MARI BELAJAR BAHASA INGGRIS BERSAMA
Verbs
What Are Verbs?
- Verb Classification
helping verbs: primary/modal
main verbs: transitive/intransitive, linking, dynamic/stative, regular/irregular
Verb Forms
to sing, sing, sings, sang, sung, singing
Tenses
I sing, I am singing, I have sung, I have been singing, I sang, I was singing
Phrasal Verbs
put out, look after, get on with
Conditionals
if I win, if I won, if I had won
Modal Verbs
can, shall, must...
Gerunds (-ing)
fishing is fun, I hate working
Questions
Do you like me?, Why do you like me?, Do you like me or him?
Tag Questions
You like me, don't you?
Subjunctive
She insists that he come
Active Voice, Passive Voice
Cats eat mice, Mice are eaten by cats
Infinitive or -ing?
I like to do, I like doing
Plural Verbs with Singular Subjects
the company do, the company does
Verb Meanings with Continuous Tenses
Am I being silly?
Used to do / Be used to
I used to do it, I am not used to it
Going to
I am going to do it
Future Time
I will do it, I am going to do it, I am doing it, I do it
For & Since for Time
for two days, since 1st April
Verb Classification
We divide verbs into two broad classifications:
1. Helping Verbs
Imagine that a stranger walks into your room and says:
- I can.
- People must.
- The Earth will.
Do you understand anything? Has this person communicated anything to you? Probably not! That's because these verbs are helping verbs and have no meaning on their own. They are necessary for the grammatical structure of the sentence, but they do not tell us very much alone. We usually use helping verbs with main verbs. They "help" the main verb. (The sentences in the above examples are therefore incomplete. They need at least a main verb to complete them.) There are only about 15 helping verbs.
2. Main Verbs
Now imagine that the same stranger walks into your room and says:
- I teach.
- People eat.
- The Earth rotates.
Do you understand something? Has this person communicated something to you? Probably yes! Not a lot, but something. That's because these verbs are main verbs and have meaning on their own. They tell us something. Of course, there are thousands of main verbs.
In the following table we see example sentences with helping verbs and main verbs. Notice that all of these sentences have a main verb. Only some of them have a helping verb.
| | helping verb | | main verb | |
| John | | | likes | coffee. |
| You | | | lied | to me. |
| They | | | are | happy. |
| The children | are | | playing. | |
| We | must | | go | now. |
| I | do | not | want | any. |
Helping verbs and main verbs can be further sub-divided, as we shall see on the following pages.
Helping Verbs
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| Helping verbs are also called "auxiliary verbs". |
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Helping verbs have no meaning on their own. They are necessary for the grammatical structure of a sentence, but they do not tell us very much alone. We usually use helping verbs with main verbs. They "help" the main verb (which has the real meaning). There are only about 15 helping verbs in English, and we divide them into two basic groups:
Primary helping verbs (3 verbs)
These are the verbs be, do, and have. Note that we can use these three verbs as helping verbs or as main verbs. On this page we talk about them as helping verbs. We use them in the following cases:
- be
- to make continuous tenses (He is watching TV.)
- to make the passive (Small fish are eaten by big fish.)
- have
- to make perfect tenses (I have finished my homework.)
- do
- to make negatives (I do not like you.)
- to ask questions (Do you want some coffee?)
- to show emphasis (I do want you to pass your exam.)
- to stand for a main verb in some constructions (He speaks faster than she does.)
Modal helping verbs (10 verbs)
We use modal helping verbs to "modify" the meaning of the main verb in some way. A modal helping verb expresses necessity or possibility, and changes the main verb in that sense. These are the modal verbs:
- can, could
- may, might
- will, would,
- shall, should
- must
- ought to
Here are examples using modal verbs:
- I can't speak Chinese.
- John may arrive late.
- Would you like a cup of coffee?
- You should see a doctor.
- I really must go now.
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| Semi-modal verbs (3 verbs)
The following verbs are often called "semi-modals" because they are partly like modal helping verbs and partly like main verbs: |
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Main Verbs
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| Main verbs are also called "lexical verbs". |
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Main verbs have meaning on their own (unlike helping verbs). There are thousands of main verbs, and we can classify them in several ways:
Transitive and intransitive verbs
A transitive verb takes a direct object: Somebody killed the President. An intransitive verb does not have a direct object: He died. Many verbs, like speak, can be transitive or intransitive. Look at these examples:
transitive:
- I saw an elephant.
- We are watching TV.
- He speaks English.
intransitive:
- He has arrived.
- John goes to school.
- She speaks fast.
Linking verbs
A linking verb does not have much meaning in itself. It "links" the subject to what is said about the subject. Usually, a linking verb shows equality (=) or a change to a different state or place (>). Linking verbs are always intransitive (but not all intransitive verbs are linking verbs).
- Mary is a teacher. (mary = teacher)
- Tara is beautiful. (tara = beautiful)
- That sounds interesting. (that = interesting)
- The sky became dark. (the sky > dark)
- The bread has gone bad. (bread > bad)
Dynamic and stative verbs
Some verbs describe action. They are called "dynamic", and can be used with continuous tenses. Other verbs describe state (non-action, a situation). They are called "stative", and cannot normally be used with continuous tenses (though some of them can be used with continuous tenses with a change in meaning).
dynamic verbs (examples):
- hit, explode, fight, run, go
stative verbs (examples):
- be
- like, love, prefer, wish
- impress, please, surprise
- hear, see, sound
- belong to, consist of, contain, include, need
- appear, resemble, seem
Regular and irregular verbs
This is more a question of vocabulary than of grammar. The only real difference between regular and irregular verbs is that they have different endings for their past tense and past participle forms. For regular verbs, the past tense ending and past participle ending is always the same: -ed. For irregular verbs, the past tense ending and the past participle ending is variable, so it is necessary to learn them by heart.
regular verbs: base, past tense, past participle
- look, looked, looked
- work, worked, worked
irregular verbs: base, past tense, past participle
- buy, bought, bought
- cut, cut, cut
- do, did, done
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| One way to think of regular and irregular verbs is like this: all verbs are irregular and the so-called regular verbs are simply one very large group of irregular verbs. |
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Often the above divisions can be mixed. For example, one verb could be irregular, transitive and dynamic; another verb could be regular, transitive and stative.
Verb Forms
English verbs come in several forms. For example, the verb to sing can be: to sing, sing, sang, sung, singing or sings. This is a total of 6 forms. Not many, considering that some languages (French, for example) have more than 30 forms for an individual verb. English tenses may be quite complicated, but the forms that we use to make the tenses are actually very simple! With the exception of the verb to be, English main verbs have only 4, 5 or 6 forms. To be has 9 forms. Do not confuse verb forms with tenses. We use the different verb forms to make the tenses, but they are not the same thing.
In this lesson we look at the forms of main verbs and helping (auxiliary) verbs, followed by a quiz to check your understanding:
Forms of Main Verbs
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| Main verbs are also called "lexical verbs". |
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Main verbs (except the verb "be") have only 4, 5 or 6 forms. "Be" has 9 forms.
| | | V1 | V2 | V3 | | |
| | infinitive | base | past simple | past participle | present participle | present simple, 3rd person singular |
| regular | (to) work | work | worked | worked | working | works |
| irregular | (to) sing
(to) make
(to) cut | sing
make
cut | sang
made
cut | sung
made
cut | singing
making
cutting | sings
makes
cuts |
| (to) do*
(to) have* | do
have | did
had | done
had | doing
having | does
has |
| infinitive | base | past simple | past participle | present participle | present simple |
| (to) be* | be | was, were | been | being | am, are, is |
In the above examples:
- to cut has 4 forms: to cut, cut, cutting, cuts
- to work has 5 forms: to work, work, worked, working, works
- to sing has 6 forms: to sing, sing, sang, sung, singing, sings
- to be has 9 forms: to be, be, was, were, been, being, am, is, are
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| The infinitive can be with or without to. For example, to sing and sing are both infinitives. We often call the infinitive without to the "bare infinitive". |
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At school, students usually learn by heart the base, past simple and past participle (sometimes called V1, V2, V3, meaning Verb 1, Verb 2, Verb 3) for the irregular verbs. They may spend many hours chanting: sing, sang, sung; go, went, gone; have, had, had; etc. They do not learn these for the regular verbs because the past simple and past participle are always the same: they are formed by adding "-ed" to the base. They do not learn the present participle and 3rd person singular present simple by heart—for another very simple reason: they never change. The present participle is always made by adding "-ing" to the base, and the 3rd person singular present simple is always made by adding "s" to the base (though there are some variations in spelling).
* Note that "do", "have" and "be" also function as helping or auxiliary verbs, with exactly the same forms (except that as helping verbs they are never in infinitive form).
Example Sentences
These example sentences use main verbs in different forms.
Infinitive
- I want to work
- He has to sing.
- This exercise is easy to do.
- Let him have one.
- To be, or not to be, that is the question:
Base - Imperative
- Work well!
- Make this.
- Have a nice day.
- Be quiet!
Base - Present simple
(except 3rd person singular)
- I work in London.
- You sing well.
- They have a lot of money.
Base - After modal auxiliary verbs
- I can work tomorrow.
- You must sing louder.
- They might do it.
- You could be right.
Past simple
- I worked yesterday.
- She cut his hair last week.
- They had a good time.
- They were surprised, but I was not.
Past participle
- I have worked here for five years.
- He needs a folder made of plastic.
- It is done like this.
- I have never been so happy.
Present participle
- I am working.
- Singing well is not easy.
- Having finished, he went home.
- You are being silly!
3rd person singular, present simple
- He works in London.
- She sings well.
- She has a lot of money.
- It is Vietnamese.
Forms of Helping Verbs
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| Helping verbs are also called "auxiliary verbs". |
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All helping verbs are used with a main verb (either expressed or understood*). There are 2 groups of helping verbs:
- Primary helping verbs, used mainly to change the tense or voice of the main verb, and in making questions and negatives.
- Modal helping verbs, used to change the "mood" of the main verb.
Study the table below. It shows the prinicipal forms and uses of helping verbs, and explains the differences between primary and modal helping verbs.
* Sometimes we make a sentence that has a helping verb and seems to have no main verb. In fact, the main verb is "understood". Look at the following examples:
- Question: Can you speak English? (The main verb speak is "expressed".)
- Answer: Yes, I can. (The main verb speak is not expressed. It is "understood" from the context. We understand: Yes, I can speak English.
But if somebody walked into the room and said "Hello. I can", we would understand nothing!
| Helping Verbs |
| Primary | Modal |
| do | (to make simple tenses, and questions and negatives) | can | could |
| be | (to make continuous tenses, and the passive voice) | may | might |
| have | (to make perfect tenses) | will | would |
| | shall | should |
| must | |
| ought (to) |
| "Do", "be" and "have" as helping verbs have exactly the same forms as when they are main verbs (except that as helping verbs they are never used in infinitive forms). | Modal helping verbs are invariable. They always have the same form. |
| Primary helping verbs are followed by the main verb in a particular form: - do + V1 (base verb)
- be + -ing (present participle)
- have + V3 (past participle)
| "Ought" is followed by the main verb in infinitive form. Other modal helping verbs are followed by the main verb in its base form (V1). - ought + to... (infinitive)
- other modals + V1 (base verb)
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| "Do", "be" and "have" can also function as main verbs. | Modal helping verbs cannot function as main verbs. |
Tenses | | | Many English learners worry too much about tense. If you stopped 100 native English speakers in the street and asked them about tense, one of them might give you an intelligent answer—if you were lucky. The other 99 would know little about terms like "past perfect" or "present continuous". And they would know nothing about aspect, voice or mood. But they can all speak fluent English and communicate effectively. Of course, for ESL it helps to know about tenses, but don't become obsessed with them. Be like those native speakers! Speak naturally! |
| The English Tense System The links below are to lessons for each of the 12 basic tenses. In each lesson we look at two aspects of the tense: - Structure: How do we make the tense?
- Use: When and why do we use the tense?
Some lessons look at additional aspects, and most of them finish with a quiz to check your understanding. Present Tense
I do do, I do
Present Continuous Tense
I am doing, I am doing tomorrow
Present Perfect Tense
I have done
Present Perfect Continuous Tense
I have been doing Past Tense
I did do, I did
Past Continuous Tense
I was doing
Past Perfect Tense
I had done
Past Perfect Continuous Tense
I had been doing Future Tense
I will do
Future Continuous Tense
I will be doing
Future Perfect Tense
I will have done
Future Perfect Continuous Tense
I will have been doing |
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English Tense System
In some languages, verb tenses are not very important or do not even exist. In English, the concept of tense is very important.
In this lesson we look at the idea behind tense, how to avoid confusing tense with time, and the structure of the basic tenses, with examples using a regular verb, an irregular verb and the verb be.
What is Tense?
| tense (noun): a form of a verb used to indicate the time, and sometimes the continuation or completeness, of an action in relation to the time of speaking. (From Latin tempus = time). |
Tense is a method that we use in English to refer to time—past, present and future. Many languages use tenses to talk about time. Other languages have no tenses, but of course they can still talk about time, using different methods.
So, we talk about time in English with tenses. But, and this is a very big but:
- we can also talk about time without using tenses (for example, going to is a special construction to talk about the future, it is not a tense)
- one tense does not always talk about one time (see Tense & Time for more about this)
Here are some of the terms used in discussing verbs and tenses.
Mood
indicative mood expresses a simple statement of fact, which can be positive (affirmative) or negative
- I like coffee.
- I do not like coffee.
interrogative mood expresses a question
imperative mood expresses a command
subjunctive mood expresses what is imagined or wished or possible
- The President ordered that he attend the meeting.
Voice
Voice shows the relationship of the subject to the action. In the active voice, the subject does the action (cats eat mice). In the passive voice, the subject receives the action (mice are eaten by cats). Among other things, we can use voice to help us change the focus of attention.
Aspect
Aspect expresses a feature of the action related to time, such as completion or duration. Present simple and past simple tenses have no aspect, but if we wish we can stress with other tenses that:
- the action or state referred to by the verb is completed (and often still relevant), for example:
I have emailed the report to Jane. (so now she has the report)
(This is called perfective aspect, using perfect tenses.) - the action or state referred to by the verb is in progress or continuing (that is, uncompleted), for example:
We are eating.
(This is called progressive aspect, using progressive [continuous] tenses.)
Tense & Time
It is important not to confuse the name of a verb tense with the way we use it to talk about time.
For example, a present tense does not always refer to present time:
- I hope it rains tomorrow.
"rains" is present simple, but it refers here to future time (tomorrow)
Or a past tense does not always refer to past time:
- If I had some money now, I could buy it.
"had" is past simple but it refers here to present time (now)
The following examples show how different tenses can be used to talk about different times.
| TENSE | TIME |
| past | present | future |
| Present Simple | | I want a coffee. | I leave tomorrow. |
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| Present Continuous | | I am having dinner. | I am taking my exam next month. |
| They | are | living | in | London. |
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| Present Perfect Simple | I have seen ET. | I have finished. | |
| Present Perfect Continuous | I have been playing tennis. | | |
| We have been working for four hours. | |
| Past Simple | I finished one hour ago. | If she loved you now, she would marry you. | If you came tomorrow, you would see her. |
| Past Continuous | I was working at 2am this morning. | | |
| Past Perfect Simple | I had not eaten for 24 hours. | | |
| Past Perfect Continuous | We had been working for 3 hours. | If I had been working now, I would have missed you. | If I had been working tomorrow, I could not have agreed. |
| Future Simple | | Hold on. I'll do it now. | I'll see you tomorrow. |
| Future Continuous | | | I will be working at 9pm tonight. |
| Future Perfect Simple | | | I will have finished by 9pm tonight. |
| We will have been married for ten years next month. |
| Future Perfect Continuous | | | They may be tired when you arrive because they will have been working. |
| In 30 minutes, we will have been working for four hours |
Basic Tenses
For past and present, there are 2 simple tenses + 6 complex tenses (using auxiliary verbs). To these, we can add 4 "modal tenses" for the future (using modal auxiliary verbs will/shall). This makes a total of 12 tenses in the active voice. Another 12 tenses are available in the passive voice. So now we have 24 tenses.
| 24 Tenses | past | present | future* |
| ACTIVE | simple tenses | past | present | future |
| complex tenses
formed with
auxiliary verbs | past perfect | present perfect | future perfect |
| past continuous | present continuous | future continuous |
| past perfect continuous | present perfect continuous | future perfect continuous |
| PASSIVE | past | present | future |
| past perfect | present perfect | future perfect |
| past continuous | present continuous | future continuous |
| past perfect continuous | present perfect continuous | future perfect continuous |
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| Some grammar books use the word progressive instead of continuous. They are exactly the same. |
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The use of tenses in English may be quite complicated, but the structure of English tenses is actually very simple. The basic structure for a positive sentence is:
subject + auxiliary verb + main verb
An auxiliary verb is used in all tenses. (In the simple present and simple past tenses, the auxiliary verb is usually suppressed for the affirmative, but it does exist for intensification.) The following table shows the 12 tenses for the verb to work in the active voice.
| | structure | past | present | future* |
| auxiliary | main verb |
| simple | normal | | | I worked | I work | I will work |
| intensive | do | base | I did work | I do work | |
| perfect | have | past participle | I had worked | I have worked | I will have worked |
| continuous | be | present participle -ing | I was working | I am working | I will be working |
| continuous perfect | have been | present participle -ing | I had been working | I have been working | I will have been working |
* Technically, there are no future tenses in English. The word will is a modal auxiliary verb and future tenses are sometimes called "modal tenses". The examples are included here for convenience and comparison.
Basic Tenses: Regular Verb
This page shows the basic tenses with the regular verb work. It includes the affirmative or positive form (+), the negative form (-) and the interrogative or question form (?).
The basic structure is:
| positive: | + | | subject + auxiliary verb + main verb |
| negative: | - | | subject + auxiliary verb + not + main verb |
| question: | ? | | auxiliary verb + subject + main verb |
These are the forms of the main verb that we use to construct the tenses:
| base verb | past | past participle | present participle -ing |
| work | worked | worked | working |
| | past | present | future |
| SIMPLE
do + base verb
(except future:
will + base verb) | + | I did work
I worked | I do work
I work | I will work |
| - | I did not work | I do not work | I will not work |
| ? | Did I work? | Do I work? | Will I work? |
| SIMPLE PERFECT
have + past participle | + | I had worked | I have worked | I will have worked |
| - | I had not worked | I have not worked | I will not have worked |
| ? | Had I worked? | Have I worked? | Will I have worked? |
| CONTINUOUS
be + ing | + | I was working | I am working | I will be working |
| - | I was not working | I am not working | I will not be working |
| ? | Was I working? | Am I working? | Will I be working? |
| CONTINUOUS PERFECT
have been + ing | + | I had been working | I have been working | I will have been working |
| - | I had not been working | I have not been working | I will not have been working |
| ? | Had I been working? | Have I been working? | Will I have been working? |
Basic Tenses: Irregular Verb
This page shows the basic tenses with the irregular verb sing. It includes the affirmative or positive form (+), the negative form (-) and the interrogative or question form (?).
The basic structure is:
| positive: | + | | subject + auxiliary verb + main verb |
| negative: | - | | subject + auxiliary verb + not + main verb |
| question: | ? | | auxiliary verb + subject + main verb |
These are the forms of the main verb that we use to construct the tenses:
| base verb | past | past participle | present participle -ing |
| sing | sang | sung | singing |
| | past | present | future |
| SIMPLE
do + base verb
(except future:
will + base verb) | + | I did sing
I sang | I do sing
I sing | I will sing |
| - | I did not sing | I do not sing | I will not sing |
| ? | Did I sing? | Do I sing? | Will I sing? |
| SIMPLE PERFECT
have + past participle | + | I had sung | I have sung | I will have sung |
| - | I had not sung | I have not sung | I will not have sung |
| ? | Had I sung? | Have I sung? | Will I have sung? |
| CONTINUOUS
be + -ing | + | I was singing | I am singing | I will be singing |
| - | I was not singing | I am not singing | I will not be singing |
| ? | Was I singing? | Am I singing? | Will I be singing? |
| CONTINUOUS PERFECT
have been + -ing | + | I had been singing | I have been singing | I will have been singing |
| - | I had not been singing | I have not been singing | I will not have been singing |
| ? | Had I been singing? | Have I been singing? | Will I have been singing? |
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| The basic structure of tenses for regular verbs and irregular verbs is exactly the same (except to be). The only difference is that with regular verbs the past and past participle are always the same (worked, worked), while with irregular verbs the past and past participle are not always the same (sang, sung). But the structure is the same! It will help you a great deal to really understand that. |
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Basic Tenses: Be
This page shows the basic tenses with the verb be. It includes the affirmative or positive form (+), the negative form (-) and the interrogative or question form (?).
The basic structure is:
| positive: | + | | subject + auxiliary verb + main verb |
| negative: | - | | subject + auxiliary verb + not + main verb |
| question: | ? | | auxiliary verb + subject + main verb |
But for simple past and simple present tenses, the structure is not the same. In fact, it's even easier. There is no auxiliary verb. Here is the structure:
| positive: | + | | subject + main verb |
| negative: | - | | subject + main verb + not |
| question: | ? | | main verb + subject |
These are the forms of the main verb be that we use to construct the tenses:
| base | past simple | past participle | present participle | present simple |
| be | was, were | been | being | am, are, is |
| | past | present | future |
| SIMPLE
present simple or past simple
(except future: will + be) | + | I was | I am | I will be |
| - | I was not | I am not | I will not be |
| ? | Was I? | Am I? | Will I be? |
| SIMPLE PERFECT
have + been | + | I had been | I have been | I will have been |
| - | I had not been | I have not been | I will not have been |
| ? | Had I been? | Have I been? | Will I have been? |
| CONTINUOUS
be + being | + | I was being | I am being | I will be being |
| - | I was not being | I am not being | I will not be being |
| ? | Was I being? | Am I being? | Will I be being? |
| CONTINUOUS PERFECT
have been + being | + | I had been being | I have been being | I will have been being |
| - | I had not been being | I have not been being | I will not have been being |
| ? | Had I been being? | Have I been being? | Will I have been being? |
In the following table, we see be conjugated for 12 basic tenses.
| SIMPLE | past | present | future |
| singular | I | was | am | will be |
| you | were | are | will be |
| he/she/it | was | is | will be |
| plural | we | were | are | will be |
| you | were | are | will be |
| they | were | are | will be |
| PERFECT | past | present | future |
| singular | I | had been | have been | will have been |
| you | had been | have been | will have been |
| he/she/it | had been | has been | will have been |
| plural | we | had been | have been | will have been |
| you | had been | have been | will have been |
| they | had been | have been | will have been |
| CONTINUOUS | past | present | future |
| singular | I | was being | am being | will be being |
| you | were being | are being | will be being |
| he/she/it | was being | is being | will be being |
| plural | we | were being | are being | will be being |
| you | were being | are being | will be being |
| they | were being | are being | will be being |
| CONTINUOUS PERFECT | past | present | future |
| singular | I | had been being | have been being | will have been being |
| you | had been being | have been being | will have been being |
| he/she/it | had been being | has been being | will have been being |
| plural | we | had been being | have been being | will have been being |
| you | had been being | have been being | will have been being |
| they | had been being | have been being | will have been being |
Simple Present Tense
How do we make the Simple Present Tense?
| subject | + | auxiliary verb | + | main verb |
| | | do | | base |
There are three important exceptions:
- For positive sentences, we do not normally use the auxiliary.
- For the 3rd person singular (he, she, it), we add s to the main verb or es to the auxiliary.
- For the verb to be, we do not use an auxiliary, even for questions and negatives.
Look at these examples with the main verb like:
| | subject | auxiliary verb | | main verb | |
| + | I, you, we, they | | | like | coffee. |
| He, she, it | | | likes | coffee. |
| - | I, you, we, they | do | not | like | coffee. |
| He, she, it | does | not | like | coffee. |
| ? | Do | I, you, we, they | | like | coffee? |
| Does | he, she, it | | like | coffee? |
Look at these examples with the main verb be. Notice that there is no auxiliary:
| | subject | main verb | | |
| + | I | am | | French. |
| You, we, they | are | | French. |
| He, she, it | is | | French. |
| - | I | am | not | old. |
| You, we, they | are | not | old. |
| He, she, it | is | not | old. |
| ? | Am | I | | late? |
| Are | you, we, they | | late? |
| Is | he, she, it | | late? |
How do we use the Simple Present Tense?
We use the simple present tense when:
- the action is general
- the action happens all the time, or habitually, in the past, present and future
- the action is not only happening now
- the statement is always true
| John drives a taxi. |
| past | present | future |
|
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| It is John's job to drive a taxi. He does it every day. Past, present and future. |
Look at these examples:
- I live in New York.
- The Moon goes round the Earth.
- John drives a taxi.
- He does not drive a bus.
- We do not work at night.
- Do you play football?
Note that with the verb to be, we can also use the simple present tense for situations that are not general. We can use the simple present tense to talk about now. Look at these examples of the verb "to be" in the simple present tense—some of them are general, some of them are now:
| Am I right?
Tara is not at home.
You are happy. |
| past | present | future |
|
|
| The situation is now. |
| I am not fat.
Why are you so beautiful?
Ram is tall. |
| past | present | future |
|
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| The situation is general. Past, present and future. |
| |
| This page shows the use of the simple present tense to talk about general events. But note that there are some other uses for the simple present tense, for example in conditional or if sentences, or to talk about the future. You will learn about those later. |
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Present Continuous Tense
We often use the present continuous tense in English. It is very different from the simple present tense, both in structure and in use.
In this lesson we look the structure and use of the present continuous tense, follwed by a quiz to check your understanding:
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| Continuous tenses are also called progressive tenses. So the present progressive tense is the same as the present continuous tense. |
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How do we make the Present Continuous Tense?
The structure of the present continuous tense is:
| subject | + | auxiliary verb | + | main verb |
| | | be | | base + ing |
Look at these examples:
| | subject | auxiliary verb | | main verb | |
| + | I | am | | speaking | to you. |
| + | You | are | | reading | this. |
| - | She | is | not | staying | in London. |
| - | We | are | not | playing | football. |
| ? | Is | he | | watching | TV? |
| ? | Are | they | | waiting | for John? |
How do we use the Present Continuous Tense?
We use the present continuous tense to talk about:
- action happening now
- action in the future
Present continuous tense for action happening now
a) for action happening exactly now
| I am eating my lunch. |
| past | present | future |
|
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| | The action is happening now. | |
Look at these examples. Right now you are looking at this screen and at the same time...
| 
| 
| 
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| ...the pages are turning. | ...the candle is burning. | ...the numbers are spinning. |
b) for action happening around now
The action may not be happening exactly now, but it is happening just before and just after now, and it is not permanent or habitual.
| John is going out with Mary. |
| past | present | future |
|
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| | The action is happening around now. | |
Look at these examples:
- Muriel is learning to drive.
- I am living with my sister until I find an apartment.
Present continuous tense for the future
We can also use the present continuous tense to talk about the future—if we add a future word!! We must add (or understand from the context) a future word. "Future words" include, for example, tomorrow, next year, in June, at Christmas etc. We only use the present continuous tense to talk about the future when we have planned to do something before we speak. We have already made a decision and a plan before speaking.
| I am taking my exam next month. |
| past | present | future |
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| | A firm plan or programme exists now. | The action is in the future. |
Look at these examples:
- We're eating in a restaurant tonight. We've already booked the table..
- They can play tennis with you tomorrow. They're not working.
- When are you starting your new job?
In these examples, we have a firm plan or programme before speaking. The decision and plan were made before speaking.
How do we spell the Present Continuous Tense?
We make the present continuous tense by adding -ing to the base verb. Normally it's simple—we just add -ing. But sometimes we have to change the word a little. Perhaps we double the last letter, or we drop a letter. Here are the rules to help you know how to spell the present continuous tense.
| Basic rule | Just add -ing to the base verb: |
| work | > | working |
| play | > | playing |
| assist | > | assisting |
| see | > | seeing |
| be | > | being |
| Exception 1 | If the base verb ends in consonant + stressed vowel + consonant, double the last letter: | s | t | o | p | | | consonant | stressed
vowel | consonant | (vowels = a, e, i, o, u) |
| stop | > | stopping |
| run | > | running |
| begin | > | beginning |
| Note that this exception does not apply when the last syllable of the base verb is not stressed: |
| open | > | opening |
| Exception 2 | If the base verb ends in ie, change the ie to y: |
| lie | > | lying |
| die | > | dying |
| Exception 3 | If the base verb ends in vowel + consonant + e, omit the e: |
| come | > | coming |
| mistake | > | mistaking |
Present Perfect Continuous Tense
How do we make the Present Perfect Continuous Tense?
The structure of the present perfect continuous tense is:
| subject | + | auxiliary verb | + | auxiliary verb | + | main verb |
| | | have
has | | been | | base + ing |
Here are some examples of the present perfect continuous tense:
| | subject | auxiliary verb | | auxiliary verb | main verb | |
| + | I | have | | been | waiting | for one hour. |
| + | You | have | | been | talking | too much. |
| - | It | has | not | been | raining. | |
| - | We | have | not | been | playing | football. |
| ? | Have | you | | been | seeing | her? |
| ? | Have | they | | been | doing | their homework? |
Contractions
When we use the present perfect continuous tense in speaking, we often contract the subject and the first auxiliary. We also sometimes do this in informal writing.
| I have been | I've been |
| You have been | You've been |
| He has been
She has been
It has been
John has been
The car has been | He's been
She's been
It's been
John's been
The car's been |
| We have been | We've been |
| They have been | They've been |
Here are some examples:
- I've been reading.
- The car's been giving trouble.
- We've been playing tennis for two hours.
How do we use the Present Perfect Continuous Tense?
This tense is called the present perfect continuous tense. There is usually a connection with the present or now. There are basically two uses for the present perfect continuous tense:
We use the present perfect continuous tense to talk about an action that started in the past and stopped recently. There is usually a result now.
| I'm tired because I've been running. |
| past | present | future |
|
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| Recent action. | Result now. | |
- I'm tired [now] because I've been running.
- Why is the grass wet [now]? Has it been raining?
- You don't understand [now] because you haven't been listening.
We use the present perfect continuous tense to talk about an action that started in the past and is continuing now. This is often used with for or since.
| I have been reading for 2 hours. |
| past | present | future |
|
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| Action started in past. | Action is continuing now. | |
- I have been reading for 2 hours. [I am still reading now.]
- We've been studying since 9 o'clock. [We're still studying now.]
- How long have you been learning English? [You are still learning now.]
- We have not been smoking. [And we are not smoking now.]
For and Since with Present Perfect Continuous Tense
We often use for and since with the present perfect tense.
- We use for to talk about a period of time—5 minutes, 2 weeks, 6 years.
- We use since to talk about a point in past time—9 o'clock, 1st January, Monday.
| for | since |
| a period of time | a point in past time |
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|
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| 20 minutes | 6.15pm |
| three days | Monday |
| 6 months | January |
| 4 years | 1994 |
| 2 centuries | 1800 |
| a long time | I left school |
| ever | the beginning of time |
| etc | etc |
Here are some examples:
- I have been studying for 3 hours.
- I have been watching TV since 7pm.
- Tara hasn't been feeling well for 2 weeks.
- Tara hasn't been visiting us since March.
- He has been playing football for a long time.
- He has been living in Bangkok since he left school.
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| For can be used with all tenses. Since is usually used with perfect tenses only. |
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Simple Past Tense
The simple past tense is sometimes called the preterite tense. We can use several tenses to talk about the past, but the simple past tense is the one we use most often.
In this lesson we look at the structure and use of the simple past tense, followed by a quiz to check your understanding:
How do we make the Simple Past Tense?
To make the simple past tense, we use:
- past form only
or - auxiliary did + base form
Here you can see examples of the past form and base form for irregular verbs and regular verbs:
| | V1
base | V2
past | V3
past participle | |
| regular verb | work
explode
like | worked
exploded
liked | worked
exploded
liked | The past form for all regular verbs ends in -ed. |
| irregular verb | go
see
sing | went
saw
sang | gone
seen
sung | The past form for irregular verbs is variable. You need to learn it by heart. |
| | You do not need the past participle form to make the simple past tense. It is shown here for completeness only. | |
The structure for positive sentences in the simple past tense is:
The structure for negative sentences in the simple past tense is:
| subject | + | auxiliary verb | + | not | + | main verb |
| | | did | | | | base |
The structure for question sentences in the simple past tense is:
| auxiliary verb | + | subject | + | main verb |
| did | | | | base |
The auxiliary verb did is not conjugated. It is the same for all persons (I did, you did, he did etc). And the base form and past form do not change. Look at these examples with the main verbs go and work:
| | subject | auxiliary verb | | main verb | |
| + | I | | | went | to school. |
| You | | | worked | very hard. |
| - | She | did | not | go | with me. |
| We | did | not | work | yesterday. |
| ? | Did | you | | go | to London? |
| Did | they | | work | at home? |
Exception! The verb to be is different. We conjugate the verb to be (I was, you were, he/she/it was, we were, they were); and we do not use an auxiliary for negative and question sentences. To make a question, we exchange the subject and verb. Look at these examples:
| | subject | main verb | | |
| + | I, he/she/it | was | | here. |
| You, we, they | were | | in London. |
| - | I, he/she/it | was | not | there. |
| You, we, they | were | not | happy. |
| ? | Was | I, he/she/it | | right? |
| Were | you, we, they | | late? |
How do we use the Simple Past Tense?
We use the simple past tense to talk about an action or a situation—an event—in the past. The event can be short or long.
Here are some short events with the simple past tense:
| The car exploded at 9.30am yesterday.
She went to the door.
We did not hear the telephone.
Did you see that car? |
| past | present | future |
|
|
| The action is in the past. | | |
Here are some long events with the simple past tense:
| I lived in Bangkok for 10 years.
The Jurassic period lasted about 62 million years.
We did not sing at the concert.
Did you watch TV last night? |
| past | present | future |
|
|
| The action is in the past. | | |
Notice that it does not matter how long ago the event is: it can be a few minutes or seconds in the past, or millions of years in the past. Also it does not matter how long the event is. It can be a few milliseconds (car explosion) or millions of years (Jurassic period). We use the simple past tense when:
- the event is in the past
- the event is completely finished
- we say (or understand) the time and/or place of the event
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| In general, if we say the time or place of the event, we must use the simple past tense; we cannot use the present perfect. |
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Here are some more examples:
- I lived in that house when I was young.
- He didn't like the movie.
- What did you eat for dinner?
- John drove to London on Monday.
- Mary did not go to work yesterday.
- Did you play tennis last week?
- I was at work yesterday.
- We were not late (for the train).
- Were you angry?
Note that when we tell a story, we usually use the simple past tense. We may use the past continuous tense to "set the scene", but we almost always use the simple past tense for the action. Look at this example of the beginning of a story:
"The wind was howling around the hotel and the rain was pouring down. It was cold. The door opened and James Bond entered. He took off his coat, which was very wet, and ordered a drink at the bar. He sat down in the corner of the lounge and quietly drank his..."
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| This page shows the use of the simple past tense to talk about past events. But note that there are some other uses for the simple past tense, for example in conditional or if sentences. |
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Past Continuous Tense
The past continuous tense is an important tense in English. We use it to say what we were in the middle of doing at a particular moment in the past.
In this lesson we look at the structure and the use of the past continuouse tense, followed by a quiz to check your understanding:
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| Continuous tenses are also called progressive tenses. |
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How do we make the Past Continuous Tense?
The structure of the past continuous tense is:
| subject | + | auxiliary verb BE | + | main verb |
| | conjugated in simple past tense | | present participle |
| was
were | base + ing |
For negative sentences in the past continuous tense, we insert not between the auxiliary verb and main verb. For question sentences, we exchange the subject and auxiliary verb. Look at these example sentences with the past continuous tense:
| | subject | auxiliary verb | | main verb | |
| + | I | was | | watching | TV. |
| + | You | were | | working | hard. |
| - | He, she, it | was | not | helping | Mary. |
| - | We | were | not | joking. | |
| ? | Were | you | | being | silly? |
| ? | Were | they | | playing | football? |
How do we use the past continuous tense? »
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| The spelling rules for adding ing to make the past continuous tense are the same as for the present continuous tense. |
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How do we use the Past Continuous Tense?
The past continuous tense expresses action at a particular moment in the past. The action started before that moment but has not finished at that moment. For example, yesterday I watched a film on TV. The film started at 7pm and finished at 9pm.
| At 8pm yesterday, I was watching TV. |
| past | present | future |
|
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| At 8pm, I was in the middle of watching TV. | | |
When we use the past continuous tense, our listener usually knows or understands what time we are talking about. Look at these examples:
- I was working at 10pm last night.
- They were not playing football at 9am this morning.
- What were you doing at 10pm last night?
- What were you doing when he arrived?
- She was cooking when I telephoned her.
- We were having dinner when it started to rain.
- Ram went home early because it was snowing.
We often use the past continuous tense to "set the scene" in stories. We use it to describe the background situation at the moment when the action begins. Often, the story starts with the past continuous tense and then moves into the simple past tense. Here is an example:
" James Bond was driving through town. It was raining. The wind was blowing hard. Nobody was walking in the streets. Suddenly, Bond saw the killer in a telephone box..."
Past Continuous Tense + Simple Past Tense
We often use the past continuous tense with the simple past tense. We use the past continuous tense to express a long action. And we use the simple past tense to express a short action that happens in the middle of the long action. We can join the two ideas with when or while.
In the following example, we have two actions:
- long action (watching TV), expressed with past continuous tense
- short action (telephoned), expressed with simple past tense
| past | present | future |
| Long action. | | |
| I was watching TV at 8pm. | |
| | You telephoned at 8pm. |
|
| Short action. | | |
We can join these two actions with when:
- I was watching TV when you telephoned.
(Notice that "when you telephoned" is also a way of defining the time [8pm].)
We use:
- when + short action (simple past tense)
- while + long action (past continuous tense)
There are four basic combinations:
| | I was walking past the car | when | it exploded. |
| When | the car exploded | | I was walking past it. |
| | The car exploded | while | I was walking past it. |
| While | I was walking past the car | | it exploded. |
Notice that the long action and short action are relative.
- "Watching TV" took a few hours. "Telephoned" took a few seconds.
"Walking past thPast Perfect Tense
The past perfect tense is quite an easy tense to understand and to use. This tense talks about the "past in the past".
In this lesson we look at:
How do we make the Past Perfect Tense?
The structure of the past perfect tense is:
| subject | + | auxiliary verb HAVE | + | main verb |
| | conjugated in simple past tense | | past participle |
| had | V3 |
For negative sentences in the past perfect tense, we insert not between the auxiliary verb and main verb. For question sentences, we exchange the subject and auxiliary verb. Look at these example sentences with the past perfect tense:
| | subject | auxiliary verb | | main verb | |
| + | I | had | | finished | my work. |
| + | You | had | | stopped | before me. |
| - | She | had | not | gone | to school. |
| - | We | had | not | left. | |
| ? | Had | you | | arrived? | |
| ? | Had | they | | eaten | dinner? |
When speaking with the past perfect tense, we often contract the subject and auxiliary verb:
| I had | I'd |
| you had | you'd |
| he had
she had
it had | he'd
she'd
it'd |
| we had | we'd |
| they had | they'd |
| |
| The 'd contraction is also used for the auxiliary verb would. For example, we'd can mean: We had
or We would But usually the main verb is in a different form, for example: We had arrived (past participle) We would arrive (base) It is always clear from the context. |
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How do we use the Past Perfect Tense?
The past perfect tense expresses action in the past before another action in the past. This is the past in the past. For example:
- The train left at 9am. We arrived at 9.15am. When we arrived, the train had left.
| The train had left when we arrived. |
| past | present | future |
| Train leaves in past at 9am. | | |
|
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| We arrive in past at 9.15am. | | |
Look at some more examples:
- I wasn't hungry. I had just eaten.
- They were hungry. They had not eaten for five hours.
- I didn't know who he was. I had never seen him before.
- "Mary wasn't at home when I arrived."
"Really? Where had she gone?"
You can sometimes think of the past perfect tense like the present perfect tense, but instead of the time being now the time is past.
| past perfect tense | | present perfect tense |
| had |
done |
> | | | | | | have |
done |
> | | |
|
| |
|
| past | now | future | | past | now | future |
For example, imagine that you arrive at the station at 9.15am. The stationmaster says to you:
- "You are too late. The train has left."
Later, you tell your friends:
- "We were too late. The train had left."
We often use the past perfect tense in reported speech after verbs like said, told, asked, thought, wondered:
Look at these examples:
- He told us that the train had left.
- I thought I had met her before, but I was wrong.
- He explained that he had closed the window because of the rain.
- I wondered if I had been there before.
- I asked them why they had not finished.
Past Perfect Continuous Tense
How do we make the Past Perfect Continuous Tense?
The structure of the past perfect continuous tense is:
| subject | + | auxiliary verb HAVE | + | auxiliary verb BE | + | main verb |
| | conjugated in simple past tense | | past participle | | present participle |
| had | been | base + ing |
For negative sentences in the past perfect continuous tense, we insert not after the first auxiliary verb. For question sentences, we exchange the subject and first auxiliary verb. Look at these example sentences with the past perfect continuous tense:
| | subject | auxiliary verb | | auxiliary verb | main verb | |
| + | I | had | | been | working. | |
| + | You | had | | been | playing | tennis. |
| - | It | had | not | been | working | well. |
| - | We | had | not | been | expecting | her. |
| ? | Had | you | | been | drinking? | |
| ? | Had | they | | been | waiting | long? |
When speaking with the past perfect continuous tense, we often contract the subject and first auxiliary verb:
| I had been | I'd been |
| you had been | you'd been |
| he had
she had been
it had been | he'd been
she'd been
it'd been |
| we had been | we'd been |
| they had been | they'd been |
How do we use the Past Perfect Continuous Tense?
The past perfect continuous tense is like the past perfect tense, but it expresses longer actions in the past before another action in the past. For example:
- Ram started waiting at 9am. I arrived at 11am. When I arrived, Ram had been waiting for two hours.
| Ram had been waiting for two hours when I arrived. |
| past | present | future |
| Ram starts waiting in past at 9am. | | |
| 9 | | 11 | |
| 
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|
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| I arrive in past at 11am. | | |
Here are some more examples:
- John was very tired. He had been running.
- I could smell cigarettes. Somebody had been smoking.
- Suddenly, my car broke down. I was not surprised. It had not been running well for a long time.
- Had the pilot been drinking before the crash?
You can sometimes think of the past perfect continuous tense like the present perfect continuous tense, but instead of the time being now the time is past.
| past perfect continuous tense | | present perfect continuous tense |
| had |
been |
doing |
>>>> | | |
|
|
| | | | |
|
|
| | have |
been |
doing |
>>>> | | |
|
| |
|
| past | now | future | | past | now | future |
For example, imagine that you meet Ram at 11am. Ram says to you:
- "I am angry. I have been waiting for two hours."
Later, you tell your friends:
- "Ram was angry. He had been waiting for two hours."
Simple Future Tense
The simple future tense is often called will, because we make the simple future tense with the modal auxiliary will.
How do we make the Simple Future Tense?
The structure of the simple future tense is:
| subject | + | auxiliary verb WILL | + | main verb |
| | invariable | | base |
| will | V1 |
For negative sentences in the simple future tense, we insert not between the auxiliary verb and main verb. For question sentences, we exchange the subject and auxiliary verb. Look at these example sentences with the simple future tense:
| | subject | auxiliary verb | | main verb | |
| + | I | will | | open | the door. |
| + | You | will | | finish | before me. |
| - | She | will | not | be | at school tomorrow. |
| - | We | will | not | leave | yet. |
| ? | Will | you | | arrive | on time? |
| ? | Will | they | | want | dinner? |
When we use the simple future tense in speaking, we often contract the subject and auxiliary verb:
| I will | I'll |
| you will | you'll |
| he will
she will
it will | he'll
she'll
it'll |
| we will | we'll |
| they will | they'll |
For negative sentences in the simple future tense, we contract with won't, like this:
| I will not | I won't |
| you will not | you won't |
| he will not
she will not
it will not | he won't
she won't
it won't |
| we will not | we won't |
| they will not | they won't |
How do we use the Simple Future Tense?
No Plan
We use the simple future tense when there is no plan or decision to do something before we speak. We make the decision spontaneously at the time of speaking. Look at these examples:
- Hold on. I'll get a pen.
- We will see what we can do to help you.
- Maybe we'll stay in and watch television tonight.
In these examples, we had no firm plan before speaking. The decision is made at the time of speaking.
We often use the simple future tense with the verb to think before it:
- I think I'll go to the gym tomorrow.
- I think I will have a holiday next year.
- I don't think I'll buy that car.
Prediction
We often use the simple future tense to make a prediction about the future. Again, there is no firm plan. We are saying what we think will happen. Here are some examples:
- It will rain tomorrow.
- People won't go to Jupiter before the 22nd century.
- Who do you think will get the job?
Be
When the main verb is be, we can use the simple future tense even if we have a firm plan or decision before speaking. Examples:
- I'll be in London tomorrow.
- I'm going shopping. I won't be very long.
- Will you be at work tomorrow?
| |
| Note that when we have a plan or intention to do something in the future, we usually use other tenses or expressions, such as the present continuous tense or going to. |
|
Future Continuous Tense
How do we make the Future Continuous Tense?
The structure of the future continuous tense is:
| subject | + | auxiliary verb WILL | + | auxiliary verb BE | + | main verb |
| | invariable | | invariable | | present participle |
| will | be | base + ing |
For negative sentences in the future continuous tense, we insert not between will and be. For question sentences, we exchange the subject and will. Look at these example sentences with the future continuous tense:
| | subject | auxiliary verb | | auxiliary verb | main verb | |
| + | I | will | | be | working | at 10am. |
| + | You | will | | be | lying | on a beach tomorrow. |
| - | She | will | not | be | using | the car. |
| - | We | will | not | be | having | dinner at home. |
| ? | Will | you | | be | playing | football? |
| ? | Will | they | | be | watching | TV? |
When we use the future continuous tense in speaking, we often contract the subject and will:
| I will | I'll |
| you will | you'll |
| he will
she will
it will | he'll
she'll
it'll |
| we will | we'll |
| they will | they'll |
For spoken negative sentences in the future continuous tense, we contract with won't, like this:
| I will not | I won't |
| you will not | you won't |
| he will not
she will not
it will not | he won't
she won't
it won't |
| we will not | we won't |
| they will not | they won't |
| |
| We sometimes use shall instead of will, especially for I and we. |
|
How do we use the Future Continuous Tense?
The future continuous tense expresses action at a particular moment in the future. The action will start before that moment but it will not have finished at that moment. For example, tomorrow I will start work at 2pm and stop work at 6pm:
| At 4pm tomorrow, I will be working. |
| past | present | future |
|
|
| | | At 4pm, I will be in the middle of working. |
When we use the future continuous tense, our listener usually knows or understands what time we are talking about. Look at these examples:
- I will be playing tennis at 10am tomorrow.
- They won't be watching TV at 9pm tonight.
- What will you be doing at 10pm tonight?
- What will you be doing when I arrive?
- She will not be sleeping when you telephone her.
- We 'll be having dinner when the film starts.
- Take your umbrella. It will be raining when you return.
Future Perfect Tense
The future perfect tense is quite an easy tense to understand and use. The future perfect tense talks about the past in the future.
How do we make the Future Perfect Tense?
The structure of the future perfect tense is:
| subject | + | auxiliary verb WILL | + | auxiliary verb HAVE | + | main verb |
| | invariable | | invariable | | past participle |
| will | have | V3 |
Look at these example sentences in the future perfect tense:
| | subject | auxiliary verb | | auxiliary verb | main verb | |
| + | I | will | | have | finished | by 10am. |
| + | You | will | | have | forgotten | me by then. |
| - | She | will | not | have | gone | to school. |
| - | We | will | not | have | left. | |
| ? | Will | you | | have | arrived? | |
| ? | Will | they | | have | received | it? |
In speaking with the future perfect tense, we often contract the subject and will. Sometimes, we contract the subject, will and have all together:
| I will have | I'll have | I'll've |
| you will have | you'll have | you'll've |
| he will have
she will have
it will have | he'll have
she'll have
it'll have | he'll've
she'll've
it'll've |
| we will have | we'll have | we'll've |
| they will have | they'll have | they'll've |
| |
| We sometimes use shall instead of will, especially for I and we. |
|
How do we use the Future Perfect Tense?
The future perfect tense expresses action in the future before another action in the future. This is the past in the future. For example:
- The train will leave the station at 9am. You will arrive at the station at 9.15am. When you arrive, the train will have left.
| The train will have left when you arrive. |
| past | present | future |
| | | Train leaves in future at 9am. |
|
|
| | | You arrive in future at 9.15am. |
Look at some more examples:
- You can call me at work at 8am. I will have arrived at the office by 8.
- They will be tired when they arrive. They will not have slept for a long time.
- "Mary won't be at home when you arrive."
"Really? Where will she have gone?"
You can sometimes think of the future perfect tense like the present perfect tense, but instead of your viewpoint being in the present, it is in the future:
| present perfect tense | | future perfect tense |
| | |
have |
done |
> | | | | | | will |
have |
done |
> | |
|
| |
|
| past | now | future | | past | now | future |
Future Perfect Continuous Tense
How do we make the Future Perfect Continuous Tense?
The structure of the future perfect continuous tense is:
| subject | + | auxiliary verb WILL | + | auxiliary verb HAVE | + | auxiliary verb BE | + | main verb |
| | invariable | | invariable | | past participle | | present participle |
| will | have | been | base + ing |
For negative sentences in the future perfect continuous tense, we insert not between will and have. For question sentences, we exchange the subject and will. Look at these example sentences with the future perfect continuous tense:
| | subject | auxiliary verb | | auxiliary verb | auxiliary verb | main verb | |
| + | I | will | | have | been | working | for four hours. |
| + | You | will | | have | been | travelling | for two days. |
| - | She | will | not | have | been | using | the car. |
| - | We | will | not | have | been | waiting | long. |
| ? | Will | you | | have | been | playing | football? |
| ? | Will | they | | have | been | watching | TV? |
When we use the future perfect continuous tense in speaking, we often contract the subject and auxiliary verb:
| I will | I'll |
| you will | you'll |
| he will
she will
it will | he'll
she'll
it'll |
| we will | we'll |
| they will | they'll |
For negative sentences in the future perfect continuous tense, we contract with won't, like this:
| I will not | I won't |
| you will not | you won't |
| he will not
she will not
it will not | he won't
she won't
it won't |
| we will not | we won't |
| they will not | they won't |
How do we use the Future Perfect Continuous Tense?
We use the future perfect continuous tense to talk about a long action before some point in the future. Look at these examples:
- I will have been working here for ten years next week.
- He will be tired when he arrives. He will have been traveling for 24 hours.
