THE BIG PICTURE
All the tenses.
One clear view.
Compare all 12 common English tense forms with structures, examples and lesson links. Includes the four future-in-the-past forms and a printable reference.
Choose a time. Then choose a viewpoint.
Simple presents a fact or event. Continuous looks inside an activity. Perfect looks back from a reference point. Perfect continuous highlights a process leading up to that point. Each cell links to a full lesson.
On a small screen, scroll sideways to compare the full chart.
ONE MORE PERSPECTIVE
Future in the past: four more forms.
Some teaching frameworks add future in the past to make 16 forms. They describe a future viewed from a past point. Would also appears in conditionals, requests and past habits, so the context matters.
would + base verbShe said she would call.
would be + verb-ingShe said she would be working at six.
would have + past participleShe said she would have finished by six.
would have been + verb-ingShe said she would have been working for eight hours by six.