English Verb Tenses: A Comprehensive Guide
English Verb Tenses
Present Simple
Affirmative: I talk.
Negative: I don’t talk.
Interrogative: Do you talk?
Third Person:
Affirmative: He eats.
Negative: He doesn’t eat.
Interrogative: Does he eat?
Present Continuous
Affirmative: I’m talking.
Negative: I’m not talking.
Interrogative: Are you talking?
Third Person:
Affirmative: He’s eating.
Negative: He isn’t eating.
Interrogative: Is he eating?
Present Perfect
Affirmative: I have talked to Peter.
Negative: I haven’t talked to Peter.
Interrogative: Have you talked to Peter?
Third Person:
Affirmative: She has gone to work.
Negative: She hasn’t gone to work.
Interrogative: Has she gone to work?
Past Simple
Affirmative: I wanted to dance.
Negative: I didn’t want to dance.
Interrogative: Did you want to dance?
Third Person:
Affirmative: He learned English.
Negative: He didn’t learn English.
Interrogative: Did he learn English?
Past Continuous
Affirmative: I was talking.
Negative: I wasn’t talking.
Interrogative: Were you talking?
Third Person:
Affirmative: He was eating.
Negative: He wasn’t eating.
Future Continuous
Affirmative: I will be talking.
Negative: I won’t be talking.
Interrogative: Will you be talking?
Past Perfect
Affirmative: I had bought a new car.
Negative: I had not bought a new car.
Interrogative: Had I bought a new car?
Third Person:
Affirmative: He had brought the gifts.
Negative: He had not brought the gifts.
Interrogative: Had he brought the gifts?
Present Perfect Continuous
Affirmative: They have been talking for three hours.
Negative: They haven’t been talking for more than a few minutes.
Interrogative: Have they been talking for a long time?
Third Person:
Affirmative: She has been studying English since she was 16.
Negative: She hasn’t been studying English for very long.
Interrogative: Has Mary been waiting long?
Future Perfect Continuous
Affirmative: Paco will have been living in Italy.
Negative: Paco won’t have been living in Italy.
Interrogative: Will Paco have been living in Italy?
Third Person: Same as above.
Past Perfect Continuous
Affirmative: I had been studying English for 2 years.
Negative: I hadn’t been studying English.
Interrogative: Had you been studying English?
Going To
Affirmative: I am going to buy a car.
Negative: I am not going to buy a car.
Interrogative: Are you going to buy a car?
Third Person:
Affirmative: She is going to buy a car.
Negative: She isn’t going to buy a car.
Interrogative: Is she going to buy a car?
Conditional
Affirmative: I would eat.
Negative: I wouldn’t eat.
Interrogative: Would I eat?
Future Simple
Affirmative: I will come.
Negative: I won’t come.
Interrogative: Will I come?
Modal Verbs
- Should
- Can
- Could
- Must
- Be able to
- Shouldn’t
- Couldn’t
- Mustn’t
- May
- Might
Modal Perfect
Subject + Modal + Past Participle
First Conditional
If/Unless + Present Simple + Will + Verb
Second Conditional
If/Unless + Past Simple + Would + Verb
Third Conditional
If + Past Perfect Simple + Would have + Past Participle