
at a certain time (in the past) - you do not know whether it was finished or not -Simultaneous past actions Form S+ was/were +base form + -ing He was doing / They were doing He wasn't doing / They weren't doing Was he doing? / Were they doing? EXAMPLES I was doing my homework when my friend Isabel arrived. Use -an action happened in the middle of another action -someone was doing sth. I did my homework last night Signal words While, when, as, all morning/evening… Use -something happens repeatedly -how often something happens -one action follows another -things in general after the following verbs (to love, to hate, to think, etc.) future meaning: timetables, programmesįorm Base form + -ed (regular) Irregular: 2nd column I worked / did / went I didn't work / do / go Did I work/ do / go?įorm Base form / he/she/it + -s I do/go / I don't do/go / Do I do/go? He does/ goes / He doesn't do/go Does he do/go? Use action took place in the past, mostly connected with an expression of time (no connection to the present) -Complete actions in the past -Past habits Signal words every day - sometimes – always - often usually seldom- never first. It’s often a better choice to use other verbs like expect, predict, and assume to make more cautious statements.Table of English Tenses Simple tenses THE PAST Signal words last. Take care, though, to avoid making statements about the future that imply a high level of certainty. It is also sometimes used for making predictions and stating hypotheses. You can use it in a research proposal to describe what you intend to do. The future simple is used for making predictions or stating intentions. While the above are the most commonly used tenses in academic writing, there are many cases where you’ll use other tenses to make distinctions between times. Note, however, that the facts and generalizations that emerge from past research are reported in the present simple.
#Table of english tenses drivers

“She had been writing a paper all night, and she needed to get some sleep.” Used to describe events that began, continued, and ended in the past, emphasizing their relevance to a past moment “She has been writing a paper all night, and now she needs to get some sleep.” Used to describe events that started in the past and continue into the present or were recently completed, emphasizing their relevance to the present moment “She will be writing a lot of papers for her classes next year.” Used to describe future events that are expected to continue over a period of time

“She was writing a paper for her class when her pencil broke.” Used to describe ongoing past events, often in relation to the occurrence of another event Used to describe currently ongoing (usually temporary) actions “She will have written many papers for her classes by the end of the semester.” Used to describe events that will be completed between now and a specific point in the future “She had written several papers for her classes before she switched universities.”

Used to describe events that happened prior to other events in the past

“She has written papers for most of her classes, but she still has some papers left to write.” Used to describe events that began in the past and are expected to continue, or to emphasize the relevance of past events to the present moment “She will write papers for her classes next semester.” Used for events to be completed in the future “She wrote the papers for all of her classes last month.” “She writes a lot of papers for her classes.” Used for facts, generalizations, and truths that are not affected by the passage of time Tenses locate an event in time, while aspects communicate durations and relationships between events that happen at different times. The table below gives an overview of some of the basic functions of tenses and aspects.
