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Common tenses: present, past, and future
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Common tenses: present, past, and future
How to express the main tenses in English:
• The present:
• The present:
- The present simple, for permanent truths, and habits:
Winter begins December 21st. This happens on the same date every year.
Icarus works from 8 to 6 every day. Icarus always works from 8 to 6.- The present progressive (be + verb ending in -ing), if the action is in the process of being carried out:
The children are playing in the garden. They are playing in the garden at this moment.
What are you doing? What are you doing right now?
What are you doing? What are you doing right now?
• The past:
- The past simple (verb + -ed ending, for regular verbs) expresses a completed action:
I finished my homework five minutes ago. I don't have any more homework to do.
We went to France last summer. We went to France last summer, and then we came back home.- In the past continuous, the action was in the process of being carried out:
When the boss arrived, I was sleeping on my desk. I was sleeping on my desk at the very moment my boss arrived.
• The future:
- The future simple, with the auxiliary verb WILL:
Tomorrow I will go and buy stamps.
The train won't arrive on time.- The future progressive expresses an ongoing action in the future:
At this time tomorrow, we will be surfing the waves of the Indian ocean.
- The near future, using the expression be going to, expresses an intention, or a conviction:
I am going to call him, I can't wait anymore. Pass me the telephone!
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