ENGLISH LANGUAGE TIPS

English Grammar Tenses Part I

English is one of the languages that use grammatical tenses.  Grammatical tenses establish when a situation takes place.  This can include past, present, future or conditional tenses.  In this segment we will be discussing Simple Grammar Tenses.  Progressive and Past Perfect Tenses will be discussed in future English Language Tips.

Simple Grammar Tenses

Simple grammar tenses describe actions that take place in the past, present or future.  Simple Past and Simple Present Tenses includes actions that have never taken place, actions that have taken place once, and actions that have taken place several times. 

Future I Simple Tenses describes an action in the future that cannot be influenced; one that is spontaneous, or a future assumption, decision or conclusion. 

Future II Simple Tenses describe actions that will be finished at a certain point in time. 

Another type of tense you may or may not have heard before is called the Conditional Simple Tense.  There is the Conditional I Tense and the Conditional II Tense.  Conditional I Tenses describe an action that might take place in the future, while Conditional II Tenses describe an action that may have taken place in the past.

Examples of Simple Grammar Tenses:

• Simple Past: “I ate,” “I did not eat,” “Did I eat?”
• Simple Present: “I eat,” “I do not eat,” “Do I eat?”
• Future I Simple: “I will eat,” “I will not eat,” “Will I eat?”
• Future I Simple (going): “I am going to eat,” “I am not going to eat,” “Am I going to eat?”
• Future II Simple: “I will have eaten,” “I will not have eaten,” “Will I have eaten?”
• Condition I Simple: “I would eat,” “I would not eat,” “Would I eat?”
• Conditional II Simple: “I would have eaten,” “I would not have eaten,” “Would I have eaten?”