What is the type of tense? Type of Tense.
What is the type of tense?
Type of Tense
In the English language, tenses play an important role in
sentence formation.
The tense of a verb shows the time of an
event or action.
There are four types of tenses. Simple,
Perfect, Continuous and Present Perfect Continuous and each of these has a
present, past and future form.
PRESENT TENSES
In Simple Present, the action is simply mentioned and there is
nothing being said about its completeness.
I eat.
I sleep.
I play.
I sleep.
I play.
In Present Continuous, the action is on-going/ still going on
and hence continuous.
I am eating.
I am sleeping.
I am playing.
I am sleeping.
I am playing.
In Present Perfect, the action is complete or has ended and
hence termed Perfect.
I have eaten.
I have slept.
I have played.
I have slept.
I have played.
In Present Perfect Continuous, the action has been taking place
for some time and is still ongoing.
I have been eating.
I have been sleeping.
I have been playing.
I have been sleeping.
I have been playing.
PAST TENSES
In Simple Past, the action is simply mentioned and understood to
have taken place in the past.
I ate.
I slept.
I played.
I slept.
I played.
In Past Continuous, the action was ongoing till a certain time
in the past.
I was eating.
I was sleeping.
I was playing.
I was sleeping.
I was playing.
Past Perfect is used to express something that happened before
another action in the past.
I had eaten.
I had slept.
I had played.
I had slept.
I had played.
Past Perfect Continuous is used to express something that
started in the past and continued until another time in the past.
I had been eating.
I had been sleeping.
I had been playing.
I had been sleeping.
I had been playing.
FUTURE TENSES
Simple Future is used when we plan or make a decision to do
something. Nothing is said about the time in the future.
I will eat.
I will sleep.
I will play.
I will sleep.
I will play.
The future continuous tense is used to express action at a
particular moment in the future. However, the action will not have finished at
the moment.
I will be eating at 9 a.m.
I will be sleeping when you arrive.
I will be playing at 5 p.m.
I will be sleeping when you arrive.
I will be playing at 5 p.m.
Future Perfect expresses action that will occur in the future
before another action in the future.
I will have eaten before 10 a.m.
I will have slept before you arrive.
I will have played before 6 p.m.
I will have slept before you arrive.
I will have played before 6 p.m.
Future Perfect Continuous is used to talk about an on-going
action before some point in the future.
I will have been sleeping for two hours when you arrive.
I will have been playing for an hour when it is 5 p.m.
Related page
What is Tense? Definition of Tense.
What is the type of tense?
What Is the Past Tense?
What Is the Present Tense?
What is the Future Tense?
Structure of All Tense
Simple Present Tense
Present Continuous Tense
Present Perfect Tense
Present Perfect Continuous Tense
Simple Past Tense
Past Continuous Tense
Past Perfect Tense
Past Perfect Continuous Tense
Simple Future Tense
Future Continuous Tense
Future Perfect Tense
Future Perfect Continuous Tense
All Tense with example
Table of English Tenses with example
TENSE CHART
I will have been playing for an hour when it is 5 p.m.
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