English Tense

There are only three basic tenses in the English language: the past, the present, and the future.

The past tense is used for anything that happened before this moment in time.
The present tense is used for anything that happens right now or for general statements.
The future tense is used for anything that will happen at some point later than right now.
(There is also a perfect tense, but this article will stick to the three basic tenses described above.)

Of course, if it were that simple, you wouldn’t be reading this guide!

These tenses have a few variations that make them more specific.

These variations talk about the exact time during which actions happen.