A tense tells us the time of an action: present, past or future. Each of these three times has four forms (simple, continuous, perfect and perfect continuous), so English has twelve tense forms. Tense questions appear in almost every Lok Sewa English paper, usually as fill-in-the-blanks or error spotting. This note gives the structure, uses and clue words of each form, then shows the mistakes students make most often.
1. Verb forms you need
Every tense is built from a few forms of the main verb:
| Form | Name | Example (go) | Example (write) |
|---|---|---|---|
| V1 | Base form | go | write |
| V1 + s/es | Third person singular | goes | writes |
| V2 | Past form | went | wrote |
| V3 | Past participle | gone | written |
| V-ing | Present participle | going | writing |
The helping verbs are: am, is, are, was, were, do, does, did, has, have, had, will and shall. In the tables below, “Sub” means the subject.
2. The twelve tenses at a glance
| Tense | Structure | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Present simple | Sub + V1 / V1 + s/es | Sita reads the news every morning. |
| Present continuous | Sub + am/is/are + V-ing | Sita is reading the news now. |
| Present perfect | Sub + has/have + V3 | Sita has read the news. |
| Present perfect continuous | Sub + has/have been + V-ing | Sita has been reading since 7 o’clock. |
| Past simple | Sub + V2 | Sita read the news yesterday. |
| Past continuous | Sub + was/were + V-ing | Sita was reading when the phone rang. |
| Past perfect | Sub + had + V3 | Sita had read the news before breakfast. |
| Past perfect continuous | Sub + had been + V-ing | Sita had been reading for an hour when Ram arrived. |
| Future simple | Sub + will/shall + V1 | Sita will read the news tomorrow. |
| Future continuous | Sub + will/shall be + V-ing | Sita will be reading at this time tomorrow. |
| Future perfect | Sub + will/shall have + V3 | Sita will have read the news by 8 o’clock. |
| Future perfect continuous | Sub + will/shall have been + V-ing | By noon Sita will have been reading for five hours. |
Note that in the present simple, a third person singular subject (he, she, it, Ram, the bus) takes V1 + s/es. In negatives and questions of the present and past simple we use do/does/did + V1: “Ram does not smoke.” “Did you visit Pokhara?”
3. Present tenses: uses and clue words
Present simple is used for:
- habits and routines: “My father walks to Ratnapark every day.”
- general and scientific truths: “Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius.”
- fixed timetables: “The bus to Butwal leaves at six.”
Clue words: always, usually, often, sometimes, never, every day, every year.
Present continuous is used for an action going on at the moment of speaking or around this period: “Look! The children are playing in the rain.” Clue words: now, at present, at the moment, currently, look, listen.
Present perfect shows a past action that is complete but connected to the present, often with its result still visible: “Hari has lost his bag, so he cannot open the shop.” Clue words: just, already, yet, ever, never, recently, so far, since, for.
Present perfect continuous shows an action that started in the past and is still going on: “They have been building this bridge for two years.”
Since and for: use since with a point of time (since Monday, since 2070 BS, since morning) and for with a length of time (for three days, for ten years).
4. Past tenses: uses and clue words
Past simple is for a finished action at a definite time in the past: “Gita visited Lumbini last month.” Clue words: yesterday, ago, last week, last year, in 2015, the other day.
Past continuous is for an action in progress at a past moment. It is often joined with a past simple action that interrupted it: “We were eating dinner when the light went out.” Clue words: while, when, at that time, all evening.
Past perfect shows the earlier of two past actions: “The train had left before we reached the station.” Here “had left” happened first. Clue words: before, after, already, by the time.
Past perfect continuous shows an action that had continued for some time before another past action: “Shyam had been waiting for two hours when the doctor came.”
5. Future tenses: uses and clue words
Future simple is for a future action, a promise or a decision made at the time of speaking: “I will help you with the form.” Clue words: tomorrow, next week, next year, soon, in the future. In formal British usage shall is used with I and we, and will with other subjects; today will is common with all subjects.
Future continuous is for an action that will be in progress at a certain future time: “At ten tomorrow I will be sitting for the exam.”
Future perfect is for an action that will be complete before a stated future time: “By next Dashain the workers will have finished the road.” Clue words: by tomorrow, by next year, by then.
Future perfect continuous shows how long an action will have continued by a future time: “By June, Ram will have been teaching in Dhangadhi for ten years.”
6. Common mistakes
| Wrong | Right | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| I have met him yesterday. | I met him yesterday. | Definite past time (yesterday) needs past simple. |
| She is knowing the answer. | She knows the answer. | Stative verbs are not used in continuous form. |
| Did he went home? | Did he go home? | After did, use V1. |
| He live in Biratnagar. | He lives in Biratnagar. | Third person singular needs s/es. |
| I am living here since 2010. | I have been living here since 2010. | Action from past to now with since needs perfect continuous. |
| When he will come, I will tell him. | When he comes, I will tell him. | After when, if, before, until, as soon as, use present simple for a future idea. |
| He has came. | He has come. | After has/have/had, use V3. |
Stative verbs describe a state, not an action, so they are normally not used in continuous tenses. Common ones are: know, understand, believe, like, love, hate, want, need, own, belong, seem and contain.
7. Worked examples
- “Look! The baby ___ (sleep).” The clue “Look!” shows an action happening now, so: is sleeping.
- “Ram ___ (buy) a new bicycle last week.” “Last week” is a definite past time, so: bought.
- “We ___ (know) each other since childhood.” Past to now with since, and know is stative, so: have known.
- “When I reached the hall, the meeting ___ (already start).” Starting happened before reaching, so: had already started.
- “If it ___ (rain) tomorrow, the match will be cancelled.” After if, a future idea takes present simple: rains.
- “By the end of this year, Sita ___ (complete) her degree.” “By the end of” with a future time: will have completed.
📌 Key points to remember
- English has 12 tense forms: 3 times (present, past, future) × 4 aspects (simple, continuous, perfect, perfect continuous).
- Continuous tenses use a form of be + V-ing; perfect tenses use has/have/had + V3.
- Perfect continuous tenses use has/have/had been + V-ing, or will have been + V-ing.
- Third person singular subjects take V1 + s/es in the present simple.
- After do, does and did, always use V1.
- Present simple is used for habits, general truths and timetables.
- Present perfect is not used with definite past time words like yesterday or ago.
- Since is for a point of time; for is for a length of time.
- Past perfect shows the earlier of two past actions.
- Stative verbs such as know, believe and belong are not used in continuous form.
- After when, if, before, until and as soon as, use present simple for a future meaning.
- “By” with a future time usually signals the future perfect.
Test yourself: Tenses in English
24 questions on Verb forms you need, Past tenses: uses and clue words and Worked examples.