Present Simple:
1. A habit or routine
* He always gets up at 6 o’clock.
2. A general truth or fact
* The sun rises in the east
3. A state verb in the present
* She loves dark chocolate
4. Vivid storytelling/ historic present
* Two priests walk into a bar
5. A fixed timetable
* Her flight arrives at 10:10 AM
Words used with present simple: every, always, sometimes, never, frequently
Present Continuous:
(am/is/are verbing)
1. An action happening now/at the moment
* You are reading this sentence.
2. An activity happening these days
* I’m reading a great novel by Baantier
3. A period of change happening now
* 90s music is becoming popular again
4. An arranged future
* We’re meeting for dinner tomorrow
Present Perfect Simple:
(have/has verbed)
1. A recently completed action
* We’ve adopted a new cat
2. A past action with a relevant present result
* Call 112! There has been an accident
3. A life experience
* He’s never been to Paris
4. A state verb in the past
* I have believed in ghosts since I was 3
Present Perfect Continuous:
(have/has been verbing)
1. A recent longer activity that explains a present result
* Why are you crying? I’ve been cutting a bunch of onions
2. A past action that might be continuing now, emphasis on duration
* They have been working here for years
Past Simple:
1. A past habit or routine
* I walked to school everyday as a kid.
2. Fact about the past
* Chicago was rebuilt after the fire in 1871
3. A completed past action
* They gave chocolate to their teacher.
Past Continuous:
(was verbing)
1. An interrupted action in the past
* I was sleeping when , boss called
2. A long background action in a story
* It was raining. She drove slowly home
, 3. An ongoing activity at a certain time/period in the past
* They were playing frisbee all weekend
4. Someone’s annoying past habit
* He was always complaining about his ex
Past Perfect Simple:
(had verbed)
1. An longer action that happend before another past action
* He had worked as a chef before he retired
2. A state verb in the past of the past
* She had always known she would be rich
Past Perfect Continuous:
(had been verbing)
1. A long activity that happened before another past action, emphasis on duration
* They had been staying with her dad for moths when he suddenly regained his
memory.
Future Simple:
(will verb)
1. A promise
* Your information will never be shared
2. A warning
* If your eat that, you’ll get sick
3. A spontaneous decision
* I’ll have a coffee, please
4. A prediction without evidence
* He’ll be a good father someday
5. With ‘I think”, probably, possibly, maybe
* I think I’ll go to the store after work
6. An offer
* That box is heavy— I’ll help you
Going to:
1. A personal plan for the future (not yet arranged)
* I’m going to call her tonight
2. A prediction with evidence
* Look at those clouds— it’s going to rain
Future Continuous:
(will be + verbing)
1. An ongoing activity predicted for a point in the future
* She’ll be sitting on an airplane at this time tomorrow
Future Perfect Simple:
(will have verbed)
1. A predicted action that will start in the future and finish before a certain point in
time
* The cat will have broken all of the flower vases by this time next month
Future Perfect Continuous:
(will have been verbing)
1. Emphasizing the duration of an activity until a future point
* They will have been dating for six moths by Christmas
1. A habit or routine
* He always gets up at 6 o’clock.
2. A general truth or fact
* The sun rises in the east
3. A state verb in the present
* She loves dark chocolate
4. Vivid storytelling/ historic present
* Two priests walk into a bar
5. A fixed timetable
* Her flight arrives at 10:10 AM
Words used with present simple: every, always, sometimes, never, frequently
Present Continuous:
(am/is/are verbing)
1. An action happening now/at the moment
* You are reading this sentence.
2. An activity happening these days
* I’m reading a great novel by Baantier
3. A period of change happening now
* 90s music is becoming popular again
4. An arranged future
* We’re meeting for dinner tomorrow
Present Perfect Simple:
(have/has verbed)
1. A recently completed action
* We’ve adopted a new cat
2. A past action with a relevant present result
* Call 112! There has been an accident
3. A life experience
* He’s never been to Paris
4. A state verb in the past
* I have believed in ghosts since I was 3
Present Perfect Continuous:
(have/has been verbing)
1. A recent longer activity that explains a present result
* Why are you crying? I’ve been cutting a bunch of onions
2. A past action that might be continuing now, emphasis on duration
* They have been working here for years
Past Simple:
1. A past habit or routine
* I walked to school everyday as a kid.
2. Fact about the past
* Chicago was rebuilt after the fire in 1871
3. A completed past action
* They gave chocolate to their teacher.
Past Continuous:
(was verbing)
1. An interrupted action in the past
* I was sleeping when , boss called
2. A long background action in a story
* It was raining. She drove slowly home
, 3. An ongoing activity at a certain time/period in the past
* They were playing frisbee all weekend
4. Someone’s annoying past habit
* He was always complaining about his ex
Past Perfect Simple:
(had verbed)
1. An longer action that happend before another past action
* He had worked as a chef before he retired
2. A state verb in the past of the past
* She had always known she would be rich
Past Perfect Continuous:
(had been verbing)
1. A long activity that happened before another past action, emphasis on duration
* They had been staying with her dad for moths when he suddenly regained his
memory.
Future Simple:
(will verb)
1. A promise
* Your information will never be shared
2. A warning
* If your eat that, you’ll get sick
3. A spontaneous decision
* I’ll have a coffee, please
4. A prediction without evidence
* He’ll be a good father someday
5. With ‘I think”, probably, possibly, maybe
* I think I’ll go to the store after work
6. An offer
* That box is heavy— I’ll help you
Going to:
1. A personal plan for the future (not yet arranged)
* I’m going to call her tonight
2. A prediction with evidence
* Look at those clouds— it’s going to rain
Future Continuous:
(will be + verbing)
1. An ongoing activity predicted for a point in the future
* She’ll be sitting on an airplane at this time tomorrow
Future Perfect Simple:
(will have verbed)
1. A predicted action that will start in the future and finish before a certain point in
time
* The cat will have broken all of the flower vases by this time next month
Future Perfect Continuous:
(will have been verbing)
1. Emphasizing the duration of an activity until a future point
* They will have been dating for six moths by Christmas
