The 12-tense map
Every English tense is just one of 4 times (Present, Past, Future) × 4 aspects (Simple, Continuous, Perfect, Perfect Continuous). Read a tense as time + aspect and the structure follows automatically.
| Tense | Structure | Signal words |
|---|---|---|
| Simple Present | V1 / V-s | always, usually, every day |
| Present Continuous | is/am/are + V-ing | now, at the moment, Look! |
| Present Perfect | has/have + V3 | just, already, yet, ever, since, for |
| Present Perfect Cont. | has/have been + V-ing | since, for (still going on) |
| Simple Past | V2 | yesterday, ago, last, in 1990 |
| Past Continuous | was/were + V-ing | while, as, at 5 pm yesterday |
| Past Perfect | had + V3 | before, after, by the time |
| Past Perfect Cont. | had been + V-ing | for/since + a past point |
| Simple Future | will + V1 | tomorrow, next, soon |
| Future Continuous | will be + V-ing | at this time tomorrow |
| Future Perfect | will have + V3 | by + a future time |
| Future Perfect Cont. | will have been + V-ing | by ... for + duration |
हिन्दी: tense पहचानने का सबसे तेज़ तरीका — वाक्य का signal word ढूँढो (just, since, yesterday, tomorrow), वही tense बता देता है।