Nine Core English Tenses (Table)

The nine tenses typically include three time periods (present, past, future) combined with three aspects (simple, continuous, perfect). I’ll list their question structures, examples (using “make cake”), and brief uses.

Tense	Question Structure	Example Question	Use
Present Simple	Do/Does + subject + base verb	Do you make cake?	Habits, general truths
Present Continuous	Am/Is/Are + subject + verb-ing	Are you making cake?	Actions happening now
Present Perfect	Have/Has + subject + past participle	Have you made cake?	Past experiences, unspecified time
Past Simple	Did + subject + base verb	Did you make cake?	Completed actions at a specific time
Past Continuous	Was/Were + subject + verb-ing	Were you making cake?	Ongoing actions in the past
Past Perfect	Had + subject + past participle	Had you made cake?	Actions before another past event
Future Simple	Will + subject + base verb	Will you make cake?	Future actions or predictions
Future Continuous	Will + subject + be + verb-ing	Will you be making cake?	Ongoing actions in the future
Future Perfect	Will + subject + have + past participle	Will you have made cake?	Actions completed before a future point

Below is a detailed explanation of nine major English tenses:

Tense	Structure	Usage	Example with Explanation
Present Simple	Subject + base verb (add -s/-es for 3rd person singular)	Habits, routines, general facts, scheduled events	I play basketball every Saturday.
Present Continuous	Subject + am/is/are + verb + -ing	Actions happening now, temporary actions, future plans	I am playing basketball right now.
Present Perfect	Subject + have/has + past participle	Actions completed in the past with present relevance, experiences, actions over time	I have played basketball for five years.
Past Simple	Subject + past verb	Completed actions at a specific time in the past	I played basketball yesterday.
Past Continuous	Subject + was/were + verb + -ing	Actions in progress at a specific past time, interrupted actions	I was playing basketball yesterday when you were studying.
Past Perfect	Subject + had + past participle	Actions completed before another past action	I had played basketball before you arrived.
Future Simple	Subject + will + base verb	Predictions, decisions made now, future facts	I will play basketball tomorrow.
Future Continuous	Subject + will be + verb + -ing	Actions in progress at a specific future time	I will be playing basketball at 6 PM tomorrow.
Future Perfect	Subject + will have + past participle	Actions completed by a specific future time	I will have played basketball for six years by next month.