Verbal Tenses in English

See how the verbs (verbs) and the tenses (verb tensions) are classified and learn more about English verb conjugation:

1. Simple Present

O Simple Present (Simple Present) describes a habitual and current action that has taken place in the present. In Portuguese, this tense corresponds to the Present tense. It is important to note that times in English do not always have a correspondent in Portuguese.

verb conjugation I love (to love) in Simple Present
I	love
you	love
he/she/it	loves
we	love
you	love
they	love

Examples:

• She she loves him. (She loves him.) - AFFIRMATIVE
• Does she love him? (Does she love him?) - INTERROGATIVE
• she doesn’t love him. (She doesn't love him.) - NEGATIVE

To learn more about the present tense in English, see also: Simple Present

2. Present Continuous or Present Progressive

O Present Continuous (Continuous Gift), also called Present Progressive (Progressive Present), describes an action that is taking place in the present, at the moment of speaking.

This tense follows the following structure:

auxiliary verb to be at the Simple Present (Simple Gift) + gerund (-ing) of the main verb.

verb conjugation I love (to love) in Present Continuous
I	am loving
you	are loving
he/she/it	is loving
we	are loving
you	are loving
they	are loving

Examples:

• they are loving the book. (They are loving the book.) - AFFIRMATIVE
• Are they loving the book? (Are they loving the book?) - INTERROGATIVE
• They aren’t loving the book. (They are not loving the book.) - NEGATIVE

See too: Present Continuous and Present Continuous Exercises

3. simple Past

O Simple Past (Simple Past) expresses past actions, that is, it describes facts that have already happened.

In this English tense, the inflections of regular verbs end in –d or –ed, while irregular verbs do not have a standard form.

For a better understanding, see the list of regular and irregular verbs here. Below is the conjugation of a verb regular:

verb conjugation I love (to love) in Simple Past
I	loved
you	loved
he/she/it	loved
we	loved
you	loved
they	loved

Examples:

• He loved her. (He loved her.) - AFFIRMATIVE
• Did he love her? (Did he love her?) - INTERROGATIVE
• He didn’t love her. (He didn't love her.) - NEGATIVE

To enrich your knowledge of past tense in English, see also: Simple Past, Simple Past Exercises and Regular and Irregular English Verbs

4. Past Continuous or Past Progressive

O Past Continuous (Continuous Past), also called Past Progressive (Progressive Past), expresses a continuous action that took place in the past, that is, an action that was taking place in a moment that has already passed.

This tense follows the following structure:

auxiliary verb to be at the Simple Past (Simple past) + the gerund (-ing) of the main verb

verb conjugation I love (to love) in Past Continuous
I	was loving
you	we were loving
he/she/it	was loving
we	we were loving
you	we were loving
they	we were loving

Examples:

• he was loving the trip. (He was loving the trip.) - AFFIRMATIVE
• Was he loving the trip? (Was he loving the trip?) - INTERROGATIVE
• He wasn’t loving the trip. (He wasn't loving the trip.) - NEGATIVE

See too: Past Continuous

5. Simple Future

O Simple Future (Simple Future) expresses actions that will occur, that is, that have not happened yet.

This tense is formed by the following structure:

modal assistant will + infinitive of the main verb without the I'm

verb conjugation I love (to love) in Simple Future
I	will love
you	will love
he/she/it	will love
we	will love
you	will love
they	will love

Examples:

• They will love to travel. (They will love to travel.) - AFFIRMATIVE
• Will they love to travel? (Will they love to travel?) - INTERROGATIVE
• They won’t love to travel. (They won't love to travel.) - NEGATIVE

See too: Simple Future

6. Future Continuous or Future Progressive

O Future Continuous (Continuous Future), also called Future Progressive (Progressive Future), expresses continuous actions that will happen in the future.

In other words, we can say that it describes an event that will be happening at a specific time in the future.

This English tense follows the following structure:

Simple Future of the verb to be (will be) + gerund (-ing) of the main verb

verb conjugation I love (to love) in Future Continuous
I	will be loving
you	will be loving
he/she/it	will be loving
we	will be loving
you	will be loving
they	will be loving

Examples:

• She will be loving the trip by this time next year. (She will be loving the trip around this time next year.) - AFFIRMATIVE
• Will she be loving the trip by this time next year? (Will she be loving the trip around this time next year?) - INTERROGATIVE
• She won’t be loving the trip by this time next year. (She won't be loving the trip around this time next year.) - NEGATIVE

See too: Future Continuous

7. Present Perfect Simple

O Present Perfect Simple (Simple Perfect Present) expresses actions influenced by the present and that are still happening or that have ended recently.

It is formed according to the following structure:

Auxiliary verb I have conjugate in the Simple Present (Simple Gift), that is, has/have + Past Participate (Past participle) of the main verb

verb conjugation I love (to love) in Present Perfect Simple
I	have loved
you	have loved
he/she/it	has loved
we	have loved
you	have loved
they	have loved

• He has loved her during his entire life. (He loved her all his life.) - AFFIRMATIVE
• Has he loved her during his entire life? (Has he loved her all his life?) - INTERROGATIVE
• He hasn’t loved her during his entire life. (He hasn't loved her his whole life.) - NEGATIVE

Be sure to check out the following contents about the Perfect Gift in English: Present Perfect Simple and Present Perfect (exercises with commented feedback)

8. Present Perfect Continuous or Present Perfect Progressive

O Present Perfect Continuous (Continuous Perfect Gift), is also called Present Perfect Progressive (Present perfect progressive).

It expresses continuous actions that started in the past and continue to the present or that ended a short time ago.

The conjugation of English verbs inflected in this tense follows the following structure:

Verb I have conjugate in the Simple Present (Simple Gift), that is, have/has + verb to be conjugate in the Present Perfect (Perfect Gift) + the gerund (-ing) of the main verb

verb conjugation I love (to love) in Present Perfect Continuous
I	have been loving
you	have been loving
he/she/it	has been loving
we	have been loving
you	have been loving
they	have been loving

Examples:

• She has been loving the new car. (She has loved the new car.) - AFFIRMATIVE
• Has she been loving the new car? (Has she loved the new car?) - INTERROGATIVE
• She hasnt been loving the new car. (She hasn't loved the new car.) - NEGATIVE

See too: Past Participate, Present Perfect Continuous and English language grammar

9. Past Perfect Simple

O Past Perfect Simple (Simple Perfect Past) expresses actions in the past that occurred before another action in the past.

It follows the following training structure:

Auxiliary verb I have conjugate in the Simple Past (Simple Past), that is, had + Past Participate (Past participle) of the main verb

verb conjugation I love (to love) in Past Perfect Simple
I	she had loved
you	she had loved
he/she/it	she had loved
we	she had loved
you	she had loved
they	she had loved

Examples:

• She had loved Tom before she married Bob. (She had loved Tom before marrying Bob.) - AFFIRMATIVE
• Had she loved Tom before she married Bob? (She had loved Tom before marrying Bob?) - INTERROGATIVE
• She hadn’t loved Tom before she married Bob. (She had not loved Tom before marrying Bob.) - NEGATIVE

See too: Past Perfect

10. Past Perfect Continuous or Past Perfect Progressive

O Past Perfect Continuous (Continuous Perfect Past), also called Past Perfect Progressive (Perfect Progressive Past), indicates continuous actions in the past, which occurred before another action in the past.

This tense is formed according to the following structure:

Verb I have conjugate in the Simple Past (Simple Past), that is, had + verb to be conjugate in the Past Perfect (Perfect Past), that is, been + gerund of the main verb

verb conjugation I love (to love) in Past Perfect Continuous
I	she had been loving
you	she had been loving
he/she/it	she had been loving
we	she had been loving
you	she had been loving
they	she had been loving

Examples:

• She had been loving studying there. (She was enjoying studying there.) – AFFIRMATIVE
• Had she been loving studying there? (Was she enjoying studying there?) – INTERROGATIVE
• She hadn’t been loving studying there. (She wasn't enjoying studying there.) – NEGATIVE

See too: Past Perfect Continuous

11. Future Perfect

O Future Perfect (Perfect Future) expresses actions that will be completed at a certain future time.

Their training follows the following structure:

Auxiliary verb I have conjugate in the Simple Future (Simple Future), that is, will have + Past Participate (Past participle) of the main verb

verb conjugation I love (to love) in Future Perfect
I	will have loved
you	will have loved
he/she/it	will have loved
we	will have loved
you	will have loved
they	will have loved

Examples:

• They will have loved going to the concert. (They will have loved going to the show.) - AFFIRMATIVE
• Will they have loved going to the concert? (Would they have loved going to the show?) - INTERROGATIVE
• They won’t have loved going to the concert. (They won't have loved going to the show.) - NEGATIVE

See too: Future Perfect

12. Future Perfect Continuous or Future Perfect Progressive

O Future Perfect Continuous (Continuous Perfect Future), also called Future Perfect Progressive (Future Perfect Progressive), expresses the continuation of actions that will be completed at a certain time in the future.

It is formed by the following structure:

Future Perfect of the assistant to be, i.e, will have been + radical of Present Participate (Present participle) of the main verb plus the ending -ing

verb conjugation I love (to love) in Future Perfect Continuous
I	will have been loving
you	will have been loving
he/she/it	will have been loving
we	will have been loving
you	will have been loving
they	will have been loving

Examples:

• He will have been loving his wife for 30 years next year. (He will be in love with his wife for 30 years next year.) - AFFIRMATIVE
• Will he been loving his wife for 30 years next year? (Will he be in love with his wife for 30 years next year?) - INTERROGATIVE
• He won’t have been loving his wife for 30 years next year. (He won't be in love with his wife for 30 years next year.) – NEGATIVE

See too: Future Perfect Continuous and Adjectives in English (adjectives)

English tense video

Watch a video with tips on how to identify the structure of all English verb tenses in sentences.

All tenses in easy English - (English Class)

See too:

• English verbs
• Phrasal Verbs
• Verb to be
• Passive Voice
• Irregular Verbs in English
• Regular and Irregular English Verbs
• do and do
• adverbs in english
• Simple Present exercises