2023 Complete Guide On English Tenses Questions and Answers

If you’re new to learning English, understanding all the tenses may be a difficult task. However, with this comprehensive guide, you’ll get step-by-step instructions and essential questions and answers to make your attempt smoother. Learn all the English tenses with ease!

Note: If you want to download English Tenses pdf there is a link at the bottom of this post to do so.

What is an English Tense?

An English tense is a form of a verb that expresses the time of an action. It may also express other aspects, such as whether we completed the action or it is still ongoing. This post will focus on the three main tenses in English: present, past, and future. We use them to showe when an action is taking place. With this information, you will be able to communicate well in most common situations.

How many English Tenses are there?

There are 12 tenses in English:

present simple	past simple	future simple
present continuous	past continuous	future continuous
present perfect	past perfect	future perfect
present perfect continuous	past perfect continuous	future perfect continuous

The 3 main tenses – present, past and future – show when an action takes place. Each of these has 4 variants (simple/continuous/perfect/perfect continuous) which can further modify the meaning of the sentence by expressing whether an action is ongoing or has been completed.

1. Present Tense

1.1 Present Simple Tense: 

• The form: He/She/It + Verb(s)
• The use: to describe habits or permanent states

Look at this post to see the time expressions used with this tense

• Affirmative: He/she/it likes fresh vegetables.
• Negative:
  • we don’t have classes on Sundays.
  • She doesn’t like pizza
• Interrogative:
  • Do you speak English ?
  • where does he live?

1.2 Present Continuous / Progressive:

• The form: Am/is/are + Verb(ing)
• The use:
  • to describe actions in progress
  • an action taking place at the time or around the time of speaking

Look at this post to see the time expressions used with this tense

• Affirmative: I am studying English now.
• Negative: They are not doing anything these days.
• Interrogative: Are they studying English or French?

1.3 Present Perfect:

• The form: Has/Have + Past Participle
• The use: an action that started at some time in the past and continues to the present

Look at this post to see the time expressions used with this tense

• Affirmative: She has lived in this city all her life.
• Negative: It hasn’t/has not rained yet.
• Interrogative: Have you finished your exercise? 

1.4 Present Perfect Continuous:

• The form: Has/have + Been + Verb(ing)
• The use: for past that is still continuing

Look at this post to see the time expressions used with this tense

• Affirmative: It has been raining all day long
• Negative: He hasn’t been feeling very well lately.
• Interrogative: For how long has she been living here? 

2. Past Tense

2.1 Past Simple:

• The form:
  • Regular verbs: Verb+ed
  • Irregular verbs (No rule)
• The use: to describe completed actions in past.

• Affirmative: We prayed at home the last day.
• Negative: We did not/didn’t pray at home the last day.
• Interrogative:
  • Did you finish your homework?
  • where did he go yesterday? 

2.2 Past Continuous/ Progressive:

Look at this post to see the time expressions used with this tense

• The form: Was/Were + Verb(ing)
• The use:
  • for an event that occurred before and after a specific time
  • to show that something continued for some time
  • for an event that occurred before and after another action

• Affirmative: I was doing my homework at that time yesterday
• Negative: They were not jogging when the accident happened
• Interrogative: 
  • Was she studying last night at 6h00?
  • What were they doing yesterday at 21h00? 

2.3 Past Perfect:

Look at this post to see the time expressions used with this tense.

• The form: Had + Past participle
• The use: to show event order.  The past simple shows later action and the past perfect earlier action.

• Affirmative: They had stopped here before they continued their journey
• Negative: He wished he hadn’t been there
• Interrogative: Had you been there? 

2.4 Past Perfect Continuous:

• The form: Had been + Verb(ing)
• The use: for an action that began in the past and continued until a later time in the past

Look at this post to see the time expressions used with this tense

• Affirmative: I had been working at the company for five years when I got the promotion.
• Negative: She hadn’t been sleeping.
• Interrogative: Had you been waiting long before the taxi arrived?

3. Future Tense

3.1 Future Simple:

• The form: Will/Shall + Infinitive
• The use:
  • When there is no plan or decision to do something before we speak. We make the decision at the time of speaking.
  • to make a prediction about the future. 

Look at this post to see the time expressions used with this tense

• Affirmative: She will/shall visit her aunt next week.
• Negative: They will/shall not have dinner at home.
• Interrogative: Where will/shall they have dinner? 

3.2 Future Continuous

• The form: Will Be + Verb (Ing)
• The use: for an action that will be in progress at some point in the future.

Look at this post to see the time expressions used with this tense

• Affirmative: I will be studying English tomorrow at 10h30.
• Negative: We will not be watching a movie at that time the next day.
• Interrogative: What will you be doing the following day at 16h43? 

3.3 Future Perfect:

• The form: Will Have + Past Participle
• The use: to talk about an action that will be completed before a specific time in the future.

Look at this post to see the time expressions used with this tense

• Affirmative: He will have memorized The Quran by 2030.
• Negative: They will not have finished building that factory by next summer.
• Interrogative: Will he have memorized The Quran by 2030? 

3.4 Future Perfect Continuous:

• The form: will + have + been + Verb(ing)
• The use: for an event that will keep going up until a point in the future

Affirmative: In November, I will have been working for eighteen years.