The English Tenses

Tense Group Simple Continuous Perfect Perfect Continuous

V / Vs(es)
I / you / they / we eat pizza every
day.
He / she / (it) eats pizza every day.
Present I don’t eat
He doesn’t eat
Do you eat?
Does he eat?
Always, usually, every day
(when, before, as soon as, after,
till, until-future)
Ved / V2 (irr. verbs)
I ate pizza yesterday.
He didn’t eat
Past Did he / you eat?
yesterday, last winter, 2 years ago,
in 1999
(when, before, as soon as, after,
till, until)
Will + V
I will eat pizza tomorrow.
I will eat / I’ll eat
Future He will not eat / He won’t eat
Will you eat?
tomorrow, next week, next
Sunday, in a week
Be (am, is, are) +Ving
I am eating pizza now.
You / we / they are eating
He / she is eating
I’m not eating
We aren’t eating
She isn’t eating
Are they eating?
Is she eating?
Now, at the moment, these days
(always/constantly – irritation)
Was / were + Ving
I / he / she / it was eating pizza at
8 pm yesterday.
We / you / they were eating
I wasn’t eating
They weren’t eating
Was she eating?
Were you eating?
yesterday at 5 pm, while
Will be +Ving
This time tomorrow I will be
eating pizza.
We’ll be eating
He won’t be eating
Will she be eating?
at 4 pm tomorrow, from 4 till 6
next Sunday, this time tomorrow
Have / has +Ved / V3 Have / has been +Ving
I/you/we/they have eaten pizza
recently. I / you / they / we have been eating
He / she / it has eaten pizza pizza all day long.
recently. He / she / it has been eating pizza
I haven’t eaten
He hasn’t eaten
all day long.
We haven’t been eating
Has she eaten? He hasn’t been eating
Have they eaten? Have they been eating?
Already, yet, just, ever, never, Has she been eating?
recently, lately, since, for Since, for, all day, for 3 hours
Had + Ved / V3 Had been + Ving
I had already eaten pizza by the
time he came. We had been eating pizza for 2
I had eaten / he had eaten hours when you arrived.
We hadn’t eaten
Had she eaten?
She had been eating
Had he been eating
(no negative as a rule)
before (when) Mother came / a
friend called / the show began for 3 hours before Mother came / a
(past simple) friend called.
Before, after, by
Will have + Ved / V3 Will have been + Ving
I will have eaten pizza by the
time you arrive. I will have been eating pizza for 2
He will have eaten hours by the time you arrive.
They won’t have eaten
Will she have eaten?
(is practically never used by native
by 6 pm tomorrow / by the time speakers)
the parents come home, before, by…, by the time, for
until