What are the 12 Verb Tenses in English?

Last week, we discussed the difference between the PRESENT SIMPLE and the PRESENT CONTINUOUS verb tenses when using the adverb ‘ALWAYS’. Check out that article if you haven’t already or go to our YouTube channel to watch the free lesson.

This week, we are looking at an overview of …

THE 12 ENGLISH VERB TENSES

There are 12 verb tenses in English broken down into 4 main groups: 

1. Simple

2. Continuous

3. Perfect Simple

4. Perfect Continuous. 

Then each of those groups has a Present, Past and Future version.

So the 12 tenses are:

1. PRESENT SIMPLE

2. PAST SIMPLE

3. FUTURE SIMPLE

1. PRESENT CONTINUOUS

2. PAST CONTINUOUS

3. FUTURE CONTINUOUS

1. PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE

2. PAST PERFECT SIMPLE

3. FUTURE PERFECT SIMPLE

1. PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

2. PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS

3. FUTURE PERFECT CONTINUOUS

Continuous Tenses

Continuous verb tenses always have some form of the auxiliary verb BE and the present participle (V4 or ING).

Only action verbs can be used in any form. State verbs cannot be used in any of the continuous forms.

Perfect Tenses

Perfect verb tenses always have some form of the auxiliary verb HAVE and the past participle (V3).

THE 12 ENGLISH VERB TENSES

Let’s look at how to conjugate the 12 different verb tenses.

State vs Action Verbs

Action verbs are anything that you can do for 10 minutes, then stop for 2 minutes then do again for another 10 minutes. Some examples include:

Run, walk, study, eat, talk, sleep, etc.

For instance:

I run every day.

This is something that you can start, stop, start and stop.

You can run for 10 minutes, then not run for 2 minutes, then run for another 10 minutes. 

State verbs are anything that you cannot start and stop like mentioned above. There may be a beginning and an end, but you cannot start, stop, start and stop. Some examples include:

Know, have, own, is, like

For instance:

I know how to speak English. 

There was a beginning, when you first learned the language, but now you know and will always know. 

You cannot know English for 10 minutes, then not know English for 2 minutes, then know English for another 10 minutes. 

Note: You cannot use any of the continuous tenses with State Verbs

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For more help with verb tenses, be sure to check out our comprehensive online course on verb tenses coming soon. Check back for more details as they become available.

Also, be sure to check out our YouTube channel for a free video lesson on today’s blog article, and remember to hit “Subscribe” if you like the video!

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For further help with your English …

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