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English Tenses
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Learning the Tenses
The English language boasts a total of 12 different tenses which can be used to speak about the past, the present, and the future. Each of the English tenses has a specific meaning, covered in the table below. The example sentences given will help you decide when you should use each particular one of the English tenses.
Name | Past, Present, or Future | When to use this English tense | Frequency of use | Examples of use |
Simple Present | Present | Use this one of the English tenses when an action is happening now or when it is a continuous action that happens either currently or in the past or the future | High |
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Present Progressive | Present | Use this one of the English tenses when an action is known to be temporary or when it is actually taking place at the moment of speaking. | High |
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Present Perfect | Present | There are three different ways to use this tense.
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Medium |
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Present Perfect Progressive | Present | Use this one of the English tenses to state an action which started in the past when a period of time needs to be expressed.
It is also used for an action which started in the past but has now finished and has a direct result. |
Medium |
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Simple Past | Past | This is the most basic of the English tenses used to describe the past and is used to express an action that happened in the past either once, many times or for a set period of time. | High |
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Past Progressive | Past | This one of the English tenses is used to express an action that took place over a period of time in the past or that was interrupted. | High |
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Past Perfect | Past | The two common uses for this tense are
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High |
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Past Perfect Progressive | Past | This one of the English tenses is used for two purposes.
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Low |
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Simple Future | Future | There are four uses for this English tense.
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High |
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Future Progressive | Future | This tense is used to
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Medium |
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Future Perfect | Future | This one of the English tenses is used to express an action in the future that will have finished before a certain time although the specific finish time is unknown. | Low |
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Future Perfect Progressive | Future | This is used to express an action which started in the past and which will continue up to a point in the future. It is normally used with a time or specified date. | Medium |
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