Present Tenses: Present Simple
| Use | to show repeated action, belief, opinion, characteristics. |
| How to Form | verb(s/es) |
| Example | work / works |
| Sentence Example | They work sometimes. She works at Gallaudet. |
Present Tenses: Present Perfect
| Use | to show what has happened in the past and continues in the present; to show how long something has happened (often uses for and since). |
| How to Form | have/has + past participle |
| Example | have worked / has worked |
| Sentence Example | I have worked at Gallaudet for seven years. Kelly has worked at Gallaudet since 1993. |
Present Tenses: Present Continuous (Progressive)
| Use | to show an event that is going on right now. |
| How to Form | am/is/are + verb + ing |
| Example | am working / is working / are working |
| Sentence Example | Sue is working in the house. She and her sister are working at Gally now. |
Present Tenses: Present Perfect Continuous (Progressive)
| Use | to show how long something has been happening and is still happening. |
| How to Form | have/has + been + verb + ing |
| Example | have been working / has been working |
| Sentence Example | I have been working at Gallaudet for seven years. Kelly has been working at Gallaudet since 1993. |
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Past Tenses: Past Simple
| Use | to show what happened at a time in the past and is finished. |
| How to Form | verb(d/ed) |
| Example | worked |
| Sentence Example | Yesterday Jim worked with Harry. |
Past Tenses: Past Perfect
| Use | to show an action in the past that happened even before another event in the past . |
| How to Form | had + past participle |
| Example | had worked |
| Sentence Example | The car had worked before the truck hit it |
Past Tenses: Past Continuous (Progressive)
| Use | to show an event that was going on when something else happened (often uses before, after, when). |
| How to Form | was/were + verb + ing |
| Example | was working / were working |
| Sentence Example | I was working on the paper when my friend interrupted me. Sara and Jill were working at the Abbey when I stopped by. |
Past Tenses: Past Perfect Continuous (Progressive)
| Use | to show how long something had been happening before something else happened. |
| How to Form | had + been + verb + ing |
| Example | had been working |
| Sentence Example | The car had been working fine before the truck hit it. |
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Future Tenses: Future Simple
| Use | to show what will happen in the future. |
| How to Form | will + verb |
| Example | will work |
| Sentence Example | In the future I will work on Mars every week. |
Future Tenses: Future Perfect
| Use | to show something that has not yet been done but that will be done before a set time in the future. |
| How to Form | will have + past participle |
| Example | will have worked |
| Sentence Example | By tomorrow Steve will have worked on his term paper. |
Future Tenses: Future Continuous (Progressive)
| Use | to show an event that will be going on when something else happens. |
| How to Form | will be + verb + ing |
| Example | will be working |
| Sentence Example | The guard will be working on his project when we sneak up on him. |
Future Tenses: Future Perfect Continuous (Progressive)
| Use | to show how long something will have been happening by a future time. |
| How to Form | will have + been + verb + ing |
| Example | will have been working |
| Sentence Example | By tomorrow Steve will have been working for five days on his term paper. |
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