Mastering English Tenses: A Comprehensive Breakdown
Grammar
Present Tenses
- Present Simple → Habits / Routines (Always, usually)
He / She / It → plays, eats…
He / She / It → Doesn’t play, eat…
( ? ) He / She / It → Does she / he / it play, eat…?
- Present Continuous → Now, at the moment
( + )( – )
He / She / It → is + -ing
He / She / It → isn’t + -ing
You / We / They → are + -ing
(?)
He / She / It → Is she / he / it + -ing ?
You / We / They → Are you / we / they + -ing ?
- Present Perfect Simple → Recent action (finished)
(+)(-)
He / She / It → Has eaten, played…
He / She / It → Hasn’t eaten, played…
I / You / We / They → Have eaten, played…
I / You / We / They → Haven’t eaten…
(?)
He / She / It → Has she / he / it eaten, played…?
I / You / We / They → Have I / we / they / you eaten, played…?
Present Perfect → I have stayed in this hotel three times (Time)
Past Simple → I stayed in this hotel last week (When)
A period of past time that continues up to the present:
- She has worked since 1989.
- She has worked for 4 years.
*(I have lived in Lazkao for 17 years → Now I live in Lazkao)
EVER / NEVER
* I have never been in Paris before.
* It’s the first time I have ever been in Paris.
- Present Perfect Continuous → Long time activity / Not finished action
- Have / Has been + -ing
( + )( – )
He / She / It → Has been eating, playing…
He / She / It → Hasn’t been eating
( ? )
He / She / It → Has she / he / it been eating, playing…?
- Present Passive → Action more important
*The mail is delivered every day at 10.
↓
The postman delivers the mail.
*The mail is being delivered just now.
Past Tenses
- Past Simple → Finished past action
- ( + )( – )
He / She / It → ate, played…
He / She / It → DIDN’T eat, play… (present)
( ? )
He / She / It → DID she / he / it eat, play …?
- Past Continuous → Not finished past action (progressive)
( + )( – )
He / She / It → Was eating, playing…
He / She / It → Wasn’t eating…
They / We / You → Were eating, playing…
( ? )
He / She / It → Was he / she / it eating…?
- Past Perfect Simple → Action before the past
( + )( – )
He / She / It → Had played, eaten…
He / She / It → Hadn’t played, eaten…
( ? )
He / She / It → Had she / he / it played, eaten…?
- Past Perfect Continuous → Something started in the past and continued up until another time in the past. It stops before something else in the past.
( + ) You had been waiting there for more than two hours when she finally arrived.
( ? ) Had you been waiting there for more than two hours when she finally arrived?
( – ) You had not (hadn’t) been waiting there for more than two hours when she finally arrived.
- Used to / Would
Gran used to walk to school when she was a child.
My friend and I used to play online computer games.
There didn’t use to be so many cars on the roads.
Every summer we would stay in a caravan by a lake.
Future Tenses
- Present Simple → Timetables
The train from Donosti arrives at 5.
- Present Continuous → Planned action for the near future
I am meeting Armando next week.
- Going to → Planned action / Predicting what is going to happen (evidence)
I am going to meet Armando next week.
Look at this little boy riding his bike. He is going to fall down.
- Will → Predicting but not sure / Not planned action. Just decided actions
-In fifty years time there will be no fuel cars.
- Future Continuous → An activity in progress at a particular time in the future (something that has started but still hasn’t finished in the future)
Tomorrow, at 9 p.m. I will be watching TV.
- Future Perfect → An action that will be finished by a time in the future
By July 2017 you will have finished Batxi 2.
So, Such, Such a
SO + ADJ / ADV; The road was SO NARROW that two cars couldn’t pass.
SUCH (a)* + (ADJ) + NOUN ; It was SUCH A NARROW ROAD that…
*a: SINGULAR and COUNTABLE
SO MANY : countable
SO MUCH: uncountable+ NOUN
SO LITTLE
SUCH A LOT OF+NOUN
SUCH A FEW
Enough / Too
ENOUGH:
- Adj. + ENOUGH + (for+people) + INF.
- ENOUGH + NOUN +(for +people) + INF.
TOO:
- TOO + Adj. / Adv. + (FOR (people)) + INF.
- TOO MUCH / MANY + NOUN + (FOR (people)) + INF.
This road is not WIDE ENOUGH for two cars to pass.
This road is too narrow for two cars to pass.