A Chart of the Tenses.
A compact reference to the uses, auxiliaries, and common markers of the major English tense forms.
All levels
Slide 1 of 4
Synopsis
This presentation is a reference chart for the principal English tense forms. It groups present, past, future, present perfect, future perfect, and past perfect structures, showing what each form is used for, which auxiliaries it takes, and which time markers commonly appear with it.
The chart also separates stative, simple, progressive, perfect, and perfect progressive forms. Students can use it to compare related tenses and quickly check the basic structure of a tense.
Important points
- Stative forms describe states rather than actions and commonly use forms of be.
- Progressive forms use a form of be with an -ing form.
- The present perfect uses have + participle; its progressive form uses have + been + -ing.
- The future perfect uses will + have + participle.
- The past perfect uses had + participle; its progressive form uses had + been + -ing.
- Time markers such as yesterday, tomorrow, since, for, and by the time help signal which tense fits the context.
Self-test
Choose one answer for each question, then check your answers. Your results are private and disappear when you refresh the page.