Basic English Tenses

Basic English Tenses

An Introduction to Basic English Tenses

Present Simple (Lessons 1–2)

Lesson 1 — Meaning & form (affirmative)

  • When to use:
    Use Present Simple for daily routines, facts, likes/dislikes.
  • How to form:
    • I / You / We / They + Verb
    • He / She/ It + Verb+s
  • Examples:
    • I wake up at 7 a.m.
    • She works in a bank.
    • They play football every Saturday.
  • Time expressions: every day, usually, often, sometimes, never, on Mondays

Lesson 2 — Negatives & short answers

  • When to use:
    Form negatives & short answers.
  • How to form:
    • do not / don’t + base verb
    • does not / doesn’t + base verb (3rd person).
  • Examples:
    • I don’t like coffee.
    • He doesn’t watch TV in the morning.
    • Do you study English?
      Yes, I do.
      No, I don’t.

Past Simple (Lessons 3–4)

Lesson 3 — Meaning & form (regular verbs)

  • When to use:
    Use Past Simple for completed actions in the past.
  • How to form:
    • verb + -ed (work → worked).
  • Examples:
    • I watched a movie yesterday.
    • She visited her friend last Sunday.
  • Time expressions: yesterday, last week, two days ago, in 2010.

Lesson 4 — Irregular verbs & negatives/questions

  • When to use:
    Introduce common irregular verbs and form negatives/questions.
  • How to form:
    • Irregular past: (go → went)
    • Negatives: did not / didn’t + base verb
    • Questions: Did + subject + base verb?
  • Examples:
    • He went to the store yesterday.
    • I didn’t eat breakfast this morning.
    • Did you see the game? — Yes, I did.

Future Simple (Lessons 5–6)

Lesson 5 — “be going to” for plans/intentions

  • When to use:
    Use ‘going to’ for planned future actions and predictions with evidence.
  • How to form:
    • be (am/is/are) + going to + base verb.
  • Examples:
    • I am going to visit my parents next month.
    • Look at those clouds — it’s going to rain.
  • Time expressions: tomorrow, next week, tonight, soon.

Lesson 6 — “will” for spontaneous decisions/predictions

  • When to use:
    Use will for instant decisions, offers, promises, and predictions.
  • How to form:
    • will + base verb (I will / I’ll).
  • Examples:
    • I’ll help you with that.
    • She will probably arrive late.
    • I will call you tonight.

Practice

Questions

Fill-in or choose the best answer
  1. Present Simple (fill-in): She _____ (go) to school every day.
  2. Present Simple (MC): _____ he like coffee?
    a) Do b) Does c) Is
  3. Present Simple (fill-in): They _____ (play) football on Saturdays.
  4. Past Simple (fill-in): I _____ (visit) my grandparents last weekend.
  5. Past Simple (MC): What _____ you do yesterday?
    a) do b) did c) does
  6. Past Simple (fill-in): He _____ (not / eat) breakfast this morning.
  7. Future Simple — going to (fill-in): We _____ (be / going to) travel next month.
  8. Future Simple — will (MC): I think it _____ rain later.
    a) will b) is going to c) does
  9. Future Simple — going to (fill-in): Who _____ (bring) the cake to the party?
  10. Mixed tenses (choose the best tense; MC): By this time tomorrow I _____ finished my homework.
    a) will b) will have c) am

Answers

  1. goes
  2. b) Does
  3. play
  4. visited
  5. b) did
  6. did not / didn’t eat
  7. are going to be / are going to travel (either “are going to travel” preferred)
  8. a) will
  9. is going to bring / will bring
    (preferred: is going to bring)
  10. b) will have