Selecting the correct verb tense and conjugating verbs correctly is tricky in English. Click on the verb tense to read more about how to form this tense and how it is used, or select a time to see the full list of tenses and references on that time.
| Present tenses in English | Examples |
|---|---|
| Simple present tense | They walk home. |
| Present continuous tense | They are walking home. |
| Past tenses in English | |
| Simple past tense | Peter lived in China in 1965. |
| Past continuous tense | I was reading when she arrived. |
| Perfect tenses in English | |
| Present perfect tense | I have lived here since 1987. |
| Present perfect continuous | I have been living here for years. |
| Past perfect | We had been to see her several times before she visited us. |
| Past perfect continuous | He had been watching her for some time when she turned and smiled. |
| Future perfect | We will have arrived in the States by the time you get this letter. |
| Future perfect continuous | By the end of your course, you will have been studying for five years. |
| Future tenses in English | |
| Simple future tense | They will go to Italy next week. |
| Future continuous tense | I will be travelling by train. |
| Conditional tenses in English | |
| Zero conditional | If ice gets hot it melts. |
| Type 1 conditional | If he is late I will be angry. |
| Type 2 conditional | If he was in Australia he would be getting up now. |
| Type 3 conditional | She would have visited me if she had had time. |
| Mixed conditional | I would be playing tennis if I hadn't broken my arm. |
| The -ing forms in English | |
| Gerund | I like swimming. |
| Present participle | She goes running every morning. |
| Infinitives | |
| Passive voice |