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English TESOL Tenses! Cheat Sheet (DRAFT) by

English Tenses FOR TESOL!!

This is a draft cheat sheet. It is a work in progress and is not finished yet.

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Simple

Completed actions, routines or habits, give us inform­ation, or makes predic­tions

Perfect

Earlier actions followed by later actions or even earlier actions!

Continuous

Actions that continue over time or happening simult­­an­e­ously in the past

Perfect Continuous

show duration, comple­tion, and importance
 

Past

 

Past simple:

Completed, finished actions with a specific time reference
Showing whether an action or condition occurred
Positive: You played tennis.
Question: Did you play tennis?
Negative: You didn’t play tennis.

Past Perfect (simple):

When we’re already talking about the past but want to refer to an earlier past time
Form: had + past participle
e.g. ‘I couldn’t get in because I had forgotten my keys’
Positive: You had studied Spanish before you went to Madrid.
Question: Had you studied Spanish before you went to Madrid?
Negative: You hadn’t studied Spanish before you went to Madrid.

Past contin­uous/ Past progre­ssive:

Actions in progress at a particular time in the past, actions interr­upted in the past, two actions happening simult­ane­ously in the past
Form: was/were + verb + -ing
e.g. ‘What were you doing at 10.00 last night?’, ‘I was writing letters’

Past Perfect Contin­uous:

an action in progress in the past leading up to another past moment
Form: had + been + verb + -ing
e.g. ‘He had been cleaning the car for an hour before he stopped because of the rain’
 

Present

 

Present simple:

Routin­e/h­abitual actions or things which are generally true

Positive: You like Edinburgh.
Question: Do you like Edinburgh?
Negative: You do not like Edinburgh.

In regular verbs, this tense is formed by using the verb stem, adding -s in the third person singular (he, she, it).

Present Perfect Tense

Past actions that are related to or continue into the present.
Formed by combining the present tense of the verb have with the past participle of the main verb.

Positive: You have visited the Prado Museum before.
Question: Have you visited the Prado Museum before?
Negative: You have not visited the Prado Museum before.

Present contin­uous/ Present progre­ssive:

Happening now or around now
Form: am/is/are + verb + -ing

Positive: You are watching TV.

Question: Are you watching TV?

Negative: You are not watching TV.

Present Perfect Contin­uous:

Actions which started in the past and continue now (action verbs), recent continuous actions

Positive: You have been standing here for two hours.

Question: Have you been standing here for two hours?

Negative: You have not been standing here for two hours.
 

Future

 

Future Perfect:

an action that will have already happened before a specific point in the future
Form: will + have + past participle e.g. ‘I’ll have already left by the time you arrive’

Future Contin­uous/ Future Progre­ssive:

An action in progress at a particular time in the future
Form: will + be + verb + -ing

Positive: You’ll be cooking dinner when they arrive.
Question: Will you be cooking dinner when they arrive?
Negative: You won’t be cooking dinner when they arrive

Future Perfect Contin­uous:

An action that will continue up until a certain future point
Form: will + have + been + verb + -ing

Positive: You’ll be cooking dinner when they arrive.

Question: Will you be cooking dinner when they arrive?

Negative: You won’t be cooking dinner when they arrive.

Future Simple Tense

Describes what will happen for predic­tions and future projects

Often called the going to future, this form is a combin­ation of be + going to + verb stem

Positive: You are going to see the show tonight.
Question: Are you going to see the show tonight?
Negative: You are not going to see the show tonight.