Below is the Chart of English Grammar Book and Tenses that helps learners to understand the rules effectively.
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Many students who start their IELTS journey with us are from Spoken English classes. We help them understand English grammar tenses so that they stop translating the tenses from their mother tongue to English and start thinking in English.
HOW?
Well, it’s simple. We teach students about situations. When we get IELTS students from the city’s most prestigious English medium schools, many fumble with tense usage. They know the rules, but they drop the ball when using them naturally in their content.
We have developed this page of English grammar not only for IELTS students or for students asking for Spoken English classes in Ludhiana, but we have done it for students in primary schools, such as class 3 students or class 5 students looking for English grammar book lessons.
Below is the English Grammar Tenses chart for clarity, including examples, usage situations, and formation rules for each tense.
English Tenses Chart with Rules, Usage, and Examples
| Tense | Formation Rule | Affirmative | Negative | Question | Usage Situations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present Simple | S + V1 (s/es) (for he/she/it) | I eat. / He eats. | I do not eat. / He does not eat. | Do you eat? / Does he eat? | (Habit, Fact, Routine, Scheduled Future Event) → “The train leaves at 8 AM.” (Fixed timetable) |
| Present Continuous | S + am/is/are + Ving | I am eating. / He is eating. | I am not eating. / He is not eating. | Are you eating? / Is he eating? | (Ongoing action, Near-future plan, Temporary situation) → “She is studying for exams these days.” (Temporary) |
| Present Perfect | S + have/has + V3 | I have eaten. / He has eaten. | I have not eaten. / He has not eaten. | Have you eaten? / Has he eaten? | (Past action affecting present, Experience, Unfinished past action) → “I have lost my keys.” (Still lost) |
| Present Perfect Continuous | S + have/has + been + Ving | I have been eating. | I have not been eating. | Have you been eating? | (Ongoing action started in the past and still continuing, Repeated action) → “She has been working here for 5 years.” |
| Past Simple | S + V2 | I ate. / He ate. | I did not eat. / He did not eat. | Did you eat? / Did he eat? | (Completed action in the past, Polite expression) → “I wanted to ask you something.” (Politeness) |
| Past Continuous | S + was/were + Ving | I was eating. / They were eating. | I was not eating. / They were not eating. | Was he eating? / Were they eating? | (Action in progress in the past, Background description, Future in the past) → “I was planning to visit my friend.” |
| Past Perfect | S + had + V3 | I had eaten. / He had eaten. | I had not eaten. / He had not eaten. | Had you eaten? / Had he eaten? | (Action completed before another past action, Regret/Hypothetical past) → “If I had studied, I would have passed.” |
| Past Perfect Continuous | S + had + been + Ving | I had been eating. | I had not been eating. | Had you been eating? | (Action that continued before another past event, Cause of a past situation) → “I was tired because I had been working all night.” |
| Future Simple | S + will + V1 | I will eat. / He will eat. | I will not eat. / He will not eat. | Will you eat? / Will he eat? | (Spontaneous decision, Promise, Prediction) → “I will help you with that.” (Decision made now) |
| Future Continuous | S + will + be + Ving | I will be eating. | I will not be eating. | Will you be eating? | (Ongoing action at a specific future time, Politeness) → “Will you be joining us for dinner?” (Less forceful request) |
| Future Perfect | S + will + have + V3 | I will have eaten. | I will not have eaten. | Will you have eaten? | (Action completed before a future time, Expectation about future) → “By next year, she will have graduated.” |
| Future Perfect Continuous | S + will + have + been + Ving | I will have been eating. | I will not have been eating. | Will you have been eating? | (Action continuing up to a point in the future, Future cause-effect) → “By tomorrow, I will have been working here for 10 years.” |
| Future in the Past (Would + V1) | S + would + V1 | I would eat. / He would eat. | I would not eat. | Would you eat? | (Past intention, Hypothetical action, Politeness) → “I would visit my grandma when I was a child.” |
| Future in the Past (Would + be + Ving) | S + would + be + Ving | I would be eating. | I would not be eating. | Would you be eating? | (Future event as viewed from the past, Polite inquiry) → “I would be waiting for you at the station.” |
| Future in the Past (Would + have + V3) | S + would + have + V3 | I would have eaten. | I would not have eaten. | Would you have eaten? | (Regret, Hypothetical past, Missed opportunity) → “If I had left earlier, I would have caught the train.” |
| Future in the Past (Would + have + been + Ving) | S + would + have + been + Ving | I would have been eating. | I would not have been eating. | Would you have been eating? | (Imaginary past situation, Ongoing action that could have happened) → “By now, we would have been traveling.” |
Key Takeaways:
Tense Choice Depends on Context
- Present Simple can describe both habits and fixed future schedules.
- Past Perfect is used for actions before another past action.
- Future Continuous sounds polite and professional in requests.
Time Expressions Help Identify the Tense
- Yesterday, last year → Past Simple
- Now, at the moment → Present Continuous
- By tomorrow, next year → Future Perfect
Politeness and Hypotheticals
- Past tenses (like Past Simple, Past Perfect, and Would) are used for politeness and hypothetical situations.
- “I was wondering if you could help me?” (More polite than “Can you help me?”)
If you want to read more details, a PDF of What is Tense in English Grammar is also available for download.
Remember, showcasing your grammar range helps you score more in the IELTS exam or in life in general.
Many students make the mistake of doing only Grammar book exercises and don’t pay any heed to the situations in which the tenses are used. They keep wondering and translating from their regional language/mother tongue to English when using them.
Doing this, they not only lower their confidence and develop glossophobia, they also harm their English skills because their mind keeps lazying.
We have more English grammar lessons on our website, such as Modals, Articles, Prepositions, Adjectives, Adverbs, Nouns and Verbs difference, etc. Everything is covered in detail for you.