English Tenses For Cadet College

What is a Tense?

A tense tells us when an action happens in the present, past, or future.

The tense changes the form of the verb to show time.

Three Main Tenses

Each tense has four forms:

• Simple
• Continuous (Progressive)
• Perfect
• Perfect Continuous

That means we have a total of 12 tenses.

Present Tense

Simple Present

• Use: For habits, facts, or general truths.
• Form: Subject + base verb / verb-s
• Example: She plays cricket every day.

Present Continuous

• Use: For actions happening right now.
• Form: Subject + is/are/am + verb-ing
• Example: They are watching TV.

Present Perfect

• Use: For actions completed recently or in the past but important now.
• Form: Subject + has/have + past participle
• Example: I have finished my homework.

Present Perfect Continuous

• Use: For actions that started in the past and are still continuing.
• Form: Subject + has/have + been + verb-ing
• Example: She has been reading for two hours.

Past Tense

Simple Past

• Use: For actions completed in the past.
• Form: Subject + past verb
• Example: He visited Delhi last year.

Past Continuous

• Use: For actions going on at a specific time in the past.
• Form: Subject + was/were + verb-ing
• Example: I was reading when he called.

Past Perfect

• Use: For actions completed before another past action.
• Form: Subject + had + past participle
• Example: They had left before I arrived.

Past Perfect Continuous

• Use: For actions that were going on for some time before another past action.
• Form: Subject + had + been + verb-ing
• Example: She had been working there for five years before she resigned.

Future Tense

Simple Future

• Use: For actions that will happen in the future.
• Form: Subject + will/shall + base verb
• Example: I will call you tomorrow.

Future Continuous

• Use: For actions that will be going on at a certain future time.
• Form: Subject + will be + verb-ing
• Example: This time next week, we will be traveling.

Future Perfect

• Use: For actions that will be completed before a certain future time.
• Form: Subject + will have + past participle
• Example: By next month, I will have finished the book.

Future Perfect Continuous

• Use: For actions that will be going on for some time before a certain future time.
• Form: Subject + will have been + verb-ing
• Example: By next year, she will have been teaching for a decade.