Time for English!
You have probably heard that English tenses are complicated and that there are so many of them. But English grammar, compared with Polish grammar, is actually very easy, as you will see in the overview below.
If you can speak Polish, you will certainly be able to handle English too!
If English tenses are confusing you, this overview will definitely make things clearer.
First, we will look at the six English tenses that look almost identical to their Polish equivalents, and then we will move on to the famous perfect tenses.
English tenses – overview
Just like in Polish, English past, present and future tenses each have two forms:
- one describes what we are doing at a given moment (I am running to the shop for diapers)
- and what we do regularly (I run every day because it is healthy).
We call the first one simple, and the second one continuous (sometimes also called progressive).
So we have three tenses – past, present and future – multiplied by two forms, simple and continuous. That gives us 3 x 2 = 6 tenses.
If we multiply that by the perfect version, we get 6 x 2 = 12 great English tenses!
The table below with a cat should give you the general picture 😉
Continuous tenses
Continuous forms in all tenses (past continuous, present continuous, future continuous, as well as past perfect continuous, present perfect continuous and future perfect continuous) are the sentences in which the verb (a word that describes an action: I run, I jump, etc.) is in the so-called continuous form, so it ends in -ing (jumping, learning, dancing).
“Continuous forms are the ones with -ing.”
Albert Einstein
A so-called auxiliary verb comes before it. In itself it does not mean anything here; it only shows that the sentence is in this tense and not another one (something like: he is being, he was running).
English tenses in the continuous form emphasize activity: what is happening, not the result of the action.
They are somewhat like our imperfective forms: I was eating, I am eating, I will be eating.
If the situation is complete – so I ate, I eat, and I will eat – then we use the perfect, or simple, form.
Simple tenses
English simple tenses usually describe general or regular actions, or the result of an action (that is why they are sometimes called perfect tenses). They also have a simpler structure: subject + verb in the correct tense + the rest of the sentence.
English tenses compared: simple vs. continuous
So we have:
Simple and continuous tenses in the past (past):
-
Past simple
I went to the shop every day – Every day I walked to the shop.
-
Past continuous
I was walking to the shop yesterday when… – I was walking to the shop yesterday when…
Most verbs in the past tense are regular, which means they end in -ed. But some – including the most common ones – are the legendary irregular verbs. And what they have to do with Vikings, you can find out in a separate post.
Simple and continuous tenses in the present (present):
-
Present simple
I go to the cinema every day – Every day I walk to the cinema.
-
Present continuous
I am going to the cinema now – I am walking to the cinema (now).
-> Just like in English, this second structure (present continuous for future) can be used both for what I am doing right now and for what I will do in the future. For example:
- Tomorrow I am going to the cinema – I’m going to the cinema tomorrow.
Simple and continuous tenses in the future (future):
-
Future simple
I will go to her tomorrow (then we will talk) – I will walk to her tomorrow (so we will talk).
-
Future continuous
Tomorrow I will be walking to her (so I will buy flowers on the way) – I will be going to her tomorrow (so I will buy flowers on the way).
It turns out that our “three tenses” have suddenly become “six English tenses.”
But in fact, so far this is nothing new. In Polish, the situation is similar up to this point.
The new thing in English tenses is the perfect structure. We do not really have anything like that in Slavic languages.
It uses the word have + the famous “third form of the verb” (past participle).
English tenses overview: perfect tenses
Each of the six tenses above can also appear in a perfect version, which doubles the number and gives us those legendary twelve English tenses – our “twelve great ones”.
Six additional perfect tenses:
Perfect tenses in the past:
- “Past perfect” past perfect simple:
I had walked. (I had already walked earlier.)
- Past perfect continuous:
I had been walking. (I had already been walking earlier.)
NOTE: We use these two “past perfect” forms only when we want to show that something happened even earlier than the past event we are already talking about:
- I was ill because I had fallen into cold water.
I was ill because I had fallen into cold water earlier.
Perfect tenses in the present:
-
Present perfect simple:
I have walked. (I have walked / I am walking.)
- Present perfect continuous:
I have been walking. (I am / was walking.)
These two tenses describe the influence of the past on the present. That is why present perfect forms are sometimes translated into Polish using the present tense, and sometimes using the past tense.
We still have two more perfect tenses in the future:
Perfect tenses in the future:
- Future perfect simple:
I will have walked. (By then I will have walked, for example 5 km.)
-
Future perfect continuous:
I will have been walking. (By then I will already have been walking for, for example, 5 hours.)
These two tenses show that by a certain point in the future, something will already be finished or will have some effect.
In fact, the most important of them is present perfect (simple). It is the most common English tense, but because it feels rather unusual to us, we stubbornly ignore it in favour of the present or the past.
And finally, an English joke about English tenses
Past, present and future meet in a bar… it was tense!
Translation for beginners and for anyone who did not get it:
Past, present and future meet in a pub…
and now for the punchline:
Tense means “grammatical tense” (not the clock word time here!), as in past tense, present tense, future tense!
But the word tense also means “tight,” “strained,” or “nervous.”
Exercises with English tenses
English grammar is a very pleasant topic to study. But knowing how to solve an English test does not necessarily mean that we can speak. For that, we need not more theory, but practice! Some people even say that grammar is generally a waste of time, which is better spent on practical exercises!
If you want to learn to speak English while correctly using all the twelve great English tenses above, I invite you to the Speakingo online English course!
All these tenses are quietly built into interesting, real-life sentences that you use to talk to… a computer. No stress, no judging English teacher.
See whether this method of learning English suits you – you get the first seven trial days completely free!
Practice English tenses in conversation!
Sign up for the Speakingo online English course!
That is all for the introduction to English tenses!
Not so scary after all, right? Share your opinions or questions about English tenses in the comments!
