Present tenses in English

In this part of the course you will learn all about the English present tense. The English tense has the following present tenses:

• Present simple tense
• Present continuous tense
• Present perfect tense
• Present perfect continuous tense

This chapter will show you an overview of when to use the different present tenses. For a more detailed explanation of the tenses you can take a look at the different chapters of this course, where you will also find exercises to practice the tenses.

Usage of the English present verb tenses

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1) Present simple tense

To be able to conjugate the English verbs in the present simple, the root of the verb is used. The third person singular (he, she, it) forms an exception: '-s', '-es' or '-ies' is added to the stem to form the present simple. 

• He does not eat meat.
• She plays tennis.
• The table is round. 

2) Present continuous tense

To form the present continuous tense the verb 'to be' is used together with the main verb + '-ing'. 

• She is studying Spanish.
• I am doing my homework.
• They are writing an email to their teacher. 

3) Present perfect tense

For the present perfect the verbs 'to have' and 'to be' are used together with the past participle.

• They have read the chapter.
• She has walked to the supermarket.
• I have worked on the project. 

4) Present perfect continuous tense

For the present perfect continuous the auxiliary verb 'to have' is used, followed by the participle of the verb 'to be' plus the main verb + '-ing'. 

• She has been crying all night. 
• I have been working all day.
• He has been studying all morning. 

The table below gives you an overview of the different present tenses in English. 

In addition, in this part of the course the difference between the present simple and present continuous, and the difference between the past simple and present perfect.

Do the exercise to practice the different tenses!