Study Resource: Comparing English verb tenses
Let’s compare some past, present, and future perfect continuous verbs to other verb tenses in English!
Past tenses
Verb Tense | Example | Explanation |
---|---|---|
Simple past | Nelson cooked dinner. | The dinner was finished. |
Past continuous | Nelson was cooking dinner. | At a past moment, Nelson was in the middle of making dinner. |
Past perfect | Nelson had cooked dinner. | At a particular past time, the dinner was finished. |
Past perfect continuous | Nelson had been cooking dinner. | At a particular past time, the dinner was started, but not finished. |
Present tenses
Verb Tense | Example | Explanation |
---|---|---|
Simple past | Nelson cooks dinner. | Nelson habitually cooks. |
Past continuous | Nelson is cooking dinner. | Right now, Nelson is in the middle of making dinner. |
Past perfect | Nelson has cooked dinner. | Right now, the dinner is finished. |
Past perfect continuous | Nelson has been cooking dinner. | Right now, Nelson is in the middle of making dinner |
Future tenses
Verb Tense | Example | Explanation |
---|---|---|
Simple past | Nelson will cook dinner. | Nelson plans to cook. |
Past continuous | Nelson will be cooking dinner. | At some future moment, Nelson will be in the middle of cooking dinner. |
Past perfect | Nelson will have cooked dinner. | At some future moment, the dinner will be finished. |
Past perfect continuous | Nelson will have been cooking dinner (for an hour). | At some future moment, Nelson will be in the middle of cooking dinner. |