How to learn tenses in English so as not to get confused and understand them perfectly? How to understand the rules of tense formation and learn the subtleties of using a particular tense? Let's look at the methodology for learning tenses in English and give a few little tricks on how to quickly and easily remember tenses in English.

Whales of time: learning the basics

Before you begin studying tenses, you need to understand the scale of the task. There are a lot of tenses in English. This does not mean that all of them are used in our speech every day. No. When you learn to speak English fluently, you will understand that 3-4 types of time are enough for quality communication. But! You also need to know the specifics of education and application of others. An educated person does not speak in cliched phrases, but pleases with complete, correct and beautiful speech.

The first thing to remember is that in English the fundamental factor for determining time is its aspectual-temporal form. If in the Russian language we have only perfect and imperfect verbs, then the English language pleases with four such aspects:

These forms are the basis for the formation of a specific time.

But! English would be a boring language to learn if everything about it was simple. It is extremely important to remember that these aspects apply to all three tenses - Present, Past and Future. Not in everyone and not always, but in separate temporary forms. How easy is it to understand the intricacies of the formation of these circuits? We recommend that you memorize the table below (the verb say can be replaced with any other).

	Indefinite	Continuous	Perfect	Perfect Continuous
Present	I say	I am saying	I have said	I have been saying
Past	I said	I was saying	I had said	I had been saying
Future	I will say	I will be saying	I will have said	I will have been saying

The third important rule to remember is => the English language is also rich in non-finite forms of the verb - infinitive and ing forms.

The fourth gem in learning English tenses is the passive form, which is sometimes difficult for even experienced students to understand. But! The passive form must be learned like twice two! This will make it easier to understand the next stages of study, since the passive form is used in all tenses - from Simple to Perfect Continuous.

Help for clarification:

• To be done
• To be done
• To have been done
• To have been done.

But! And that is not all! Remember the additional use of modal verbs! Can, could, would, will do, should, might, have done, have been doing, may, will do... - the variety surprises with the choice, which allows you to make your speech colorful and your thought comprehensive.

Important! But in any case, a simple form is the basis of all the basics. Start with that.

For some students, this topic may seem like an endless topic, but it is not. Eat the elephant piece by piece. This means that do not immediately take on the solution to the entire problem, in this case, to study the issue globally. First we study one aspect, then the second. You should start studying the next ones only when the previous ones are well studied.

Well-studied theory is the foundation for practical training

In this situation, consistency is the key to success. The English language boasts 26 types of tense forms, so learning everything in one evening will not be possible. The first brick in the basic foundation should be laid with Simple tenses. Simple forms are the basis for the formation of all others. First we learn the table of English tenses, and then everything else. The table of tenses clearly shows how verbs are formed and what their exceptions are. Yes, yes, from the table you can see the peculiarities of the formation of the main forms of the verb, you just need to get good at it and know the formation of English verbs like twice two.

On a note! You need to know not only the formation of the verb, but also its meaning. Say, tell, speak – do you see the difference? The same thing with look/see. To use a verb correctly in a sentence, you need to know its specific meaning. Moreover, there can be several values. This can also be confusing. Therefore, we recommend studying the rules for forming verbs along with examples. This way you will better understand what's what.

Theory perishes if it is not supported by practical exercises

Have you studied the theory well and feel confident for further achievements? Did you understand the theoretical part well enough to apply it in practice? Statistics show that the human factor in spoken language is the main reason for the incorrect use of a verb or its form. What does this mean?

Even if you have studied the theory perfectly, during a conversation you may get confused and forget about everything. How to avoid this? To practice! Stand in front of the mirror and look into your eyes. Watch for one or two minutes. Do not be afraid. If you are afraid to look into your own eyes, how will you look into the eyes of another person? Now start talking to your fictitious interlocutor. Speak confidently and correctly. Imagine that in front of you is a colleague whom you want to impress, a person you like, or your teacher. This may seem funny to some, but it is true.

The most famous speakers, before going on stage, develop their speaking skills in front of a mirror (many specialists teach this technique). They try to communicate with people as much and as often as possible so as not to worry and avoid the human factor (confusion, fear, uncertainty, etc.).

Other tips on how to sow the seed of confidence in yourself and consolidate theoretical knowledge:

• Read aloud texts, articles, notes in English
• Translate texts from Russian into English in different tense forms. Feel like an author!
• Watch films in English with English subtitles (namely, English ones). Think about why this particular time was chosen and not another? Native speakers can learn a lot of interesting things about using the correct form of a verb.
• Everything you do around the house every day is mentally translated into English. Are you making tea? Translate. Is dinner already prepared? You need to use a different temporary form. Are you planning to do laundry tomorrow? Time will be different. Translate every day! As they say, drop by drop. You won’t even notice how you will learn to use the basic forms of the verb easily and simply.

Native speakers are carriers of knowledge

Have you noticed that all leading schools must conduct classes with native speakers? This is an important factor that guarantees success. Who else, if not a person whose native language is English, will prompt and explain the subtleties of the formation of one or another form of the verb?

But! Remember that we are not talking about simple colloquial speech, but about grammatically correct speech. You know that in life we ​​talk differently than at school or at work. But in any case, the knowledge gained from native speakers will not be superfluous. After all, we understand the subtleties of using a verb, relying on the theory of the Russian language, but we need to do the opposite - take a foreign language as a basis. And native speakers in this situation are our best helpers. Let's remember the rules in pleasant communication!

Leave your comfort zone

The theory has been studied, but you don’t have the strength to do three or four practical lessons? No time? Or maybe desires? Let's leave the heated comfort zone and develop new skills! Theory without practice is nothing. Many teachers say so. Over time you will realize that this is true. Having spent two or three hours studying theory and not devoting 2-3 minutes to practice, you risk reducing all your efforts to zero.

Be sure to do practice exercises after each rule and time learned! The acquired knowledge must be put to use! You may forget the formation of time itself, but you will remember the example, based on which you can create other sentences. Practice shows that most students remember examples on the basis of which they can explain the features of education of a particular time. Practice every day and you will understand that this is true!

How to learn tenses in English: summing up

How to learn tenses in English so that the result remains for a long time? To practice! And every day! Remembering tenses in English is not so difficult if you develop a learning methodology, systematics, and follow it step by step. In this situation, doing everything quickly is not an option. Don't try to take in everything at once! It will turn out to be a mess, in other words, you will know a little from each, but in general nothing specific.

Take on a new look and temporary shape every day. You will see that if you study one thing every day, the result will be better than if you take 2-3 questions a day. Proceed with a new point only when the previous one has been thoroughly studied. This is an individual question. Some times are easier, others are more difficult. To study the same time, one student will need one day, another three. It all depends on the preparation, the existing knowledge base and, of course, the desire to acquire new ones.

Views: 327

There is one topic in language learning that we can probably talk about endlessly. Of course, we mean tenses in English. It is sometimes difficult for students new to the language to get used to the way English-speaking people divide their time for themselves. In fact, each tense form in English has its own analogue in Russian, we just don’t distinguish these forms into separate groups. Therefore, understanding tenses is not at all difficult, and today you will see for yourself.

First, let's do a quick overview of all the time groups so you have an idea of ​​what we'll be talking about today. As in Russian, English sentences can be built in the past, present and future. But besides these tenses, English also has 4 tense forms, namely: Simple, Continuous, Perfect and Perfect Continuous. In general, it turns out that one idea can be expressed in twelve temporary forms. Each form has a different way of forming verbs that appear in a sentence. With their help you can determine the time. Detailed table for clarity:

Formation of tenses in English
Time/View	Simple	Continuous or Progressive (long)	Perfect	Perfect Continuous / Progressive (perfect continuous)
Past (past)	V2	to be (2nd form) + V-ing	had + V3	had + been + V-ing
Present (present)	V1	to be (1st form) + V-ing	have / has + V3	have / has + been + V-ing
Future (future)	will + V1	will be + V-ing	will + have + V3	will + have + been + V-ing

Having briefly examined English tenses, let's move on to their more detailed study and consider the rules for forming tenses with examples.

Why are tenses needed in English?

But first I would like to dwell on the question of why tenses of the English language are needed and whether it is worth learning them all. The tense system in English helps to correctly convey your thoughts to others. That is, you can make it clear what action we are talking about. Was it in the past or present? Has it already ended or is it still going on? Or maybe it happens regularly? - all these questions will disappear on their own , if it is known what tense was used in the sentence.

“So I’m just starting to learn the language, and I’ll immediately have to learn all 12 tenses of the English language?” - you ask. Ideally, yes, you need to learn all tenses. But, most likely, you will not be able to do this at once. Therefore, start your training from the times of the Simple group. Knowing the simple tense, you will be able to explain what happened or will happen to you, what you need and why. But you shouldn’t limit yourself to this time, and therefore, having dealt with it, gradually continue to study other groups. The latest one to consider is the Perfect Continuous group. It is often resorted to when the language level of the students already “exceeds” the average, because the tenses of this group are used quite rarely and are used more to demonstrate their knowledge.

Tenses in English: Simple group

Simple		Present	Past	Future
	+	V1	V2	will + V1
	—	do / does + not + V1	did + not + V1	will + not + V1
	?	Do/Does... V1?	Did... V1?	Will...V1?

Present Simple

Present Simple or simple present tense , is perhaps the most used. The use of this English tense is necessary to express regularly repeated actions, habits, schedules and facts.

As you may have noticed from the table above, the present tense is formed using a verb in its initial form, that is, in the form in which the word is indicated in the dictionary. However, this form may vary slightly depending on the person and number. So, if an action is performed by a third person in the singular, the verbs have an ending -s (-es):

To form negative and interrogative sentences, the auxiliary verb do is used. If it is used with third persons in the singular, then this verb turns into does, because it takes away the ending -s (-es) from the semantic verb.

Examples:

As you can see, this tense does not have any complex grammatical rules.

Past Simple

Past Simple or simple past tense in English is used to express the same simple repeated actions, but only in the past. To form it, a verb in the second form is used. It comes in two types. If the verb is regular, then it is enough to add the ending –ed. If it is irregular, then you just need to memorize the second form, because each irregular verb has its own one. Compare:

In this case, the person performing the action does not affect the verb in any way, that is, for all persons the form of the verb is the same. Let's look at the use of this time using examples:

To form negative and interrogative sentences in this case, the auxiliary verb did is used. It takes over the function of the past tense determiner, so the semantic verb returns to its initial form:

Future Simple

Future Simple or simple future tense in English is used to express simple actions that will happen in the future. It has the auxiliary verb will in all three sentence forms:

	She will help you.	She will help you.
	I will explain you how to do this.	I'll explain to you how to do it.
	They will share their main ideas.	They will share their main ideas.
	You will not (won’t) remember anything.	You won't remember anything.
	She won’t be available because she’ll turn off her phone.	She won't be available because she will turn off her phone.
	They won't sign the documents.	They won't sign the documents.
	Will you be with me?	You will be with me?
	Will they like the description of the product?	Will they like the product description?
	Will he lie or not?	Will he lie or not?

Tenses in English: Continuous group

Continuous / Progressive (Long)		Present	Past	Future
	+	to be (1st form) + V-ing	to be (2nd form) + V-ing	will be + V-ing
	—	to be (1st form) + not + V-ing	to be (2nd form) + not + V-ing	will + not + be + V-ing
	?	to be (1st form) ... V-ing?	to be (2nd form) ... V-ing?	Will... be V-ing?

Present Continuous

Present Continuous (Present Progressive) or present continuous tense in English (also known as continuous tense in English) is a tense that shows that an action is ongoing, that is, in the process of being performed at a given moment in time. It is usually constructed using the auxiliary verb to be, which is expressed in three forms, depending on person and number:

Examples:

	I am typing him a message right now.	I'm typing a message to him right now.
	We are watching TV all day long.	We watch TV all day.
	They are translating the text at the moment.	They are currently translating the text.
	He is not (isn’t) reading now.	He's not reading now.
	Jim isn’t writing a new post.	Jim doesn't write a new post.
	I am not (‘m not) learning Turkish.	I don't study Turkish.
	Is she working here till summer?	Is she working here until the summer?
	Are you doing this on purpose, huh?	You're doing this on purpose, right?
	Are they studying the course at the moment?	Are they currently studying this course?

Past Continuous

(Past Progressive) or past continuous tense is used to show that some action lasted at a certain point in the past. Its formation also requires auxiliary and semantic verbs. The same verb to be acts as an auxiliary verb, but only in the past tense:

Pronouns	to be in the past tense
I	was
We	were

The semantic verb is formed in the same way as for the present continuous tense.

Examples:

	I was sleeping when he called me.	I was sleeping when he called me.
	She was cooking while I was reading a newspaper.	She was cooking while I was reading the newspaper.
	They were watching a cartoon when the electricity was suddenly cut off.	They were watching a cartoon when suddenly the lights went out.
	He was not (wasn’t) surfing the Internet at 8 in the evening.	He wasn't surfing the Internet at 8 p.m.
	They were not (weren’t) talking to each other when I came in.	They weren't talking to each other when I walked in.
	I wasn't analyzing the results.	I didn't analyze the results.
	Was she laughing during your presentation?	Did she laugh during your presentation?
	Were they training in the evening?	Did they train in the evening?
	Was she teaching her student at 3 p.m.?	Was she tutoring her student at 3pm?

Future Continuous

Accordingly, the Future Continuous (Future Progressive) or future continuous tense shows an action that will occur at a specific moment in the future. All 3 sentence forms in this tense require an auxiliary verb will be and a semantic verb ending in –ing:

	When I come back, they will be listening to music.	When I return, they will listen to music.
	I will be passing the exam this time tomorrow.	Tomorrow at this time I will be taking the exam.
	They will be rehearsing here at 9 p.m.	They will be rehearsing here at 9 pm.
	Diana will not (won’t) be recording a song tonight.	Diana won't be recording the song tonight.
	Unfortunately, I will not be spending time with my friends during my vacations.	Unfortunately, I won't be spending time with my friends during my vacation.
	They will not be building a website this time on Monday.	They will not be developing the website at this time on Monday.
	Will they be chilling the whole day?	Will they chill out all day?
	Will she be washing the dishes when we go downstairs?	Will she be washing the dishes when we go downstairs?
	Will they be conducting a research?	Will they do the research?

Tenses in English: Perfect group

Perfect (Perfect)		Present	Past	Future
	+	have / has + V3	had + V3	will + have + V3
	—	have / has + not + V3	had + not + V3	will + not + have + V3
	?	Have/Has…V3?	Had... V3?	Will... have V3?

Present Perfect

Present Perfect or present perfect tense is a tense in English used to express actions that have completed by now. It differs from the simple past tense in that it places emphasis on the result in the present that caused an action in the past.

This tense form requires the auxiliary verb have, which changes to has for the third person. But with verbs used as semantic ones, not everything is so simple. They are answered by the past participles. The participle can be formed in two ways:

• If the verb is correct, then it is enough to add the ending –ed:

Example sentences:

	The son has broken the window with a ball.	My son broke a window with a ball.
	My children have already made the list of presents.	My children have already made a gift list.
	I have heard this story many times.	I've heard this story many times.
	I have not (haven’t) hurt people ever.	I've never hurt people.
	She has not (hasn’t) decided yet.	She hasn't made a decision yet.
	They haven’t learned these formulas by heart; that’s why I’m sure they have written cheat sheets	They didn't memorize these formulas, so I'm sure they wrote spurs.
	Has she been to Europe?	Has she been to Europe?
	Have you ever watched an eclipse?	Have you ever watched an eclipse?
	Have they met him yet?	Have they already met him?

Past Perfect

Or the past perfect tense is used to show that some action took place before a specific moment in the past. It is formed using the auxiliary verb had and the same past participles:

	I had prepared a surprise for my children by 7 o’clock in the evening.	I have prepared a surprise for children by 7 p.m.
	We had considered all suggestions by Friday.	We reviewed all proposals by Friday.
	I wanted to visit her but she had moved already.	I wanted to visit her, but she had already moved.
	She had not (hadn’t) spent too much time before she understood the concept.	It didn't take her long before she understood the concept.
	They hadn’t finished the construction by the deadline.	They didn't finish construction by the deadline.
	We hadn't published the magazine by Monday.	We had not published the magazine by Monday.
	Had she edited everything by the end of the day?	Did she edit everything before the end of the day?
	Had he learned the details carefully before he started doing the project?	Did he study all the details carefully before starting the project?
	Had she come back by Thursday?	Was she back by Thursday?

Future Perfect

Future Perfect or future perfect tense, as you might have guessed, shows that the action will be completed by a certain point in the future. To form this tense, in addition to the auxiliary verb have, you will need the verb will. The meaning is the past participle:

	I will have changed everything by this time.	By this time I will change everything.
	She will have been in the Maldives at 3 a.m.	She will be in the Maldives at 3 am.
	The builders will have built the stadium by next winter.	Builders will build the stadium by next winter.
	They will not (won’t) have spent much time on family until they understand its value.	They will not spend much time on family until they understand its value.
	She won’t have reached her goals until she starts working.	She won't achieve her goals until she starts working.
	I think George and Quincy won’t have made up before your birthday party.	I don't think George and Quincy will make up until your birthday.
	Will they have made it by March?	Will they do it by March?
	Will she have got his real intentions before they get married?	Will she understand his true intentions before they get married?

Tenses in English: Perfect Continuous group

Perfect (Perfect)		Present	Past	Future
	+	have / has + been + V-ing	had + been + V-ing	will + have + been + V-ing
	—	have / has + not + been + V-ing	had + not + been + V-ing	will + not + have + been + V-ing
	?	Have / Has … been + V-ing?	Had... been + V-ing?	Will... have + been + V-ing?

Present Perfect Continuous

Present Perfect Continuous or present perfect continuous tense is a tense used to show an action that began and lasted up to a certain moment or continues to last now.

It has auxiliary verbs have been, which change to has been for the third person. The semantic verb is the same verb that was used in Continuous tenses. Among all the English tenses of this group, the Present Perfect Continuous tense is the most commonly used:

	It has been raining all day long.	It rained all day.
	My friend has been persuading me to go with him for an hour.	My friend convinces me to go with him for an hour.
	I’m tired because we have been creating a studio all night.	I was tired because we had been setting up the studio all night.
	She has not (hasn’t) been learning French since she moved from Canada.	She hasn't studied French since she moved from Canada.
	Bryan hasn’t been enjoying his weekends since his mother-in-law came to visit them.	Brian didn't enjoy the weekend because his mother-in-law was visiting.
	We haven't been sleeping all night.	We didn't sleep all night.
	How long have you been living here?	How long have you lived here?
	Have you been fighting again?	Did you fight again?
	Who has been touching my documents?!	Who touched my documents?!

Past Perfect Continuous

The Past Perfect Continuous or past perfect continuous tense is used in the same way as the Present Perfect Continuous, only in this case the action ends at a certain point in the past. Sentences are formed in this tense using the auxiliary verbs had been and the semantic verb ending in –ing. Since this form is not used very often and there are not many options for its use, let's look at just a few examples:

Future Perfect Continuous

Future Perfect Continuous or future perfect continuous tense implies a certain moment in the future. Time is used in very rare cases. It uses the auxiliary verbs will have been and the same semantic verb:

That's all. We hope that the explanation of the topic helped you, and the use of tenses in English is no longer a problem for you. Try to use all tense forms as often as possible when speaking, make up examples with them, do various exercises on English tenses and make translations.

To avoid having to constantly return to this article, redraw or create your own table of English tenses. It will be like a cheat sheet for you. Refer to it periodically, even if you have finished studying this topic, since repeating what you have covered will never do any harm. If you still have a little confusion with the tenses at first, with enough practice you will quickly understand how to use them. The main thing is that we deal with all the tenses step by step and do not move from one group to another until we have completely mastered the material.

Views: 682

English grammar seems complicated and confusing to beginners. However, first impressions are deceiving. For example, the tense system is an example of a clearly thought-out and logically constructed scheme that allows you to understand the time of events at the first glance at the verb. Desperate to grasp this logic and comprehend the essence of each aspect? Do not worry! The purpose of today's article is to explain in detail all the tenses in English for dummies, beginners and all those who dedicatedly learned the theory, but still do not know how to apply the memorized rules in practice.

Let's start with a general explanation of the English tense system.

In Russian speech we use three types of tense: present, past and future. In the English language, there are more than 12 types, as many believe. But this is not entirely the right approach.

In fact, the British have exactly the same 3 types of time, but each of them is divided into 4 more subtypes:

• – just an action;
• - an action taking place at a specific moment in time.
• – completed action;
• Perfect Continuous - an action that has been going on for some time, brings certain results, but has not yet been completed.

If you know how to understand these semantic shades, then the use of tenses will not cause any problems. We will try to develop this skill and provide accessible explanations for each aspect.

All the rules for tenses in English for dummies

Here we will find examples of all possible tense groups, an explanation of their use and detailed information about sentence construction.

Present

If for us the present is everything that relates to a given moment, then for the British the present plays with four different colors.

1) Present Simple

Facts, everyday actions, abilities, skills. This aspect carries the most generalized understanding of time.

• I write poems - I write poems(always, every day, never, often, rarely).
• He writes poems– in the 3rd person the predicate is always supplemented with –s.

For questions and negatives, remember to use the auxiliary do.

3) Present Perfect

The result of a completed action. Such sentences are always translated into Russian using perfective verbs (what did you do?). In this case, the duration of action is not indicated specifically, but approximately.

• I have written poems- I wrote poetry(just now, already, not yet, once upon a time, by such and such a day, hour, month).

All types of statements are constructed using the auxiliary verb have (for the 3rd person has).

?	–
Have you written? Has she written?	I haven't written; she hasn't written

4) Present Perfect Continuous

An action that has already brought some results, but is not yet completed. The extent of events over time is emphasized.

• I have been writing poemssince2005 – I write poetry since 2005(from childhood, from such and such a time, from ... to, all day, during, recently).

2) Past Continuous

Events took place at a specific moment in the past.

• She was writing this letter at 5 o’clock yesterday –ShewroteThisletteryesterdayat 5hours(at that moment).

4) Past Perfect Continuous

An action that continued for a long time and was completed at a certain point in the past.

• She had been writing theletterforafewdaysbeforeshesentit– She wrote this letter for several days before sending it.(before when).

2) Future Continuous

The action is planned to take place at a specific point in the future.

• I will be flying to Spain at this time tomorrow –TomorrowVThistimeIwillflyVSpain.

4) Future Perfect Continuous

The action will last until a certain point in the future. This aspect is used in speech extremely rarely.

• By April 15, I will have been living in Spain for 3 months –K 15AprilIwillliveVSpainalready 3month.

?	–
Will you have been living?	I won't have been living.

We hope we have coped with the task and clarified the tenses in English even for dummies. To consolidate the theory you have learned, we recommend solving practical exercises on verb tenses in English.

Good luck in improving your knowledge and see you again!

Views: 662

Tenses are the basis of English grammar. There are as many as 12 forms of tense, and if you take into account the active and passive voice, then all 26! Moreover, not every person can apply all forms correctly and use them when appropriate.

The very first present tense is quite easy to master. It is practically no different from Russian. But as soon as it comes to passive voices, interrogative sentences, and the extremely unusual Perfect Continuous form for us, a terrible confusion appears in our heads.

But there are still several ways to master these “unruly” times and them once and for all.

In English schools for beginners, verbs are often taught at once, in three forms. That is, when passing the Indefinite section, they immediately go through its future, past and present forms. To do this, you need to remember simple verbs, auxiliary verbs, and sometimes use irregular verbs. If you add the passive voice here, your head will simply explode from such a mess.

Therefore, learn all tenses from simple to complex. First, understand the most commonly used verb “to be” and its forms. Then begin to slowly understand the simple form of the verb or Simple, as well as its three tenses. It is worth noting that the Simple form is the basic one and all the others are derived from it. Eg:

I play - Present Simple

I am playing - Present Continuous

I have played - Present Perfect

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I have been playing - Present Perfect Continuous

You can see a pattern that in each variant the main words are “I” and “play”. In the simple present form there is no need to use auxiliary verbs. Therefore, training should always begin with it.

You can memorize all the uses of the Past Perfect Passive, but you still won’t be able to use them in conversation or writing. After all, before you learn a rule, you need to understand it. Let's look at each time using the examples shown above (I play).

The first option is a simple indefinite time. That is, the action takes place in general now, but it does not have exact boundaries of time: I play, I work, I love, etc.

The Present Continuous talks about what we are doing at the moment: I am playing (now), I am working (at the moment), etc.

*You see how convenient it is to use tenses in English. To use the Continuous form in Russian, you should add “at the moment” or “now”. In English, just add the verb am/are/is and the ending –ing.

The third perfect form means a completed action: I played or finished playing, that is, I have already finished the game. In Russian it is quite difficult to use this form, so we simply add “already” or the prefix “s-” (played, made, caught).

The Perfect Continuous form is the most difficult to understand. It means an action that lasted and continues to last. Imagine the scene when you approach a friend, all sweaty, from the football field and say: “I’ve been playing football all day!” (I have been playing football the whole day!). You played in the past tense, but the game is still going on and you need to return to the field.

These tenses in English for beginners are the basis. Then you can analyze the past and future form, active/passive voice, participial phrases, etc. But all this is secondary and will definitely come to you if you understand the rules and don’t just cram them.

In American English, the simple form and the continuous form are most often used. Therefore, try to use them in conversation as often as possible. It would also be a great option to make a foreign friend on a social network to exchange thoughts with him, talk about the culture of your country, news, etc.

Please note that at first you will not be able to use English for beginner tenses. Suggestions will be given to you with high difficulty. But with each new phrase it will become easier and easier for you. You won’t even notice how you’ll be scattering Past Perfect Passive or Future Continuous Active left and right.

Many of those who study English know that it contains two groups of tenses.

Three main ones:

• Present;
• Past;
• Future.

The presented times, depending on the situation, are added to the secondary times:

• Simple;
• Progressive;
• Perfect;
• Perfect Progressive.

The result of adding these two groups is the presence of 12 tenses in the English language.

The listed tenses are usually arranged in a table that clearly shows what form the verb takes when it is in a particular time period.

Also in the table you can see the first indications of how in English.

In order to better remember complex material, you need to study it playfully; for this, in addition to the scientific table of times, we will show you a comic one, which for some will be easier to study.

Rules for determining tenses

Having looked at how verb forms are correctly called, we will answer the question of how to determine tense in English. To answer, let's look at the step-by-step instructions.

• The first step is to translate the sentence we are working on to make it easier to understand what information is being given to us.
• The second step is to determine the time marker. In each tense in the language we are considering, there is a marker - a word that easily allows you to determine the time. Such words indicate a specific point in time or a relative one. For example, in Present Simple such markers are words such as: every day, often, constantly. These markers, as can be seen from the example, indicate regular time, but not only this sign indicates this type of time. Another marker is the usual name of the action: I like watermelon. In this case, it is inaccurately indicated when you like him, and you are simply talking about your action without specifying the time period.

This example shows that such markers make it easy to recognize and correctly determine time in a sentence. Based on this simple example, we want to show that each time has its own markers - words by which you can easily understand what time is in front of you. The main thing is to remember the markers.

• The third step is to remember what time the marker refers to.

• The fourth step is to determine the time.

Having considered how to correctly determine time in English, let us pay attention to the following point: how to determine tense

Rules for determining verb tense

To solve this problem, as in the previous case, we will use step-by-step instructions.

• The first step is to underline the verbs that we see in the sentence.
• The second step is to remember whether this verb is correct or not, because, according to reference books on the English language, a verb has three properties by which it can be easily determined:

1. Time is one of the main ones: past, future or present.
2. Type of time - subtime determined by the marker.
3. The voice is passive (an action is performed on the speaker) or active (an action is performed on the speaker).

If the verb is correct, you can turn to the dictionary or lexicon, otherwise - to the table of irregular verbs or again to the verbs of the same type that you have learned.

• The third step is to find a compound next to the main verb that relates directly to time.

For example, for the group Past - was, did ...; verb ending in -ed.

For Present: do, does…; verb ending in -s.

Such examples most clearly show that it is easy to determine the tense for any verb, and answer the constantly arising question for those who are just beginning to figure out how to determine the tense of a verb in English.

Let's summarize

So, to summarize, we would like to note that we have examined the main and difficult issues when learning English, focusing on the first one: how to determine time in English, since it is the key to correct and quick learning. Apart from answering the main question, we have also described how to easily learn and understand each tense and recognize it in a sentence.

Finally, I would like to give some advice: devote the maximum amount of time and attention to the topic “How to determine the tense of a sentence in English.” The main thing here is practice and its regularity. Then you can easily answer the question of how to determine time in English. Good luck.