Understanding English Tenses
English has 12 tenses that help us express when an action takes place.
Present Tenses
- Simple Present: I write. (habitual actions)
- Present Continuous: I am writing. (happening now)
- Present Perfect: I have written. (completed with present relevance)
Past Tenses
- Simple Past: I wrote. (completed in the past)
- Past Continuous: I was writing. (ongoing in the past)
- Past Perfect: I had written. (before another past event)
Future Tenses
- Simple Future: I will write.
- Future Continuous: I will be writing.
- Future Perfect: I will have written.
Tip: Pay attention to time markers like “yesterday”, “now”, “tomorrow” to identify the correct tense.