Table of English Tenses with Rules and Examples

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In this English language lesson, we are going to cover one of the most important and common grammar parts: the tenses of verbs. We will help you to learn better and easier with this table of English tenses with rules and examples. The table below shows a chart of all tenses in English.

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Table of English Tenses with Rules and Examples - Present

	Simple Present	Present Progressive	Present Perfect	Present Perfect Progressive
Affirmative	► He works here. ► They work here.	► He is working here. ► They are working here.	► She has worked here. ► They have worked here.	► He has been working here? ► They have been working here?
Negative	► He does not work here. ► They do not work here.	► He is not working here. ► They are not working here.	► She has not worked here. ► They have not worked here.	► He has not been working here? ► They have not been working here?
Question	► Does he work here? ► Do they work here?	► Is he working here? ► Are they working here?	► Has she worked here? ► Have they worked here?	► Has he been working here? ► Have they been working here?
Time Indicators	► Now, today, at this moment, always, every …, sometimes …	► at the moment, currently, just now, now …	► already, ever, just, never, not yet, so far, till now, up to now	► all day, for 3 years, since 2007, how long ?, the whole month …
Form	► S + V (+s / es / ies)	► S + am/is/are + V + ing	► S + have / has + past participle	► S + have/has + been + V + ing
Use	► with facts (general truths) ► with repeated acts. (routine)	► action in progress right now. ► future plan or intention	► act. that finished in the very recent past. ► finished act. in an unfinished period	► past act. that continues in present. ► repeated acts. that happened lately.

Table of English Tenses with Rules and Examples - Past

	Simple Past	Past Progressive	Past Perfect	Past Perfect Progressive
Affirmative	► He worked here. ► They worked here.	► He was working here. ► They were working here.	► She had worked here. ► They had worked here.	► He had been working here? ► They had been working here?
Negative	► He did not work here. ► They did not work here.	► He was not working here. ► They were not working here.	► She had not worked here. ► They had not worked here.	► He had not been working here? ► They had not been working here?
Question	► Did he work here? ► Did they work here?	► Was he working here? ► Were they working here?	► Had she worked here? ► Had they worked here?	► Had he been working here? ► Had they been working here?
Time Indicators	► Ago, yesterday, last month, last week …	► while, as long as …	► already, ever, just, never, not yet, so far, till now, up to now	► for, since, the whole day, all day …
Form	► S + V + d / ed / ied	► was / were + V + ing	► S + had + past participle	► S + had + been + V + ing
Use	► with facts (general truths) ► with repeated acts. (routine)	► action going on at a certain time in the past. ► action in the past that is interrupted by another action(s). ► actions taking place at the same time.	► action that finished in the very recent past. ► finished action in an unfinished period.	► action taking place before a certain time in the past.

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You can check the introduction to English verb tenses for more examples or the grammar section.

Table of English Tenses with Rules and Examples - Future

	Future Simple	Future Continuous	Future Perfect	Future Perfect Progressive
Affirmative	► He will work here. ► They will work here.	► He will be working here. ► They will be working here.	► She will have worked here. ► They will have worked here.	► He will have been working here? ► They will have been working here?
Negative	► He will not work here. ► They will not work here.	► He will not be working here. ► They will not be working here.	► She will not have worked here. ► They will not have worked here.	► He will not have been working here? ► They will not have been working here?
Question	► Will he work here? ► Will they work here?	► Will he be working here? ► Will they be working here?	► Will she have worked here? ► Will they have worked here?	► Will he have been working here? ► Will they have been working here?
Time Indicators	► tomorrow, soon, next year, someday …	► this time next week, still, at 7 tomorrow …	► by the time, by +time, before, when, till, until …	► by the time, by +time, before, when, till, until …
Form	► S + will + V	► S + will + be + V + ing	► S + will + have + past participle	► S + will + have + been + V + ing
Use	► to predict future events. ► to express a decision, offer or promise.	► action going on at a certain time in the past. ► action in the past that is interrupted by another action(s). ► actions taking place at the same time.	► action 1 will finish in future before action 2. ► action will finish in future before a certain point.	► action will continue to a point in the future.

Table of English Tenses with Rules and Examples - Infinitive

	Infinitive
Affirmative	► He wants to work here. ► They want to work here.
Negative	► He does not want to work here. ► They do not want to work here.
Question	► Does he want to work here? ► Do they want to work here?
Time Indicators	► Now, today, at this moment, always, every …, sometimes …
Form	► S + verb + to + Verb
Use	► After modals like must or should … ► After a conjugated verb

Table of English Tenses with Rules and Examples - Imperative

	Infinitive
Affirmative	► Do your homework. ► Wake up early.
Negative	► Do not smoke here. ► Do not play with fire
Time Indicators	► Now, today, at this moment, always, every …, sometimes …
Form	► verb + object
Use	► Give order or advice … ► Give directions

You can print the table of English tenses with rules and examples from the images or flashcards below and attach them to your textbook, or check this detailed article.

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Hope this helped advance your English grammar understanding and answered some of these recurrent questions such as:

What is the rules of present simple? What is the rules of present simple? Example of a simple present sentence? How do you write simple present tense? How do you write simple present tense? Do does in simple present tense? What are 5 examples of present? How do you write daily routine in simple present tense? What are the 4 types of present tense?