Present, Past and

Present Perfect
Tenses guide
By : Pab lo Me n d e z

There are twelve verbs tenses

Simple present

Present progressive

Simple past

Past progressive

Simple future

Future progressive

Present perfect

Present perfect progressive

Past perfect

Past perfect progressive

Future perfect

Future perfect progressive

Simple present
tense

To make a positive simple present statement, simply follow this

pattern:

Subject + main verb

Simple present tense is used for the

following reasons:
1. Things that are true in general.
cheetah is the fastest land animal.
Fruits and vegetables contain a lot of vitamins
Mr. Jackson lives alone

 2. for habits or for things that happen sometimes or

all the time.
The following adverbs are commonly used for simple present tense:

Never, sometimes, usually, frequently, often, always

I sometimes skip breakfast.
She goes to school late.

Mr. and Mrs. Jones always visit their grandchildren.

Negative sentence

Subject + doesnt / dont + main verb in

base from
Peter bakes delicious cookies

Peter doesnt bake delicious cookies

My classmates like our history teacher.

My classmates don't like our history

teacher.

Questions
Do / does + subject + main verb in base form
You like ice cream

Do you like ice cream?

She lives in New York

Does she live in New York?

They study in the same school

Do they study in the same school?

Simple past tense

 We use simple past to talk about things that had happened at a

specific time in the past.
in making a positive simple past statement, the pattern is:

Subject + verb in past

form

 Examples:

You saw me yesterday.

Nick took his medicine.

She gave you the book.

Negative sentence:

Subject + did not / didnt + verb in base form

You saw me yesterday

You didnt see me yesterday

Nick took his medicine

Nick didnt take his medicine

She gave you the book

She didnt give you the book

Questions:

Did + subject + verb in base form

You saw me yesterday

Did you see me yesterday

Nick took his medicine

Did Nick take his medicine

She gave you the book

Did she give you the book

Present perfect

 In making a present perfect statement, we simply follow the pattern:

Subject + have / has +

main verb in past
participle

 We use present perfect for the following situations:

We use present perfect and continues in the present .

I have lived here since last year.

She has given her friends a lot of gifts.
We have been friends for ten years.

 We use present perfect to talk about

changes
She has become more attractive

My sister has worn her hair short

 We use present perfect to talk about

experiences.
I have been to Rome once.

She has had several jobs.

Negative

Subject + has not / have not + main verb in

past participle
They have asked permission from their
father.

they havent asked permission from their

father.

He has written down his homework.

He hasnt written down his homework.

Questions

Have / has + subject + main verb in past

participle
They have asked permission from their
father.

Have they asked permission from their

father?

He has written down his homework.

Has he written down his homework?