TABLE OF TENSES

Type
Tense Of Sentence Examples Uses Examples
Sentence Structure

(+) ve Sub + V1 + …. 1) He speaks. To speak about 1) She teaches Mathematics.

Simple Statement 2) She speaks.  Daily/Regular Actions
Present 3) I speak.  Frequent Actions, Habits 2) I drink milk daily.
4) You speak.  Universal/General Truths 3) The sun rises in the east.
5) We speak.  Customs/Traditions
6) They speak.  Scheduled Activities
4) They speak English fluently.
(-) ve Sub + does/do + 1) He does not speak.
5) People celebrate Diwali grandly.
Statement not + V1 2) She doesn’t speak. 6) He visits his parents once a month.
+ …. 3) I don’t speak. SIGNAL WORDS 7) They often meet at the café.
4) You don’t speak.
5) We don’t speak. Always, every day, every month,
8) I usually take rotis at night.
6) They don’t speak. every week, daily, never, normally, 9) Our boss rarely smiles.
often, seldom, generally,
Yes/No Does/Do + Sub 1) Does he speak? sometimes, usually, frequently,
10) Barking dogs seldom bite.
Question + V1 +…. 2) Does she speak? occasionally, rarely, once a week, 11) He never tells the truth.
3) Do you speak? twice a month, once in two days,
4) Do they speak? etc.
12) The football match starts at 10 am tomorrow.
‘Wh’ ‘Wh’ word + 1) What does he speak?
13) Ramesh doesn’t smoke.
Question does/do + Sub + 2) How does she speak? 14) These children don’t go to school.
V1 + …. 3) When do you speak? 15) Does she sing well?
4) Why do they speak?
16) Do you like old movies?
17) What does he want?
18) Why do you waste your time?
19) How much does this cost?
20) Who sends you money?

(+) ve Sub + is/am/are 1) He is speaking.  To speak about actions going on 1) He is speaking at the conference now.
Present Statement + Ving + …. 2) She is speaking. now.
Continuous 3) I am speaking.  To speak about temporary 2) Radha is cooking in the kitchen.
4) You are speaking. actions going on these days. 3) Promod is always complaining about petty
5) We are speaking.  To speak about pre-planned things.
6) They are speaking. future actions.
4) Don’t disturb me. I am studying now.
(-) ve Sub + is/am/are 1) He is not speaking. 5) Listen! Someone is climbing up the stairs.
Statement + not + Ving + 2) She is not speaking. SIGNAL WORDS
…. 3) I am not speaking. 6) Look! All are beating up the small boy.
4) You are not speaking. At the moment, just now, Listen!, 7) We are planning to go abroad.
5) We are not speaking. Look!, now, right now, these days,
6) They are not speaking. nowadays, etc. 8) They are visiting holy places.
1) Is he speaking?
9) I’m learning English these days.
VERBS NOT USED IN THE
Yes/No Is/Are + Sub + 2) Is she speaking? CONTINUOUS TENSE 10) Nowadays, people are opting for overseas
Question Ving + …? 3) Are you speaking? jobs.
4) Are they speaking? Agree, believe, doubt, forget, 11) They are holding an exhibition here next
know, mean, recognize, recollect, week.
1) What is he speaking? remember, suppose, think,
‘Wh’ ‘Wh’ word + 2) Where is she speaking? understand, want, wish, desire, 12) He is not paying attention to the lecture.
Question is/are + Sub + 3) When are you need, see, smell, hear, taste, notice, 13) I am not working there now.
Ving + …? speaking? like, dislike, love, hate, prefer,
4) How are they feel, forgive, appear, seem, 14) She is not doing anything right now.
speaking? deserve, depend, possess, contain, 15) They are not willing to come here.
belong to, consist of, own, have

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 Type
Tense Of Sentence Examples Uses Examples
Sentence Structure
(=own), etc. 16) Is Suresh writing the exam?
The above verbs are usually used
in the Simple or Perfect tenses. 17) Are you going there now?
18) What is the boy doing in the room?
19) Where are you working?
20) How far are they going?
21) When are you meeting her?
22) Why is the girl crying?
23) Who is seeing you this evening?
24) What is happening there?

Present (+) ve Sub + has/have 1) He has spoken.  To speak about actions 1) I have just spoken to your father about it.
Perfect Statement + V3 + ….. 2) She has spoken. completed in the immediate
3) I have spoken. past. 2) He has just gone out.
4) You have spoken.  To speak about actions that 3) The members have just concluded their
5) We have spoken. completed in the past but have a meeting.
6) They have spoken. connection with the present.
 To speak about actions those 4) These students have already written the test.
(-) ve Sub + has/have 1) He has not spoken. have not happened till now (in 5) Don’t pay him money. I have already paid
Statement + not + V3 + …. 2) She hasn’t spoken. the negative). him.
3) I have not spoken.
4) You haven’t spoken. 6) I am happy now because I have won the case.
5) We haven’t spoken. SIGNAL WORDS 7) He has not yet finished his work for the day.
6) They haven’t spoken.
Already, ever, just, never, not yet, 8) I haven’t met him till now.
Yes/No Has/Have + Sub 1) Has he spoken? so far, till now, up to now, etc. 9) They haven’t informed us so far. So, we are
Question + V3 + …? 2) Has she spoken?
worried.
3) Have you spoken? NOTE: When the time of a past
4) Have they spoken? action is mentioned, use the 10)We have never been to the US.
‘Wh’ ‘Wh’ word + 1) What has he spoken?
Simple Past Tense and not the 11)Have you finished lunch?
Present Perfect Tense.
Question has/have + Sub 2) How has she spoken? 12)Has Anand invited you to the party?
+ V3 + ….. 3) Why have you spoken?  I have completed my degree in 13)Has he come?
4) Where have they 2006.
spoken?  I completed my degree in 2006. 14)Have you ever been to Delhi?
15)What have you done with this? It is not
working.
16)Why have you come late?
17)Where have you been till now? I was waiting
for you.
18)Who has told you this?
19)How has your friend written his exam?
(+) ve Sub + has/have 1) He has been speaking.  For an action that started in the 1) Vikram has been speaking for an hour.
Present Statement + been + Ving + 2) She has been speaking. Past, continued over a period of
Perfect …… 3) I have been speaking. time into the Present and is still 2) She has been working in the garden since
Continuous 4) You have been going on. morning.
speaking.  If such an action as stated above 3) I have been trying to contact my friend for
5) We have been has been completed in the two weeks.
speaking. Present and does not continue at
6) They have been the time of speaking, we usually 4) We have been designing the programme the
speaking. use the Present Perfect Tense. whole week.

1) He has not been

5) Our neighbours have been living here since
1996.
(-) ve Sub + has/have speaking.
Statement + not + been + 2) She hasn’t been SIGNAL WORDS 6) They have been calling us all day.
Ving + …… speaking. 7) We have been learning English for a month.
3) I have not been all day, for 6 years, since 2003,
speaking. how long?, the whole week 8) They have not been answering our calls for
4) You haven’t been two days.
speaking. 9) I haven’t been doing anything since morning.
5) We haven’t been
speaking. 10)Madhavi has not been attending classes
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 Type
Tense Of Sentence Examples Uses Examples
Sentence Structure
6) They haven’t been regularly.
speaking. 11)Have you been using these medicines for
long?
Yes/No Has/Have + Sub 1) Has he been 12)Has your brother been coming home late?
Question + been +Ving + speaking?
….. 2) Has she been
13)Has the boss been looking for me?
speaking? 14)What have you been doing since morning?
3) Have you been 15)How long have they been living here?
speaking?
4) Have they been
16)Since when has Sudha been working in this
office?
speaking?
‘Wh’ ‘Wh’ word +
17)How have you been handling this problem?
Question has/have + Sub
1) What has he been
speaking?
18)How long has he been waiting for her?
+ been + Ving + 19)Why have you been shouting?
2) How has she been
…..
speaking?
3) How long have you
20)Where have they been learning animation?
been speaking? 21)Who has been troubling her?
4) Since when have they
been speaking?
22)What has been happening here?
Simple Past (+) ve Sub + V2 + …. 1) He spoke.  1)
For an action that happened at a She spoke the truth.
Statement 2) She spoke. point of time in the Past. 2) I met my cousin yesterday.
3) I spoke.  For a past habit. 3) They went out two minutes ago.
4) You spoke.  4)
For daily/regular actions in the We saw him at the theatre the other day.
5) We spoke. past. 5) Meena did not meeet her parents last Friay.
6) They spoke. 6) These boys didn’t write the exam.
NOTE: If such a past habit or daily/ 7) They didn’t answer because they didn’t know
(-) ve Sub + did + 1) He did not speak. regular action continues even in the the answer.
Statement not + V1 present, use the Simple Present 8) Did you ask him for money?
+ …. 2) She didn’t speak. Tense and not the Simple Past 9) Did the students protest against the college
3) I didn’t speak. Tense. authorities?
10) Did Kamala invite you yesterday?
4) You didn’t speak. NOTE: Usually, when we talk 11) Why did you fight with your brother?
5) We didn’t speak. about past habits or daily/regular 12) Where did the children go?
Yes/No Did + Sub + V1 actions in the past, we use 13) How did they perform at the competition?
Question +…. 6) They didn’t speak. Used to + V1 14) What did you do last week?
instead of Simple Past Tense(V2). 15) When did she complete her degree?
1) Did he speak?  I used to visit my uncle daily 16) Who told you the truth?
last year. 17) Who organized this function?
‘Wh’ ‘Wh’ word + did 2) Did she speak?
 He used to smoke a lot. 18) What happened at the college yesterday.
Question + Sub + V1 + 3) Did you speak?
…. SIGNAL WORDS
4) Did they speak?
yesterday, 2 minutes ago, in 1990,
the other day, last Friday, etc.
1) What did he speak?
2) How did she speak?
3) When did you speak?
4) Why did they speak?

Past (+) ve Sub + was/were 1) He was speaking.  To speak about an action going 1) We were listening to the radio all evening
Continuous Statement + Ving + …. on at a point of time in the Past. yesterday.
2) She was speaking.  For an action going on when 2) The light went out while I was reading.
3) I was speaking. another action happened in the 3) When I saw him he was playing with some
Past. (In such cases, we use the kids.
4) You were speaking. Past Continuous Tense for the 4) I was thinking about it when he called me.
5) We were speaking. action going on and the Simple 5) Please don’t take it seriously. I was just
(-) ve Sub + was/were Past Tense for the other action) kidding.
Statement + not + Ving + 6) They were speaking.  I was writing the test when the 6) The children were shouting when the teacher
…. inspectors came in. entered the class.
1) He was not speaking.  When two actions were going on 7) She was watching TV at 5 o’ clock last
simultaneously at a point of time evening.
2) She was not speaking. in the past, we use the Past 8) They were insulting him while he was
3) I wasn’t speaking. Continuous Tense for both the serving them.
actions and combine them using 9) I was not doing anything when he came to

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 Type
Tense Of Sentence Examples Uses Examples
Sentence Structure
4) You were not speaking. ‘while’. my house.
Yes/No Was/Were + Sub  Pradeep was studying while his 10) Suresh was not practising his lessons when I
Question + Ving + …? 5) We weren’t speaking. friends were chatting. met him.
6) They weren’t speaking. 11) We were not copying when the invigilator
SIGNAL WORDS saw us.
‘Wh’ word + when, while, then, at 5 o’ clock, 12) The boy wasn’t talking to anyone then.
‘Wh’ was/were + Sub 1) Was he speaking? etc. 13) The students weren’t listening to the lecture
Question + Ving + …? 2) Was she speaking? in the class.
14) Was he working there?
3) Were you speaking? 15) Were you speaking to the boss then?
4) Were they speaking? 16) Were the brothers quarrelling with each other
last night?
17) Was it raining there yesterday?
1) What was he speaking? 18) What was she doing when you met her?
2) Where was she 19) Why were you laughing while he was talking
to you?
speaking?
20) How were they playing when you saw them?
3) Why were you 21) Where were the children going late last
speaking? night?
4) How were they 22) When were they fighting?
23) Who was talking to you last night?
speaking?
24) Who were quarrelling on the street at that
time?
25) What was happening when you went there?

Past Perfect (+) ve Sub + had + V3 1) He had spoken.  For an action that had taken 1) She had already finished the work when I
Statement + ….. place before another action in met her.
2) She had spoken. the past. (In such cases, the Past 2) We had just completed our dinner when they
3) I had spoken. Perfect Tense is used for the came in.
earlier action and the Simple 3) The train had left when they reached the
4) You had spoken. Past Tense is used for the later station.
5) We had spoken. action.) 4) Gopal had informed many people about it
(-) ve Sub + had + not NOTE: If only one past action is before we stopped him.
Statement + V3 + …. 6) They had spoken. stated or understood from the 5) I had been there twice before last summer.
context, the Simple Past Tense 6) I could not meet her because she had gone to
1) He had not spoken. should be used for that action and her mother’s place.
not the Past Perfect Tense. 7) They had despatched the goods before we
2) She hadn’t spoken.  I had completed my work last sent them a reminder.
3) I had not spoken. night. 8) She had not done anything when we went
Yes/No Had + Sub + V3  I completed my work last night. there.
Question + …? 4) You hadn’t spoken. 9) They had not gone far when they met with an
5) We hadn’t spoken. SIGNAL WORDS accident.
already, just, never, not yet, once, 10) I hadn’t finished my work when my friends
6) They hadn’t spoken. until that day, etc. dropped in.
‘Wh’ ‘Wh’ word + 11) Had she spoken to the boss when you met
Question had + Sub + V3 1) Had he spoken? her?
+ ….. 12) Had they made all the arrangements before
2) Had she spoken? the boss came in?
3) Had you spoken? 13) Why had he come before his brother came?
14) Where had they spoken before they spoke at
4) Had they spoken? the university?
15) Where had she worked before she joined
1) What had he spoken? here?
2) How had she spoken? 16) Who had informed them about it before you
3) Why had you spoken? did?
4) Where had they
spoken?

Simple (+) ve Sub + will + VI 1) He will speak.  To express the future as a fact. 1) He will speak with the manager tomorrow.
Future Statement + …. 2) She willl speak.  To say what we think or believe 2) You will need this money on your return
3) I will speak. will happen in the future. (With journey.
4) You will speak. expressions like ‘I think’, ‘I 3) I will call you later.
5) We will speak. believe’, ‘Probably’, etc.) 4) Sunil will be thirty in a week.
6) They will speak. 5) I’ll wait for him.

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 Type
Tense Of Sentence Examples Uses Examples
Sentence Structure
 To speak about an action that we 6) I think, she’ll go to the party.
(-) ve Sub + will + 1) He will not speak. have decided to do at the time of 7) I believe everything will be fine soon.
Statement not + V1 2) She won’t speak. speaking. 8) Probably, they will call us tonight.
+ …. 3) I won’t speak. SIGNAL WORDS 9) The board will announce the results next
4) You won’t speak. in a year, next …, tomorrow, later, month.
5) We won’t speak. etc. 10) I will not go there.
6) They won’t speak. 11) I won’t do it again.
12) She will not write this test.
Yes/No Will + Sub + V1 1) Will he speak? 13) Deepak won’t visit his parents again tis
Question +…. 2) Will she speak? month.
3) Will you speak? 14) Will you attend the meeting?
4) Will they speak? 15) Will he finish the work in time?
16) Will they wait for you?
‘Wh’ ‘Wh’ word + 1) What will he speak? 17) Will your parents be happy with your
Question will + Sub + V1 2) How will she speak? performance?
+ …. 3) When will you speak? 18) What will you do now?
4) Where will they speak? 19) Where will she go now?
20) How will they come here?
21) How much money will you pay them?
22) Why will they misunderstand us?
23) Who will tell you the right way there?
24) Who will become the next Prime Minister of
India?
25) What will happen next?
26) What will happen to your aged parents if you
leave them now?

Future (+) ve Sub + will + be 1) He will be speaking.  For an action which will be 1) Don’t come to my house at 11 o’ clock
Continuous Statement + Ving + …. 2) She will be speaking. going on at a time in the future. tomorrow morning. I will be watching the
3) I will be speaking.  For actions in the future which serial then.
4) You will be speaking. are already planned but are less 2) He will be speaking at the conference
5) We will be speaking. definite as they are expected to tomorrow.
6) They will be speaking. happen in the normal course of 3) I must leave now. My brother will be waiting
things. (As a routine or casual for me.
1) He will not be event.) 4) Don’t call him now. He will be talking to the
(-) ve Sub + will + not speaking.  For an action that the speaker Director.
Statement + be + Ving + 2) She won’t be speaking. thinks is happening now. 5) Naresh will be leaving for Mumbai next
…. 3) I won’t be speaking. week.
4) You won’t be speaking. SIGNAL WORDS 6) I will be visiting a doctor at that time.
5) We won’t be speaking. next week, tomorrow, then, at that 7) Shravan will not be attending the meeting on
6) They won’t be time, etc. Monday.
speaking. 8) They won’t be coming with us to the party.
9) Don’t worry. They won’t be waiting for us.
1) Will he be speaking? 10) I won’t be doing anything then.
2) Will she be speaking? 11) Will they be coming with us?
3) Will you be speaking? 12) Will she be speaking at the meet?
Yes/No Will + Sub + be 4) Will they be speaking? 13) What will you be doing tomorrow morning?
Question + Ving + …? 14) Why will they be meeting the officer?
1) What will he be 15) Where will Latha be giving her lecture this
speaking? Friday?
2) Where will she be 16) Who will be entertaining the guests?
speaking?
3) When will you be
‘Wh’ ‘Wh’ word + speaking?
Question will + Sub + be 4) Why will they be
+ Ving + …? speaking?

Future (+) ve Sub + will + 1) He will have spoken.  To speak about actions which 1) We will have finished our syllabus by the 20th
Perfect Statement have + V3 + ….. 2) She will have spoken. will be completed by a certain of this month.
3) I will have spoken. future time. (Usually, with ‘by + 2) The team will have completed the project by
4) You will have spoken. a future time expression’) next Wednesday.
5) We will have spoken. 3) I will have written the test by then.
6) They will have spoken. SIGNAL WORDS 4) They will have lived here for five years by
by Monday, in a week, by the 15th , the end of this month.
1) He will not have etc. 5) She will have worked here for 3 months by
(-) ve Sub + will + not spoken. this week-end.
Statement + have + V3 + 2) She won’t have spoken. 6) The Directors will have finalized the deal in a

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 Type
Tense Of Sentence Examples Uses Examples
Sentence Structure
…. 3) I won’t have spoken. week.
4) You won’t have spoken. 7) She will not have done the work by Tuesday.
5) We won’t have spoken. 8) The children won’t have finished their lunch
6) They won’t have by then.
spoken. 9) Will they have completed the job by
tomorrow morning?
1) Will he have spoken? 10) Will she have made all the arrangements by
2) Will she have spoken? the time the guests drop in?
3) Will you have spoken? 11) How long will you have stayed here by next
Yes/No Will + Sub + 4) Will they have spoken? March?
Question have + V3 + …? 12) How many projects will the students have
1) What will he have done by the end of the course?
spoken? 13) How many years will you have worked here
2) How will she have by this year-end?
‘Wh’ ‘Wh’ word + spoken?
Question will + Sub + 3) Why will you have
have + V3 + ….. spoken?
Where will they have
spoken?

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