English has 12 verb tenses, and they all come from one simple formula: three time frames — past, present and future — each combined with four aspects: simple, continuous, perfect and perfect continuous. Take the verb work and run it through the grid — I work, I am working, I have worked, I have been working — then repeat the pattern in the past and the future. Learn the four aspects once and you can build all twelve.
Every tense answers two questions: when does the action happen (past, present or future) and how is it viewed (as a plain fact, as ongoing, as completed, or as an ongoing action measured over time). Those four viewpoints are the aspects, and each has its own formula:
One honest caveat: strictly speaking, English marks only two tenses on the verb itself — present (work/works) and past (worked). The "future" is built with the modal will, not a verb ending, so linguists often treat it separately. The 12-tense model is still the clearest way to learn the system, which is why teachers use it everywhere.
Use for habits, routines, permanent facts and general truths (and timetabled events). I take the 8 o'clock train. Water boils at 100°C. The shop opens at nine.
Use for actions happening now or around now, temporary situations and fixed future arrangements. She is reading in the garden. We are meeting the clients on Friday.
Use for past actions with a present result, life experiences, and situations that began in the past and still continue. I have lost my keys. She has never eaten sushi. We have known each other since 2010.
Use for an activity that started in the past and is still going, stressing its duration — or one that has just stopped and left a visible result. They have been building the house for a year. You're out of breath — have you been running?
Use for a completed action at a finished past time, and for a sequence of events. I visited Rome last spring. He opened the door, looked out and smiled.
Use for an action in progress at a past moment, often interrupted by a shorter one. I was sleeping when the alarm went off. At noon they were still driving.
Use for the "past before the past" — an action finished before another past moment. The train had already left when we reached the platform. She realised she had met him before.
Use for how long an activity had been going before another past point, often showing cause and effect. He was exhausted because he had been working all night. We had been waiting an hour when the bus finally came.
Use for predictions, on-the-spot decisions, promises and offers. It will snow tonight. I'll carry that for you.
Use for an action that will be in progress at a specific future time. This time tomorrow I will be lying on the beach. Don't phone at eight — we'll be having dinner.
Use for an action that will be completed before a future point. By December I will have finished the course. They will have sold out before we arrive.
Use for the duration of an activity up to a future point. In May I will have been living here for ten years. By midnight he will have been driving for twelve hours.
Verbs of state — know, believe, want, like, love, own, need, seem, understand — normally avoid the continuous. Say I want coffee, not I am wanting coffee. A few verbs switch meaning: I think it's true (opinion) versus I'm thinking about it (mental activity); He has a car (owns) versus He is having lunch (eating). McDonald's "I'm lovin' it" breaks the rule on purpose.
This is the trap that catches everyone. Use the past simple when the time is finished or stated (yesterday, in 2020, last week); use the present perfect when the time is unfinished or unspecified and the result still matters. I broke my leg in March (finished time) but I've broken my leg (and it's still in plaster).
Both are present perfect, but been to means went and came back, while gone to means went and is still there. She has been to Paris (she's home now); She has gone to Paris (she's there or on her way). Mixing them up changes the whole meaning.
Use going to for plans already decided and predictions with present evidence (Look at those clouds — it's going to rain); use will for instant decisions and general predictions (I think it'll be fine). And keep since for a starting point (since Monday) but for for a length of time (for three days).
The biggest real split is the present perfect with just, already and yet. British English prefers the perfect — I've just eaten, Have you finished yet?, I've already told him — while American English often uses the past simple: I just ate, Did you finish yet?, I already told him. Both are standard in their own variety. American English also keeps gotten as a past participle (You've gotten taller) where British English uses got (You've got taller). And the old British future with shall (I shall return) is now formal and rare — will works everywhere.
Picture a grid: three rows (past, present, future) and four columns (simple, continuous, perfect, perfect continuous). Every square is one tense — three times four is twelve. To shift a tense from present to past to future, you usually change only the auxiliary: have been working becomes had been working becomes will have been working. Learn the four aspect formulas once, and the whole system unlocks.
They are the present, past and future forms of four aspects — simple, continuous, perfect and perfect continuous. In order: present simple, present continuous, present perfect, present perfect continuous, then the matching past four (past simple through past perfect continuous) and future four (future simple through future perfect continuous). Twelve tenses in all, each a time frame plus an aspect.
It depends on the definition. Traditional grammar teaches 12, and some books say 16 by adding 'future-in-the-past' forms. But strictly, English marks only two tenses on the verb itself — present and past. The future is built with the modal 'will', not a verb ending, so many linguists count just two true tenses.
Use the past simple for an action at a finished, stated time: I saw him yesterday. Use the present perfect for unfinished or unspecified time, or a past action whose result still matters now: I've seen that film; I've lost my keys. A finished time word like 'yesterday' always forces the past simple.
For most learners it's the present perfect, because many languages have no direct equivalent and it overlaps confusingly with the past simple. The perfect continuous forms come next, since they add duration on top. The fix is to focus on why a tense is chosen — finished time, result, or duration — not just its form.
Simple, continuous (progressive), perfect, and perfect continuous. Simple states a fact or whole action (works). Continuous shows an action in progress (is working). Perfect shows an action completed before a point in time (has worked). Perfect continuous shows how long an ongoing action lasts (has been working). Each one combines with past, present and future.
