Present

Present Simple

The tense that is used to refer to events, actions, and conditions that are happening all the time,
or exist now. 

 “I swim every day.” 
 “I play football.” 

Present Continuous: 

The tense that is used for actions happening now or for an action that is unfinished. This tense
is also used when the action is temporary. 

 “I am swimming in my neighbour’s pool now.” 

 “She is speaking to my mum at the moment.” 

Present Perfect: 

The tense that is used for something that started in the past and continued to the present time. 

 “I have swum in the sea countless times.” 

 “I have spoken to her many times.” 

Present Perfect Continuous: 

The tense that is used to show that something started in the past and is continuing at the
present time. 

 “I have been swimming since I was 7 years old.” 

 “She has been competing in dance competitions lately.” 

Past
Simple Past: 

The tense that is used to describe an event or action that happened in the past. 

 “Yesterday, I swam 10 laps.” 
 “Last night, I cooked chicken curry.” 

Past Continuous: 

The tense that is used for a continuing action or event in a time which began or existed in the
past. It can also be used to describe an unfinished action that was interrupted by another event
or action. 

 “I was swimming with David last night when Bob arrived.” 

 “In May, she was teaching in a school in Darwin.” 

Past Perfect: 

The tense that is used to make it clear that one event happened before another in the past. 

 “I had swum the breaststroke before I turned 8.” 

 “He had failed to communicate that he had another wife when we first met.” 

Past Perfect Continuous: 

The tense that is used to show that an action started in the past and continued up until another
time in the past. 

 “I had been swimming for many years before Priya picked up the sport.” 
 “Dave had been playing soccer for 10 years when he was offered a spot on the US Olympic
team.”

Future
Simple Future: 

The tense that is used to describe things that haven’t yet happened at the present time, but
which are expected, or likely to occur in the future. 

 “I will swim more than 10 laps tomorrow.” 

 “You will see her again next week.” 

Future Continuous: 

The tense that is used for an unfinished action or event that will occur in future and continue for
an expected length of time. 

 “I will be swimming in the new Olympic-sized swimming pool on Friday.” 

 “By December next year, I will be swimming like a fish.” 

Future Perfect: 

The tense that is used for actions that will be completed between now and some point in the
future. 

 “I will have swum at least 1000km by the end of the year” 

 “He will have built 40 homes by the first quarter of 2018.” 

Future Perfect Continuous: 

The tense that is used to describe actions that will continue up until a point in the future. 

 “By noon today, I will have been swimming for 2 hours.” 

 “In April, Damien will have been working in the company for 10 years.”