16 Tenses

16 Tenses (Part 1)

by bonjoni no.3

​Four Timelines

​1. Present

​2. Past

​3. Future

​4. Past Future

​

​But I will not tell you much about Past Future. You can search for it on your own.

Multiple Choice

There are three time lines in English. They are ....

• Simple, present and future.

• Past, present and continue.

• Present, past and future.

• Present, continuous and tense.

​Yes, there are three.

​But, actually there are FOUR.

​

​Last week I told you that those three are the most common that we use almost all the time. But actually there is another one which is quite weird...

​

​It is Past Future.

​SIMPLE TENSES

​The following questions are simple tenses. Try to tell which timeline those sentences belong.

Multiple Choice

I talk to my mother the most.

• Present

• Past

• Future

Multiple Choice

I went to my brother's school.

• Present

• Past

• Future

Multiple Choice

I will study abroad after I graduate from here.

• Present

• Past

• Future

Multiple Choice

My sister brought some snacks for my teatime.

• Present

• Past

• Future

Multiple Choice

My future is bright.

• Present

• Past

• Future

Oops...

​"My future is bright."

​Although it tells about your future which is something in the future and hasn't happened yet, but the form is in Simple Present Tense. Hence, the answer is "Present" 🙏

Multiple Choice

My future will be bright

• Present

• Past

• Future

Multiple Choice

I did it!

• Present

• Past

• Future

Multiple Choice

I forgot about it.

• Present

• Past

• Future

Multiple Choice

I saw her.

• Present

• Past

• Future

Wait...

It seems like we use a lot of past tense in our daily conversation. If you are an English speaker, then you must have noticed that we speak so much past tense.

​

​I did it, I forgot about it, I saw her, those are Simple Past Tense that we often use.

​Four Tenses

​1. Simple Tenses

​2. Continuous Tenses

​3. Perfect Tenses

​4. Perfect Continuous Tenses

​Continuous Tenses

​The characteristic of Continuous Tenses is they use "to-be" and "verb-ing"

​So whenever you use verb-ing like watching, working, walking, listening, reading, eating, drinking, dreaming...

​Then you know, you are using Continuous tense

​I'm walking to the market~

​Continuous Tenses

​The following questions are Continuous tenses. Try to tell which timeline those sentences belong.

Multiple Choice

I'm going to see you now

• Present Continuous

• Past Continuous

• Future Continuous

Multiple Choice

He is looking at me.

• Present Continuous

• Past Continuous

• Future Continuous

Multiple Choice

They are trying their best to do their test.

• Present Continuous

• Past Continuous

• Future Continuous

Multiple Choice

Cloudy and Angelly are avoiding us.

• Present Continuous

• Past Continuous

• Future Continuous

Multiple Choice

My cousin was doing her homework when I texted her.

• Present Continuous

• Past Continuous

• Future Continuous

Multiple Choice

You are doing Quizziz right now

• Present Continuous

• Past Continuous

• Future Continuous

Multiple Choice

My aunt and I are preparing for a long trip next month.

• Present Continuous

• Past Continuous

• Future Continuous

Wait wait...

​"My aunt and I are preparing for a long trip." Isn't it the future? Why is it present?

​

​It is Present Continuous Tense. One of the function of it is to tell about something in the future which has been planed from now or before.

Multiple Choice

I will be visiting my mom at the same holiday next year.

• Present Continuous

• Past Continuous.

• Future Continuous.

Multiple Choice

We will be doing our homework tomorrow at this hour, so don't bother to invite us for tomorrow's party. Thank you.

• Present Continuous

• Past Continuous.

• Future Continuous.

Multiple Choice

We were doing homework too yesterday at this hour, just like what we are doing right now and what we will be doing tomorrow.

• Present Continuous

• Past Continuous.

• Future Continuous.

​My bad... my bad....

​I'm sorry if the previous question was confusing. You can say it has three timelines, but we usually consider a tense from the beginning of the sentence. Therefore, it was a Past Continuous Tense.

Conclusion...

From this lesson, I hope you can understand that no matter it is Simple or Continuous Tenses, they always have three timelines, Present, Past and Future.