Tense

Tense is a method that we use in English to refer to time - past, present and future. Many languages use tenses to talk about time. Other languages have no tenses, but of course they can still talk about time, using different methods.

Simple present tense: The present tense indicates that an action is present, now, relative to the speaker or writer. Generally, it is used to describe actions that are factual or habitual things that occur in the present but that are not necessarily happening right now.

Simple past tense: The past tense indicates that an action is in the past relative to the speaker or writer.

Simple future tense: The future tense indicates that an action is in the future relative to the speaker or writer. There are no inflected forms for the future in English (nothing like those -ed or -s endings in the other tenses).

Present continuous tense: The present continuous tense indicates continuing action, something going on now. This tense is formed with the helping "to be" verb, in the present tense, plus the present participle of the verb (with an -ing ending).

Past continuous tense: The past continuous tense indicates continuing action, something that was happening, going on, at some point in the past.

Future continuous tense: The future continuous tense indicates continuing action, something that will be happening, going on, at some point in the future.

Present perfect tense: The present perfect tense is formed with a present tense form of "to have" plus the past participle of the verb (which can be either regular or irregular in form).

Past perfect tense: The past perfect tense indicates that an action was completed (finished or "perfected") at some point in the past before something else happened. This tense is formed with the past tense form of "to have" (HAD) plus the past participle of the verb (which can be either regular or irregular in form).

Future perfect tense: The future perfect tense indicates that an action will have been completed (finished or "perfected") at some point in the future. This tense is formed with "will" plus "have" plus the past participle of the verb (which can be either regular or irregular in form).

Example:

Simple present tense (S + V + O)

1.      He reads a book in the library

2.      She goes to the market

3.      I cooks fried rice in the kitchen

4.      They play football in the yard

5.      We watch movies in theaters

Simple past tense (S + V2 + O)

1.      He read a book in the library

2.      She went to the market

3.      I cooked fried rice in the kitchen

4.      They played football in the yard

5.      We watched movies in theaters

Simple future tense (S + WILL + V1 + O)

1.      He will read a book in the library

2.      She will go to the market

3.      I will cook fried rice in the kitchen

4.      They will play football in the yard

5.      We will watch movies in theaters

Present continuous tense (S + TO BE + V-ing)

1.      He is reading a book in the library

2.      She is going to the market

3.      I am cooking fried rice in the kitchen

4.      They are playing football in the yard

5.      We are watching movies in theaters

Past continuous tense (S + WAS/WERE + V-ing)

1.      He was reading a book in the library

2.      She was going to the market

3.      I was cooking fried rice in the kitchen

4.      They were playing football in the yard

5.      We were watching movies in theaters

Future continuous tense (S + WILL BE + V-ing)

1.      He will be reading a book in the library

2.      She will be going to the market

3.      I will be cooking fried rice in the kitchen

4.      They will be playing football in the yard

5.      We will be watching movies in theaters

Present perfect tense (S + HAVE/HAS + V3 + O)

1.      He has read a book in the library

2.      She has gone to the market

3.      I have cooked fried rice in the kitchen

4.      They have played football in the yard

5.      We have watched movies in theaters

Past perfect tense (S + HAD + V3 + O)

1.      He had read a book in the library

2.      She had gone to the market

3.      I had cooked fried rice in the kitchen

4.      They had played football in the yard

5.      We had watched movies in theaters

Future perfect tense (S + WILL + HAVE + V3 + O)

1.      He will have read a book in the library

2.      She will have gone to the market

3.      I will have cooked fried rice in the kitchen

4.      They will have played football in the yard

5.      We will have watched movies in theaters

Sources:

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/tenses/tense_frames.htm