Future Perfect Continuous Tense
The future perfect continuous is an English verb form used to describe an action that starts in the future and continue up to another time or action in the future. This can be a time or date, or it can be another action. Often a duration is specified for the verb in the future perfect continuous. This verb form alone does not specify if the action will continue after that point.
This is a very rare verb form. Less than .1% of English verbs are in the future perfect continuous. Do not use this verb tense unless you are absolutely certain that it is necessary.
Note that continuous and progressive are just different words for this same thing, so some people call this tense the future perfect progressive.
Keep reading to learn the rules and reasons for using and forming the future perfect continuous, including loads of charts and examples!
Using the Future Perfect Continuous
Perfect continuous verbs are used to describe an action that has been in progress before another action or point in time, often with a duration specified. With the future perfect continuous, that time is in the future. This can be a time or date (next summer, Saturday at 5, in 2050) or it can be another action in the future.
Chart for Future Perfect Continuous Tense In English
Here are some example sentences:
By the time I finish my Ph.D., I will have been studying for over 20 years!
Monday is my work anniversary. I'm going to have been working here for a decade!
In these examples, the perfect continuous action (will have been studying, going to have been working) is presented with a duration (over 20 years, a decade) and another action (I finish) or point in time in the future (Monday).
Form
Formula with Will
To form the future perfect continuous, we use the future perfect form of the helping verb be—will have been or going to have been—and the continuous form of the main verb. No matter what the subject is, the verb form is
subject + will have been + VERBing
Conjugation
Here are conjugation tables showing the verb work in the future perfect continuous with will.
| Singular | Plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | I | will have been working. | we | will have been working. |
| 2nd person | you | will have been working. | you | will have been working. |
| 3rd person | he | will have been working. | they | will have been working. |
| she | will have been working. | |||
| it | will have been working. | |||
Formula with Going to
Because forming the future tenses with going to is more complex and wordy, we almost never form the future perfect continuous with going to. In the rare situation that we might use it, the form is
subject + am/is/are + going to have been + VERBing
Conjugation
Here is a conjugation table:
| Singular | Plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | I | am going to have been working. | we | are going to have been working. |
| 2nd person | you | are going to have been working. | you | are going to have been working. |
| 3rd person | he | is going to have been working. | they | are going to have been working. |
| she | is going to have been working. | |||
| it | is going to have been working. | |||
Other Forms
Questions
In the future perfect continuous, you have more than one helping verb. To make a question, move the subject after the first helping verb, will, but before the second helping verb, have. Again, please keep in mind that these forms are extremely rare, and these examples sound very unnatural in English; we share them only to help students understand the patterns of the language.
At what point will you have been acting for 20 years?
When will they have been playing this game for too long?
Negative Sentences
You can form a negative by inserting not between the first helping verb will and the second helping verb have. For example:
In January, we will not have been living in California for 20 years.
But notice that the negative form is ambiguous. It is unclear which part of the sentence we are negating. Are we living someplace other than California? Has it just not been 20 years yet? This is a good reason to avoid making negative sentences in the future perfect continuous.
The Passive Voice
If for some reason you need to make a passive sentence in the future perfect continuous, use be in the future perfect continuous (will have been being) and then the perfect form of the main verb. As you can see in the following example, this is awkward and confusing
Next year the house will have been being renovated for 5 years.
We do not recommend making future perfect continuous passive sentences.
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Most Common English Verb Tenses
English Verb Form Frequency
We spend a lot of time in English class studying all the different verb tenses. I can't tell you how many times my students have asked me, "How often do we really use the future perfect progressive?" My answer is usually that it is very rare, but it's meaningful, and it can be helpful to understanding how the past perfect progressive works as well. But that really is a good question:
How often do we use each verb tense in English?
This is an important question because there are 12 different verb tenses in English, and you want to study strategically, learning the most valuable ones!
Let's start by saying that there is no one answer. As you may know, the English we use for speaking is different from the English we use in writing. There are many different situations to be speaking or writing in, and in each of those situations we would see different verb frequencies. Even from person to person, our individual speaking style might lead one person to use, for example, the present tense more often than another person. We can, however, observe some useful patterns.
The 5 Most Commonly used English Verb Tenses
If you are looking for a quick answer, here it is:
| # | Tense | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Simple Present | 57.51% |
| 2 | Simple Past | 19.7% |
| 3 | Simple Future | 8.5% |
| 4 | Present Perfect | 6.0% |
| 5 | Present Continuous | 5.1% |
Some quick insights from the top 5:
The simple present accounts for more than half of the verbs used in English speech
The 5 most commonly used verb tenses total up to over 95% of usage
The simple tenses are the top three verb tenses
For a more in-depth analysis, read on!
The Source Material
For this post, we looked at an interesting research study by Krámský (1969). We have also updated this article to include findings from Alzuhairy (2016). Krámský took several different samples of three different styles (or registers) of English—novels, plays, and specialized (academic and technical) texts. He analyzed 20,000-word samples from each text, counting each form of each verb, and sharing all his data.
The results are complex, and grouped in ways that might not be too helpful, but I have tried to regroup them and show them in charts that are more useful for language teachers and learners.
Before we look at some of those patterns, I want to include a caveat, or warning. When compared to all the language in the world, Krámský's sample is actually very, very small. Ideally, we would get this information from a larger base of language called a corpus, like the Corpus of Contemporary American English. Unfortunately, information of this kind is currently difficult (if not impossible) to get from most corpora. Still, the general proportions and patterns that Krámský found should be fairly accurate. The one other warning is that the texts Krámský used as samples of spoken (or colloquial) English are actually plays, written to sound like spoken English. It is very possible that examples of actual spoken English would be different from the language found in the plays.
Ok, now let's get to the fun stuff!
Verb Tense Frequency
First, I've broken each text type down by verb tense: past, present, and future:
As you can see, there are some big differences between different text types. Spoken English is mostly in the present tense (68.9%), but fiction is mostly past tense (57.6%). Specialized texts overwhelmingly use the present tense (87.1%).
This makes a lot of sense. In fiction, we generally tell stories that take place before: first this happened, then that happened, then that happened. When we speak, though, we talk a lot more about what we think and feel and like, what we do, who people are, our experiences and all of these things are expressed in the present tense. In specialized texts, we are often writing about things that are generally true, and here again, we use the present tense a lot.
The future tense is less used in all text types: 9% in speech, 2% in fiction, and 4% in specialized texts.
This table breaks down each tense by frequency in all three text types:
| Tense | Speech | Frequency | Specialized |
|---|---|---|---|
| Present | 68.9% | 40.3% | 87.1% |
| Past | 22.4% | 57.6%% | 8.7% |
| Future | 8.7% | 2.1% | 4.3% |
Verb Aspect Frequency
The tenses are easy enough—past, present, future—but the really tricky thing about learning English verbs is the four aspects: simple, progressive, perfect, and perfect progressive. Thankfully, there isn't as much difference between the different styles of English when it comes to aspect. Take a look:
The charts look generally the same. In every style of English, the simple aspect—simple present, simple past, and simple future—makes up over 85% of verbs that we use. The lesser-used aspects all fall in the same order: after simple, it's perfect, then progressive, then perfect progressive gets a tiny little sliver of use. Biber and Reppen (2002) confirm this pattern, observing that the simple aspect is “more than 20 times as common as progressive in conversation.” (p. 204, cited in Alzuhairy (2016).
Alzuhairy (2016) studied academic texts in particular. The same general pattern applies, but simple present only accounts for about 50% of verbs in Alzuhairy’s findings.
Most Used Tenses and Aspects
5 verb forms make up 96% of all verbs in spoken English.
I think this may be one of the most useful insights from Krámský's work for teachers and students. Although there are 12 tense/aspect combinations in English, 5 of these cover around 96% of spoken English.
Notice that the simple present alone accounts for 57% of verbs. Next is the simple past (19.7%), then simple future (8.5%), followed by present perfect (6.0%) and then present progressive (5.1%). If you want to know which verb tenses to learn first, these five will definitely give you the most bang for your buck!
The remaining 7 tense/aspect combinations are each under 1.5% of spoken English verbs. Of course, it is valuable to learn all the combinations, but if you want to prioritize the most useful verb tenses, this should be helpful.
Active and Passive Voice
The passive voice is another of those constructions that challenges students and leads to the question, how useful is this? Well, again, Krámský's work gives us some idea how useful they are. Here is a breakdown of active and passive constructions in the three registers:
The vast majority of verbs in English are in the active voice.
It is not surprising that the vast majority of verbs are active. The most important takeaways that I see are these: 97.5% of verbs in spoken English are active, but the passive voice is much more common in specialized and academic texts, in which only 82.2% of sentences are active.
Complete Table of Most Used Verb Tenses in English
| # | Tense | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Simple Present | 57.51% |
| 2 | Simple Past | 19.7% |
| 3 | Simple Future | 8.5% |
| 4 | Present Perfect | 6.0% |
| 5 | Present Continuous | 5.1% |
| 6 | Past Continuous | 1.4% |
| 7 | Past Perfect | 1.2% |
| 8 | Present Perfect Continuous | 0.7% |
| 9 | Future Perfect | 0.2% |
| 10 | Future Continuous | >0.1% |
| 11 | Past Perfect Continuous | >0.1% |
| 12 | Future Perfect Continuous | >0.1% |
More free grammar resources:
Future Perfect Tense
The future perfect is an English verb form used to describe actions that will be complete at a particular moment in the future. This can be a time or date, or it can be another action.
This is not a common verb form. Less than .1% of English verbs are in the future continuous.
Keep reading to learn the rules and reasons for using and forming the future continuous, including loads of charts and examples!
Using the Future Perfect
Perfect verb tenses are used to describe an action that is complete before another action or point in time. With the future perfect, that time is in the future. This can be a time or date (next weekend, tomorrow at 5, on November 3rd) or it can be another action in the future.
Chart for Future Perfect Tense In English
Here are some example sentences:
The skyscraper isn't completely built yet, but when I go in June, they will have finished it.
You can come over at 8. We will have eaten dinner by then.
In these examples, the perfect action (will have finished, will have eaten ) will be complete before the other specific action (when I go in June) or time (at 8).
Forming the Future Perfect
Formula with Will
To form the future perfect, we use the future form of the helping verb have—will have—and the perfect form of the main verb. No matter what the subject is, the verb form is:
subject + will have + perfect VERB
Conjugation
That means the conjugation chart is really easy!
| Singular | Plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | I | will have worked. | we | will have worked. |
| 2nd person | you | will have worked. | you | will have worked. |
| 3rd person | he | will have worked. | they | will have worked. |
| she | will have worked. | |||
| it | will have worked. | |||
Formula with Going to
Because forming the future tenses with be going to is more complex and wordy, we almost never form the future perfect with be going to. In the rare situation that we might use it, the formula is:
subject + am/is/are + going to have + perfect VERB
Conjugation
Here is a conjugation table for the verb work with going to.
| Singular | Plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | I | am going to have worked. | we | are going to have worked. |
| 2nd person | you | are going to have worked. | you | are going to have worked. |
| 3rd person | he | is going to have worked. | they | are going to have worked. |
| she | is going to have worked. | |||
| it | is going to have worked. | |||
Other Forms
Questions
In the future perfect, you have more than one helping verb. To make a question, move the subject after the first helping verb, will, but before the second helping verb, have.
Will you have eaten by 8?
Will they have finished the construction by the end of the year?
Will she have completed her degree by that time?
What will they have accomplished with this senseless war?
When will they have made a decision?
Negative Sentences
To form a negative, insert not between the first helping verb will and the second helping verb have. Here are some examples.
I will not have eaten by 8.
They will not have finished the construction by the end of the year.
She will not have completed her degree yet.
The Passive Voice
Making a passive sentence in the future perfect is extremely complex and extremely rare. We do not recommend making future perfect passive sentences. If for some reason you do need to make a passive sentence in the future perfect, use be in the future perfect (will have been) and then the perfect form of the main verb.
The package will have been delivered by Friday afternoon.
All the food will have been eaten by the time we get there.
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Pronouns in English
What is a Pronoun?
Pronouns are one of the 9 parts of speech in English grammar. A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. Pronouns are important in English. They are some of the first words we learn: I, you, he, she, it. There are different kinds of pronouns for different situations: subject pronouns, object pronouns, possessive pronouns, and reflexive pronouns. Instead of Sara, we can say she. Instead of those guys, we can say them. Instead of the sun, we can say it.
Why do we use pronouns?
One reason that we use pronouns is to avoid repetition. Think about this example:
Look at this beautiful table. The table is gorgeous. The table has a red top and the table's legs are steel. I really want to buy the table.
The table, the table, the table, the table—aaaaaaah. We try to avoid this kind of repetition in English. Instead of table, table, table, table, we usually say table once. After that first time, we use a pronoun, like it. This next example is more typical of how we speak in English:
Look at this beautiful table. It is gorgeous. It has a red top and its legs are steel. I really want to buy it.
Simpler and cleaner! That's why we use pronouns.
So a pronoun can take the place of a noun. But there are also some important differences between how we use nouns and pronouns. For instance, we don’t usually use a determiner before a pronoun: we say the table, but we never say the it. We say my friend, but we don’t say my him. We also don’t usually use adjectives before pronouns. We can say the red car, but it would be very strange to say the red it.
Now let's look at the five different kinds of personal pronouns:
English Personal Pronouns
In English, we use different pronouns to show grammatical person, gender, and singular/plural distinctions.
For example, if I am talking about myself, we call this the first person. If I are talking about myself alone, this is singular (only one person). Singular first person pronouns include I, me, mine, etc.
If I am talking about a group of people that includes me, this is the first person plural (more than one person). Plural first person pronouns include we, us, ours, etc.
English Pronoun Chart
Second person pronouns are used to talk about the person you are speaking to. These include you, yours, yourself, etc. You can be both singular and plural in English.
Third person pronouns are used to talk about people who are not either the speaker or the listener. They include the third person singular pronouns (like he, she, it) and third person singular pronouns (like they, them, etc.).
For inanimate objects—things that are not people—we use it, its, and itself.
They/Them Pronouns
When we use third person pronouns, we often distinguish between genders. For example, she, her, and hers are often used to talk about women, and he, him, and his are often used to talk about men. They, them, and their can be used as gender-neutral pronouns. We can use these either because we don't want or need to specify a gender, or because someone goes by non-gendered or nonbinary pronouns.
SUBJECT PRONOUNS
The first pronouns we teach are usually subject pronouns. The subject is often the noun right before the verb. Almost every sentence has a subject. Generally, the subject of the sentence is the person or thing that does the verb or makes the verb happen.
The tiger sleeps a lot.
In the example above, the verb is sleeps, and the subject is tiger. Who sleeps? The tiger does. The subject usually tells us who or what does the action. We have a special set of pronouns that we use to be the subject of a sentence. The table below lists the most common subject pronouns.
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st person | I | we |
| 2nd person | you | you |
| 3rd person | she | they |
| he | ||
| it |
We don’t say Me like candy or Him has a cat. We say I like candy and He has a cat. Me and him are the wrong type of pronouns. We use subject pronouns. Here are some more examples:
I like movies.
Do you like movies?
Invite Clara. She likes movies.
He likes movies, too!
We like watching movies on weekends.
Before a verb, to express who or what does the action in a sentence, use a subject pronoun.
OBJECT PRONOUNS
Almost all verbs have a subject, and some also have an object. The object of a verb is the thing that receives an action. For example, you wouldn't just say, I want, right? You need to want something. We say I want coffee or I want a cheeseburger. Coffee and cheeseburger are objects. They receive the verb, want.
I want a hamburger.
I want a job.
I want a girlfriend.
Hamburger, job, and girlfriend are objects. Notice that objects generally come after the verb in the sentence. We use object pronouns to represent objects in sentences. This table lists the most common object pronouns:
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st person | me | us |
| 2nd person | you | you |
| 3rd person | her | they |
| him | ||
| it |
Here are some examples of sentences using object pronouns:
That hamburger looks delicious. I want it.
Who is that girl? I think I know her.
You can have these books if you want them.
Can I help you?
My teacher hates me!
In all the examples above, the pronouns are the objects of a verb. We use the same set of object pronouns as the objects of prepositions, as you can see in these examples:
My grandmother gave that to me.
I've been getting weird texts from her.
We've heard so much about you!
After a verb or a preposition, you generally want to use an object pronoun.
POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS
To possess something is to own or have that thing. If I have a car, we can say that car is my possession. We can say, That car is mine. Mine is a pronoun in this sentence. It represents the car, the thing that I possess. Mine is a possessive pronoun. Here is a chart with the most common possessive pronouns:
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st person | mine | ours |
| 2nd person | yours | yours |
| 3rd person | hers | theirs |
| his | ||
| its |
Here are some example sentences with possessive pronouns:
That car is hers.
This is my drink. That one is yours.
All the coats are in a big messy pile. I can't find mine!
As you can see, possessive pronouns can be used to talk about things that belong to specific people.
POSSESSIVE DETERMINERS
Possessive determiners (also called possessive adjectives) are not actually pronouns, but it's a good idea to learn them at the same time, because they are very similar to possessive pronouns. The difference is that possessive determiners can not replace nouns; they come before nouns to tell us whose they are. If someone asks, Whose iPad is this? you could answer with a possessive pronoun: It's mine. But you could also use a possessive determiner:
That's my iPad.
With a possessive determiner, it is important to include a noun after. Just saying That is my. would by wrong. Here is a list of the most common possessive determiners.
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st person | my | our |
| 2nd person | your | your |
| 3rd person | her | their |
| his | ||
| its |
And here are some examples of possessive determiners in sentences:
Sorry, I have to take this call. It's my son.
Cheryl is at her English class.
We lost our baseball game.
Please take off your shoes.
Can you believe they lost their homework again?
REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS
So we have talked about subjects and objects, right? Subjects are the people or things that do the action in the verb, and objects are the people or things that receive the action. Sometimes, those are the same person, right? For example, if I cut my finger, I hurt someone. The someone I hurt is me (ouch!). But in English we don't say I hurt me. We have special pronouns for the object in this situation, and they are called reflexive pronouns.
Here is a table of the most common reflexive pronouns in English:
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st person | myself | ourselves |
| 2nd person | yourself | yourselves |
| 3rd person | herself | themselves |
| himself | ||
| itself |
And here are some examples of reflexive pronouns used in sentences:
Clara taught herself English.
Don't play with that knife. You will hurt yourself.
The kids are entertaining themselves in the yeard.
Oh, nothing. I'm just talking to myself.
After a couple of days, the problem fixed itself.
Complete English Pronoun Chart
Here is a complete table of all the pronouns discussed in this post. There are still some other types of pronouns, however. Demonstrative pronouns and relative pronouns, for example, are usually studied separately.
| Subject | Object | Possessive Pronoun |
Possessive Determiner |
Reflexive | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | 1st Person | I | me | mine | my | myself | |
| 2nd person | you | you | yours | your | yourself | ||
| 3rd person | Feminine | she | her | hers | her | herself | |
| Masculine | he | him | his | his | himself | ||
| Neutral | they | them | theirs | their | themself | ||
| Inanimate | it | it | its | its | itself | ||
| Plural | 1st Person | we | us | ours | our | ourselves | |
| 2nd Person | you | you | yours | your | yourselves | ||
| 3rd Person | they | them | theirs | their | themselves | ||
| Impersonal | one | one | one's | one's | oneself | ||
Pronombres en Inglés
Pronomes pessoais em inglês
الضمائر في الانجليزية
Future Continuous Tense
The future continuous (also called the future progressive) is an English verb form used to describe actions that will be in progress at a particular moment in the future. This can be a time or date, or it can be another action.
This is not a common verb form. Less than .1% of English verbs are in the future continuous.
Keep reading to learn the rules and reasons for using and forming the future continuous, including loads of charts and examples!
It is important to realize that continuous and progressive are different names for the same thing. In some places, progressive is more common, but continuous is a more common term overall.
USing the Future continuous
When we see a continuous verb, it tells us that something is in progress at a particular time. With the future continuous, that time is in the future. This can be a time or date (next weekend, tomorrow at 5, on November 3rd) or it can be another action in the future.
Chart for Future Continuous Tense In English
Here are some example sentences:
Don’t call her at 8. She will be flying to Denver then.
I will probably be running when you come home.
Try to be quiet when you come home tonight. Everyone will be sleeping.
In these examples, the continuous action (will be flying, will be running) will start before the other specific action (come home) or time (at 8), and continued after that action or time.
We can also use the future continuous to show that a future action will continue over a period of time.
I’m going to be studying all next week.
We will be traveling for most of 2019.
Forming the Future continuous
There are two options for forming the future continuous: will or going to.
Formula With Will
To form the future continuous with will, use will be and the continuous form of the verb, with -ing.
subject + will be + VERBing
Conjugation with Will
Here is a complete conjugation table:
| Singular | Plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | I | will be working. | we | will be working. |
| 2nd person | you | will be working. | you | will be working. |
| 3rd person | he | will be working. | they | will be working. |
| she | will be working. | |||
| it | will be working. | |||
Formula With Going To
To form the future continuous with going to, you need to use the correct present form of the verb to be (am/is/are). Then use going to be. Then use the -ing form of the verb.
subject + am/is/are + going to be + VERBing
Conjugation with Going to
Here is the going to conjugation table:
| Singular | Plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | I | am going to be working. | we | are going to be working. |
| 2nd person | you | are going to be working. | you | are going to be working. |
| 3rd person | he | is going to be working. | they | are going to be working. |
| she | is going to be working. | |||
| it | is going to be working. | |||
Other Forms
Questions
In the future continuous, you have more than one helping verb. To make a question, move the subject after the first helping verb (be or will).
Will you be eating out tonight?
When will you be arriving in Philadelphia?
Are you going to be sleeping when I get home?
What are you going to be reading next semester?
Negative Sentences
To form a negative, insert not after the first helping verb (be or will).
I will not be eating out tonight.
She will not be running.
We are not going to be reading Nabokov.
I am not going to be sleeping when you get home.
The Passive Voice
Making a passive sentence in the future progressive is extremely complex and extremely rare. In the conventional passive, putting be in the future progressive results in the unnatural combination of be and being: …will be being… or …going to be being…
For this reason, we recommend using the get passive in the future progressive. Put get in the future progressive (is going to be getting, are going to be getting, will be getting) and then the perfect form of the main verb.
We are going to be getting picked up by my mom.
If we miss another payment, we’ll be getting kicked out!
CHECK OUT THESE OTHER FREE GRAMMAR RESOURCES:
Past Continuous Tense
The past continuous is an important and challenging verb form in English. It is used to describe actions that were in progress at a specific point in the past. Read about the rules for using the past continuous tense and how we form it, with charts and over 25 example sentences!
The past continuous (also called the past progressive) is an English verb form used to describe actions that were in progress at a particular moment in the past.
About 1.5% of verbs we use when speaking English are in the past continuous tense. If you are looking for more common verb tenses, start with the simple present, simple future, or present continuous.
Keep reading to learn the rules and reasons for using and forming the past continuous, including loads of charts and examples!
Note that past continuous and progressive are just different names for the same form. In some countries, progressive is more common, but continuous is more common overall.
USING THE Past CONTINUOUS TENSE IN ENGLISH
Continuous verbs show that an action is in progress at a specific time. With the past progressive, that specific time is in the past. This can be a time or date in the past (last night, yesterday at 5, on September 1st) or it can be another action in the past (called, got home).
Chart for Past Continuous Tense In English
Take a look at some example sentences:
I was eating dinner when the phone rang.
At 10:00 last night, we were watching TV.
This time last year we were driving to California.
In these examples, the progressive action (was eating, were watching) started before the other specific action (phone rang) or time (at 10:00), and continued after that action or time.
We can also use the past progressive to show that a past action continued or repeated over a period of time in the past
In college I was always sleeping too late.
All last week I was working.
In the first sentence, always with the past continuous shows a repeated action in the past. In the second sentence, the past continuous emphasizes that the action spanned the entire time period (last week). In both of these situations, the simple past is also acceptable.
More EXAMPLES OF THE past CONTINUOUS
Here are a bunch of examples of the past continuous to help you get a better idea of how we use this verb form:
In December I was preparing for the TOEFL.
Something was happening outside.
Everything was changing then.
The next day people were talking about the election.
Forming the past Continuous
Formula
To form the past continuous, we use the past form of the helping verb be and the continuous form of the verb, with -ing.
subject + was/were + VERBing
Conjugation
The table below shows the full conjugation for the verb work in the past continuous form:
| Singular | Plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | I | was working. | we | were working. |
| 2nd person | you | were working. | you | were working. |
| 3rd person | he | was working. | they | were working. |
| she | was working. | |||
| it | was working. | |||
Note that when adding -ing to C-V-C words, you must double the last consonant and when adding -ing to silent E words, you must drop the silent E.
Other Forms of the past Continuous
Questions
In the past continuous, you have a helping verb, either was or were. To make a question, move the helping verb to before the subject.
Were you wearing a tie?
Was she having a party?
What were they doing?
Who was she yelling at?
Negative Sentences
To form a negative in the past continuous, put not between the helping verb and the main verb.
I was not wearing a tie.
We were not having a party.
The Passive Voice
To make a passive sentence, put be in the past continuous (was being, were being) and then use the perfect form of the main verb.
A party was being planned.
The trash was being collected.
The winners were being selected.
Signal Words
When
The most common signal word with the past continuous is when. We use when to connect a second clause with the other action in the simple past to show that the simple past action interrupts the past continuous action.
I was eating dinner when he called.
He called when I was eating dinner.
Notice that when is flexible. It can be used at the beginning of the simple past clause or the past continuous clause. We can also start the sentence with a when clause if we put a comma in the middle:
When he called, I was eating dinner.
When I was eating dinner, he called
While
We can also use while with the past continuous. The meaning is basically the same, but the way we can use it is more limited. While can only come at the start of the past continuous clause, not the simple past clause.
He called while I was eating dinner.
I was eating dinner while he called.
While I was eating dinner, he called.
While he called, I was eating dinner.
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Present Perfect Tense in English
Present Continuous Tense
The present continuous is a common but challenging verb tense in English. It is used to describe actions that are happening at the current moment. Read about the rules for using the present perfect tense and how we form it, with charts and over 25 example sentences!
The present continuous (also known as the present progressive) is a very common English verb form used to describe actions that are happening right now or during this period of time. About 5% of verbs in spoken English are in the present continuous tense.
Many English learners confuse it with the simple present tense. See this article about the difference between simple present and present continuous.
Read on to learn the rules and reasons for using and forming the present continuous, including lots of charts and examples!
Just to be clear, present continuous and present progressive are just different names for this same form. In some countries, one term is more common than the other, but continuous is more common overall.
USING THE PRESENT CONTINUOUS TENSE IN ENGLISH
The present continuous is used to show that an action is happening in the current moment or period of time. The action started before now, is happening right now, and will finish after now. See the illustration below.
Chart for Present Continuous Tense In English
It is important to recognize that this is very different from many other languages, in which the simple present is used to talk about actions happening right now. In English, the simple present is not used for actions that are happening now, but for actions that happen repeatedly. So we say:
I am reading right now.
We cannot say I read right now. And we say:
I read every night.
But we do not usually say I am reading every night.
More EXAMPLES OF THE PRESENT CONTINUOUS TENSE
Here’s a bunch of examples of the present continuous to help you get a better idea of how we use it.
I am studying English right now.
Are you talking to me?
He is working, but he can come visit after 5:00.
Wow. Look at all those people across the street! I think they are protesting.
We can also use the present continuous to describe actions that are generally in progress at a particular time:
Every Friday night at 7 she's sitting there watching her favorite TV show.
6:15 is no good. We are usually eating then.
We also use it to show that a situation is not permanent:
We're living in Brooklyn with a friend for a few months.
I lost my job at the bank so I'm working at Stop and Shop.
And also for situations that are newly changing or developing:
Cell phones are affecting every aspect of our lives.
Endangered species are going extinct at an alarming rate.
Present Continuous for Future Plans
There is one more use of the present continuous that is a little different. We said that generally we use this tense to talk about the current moment, but we also use the present continuous to talk about future plans:
We are going to San Francisco next week.
What are you guys doing this weekend?
Forming the Present Continuous
Formula
To form the present continuous, we use the present form of the helping verb be and then the continuous (-ing) form of the main verb.
subject + am/is/are + VERBing
Conjugation
This table shows the complete conjugation of the verb work in the present continuous.
| Singular | Plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | I | am working. | we | are working. |
| 2nd person | you | are working. | you | are working. |
| 3rd person | he | is working. | they | are working. |
| she | is working. | |||
| it | is working. | |||
When adding -ing to C-V-C words, you should double the last consonant. When adding -ing to silent E words, drop the silent E.
Other Forms of the Present Continuous
Questions
To make questions in the present continuous, we already have the helping verb be, so all we have to do is move it to before the subject.
Are you wearing a tie?
Is she having a party?
Why is he crying?
What are they eating?
Negative Sentences
When forming a negative in the present continuous, not goes between the helping verb be (am, is or are) and the main verb.
I am not wearing a tie.
She’s not having a party.
The Passive Voice
To make a passive sentence in the present continuous, use be in the present continuous (am being, is being, or are being) and then the perfect form of the main verb.
A party is being planned.
The trash is being collected.
We are being attacked.
You are being lied to.
Signal Words
If you use the present continuous, it is generally clear that the time is right now, so it is not necessary to use any signal words. But for emphasis, we can say right now, currently, at the moment, as we speak, for the time being.
We can use the present continuous with always to talk about things that happen again and again, especially to show that we are annoyed by the repeated action:
He's always interrupting me whenever we try to have a serious conversation.
She's always showing up 10 minutes late. It's so inconsiderate.
To specify the time when the current action will end, use until.
I am working until 9:00.
If you want to specify when the current action began, using since, do not use the present continuous:
I am working since 5:00.
The present perfect continuous is better for situations like this.
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Present Perfect Tense in English
Present Perfect Tense
The present perfect is a common but confusing verb tense in English. It is used to connect the past to the present.. Read about the rules for using the present perfect tense and how we form it, with charts and tons of example sentences!
The present perfect is a very common—and sometimes very confusing—verb form. The present perfect is the fourth most common verb tense in English (the simple present is most common, followed by the simple past and simple future). About 6% of verbs in spoken English are in the present perfect tense.
The reason this verb tense so confusing is that it connects two times, the present and the past. Let's look a little more at how we use the present perfect.
USING THE PRESENT PERFECT TENSE IN ENGLISH
Actions described using the present perfect actually happened in the past. Read that carefully. The verb tense is called the present perfect, but the action is not in the present; it happened in the past. See the illustration below.
Chart for Present Perfect Tense In English
Why do we use a present tense verb form to talk about an action that happened in the past? Because we are not focusing on the action, but on the fact that we now have the experience of that action. For example, if I went to Paris 10 years ago, the action is finished, but I still have the experience now, so we can make this sentence:
I have visited Paris.
There are many words that signal that we should use the present perfect. When you use already, yet, never, and ever, you generally want to use the present perfect.
The examples below illustrate the rules for how we generally use the present perfect tense.
EXAMPLES OF THE PRESENT Perfect TENSE
Here’s an example to help understand.
My friend Claire says, “I just got this new book, and I started reading it last night. It’s strange. I don’t know if I like it.”
Then I say, “Oh! I have read that one. It starts off strange but it gets better.”
Notice that verb in the present perfect: I have read. I read the book in the past. But we are not talking about the past when I read the book. Claire is talking about reading the book now. I use the present perfect to connect my experience with what Claire is talking about. When I say “I have read that one,” I’m saying “I have that experience,” so I can talk about it with you, now, in the present.
To connect one’s experience with the current situation (later verbs are in the present tense):
I’ve been to Colombia. I could give you some tips.
This candidate has worked in finance for 10 years. I think she’s a good match for the job.
Present Perfect with For and Since
When used with for or since, the present perfect tense is a little different. When we use for and since, it describes situations that began in the past and are still true today. Since can be used to specify the time when the situation began.
I have lived in Boston since 2008.
I have studied English since I was a child.
I have had a headache since last night.
For is used to specify a length of time (also called duration).
I have lived in Boston for 10 years.
I have studied English for a long time.
I have had a headache for 12 hours.
Forming the Present perfect
Formula
To form the present perfect, we use the present form of the helping verb have and the perfect form of the main verb.
subject + has/have + perfect VERB
Conjugation
Here is a conjugation table, showing the verb work in the present perfect.
| Singular | Plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | I | have worked. | we | have worked. |
| 2nd person | you | have worked. | you | have worked. |
| 3rd person | he | has worked. | they | have worked. |
| she | has worked. | |||
| it | has worked. | |||
Other Forms of the present perfect
Questions
In the present perfect, you will always use have (or has) as your helping verb. To form a question, put have before the subject of the sentence.
Have you visited Paris?
Has she been healthy?
How have you been?
What have you studied?
Negative Sentences
When forming a negative in the present perfect, not goes between the helping verb (have or has) and the main verb.
I have not visited Paris
I haven’t been bad.
The Passive Voice
To make a passive sentence in the present perfect, use be in the present perfect (has been, have been) and then the perfect form of the main verb.
My package has been delivered already!
You have been selected for a special offer.
Notes
Based on a study by Kramsky (1969), the present perfect accounts for about 6% of verbs in spoken English.
When using already and yet, verbs should generally be in the perfect form.
As you may know, English speakers can be a little lazy about the present perfect. In many casual situations, we just use the simple past instead, and ignore the pattern described above. You may choose to do the same. For example, if I just said to Claire, “Oh! I read that one.” it would have been okay, too. But this is only in conversation. In formal writing, using the simple past in place of the present perfect sounds inappropriate and sometimes even confusing. For example, when a journalist announces a new technology or invention in the news, it is typical to use the present perfect (because the important thing is that this technology now exists):
Google has developed a self-driving car.
Using the simple past in this case would be inappropriate.
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Contractions in English
Simple Future Tense
The simple future is a very common verb tense used to talk about plans and expectations in English. Read about the rules for using it, how we form it, and tons of example sentences!
The simple future is a very common and useful verb tense. It is the third most common verb form in English, after the simple present and simple past. Just under 10% of verbs in spoken English are in the simple future.
Using the Simple Future
Simple future verbs are used for actions that will happen at a specific time in the future, after the current moment. This includes plans, predictions, promises, willingness, and decisions.
There are two forms of the simple future tense: the first is formed using will and the second is formed using going to. The meaning of the two forms is generally the same, but it is more typical to use will in some situations and going to in other situations.
Chart for Simple Future Tense in English
The examples below illustrate the rules for how we usually use the simple future tense.
Examples
Examples of Simple Future with Will
Here are lots of example sentences showing different ways that we can use the simple future tense tense.
To make predictions and promises:
I will give you a ride to the station.
My staff will help you with that.
I'll answer the phone.
The news says it will rain tomorrow.
I think Real Madrid will win.
When we have just now made a decision to do something:
[the doorbell rings]
I’ll get it!
A: We’re going to the mall.
B: Oh! I’ll come, too!
In these situations above, the speaker makes a decision and announces it immediately.
Examples of Simple Future with Going To
To talk about plans:
I'm going to exercise this evening.
We're going to visit my sister.
For things we can see are just about to happen:
Nancy: The wind is going to blow those papers away
Tonya: Ah, I’ll take them inside.
Esperanza: What are you going to do this weekend?
Mathilda: I’m going to go hiking in Maine. What about you?
Esperanza: I’m just going to stay home.
Forming the Simple FUTURE
Formula with Will
The simple future with will is the same with any subject. Just use the helping verb will, followed by the base form of the main verb.
subject + will + VERB
Conjugation
The table below shows the complete conjugation of the verb work in the simple future with will.
| Singular | Plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | I | will work. | we | will work. |
| 2nd person | you | will work. | you | will work. |
| 3rd person | he | will work. | they | will work. |
| she | will work. | |||
| it | will work. | |||
Formula with Going to
The simple future with going to is just a little more complicated. Conjugate the helping verb be based on the subject. After that, just use going to and the base form of the verb.
subject + am/is/are + going to + VERB
Conjugation
This table shows the complete conjugation of work with going to.
| Singular | Plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | I | am going to work. | we | are going to work. |
| 2nd person | you | are going to work. | you | are going to work. |
| 3rd person | he | is going to work. | they | are going to work. |
| she | is going to work. | |||
| it | is going to work. | |||
Other Forms of the Simple Future
Negative Sentences
To make a negative sentence in the simple future, you do not need to add do, because will works as a helping verb. Add not after will or the be verb.
I will not help you
I am not going to drink tonight.
Questions
If you are forming a question in the simple future tense with will, put will before the subject of the sentence.
Will you help me?
When will the rain stop?
How will she pay all those bills?
To form a question in the simple future with going to, put the conjugated form of be before the subject.
Are you going to go out tonight?
Who is she going to work with?
What are we going to do?
Passive Voice
To form a passive sentence in the simple future, put the verb to be in the simple future (will be or is/are going to be) and then put the main verb in the perfect participle form:
A new parking garage will be built at this intersection.
Joan is going to be promoted!
You can find more explanation and examples in our guide to the English passive voice.
Notes
Generally, when we use the simple future tense, it is important that the speaker and listener know the specific time. For example, just saying I am going to the movies is unusual.
Many experts will say that English does not technically have a future tense. When they say this, they mean that we don't inflect verbs to talk about the future like many other languages do. Instead, we talk about the future using modal verbs (will/going to). For students learning English, it is easier to just think of the future as a tense.
Give, Take, Borrow, and Lend
Give, take, borrow, and lend are all extremely useful verbs in English, but the grammar can be confusing. This post teaches all four words with examples and illustrations!
Give, take, borrow, and lend are all extremely useful verbs in English. This post teaches all four words with examples and illustrations!
Give and Take
The meaning is simple. I have something, and I want you to have it so I put it in your hand. I give it to you. You take it from me.
But the grammar is a little more difficult. Look at the sentences in the picture:
In the first sentence, Juana is giving Jim some aspirin. The word give is tricky because can have two objects, a person and a thing. The objects here are Jim and some aspirin. The thing that you give, aspirin, is called the direct object. The person who you give it to, the one who receives the action, is called the indirect object, is Jim.
We can put the indirect object just after the verb or at the end of the sentence, using to. Look at the two sentences:
Juana is giving Jim some aspirin.
Juana is giving some aspirin to Jim.
Take is much simpler. It doesn't really have an indirect object, but you can use the preposition from to indicate the person who is giving, like this:
Jim is taking some aspirin from Juana.
Borrow and Lend
Let's start with borrow. Borrow is like take, but when you borrow something, you give it back later. I can borrow your pencil now, and give it back to you when I am finished. There are two common ways to use borrow. The first works just like take:
Carlo is taking a pen from Kate.
Carlo is borrowing a pen from Kate.
Notice the preposition from. A person borrows a thing from another person. Another way to use from is with the possessive form. The pen belongs to Kate. It is Kate's pen. So we can also simply say:
Carlo is borrowing Kate's pen.
Many people make mistakes with borrow. Many people say Please borrow me a pen. But we can not say borrow a person! The word here is lend. Similarly, lend is like give , but when you lend something, you take it back later. I can lend you my car now, and you can give it back to me tomorrow.
Carlo is giving Kate his pen.
Carlo is lending Kate his pen.
We can also move the indirect object (Kate) to the end of the sentence with both lend and give :
Carlo is giving his pen to Kate.
Carlo is lending his pen to Kate.
What you can say
In daily life, the useful sentences you may want to use are these:
May I borrow your __?
Could you lend me a __?
Can you borrow me a pen.
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Simple Past Tense
The simple past is a very common English verb tense used to talk about actions that happened at a specific time in the past. Read about the rules for using it, how we form it, and tons of example sentences!
The simple past (sometimes called the second verb form) is a very common verb form in English. Almost 20% of verbs in English are in this form. It is the second most common verb form, after the simple present.
Using the Simple Past
The simple past is used for actions that happened at a particular time in the past. They started and finished in the past. When you are telling a story about something that happened in the past, most main verbs will be in the simple past.
Chart for Simple Past Tense in English
The examples below illustrate the rules we generally follow when using this verb form
Examples
Here are some examples of regular verbs in the simple past:
Magellan landed in the Philippines in 1521.
Susan cooked us an amazing dinner last night!
I wanted a puppy when I was a child.
We needed lots of money to buy the new car.
England defeated Spain in the match last night.
Here are some examples of irregular verbs in the simple past:
Last night I saw a movie.
Back in June, I went to Paris.
I had a party last weekend. All my friends came.
We lost the match by three points.
I found my t-shirt under the bed.
Forming the Simple past Tense
Formula
Regular verbs take -ed to form the simple past tense.
subject + VERBed
In some cases, this requires doubling the last consonant in the word. Irregular verbs do not follow this pattern.
When you use this verb form, you almost always need to identify a specific time in the past when the action happened. Sometimes this tense is referred to as the second verb form.
Conjugation
The table below shows the complete conjugation of the verb work in the simple past:
| Singular | Plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | I | worked. | we | worked. |
| 2nd person | you | worked. | you | worked. |
| 3rd person | he | worked. | they | worked. |
| she | worked. | |||
| it | works. | |||
Notes
Generally, when we use the past tense, it is important that the speaker and listener know the specific time. For example, just saying I went to the movies is unusual.
Other Forms
Negative Sentences
If the verb is a form of be, make a negative sentences in the simple past, by putting not after the verb.
That was not Rebecca.
She wasn’t at school on Tuesday.
We were not excited.
If the verb is not a form of be, put did not before the main verb to make a negative.
We did not feel hungry at dinnertime.
I didn’t go to school yesterday.
They did not want to come.
Questions
Exactly like the questions in the simple present, if the simple past verb is a form of be, move the verb to before the subject to form a question.
Was that girl Rebecca?
Was that pork?
Were they angry?
Where were you?
How was the pizza?
For other verbs, add did before the subject.
Did you like the movie?
Did Claire go home?
Where did you go?
What did you make for lunch?
Passive Voice
To form the passive voice in the simple past, use the verb be in the simple past (was or were) and then the perfect form of the main verb:
The factory was built in 1909.
A new island was discovered.
See our complete guide to the passive voice in English for more details and examples.