Tenses Rules or Tips to Use Tenses or Use Tense with example

When to Apply Tenses

Simple Present Planned and Scheduled Events Clock ticks twelve

Description of Routines Ali visits the orphanage daily

Universal Truth Earth rotates around the Sun

Present When an activity that started Ruba is jogging while talking to

Continuous recently and is in continuing while Saman
we speak about it

An action that is taking place but I am watching The Blacklist on

not at that particular moment Netflix these days

An action that will take place in I am going to school tomorrow

the future for sure

Present Perfect The action is over but still has an I have finished all my chores for
effect on the present the day

Present Perfect An activity that started in the past I have been staying in Canada for
Continuous and is likely to continue in the the last fifteen years now
future or not sure when it will end

Simple Past Action started and ended in the She completed her graduation last
past year

Reference to historical events Mangal Pandey revolted in 1857

Past Continuous An action that was going on in the We were eating strawberries in the
past and has now ended morning

Reference to person’s persistent He was always a complaining type

habit(s) of boy

Past Perfect An action completed before a I had met Imran Khan few years
certain moment in the past back

When two actions have taken The plane had landed before I
place in the past and we want to reached to pick her from the
refer to the earlier event out of the airport
two

Simple Future An action that is likely to take We will launch a satellite in 2020
place in future
 An activity we can control in the I will write CAT 2019 exam
future

Future An activity that will certainly be I will be watching the Oscars

Continuous happening in continuation in tonight
future

Future Perfect When action 1 will be complete I will have been married by the
by the time action 2 will begin in time you will come back from
the future Australia.

Please Note: Past Perfect Continuous and Future Perfect Continuous are not
used in spoken English