TENSES 总表
Simple Present
Verb form
verb + s /es /ies
Present Continuous
Verb form
Is / am /are + verb +ing
Like – likes
Go- goes
Study- studies
Key words / time expression:
Always/ usually / often / every day/ every
Saturday / Saturdays (every Saturday)
Key words / time expression:
At the moment / now/ temporary
He usually drinks coffee, but today, he is
drinking tea.
Simple Past
Verb form
verb + d /ed /ied
Past Continuous
Verb form
Was / were + verb+ ing
Like – liked
Learn - Learned
Study- studied
Key words / time expression:
Last year / last week/ in the morning / ago
Key words / time expression:
Yesterday 7pm, when (longer action &
shorter action) , while
When I was watching (longer action)
television, somebody suddenly shouted
(shorter action) loudly.
Simple Future
Verb form
Will + ( )
Is / am / are going to + (
)
Key words / time expression:
Tomorrow / next year / later / soon
Future Continuous
Verb form
Will + be + ing
Refers to a continuing action in the future
Key words / time expression:
Tomorrow 7pm, next week at this time
TENSES 总表
Future Perfect
Verb Form
Will have + p.p
Refers to a completed action in the future
Key words / time expression:
By tomorrow / by next week / by the end of
the year
Eg: By the time you drive, I will have left.
Eg: I will have been here for six months by
12 of December.
Present Perfect
Verb form
Has / have+ p.p
Something that finished in the past and
continues in the present
Present Perfect Continuous
Verb form
Has/ have + been + verb+ ing
Something that started in the past and
continues in the present
Key words / time expression:
Since, for, already, yet. Just, many times
Eg: They have lived in Liverpool for fifteen
years.
Key words / time expression:
To indicate the action itself
Eg: She has been waiting for you for all
day, and she’s still waiting now.
It has been raining the whole day, I wonder
when it will stop.
Past Perfect Continuous
Verb form
Had+ been + verb+ ing
Past Perfect
Verb form
Had+ p.p
Make it clear that one event happened
before another
Key words / time expression:
Since, for, already, just, before , after
Eg: By the time I was ten, I had read all the
books on the shelf.
Key words / time expression:
To indicate the action itself in the past
Eg: We had been trying to open the door
for five minutes when she found the key.
We had been living in Berlin for three
months when we had to leave.
TENSES 总表
 记得，如果题目有 （not / like）, 先把 not 拿掉，会比较容易找答
案。
 你们常会弄错的题目：
I ____am not working___ (not work) today. (temporary, only today)
I ___do not work____ (not work) on weekend.
What ____are__ you __doing__ (do) at the moment?
How often __do___ you ___take___ (take) shower? (no time expression,
so it’s just simple present)
By the time she reaches, I will have finished cooking. (future perfect)
By the time she reached, I had finished cooking. (past perfect)
While she was shopping, she met her friends. (* while here is used as
WHEN, not two things happen at the same time.)
By the time we arrive (future perfect)
By the time we arrived (past perfect)