no futuro e irá durar por um tempo indeterminado. Novamente, precisará ser utilizado o gerúndio nos verbos dessas sentenças.

O Future Continuous é formado da seguinte maneira: sujeito + will + be + verbo no gerúndio + complemento.

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Exemplos de frases nesse tempo verbal:

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Afirmative: “He will be staying here.”;

Negative: “She will not be working on Tuesday next week.”;

Interrogative: “Will you be going to the library after class?”.

 

 

Future Perfect

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O Future Perfect é a forma de expressar uma ação que acontecerá no futuro, no entanto, será finalizada antes de outro evento.

As frases nesse tempo verbal são construídas da seguinte forma: sujeito + will + have + verbo no particípio.

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Example:

Afirmative: “She will have started a new course by next year.”;

Negative: “I will not have finished the book by the end of this week.”;

Interrogative: “Will you have completed your tasks by the time they arrive?”.

 

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Future Perfect Continuous ​ ​

 

The last of the verb tenses is used when you want to refer to something that will start in the future and will be finished at a certain time. In other words, whoever speaks knows when this event ends. Sentences in Future Perfect Continuous are formed as follows: subject + will + have + been + verb in the gerund. Check out how to use this conjugation in different ways:

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Affirmative: “She will have been waiting here for two hours by the time their plane lands.”;

Negative: “I will not have been living here very long when you come to visit.”;

Interrogative: “Will they have been working here for five years at the end of May?”