Level: B1
Identify the Tense — Which of the 12?
Read each sentence and identify which of the 12 English tenses it uses. Covers simple, progressive, perfect, and perfect progressive across present, past, and future. 55+ click-to-hear ESL examples.
Builds on All 12 tenses — the guide Next in unit Time Expressions →
- Simple present
- She plays tennis every day. – Simple present
- Water boils at 100°C. – Simple present
- I work in a hospital. – Simple present
- The train leaves at 8. – Simple present
- They live in Paris. – Simple present
- Simple past
- She played tennis yesterday. – Simple past
- I visited Paris last year. – Simple past
- He went to the store. – Simple past
- They arrived at 6. – Simple past
- Shakespeare wrote many plays. – Simple past
- Simple future
- She will play tennis tomorrow. – Simple future
- I will help you later. – Simple future
- It will rain tomorrow. – Simple future
- The phone is ringing, so I will get it. – Simple future
- Present progressive
- She is playing tennis right now. – Present progressive
- I am studying for the test. – Present progressive
- The baby is sleeping. – Present progressive
- It is raining outside. – Present progressive
- They are talking on the phone. – Present progressive
- Past progressive
- She was playing tennis at 6pm. – Past progressive
- I was reading when you called. – Past progressive
- It was raining when the accident happened. – Past progressive
- They were talking while I was studying. – Past progressive
- Future progressive
- She will be playing tennis at 6pm tomorrow. – Future progressive
- I will be flying to New York at this time tomorrow. – Future progressive
- He will be working when we arrive. – Future progressive
- They will be studying all night. – Future progressive
- Present perfect
- I have played tennis many times. – Present perfect
- She has visited Paris three times. – Present perfect
- They have lived here for five years. – Present perfect
- I have just finished my homework. – Present perfect
- Have you ever been to Japan? – Present perfect
- Past perfect
- I had already eaten when he arrived. – Past perfect
- They had finished the test before the bell rang. – Past perfect
- She had visited London before moving to Paris. – Past perfect
- By the time we got there, the movie had started. – Past perfect
- Future perfect
- I will have eaten by the time you get home. – Future perfect
- By next year, they will have built the new bridge. – Future perfect
- She will have finished her homework before dinner. – Future perfect
- They will have arrived by 8pm. – Future perfect
- He will have completed the course by June. – Future perfect
- Present perfect progressive
- I have been studying for two hours. – Present perfect progressive
- She has been working all morning. – Present perfect progressive
- They have been waiting since 8am. – Present perfect progressive
- It has been raining since this morning. – Present perfect progressive
- They have been arguing for hours. – Present perfect progressive
- Past perfect progressive
- I had been waiting for an hour before the train arrived. – Past perfect progressive
- She was tired because she had been working all day. – Past perfect progressive
- They had been living in Paris before they moved to London. – Past perfect progressive
- He had been sleeping for an hour when I called. – Past perfect progressive
- We had been talking for a while before they arrived. – Past perfect progressive
- Future perfect progressive
- By next month, she will have been studying English for a year. – Future perfect progressive
- I will have been working here for ten years next May. – Future perfect progressive
- By tomorrow, I will have been driving for three days. – Future perfect progressive
- They will have been living abroad for a decade by next year. – Future perfect progressive