Examples of all tenses of the English language. An easy way to learn English tenses

Main difficulty in English for beginners these are the times. There are only 12 tenses in the English language, but due to the specifics of some tenses, confusion occurs. In this article I will tell you in detail about the tenses of the English language with an example of use.

From the article you will learn:

English tenses with examples and translation into Russian

In English, there are traditionally 12 tenses. English tenses are divided into 3 groups:

1. Simple (Indefinite),
2. Continuous (Progressive),
3. Perfect.

They, in turn, in combination with the main temporary Present forms, Past and Future form corresponding tenses. Let's start with the group Indefinite.

Present Simple (Presen Indefinite) - Present Simple

How is it formed:

I form of the verb. This form is used in all persons and numbers, except for the third person singular: then the endings – s, -es – are added.

When to use:

1. The action occurs with a certain frequency. Used with such adverbs as always (always), rarely (rarely), often (often), usually (usually), never (ever), etc., in addition, with the word every (every day, every month, every year etc.)

She never listens to me.- She never listens to me.

I always go abroad in summer.— In the summer I always go abroad.

He goes to the theater every weekend.— He goes to the theater every weekend.

2. The effect is scientifically proven.

Water boils at 100 degrees.— Water boils at 100 degrees.

3. The sequence of actions is described.

I get up, wash my hands and face, have breakfast etc.— I get up, wash, have breakfast, etc.

Present Continuous - Present Continuous

It should be noted that some English present tenses can indicate the future.

How is it formed:

verb to be + I form of the verb + ing ending.

When used: 1. the action is happening at the moment.

I am watching TV now.- I'm watching TV now.

2. the action will take place in the near future, which is planned (!).

I am flying to New York next month.— Next month I'm flying to New York.

Present Perfect - Present Perfect

The peculiarity is that the English tenses of the Perfect group can denote the past, although they are called present.

Formation: have / has + III form of the verb.

When to use the present perfect tense:

1. the action happened today, this year, this week, etc., i.e. the period has not yet ended.

Has not written 10 books and he is just twenty!- He wrote 10 books, and he’s only twenty! (Life is going)

We have met this month.— We saw each other this month (the month has not ended)

He has met me today.- Today he met me.

2. with adverbs yet (yet), just (only), recently (recently), ever (always), never (never), already (already), etc.

I have just found out about this.- I just found out about this.

I've never been to England.- I have never been to England.

She has already done this work.- She has already done this work.

3. Action in the past affects the present state

We have gone to the forest and now he has a cold.— We went to the forest, and he caught a cold.

Past Simple - Past Simple

How to form the past simple tense:

II form of the verb, i.e. verb + ending –ed (regular verbs), or II form of an irregular verb.

When to use:

1. The presence of a time marker yesterday (yesterday), last (past, last) or other.

He visited doctor last week.— Last week he visited the doctor.

I met him when I studied at the University.— I met him when I was at university.

2. The action happened in the past without any conditions.

I knew you would come.- I knew you would come.

3. Sequence of actions.

He took the taxi, asked to stop at the Time Square, looked through the window etc.— He took a taxi, asked to stop at Time Square, looked out the window, etc.

Past Continuous - Past Continuous

How to form the past continuous tense:

Verb to be in 2nd form + verb+ ing ending.

When to use:

1. The process lasted for a long time without interruption.

For example.

He was playing the piano the whole evening.— He played the piano all evening.

2. The process was interrupted by another action.

They came in when she was speaking by the phone.— They came in while she was talking on the phone.

Past Perfect - Past Perfect

How is it formed:

2nd form of the verb have + 3rd form of the verb.

When to use:

1. When agreeing on times.

He said that he had not noticed you.- He said he didn't notice you.

2. One action happened before the other.

Example: He had left before I could figure out something.“He left before I could understand anything.”

3. There is a temporary excuse by.

He had made his decision by summer.— By the summer he made a decision.

Future Simple - Future Simple

How is it formed:

Shall (used only with 1st person) will+I form of the verb.

When to use:

The action will take place in the future. Used with time markers tomorrow, next, or a deadline is indicated.

I will call you tomorrow.- I'll call you tomorrow.

He will visit us in 3 weeks.— He will visit us in 3 weeks.

Future Continuous - Future Continuous

How it is formed.

Auxiliary verb will/shall+be+1 verb form+ing

When used. The process continues into the future.

She will be dancing the whole day tomorrow.- Tomorrow she will dance all day.

Present Perfect Continuous - Present Perfect Continuous

How is it formed:

Have/has + been + verb+ing

When to use:

1. The action lasts from a moment in the past to a moment in the present (translated by the present)

I have been waiting for this moment all my life.“I’ve been waiting for this moment all my life.”

2. with the preposition since (s).

Their family has been owning this castle since 17th century.— Their family has owned this castle since the 17th century.

Past Perfect Continuous - Past Perfect Continuous

How is it formed:

Had + been + verb+ing

When to use:

One action is interrupted by another or is its cause.

I had been working hard the whole year, so I was exhausted. “I worked hard all year and was just exhausted.

Future Perfect Continuous - Future Perfect Continuous

English tenses such as Future Perfect Continuous Past Perfect Continuous is used extremely rarely.

How is it formed:

Will/shall + have + been + verb+ ing

When to use:

The period of past and future is affected, the preposition of time by.

For example: I will have been working in this company for 10 years by 1st May.— By May 1, it will be 10 years that I have been working in this company.

Thus, we looked at 10 tenses of the English language (all based on 3 main ones).

It is no secret that one of the most popular grammatical topics for students and those interested in English is still the topic: tenses in English. Interest in it is quite justified, since the cases of using one or another tense in English differ from their understanding in other languages ​​and thereby cause many difficulties.

There are such lovers of conquering linguistic peaks who strive, at all costs, to master everything English tenses. But in reality, even the British themselves do not use half of them.

English tense table

Of course, the sketchiness will help to understand the ornateness of this topic. English tense table is a wonderful visual aid and should always be at hand for every beginner learning a language.

Answer unambiguously the favorite questions of beginners: “ How many tenses are there in English?? What to prepare for? Why so many? pretty hard. You could say 24! (16 in the active voice and 8 in the passive) and frighten students with the abundance of tense forms, especially continuous, complete and complete-continuous, the analogues of which seem to have no analogues in their native language.

Tense	Simple	Continuous	Perfect	Perfect Continuous
Present		I am doing		I have been doing He has been doing
Past	I did	I was doing	I had done	I had been doing
Future	I will do	I will be doing	I will have done	I will have been doing
Future in the Past	I would do	I would be doing	I would have done	I would have been doing

You can reassure us by answering that in English there are also three time planes - past, present and future, and then we are faced only with shades of actions. True, the verb forms that you have to comprehend will not become smaller from this :)

	Simple	Continuous	Perfect
Present	The work is done	The work is being done	The work has been done
Past	The work was done	The work was being done	The work had been done
Future	The work will be done	-	The work will have been done

Let's leave this question to the world's leading philologists, who have been arguing about this for many years, and let's focus on the use of tense forms.

Tenses in English seem quite complex, but this is only at first glance. It is important to understand some principles:

Firstly, it is possible to draw a parallel when studying tenses with the Ukrainian and Russian languages. The difference is that grammatical means are used to convey shades of actions in English, while lexical means are used in Ukrainian and Russian.

Secondly, the formation of tenses in English is much simpler and more logical. Memorizing these forms usually does not cause difficulties for students. It is much more difficult to decide where and what form should be used. This is exactly what we will focus on Special attention.

Active Voice / Active Voice

	Simple	Continuous Long-term	Completed	Perfect Continuous Completed-long
	Data. What we do with a certain frequency. Always used when you need to talk about a sequence of events.	Long procces. As a rule, it is translated by an imperfective verb.	Perfect action. Translated using perfective verbs.	An action that lasted a certain period of time and, accordingly, ended or ended at a certain moment.
Present The present	I cook and pizza sometimes. - Sometimes I cook pizza.	I am cooking a pizza now. - Now I'm making pizza.	I have just cooked the pizza. - I just made pizza.	I have been cooking the pizza for half an hour. - I have been preparing pizza for half an hour (up until now).
Past Past	I cooked the pizza, wrote the letter and went to the shop. - I made pizza, wrote a letter and went to the store.	I was cooking the pizza yeasterday. - I cooked this pizza yesterday (for a while).	I had cooked the pizza by the meeting. - I prepared pizza for the meeting (the action ends at some point in the past).	I had been cooking the pizza for twenty minutes when my friends came. - I had been preparing pizza for twenty minutes when my friends arrived.
Future Future	I will cook a pizza tomorrow. - I will cook pizza tomorrow (there is no emphasis here on the duration or completion of the process, we are simply reporting the fact).	I will be cooking a pizza tomorrow. - I will cook pizza tomorrow (within a certain time).	I will have cooked a pizza by the meeting. - I will prepare the pizza for the meeting (that is, the pilaf will be ready by this time.	I will have been cooking a pizza for twenty minutes by the time my friends come. - I will have been cooking pizza for twenty minutes by the time my friends arrive. (This form is used very rarely and, as a rule, in book speech).
Future in the Past denotes a future action relative to a specific moment in the past. As can be seen from the examples, the sentence necessarily contains a verb in the past tense in the main clause; without it, the use of Future in the Past is impossible.	He said that he would cook a pizza tomorrow.	He said that he would be cooking a pizza tomorrow.	He said that he would have cooked the pizza by the meeting.	He said that he would have been cooking pizza for twenty minutes by the time his friends came.

Passive Voice

	Simple	Continuous Long-term	Completed	Perfect Continuous Completed-long
The present	Letters are sent every day. - Letters are sent every day.	Letters are being sent now. - Letters are being sent now.	Letters have already been sent. - The letters have already been sent.
Past	Letters were sent yesterday. - The letters were sent yesterday.	Letters were being sent at 5 yesterday. - Letters were sent at 5 o'clock yesterday.	Letters had been sent before he phoned. - The letters were sent before he called.
Future	Letters will be sent tomorrow. - The letters will be sent tomorrow.		Letters will have been sent by 5 tomorrow. - Letters will be sent tomorrow before 5 o'clock.
Future in the Past

Tense agreement in English

If you have understood the forms of construction of certain tenses and cases of their use, then the next difficulty may be tense agreement in English. Here you not only need to correctly construct the tense itself, but also understand the very principle of coordinating the main and subordinate parts of a sentence. This is difficult to explain at first glance. The good news is that special attention should be paid to the fact that if in the main sentence the verb is in the past form, then in subordinate clause the verb must also be in one of the past tenses, and it does not matter whether it is talking about actions in the present or the future.

Table of tense agreement in English:

Time in direct speech	Present Indefinite	Present Continuous	Present Perfect	Past Indefinite	Past Perfect	Future Indefinite
Time in indirect speech	Past Indefinite	Past Continuous	Past Perfect	Past Perfect	Past Perfect	Future Indefinite in the Past

And the main thing is that in English you don’t need to know many tenses to communicate. After all, the British speak as easily as possible without clutter complex structures. The basic tenses (Present Simple, Past Simple, Future Simple) are quite enough, but it is also advisable to master the Present Continuous and Present Perfect. The use of complex tense forms in colloquial speech will only indicate your illiteracy.

Of course, for varied and sophisticated coherent speech while working and expressing your thoughts on paper, you should be patient and learn the entire table of tenses. And we will be happy to help you, contact us, we offer classes in groups and individually:

There are present, past and future tenses in both Russian and English. Verbs ( verbs ) change over time ( tense ). But this is where the similarity with Russian times ends, because for each of these three times the British have other varieties. In this article, we will provide a short and simple guide, based on diagrams and tables, to understand tenses in English for dummies ( dummies ).

Table and examples of times:

Aspect	Time
	Present	Past	Future
Simple	Martha cooks every day.(Martha cooks every day.)	Martha cooked a roast chicken yesterday.(Martha cooked fried chicken yesterday.)	Martha will cook a huge cake for my birthday.(Martha will make a huge cake for my birthday.)
Continuous	Martha is cooking fish at the moment.(Martha is cooking fish now.)	Martha was cooking a soup when we came home.(When we returned home, Martha was preparing soup.)	Martha will be cooking a rice pudding soon.(Martha will be making rice pudding soon.)
Perfect	Martha has already cooked many dishes.(Martha has already prepared many dishes.)	Martha had cooked for 2 hours by the time I joined her.(Martha had been cooking for 2 hours by the time I joined her.)	Martha will have cooked at least 20 dishes by 10 o’clock.(Martha will have prepared at least 20 dishes by 10 o'clock.)

All three tenses (past, present and future) have three main aspects: simple ( simple ), long-term ( continuous ) and perfect ( perfect ). Long-term are used for repeated actions, or those actions that last over time.

Perfect tenses exist to describe actions or states of being that occurred in the past, and it does not matter when. The main thing is that at the time of the conversation they had already ended. These tenses are used whenever we need to connect the past and present.

Simple tenses in English for dummies

Simpler times (Simple tenses ) apply to actions or states in the past, present or future.

The table shows that the form of the verb in the simple past tense does not change by person, so it is very easy to remember the sentence construction scheme. Well, knowledge irregular verbs will come with practice of reading and listening.

Simple future tense ()

Talks about events that have not yet happened. Formed the same way for all persons - by adding an auxiliary verb will + base verb.

Long tenses in English for dummies.

Long times ( Continuous tenses ) are needed to describe the actions that occur at the time of speech. This can be either in the present period or at a specific period in the past or future.

Present continuous ()

The diagram clearly shows the difference between the continuous and simple forms of the present tense.

Formed using an auxiliary verb to be + ing - form of the semantic verb (Present Participle) .

Past Continuous

Constructed with an auxiliary verb to be in the past tense + semantic verb in the ing form .

Future Continuous

This tense is used to talk about actions that may be interrupted in the future, or to say what will happen at a specific time in the future. Compare the diagram with Future Simple .

The Future Continuous is formed using the following formula: Will be + verb-ing

Perfect or perfect tenses in English for dummies

Express completed actions, the result of which is important at the time of the story. May be accompanied by adverbs already (already), yet (Not yet), just (just now), for (during), since (since) ever (ever) never (never). Formed using an auxiliary verb have + semantic verb in the Past Participle form.

present perfect

From following diagram You can understand that the main difference between the present perfect and simple past tense is the moment in the past when the action ended. For the Present Perfect it is not important when it happened, but for the Past Simple it is important.

How the present perfect tense is formed:

Example: Has not already paid for the dinner. (He has already paid for dinner.)

Those beginning to study the language of Shakespeare or those continuing their studies have repeatedly asked the question: “How many tenses are there in the English language?” Today, disputes and disagreements over quantity continue. And the whole problem is that we, Russian speakers, consider them as past, present and future, and our “brothers” who speak English call them shades.

Various reference books give numerous definitions of this grammatical phenomenon, but all are similar in that English Times is a way of expressing actions indicating the period of its occurrence, and all of them are built on the basis of changing verb forms. Actions can be expressed in Active Voice (active voice) and Passive Voice (passive voice). It is the first one that we will consider in this article.

English verb tenses - formation and use

It is better to start studying this category with an understanding of the whole essence. So, as in Russian, English has three tenses: present (Present), past (Past) and future (Future - although many grammarians also call it shade). Each of these segments has subcategories, the rules of use and formation of which cause difficulties.

Table: formation of tenses in English

Sub categories	Time	Education Formula
Indefinite (Simple)	Present	+ S+Vs(V) — S + doesn’t (don’t) + V ? Does (Do) + S + V ?
	Past	+ S + V 2 (V ed) — S + didn't + V ? Did + S + V?
	Future	+ S + shall/will + V — S + shall/will + not + V ? Shall/will + S + V
Continuous (Progressive)	Present	+ S + is/am/are + V ing — S + is/am/are+ not + V ing ? Is/am/are + S + V ing
	Past	+ S + was/were + V ing — S + was/were + not + V ing ? Was/were + S + V ing
	Future	+ S + shall/will + be + V ing — S + shall/will+ not + be + V ing ? Shall/will + S + be + V ing
Perfect	Present	+ S + have/has + V 3 (V ed) — S + have/has+ not + V 3 (V ed) ? Have/has + S + V 3 (V ed)
	Past	+ S + had + V 3 (V ed) — S + had + not + V 3 (V ed) ? Had + S + V 3 (V ed)
	Future	+ S + will/shall + have + V 3 (V ed) — S +will/shall+ not + have + V 3 (V ed) ? Will/shall + S + have + V 3 (V ed)
Perfect Continuous	Present	+ S + have/has+ been + V ing — S + have/has+ not + been + V ing ? Have/has + S + been + V ing
	Past	+ S + had + been + V ing — S + had + not + been + V ing ? Had + S + been + V ing
	Future	+ S +will/ shall + have+ been + V ing — S +will/ shall + not + have+ been + V ing ? Wll/shall + S + have+ been + V ing

Now that we've gotten acquainted with education, it's time to move on to consumption. Here comes the tricky part. If you have practiced and memorized the formation 2-3 times, then using it becomes more and more confusing. Let's look at English tenses with examples by subgroups.

The Indefinite (Simple) group reflects single, normal actions. Continuous (Progressive) emphasizes the duration of the process, just like Perfect Continuous. Their difference is that the second, despite the duration, is still completed or will be completed by a certain moment. But the Perfect group is used to describe an event that has been completed, or that will be completed.

This entire description is approximate, each of them must be studied, practiced, compared separately, and then you can easily move to the next level. To clarify the situation a little, let's look at the temporary forms in the table.

Table: use of English tenses

Present Simple	Past Simple	Future Simple
1. An action that always happens, often, usually	1. An action that happened in the past, and we simply know the fact	1. Normal, single action in the future
My father often goes to see his friends on Saturday.	I wrote a letter last week.	Next year I will come to this village again.
2. Something you can’t argue with: scientific facts, results, natural phenomena, patterns	2. Chronologically sequential actions in the past: one after another.	2. Consistent actions in the future
The earth goes around the sun.	Yeterday morning I called my sister at first. Then I went to work.	I will come home. Then I will write a letter to my pen-friend.
3. Repeated actions in the present	3. Repeated actions in the past	3. Recurring actions in the future
I usually get up at 7 oclock. Then I take a shower and have breakfast.	Last year I often traveled abroad.	Next year I will not often travel abroad.
4. To express the future in subordinate conditions and time		4. Assumptions about a future event (not a plan)
As soon as I write a letter I’ll send it immediately.		I expect Mary will get this place.
5. In jokes, sports commentary		5. Requests, threats, refusal to do something, offers to do something, promises
What’s worse than having termites in your piano? Crabs on your organ.		Thank you for lending me the dvd disk. I'll give it back on Monday.
6. With verbs not used in the Continuous (feelings, desires, perceptions)
I don’t understand what are you talking about.
7. Schedules of trains, buses, movies in the cinema, matches, lessons
The train leaves at 5 p.m.
Present Continuous	Past Continuous	Future Continuous
1. Action at the moment of conversation or covering a longer period in the present	1. The action took place (lasted) at a certain moment in the past	1. An action that will last in the future
Don’t bother the teacher, she is writing a letter now.I am attending music classes now.	This time last month I was sitting in the lovely French cafe.	Would you like to visit a museum tomorrow evening? No, I will be watching the match at this time.
2. Happens around you at the time of conversation	2. In the main clause with a when clause, where the first lasted when the other happened	2. If plans, deliberate action are reported
Look! He is falling down.	I was sleeping when my cell-phone suddenly rang.	I will be going to the cinema tomorrow.
3. A situation that changes	3. Parallel long-term actions in the past	3. Asking about someone's plans as a polite request
His French is becoming better and better.	While I was taking a shower, my husband was cooking the dinner.	Will you be going out at 7? I need your car.
4. Planned actions for the future (Meaning: to gather = to be going to)	4. Actions that took place within a certain time frame, during a limited period.	4. Parallel actions in the future
I am buying a new flat tomorrow.	I was cleaning the flat the whole weekend.	While you will be doing shopping I will be repairing my car.
5. Too often repeated actions that cause irritation, reproach, disapproval	5. Too often repeated actions, habits that caused irritation, blame, reproach
He is too often complaining about.	Yesterday my friend was too often losing his papers, books and tests.
Present Perfect	Past Perfect	Future Perfect
1. An action that began in the past, but its result is connected with the present, so to speak, in person	1. An action that occurred before another, later action in the past	1. Will end before a certain point, events in the future
Is Jim at home? No, he has already gone to Paris.	I had come home before my sister washed the dishes.	I will have done my homework before the match begins.
2. The action began in the past and continues now	2. Finished by a certain point	2. To communicate the likelihood of an expected action
My mother has always wanted to live in a small country house.	I had given up smoking by the end of the holidays.	The citizens will have noticed the false government’s solutions.
3. To indicate actions indicating the period, how many times they were repeated	3. An action that began in the past occurred before or during another event also in the past
It is the first time I have driven.	I knew exactly that my friends hadn’t met since Andy’s party.
Present Perfect Continuous	Past Perfect Continuous	Future Perfect Continuous
1. An action that began in the past and continues, occurs in the present (at the time of conversation)	1. An action that began in the past and was happening when another event occurred	1. An action that begins in the future and will continue until another moment in the future.
They have already been painting the wall for 5 hours.	He had been driving a car yesterday when his father came.	I will have been having dinner when my boyfriend comes.
2. An action that was completed before the conversation took place	2. An action that began in the past and lasted for a certain time
She has been ironing all day long. Now, she is too tired to go out.	He had been repairing his car for an hour last weekend.

The grammar of tenses in English is very extensive, which is why this table is not enough to fully understand and figure out which is which. It is better to study each separately and then together.

Sometimes it is actually difficult to understand whether an action lasted or ended, whether it is happening in the past or in the present. But everything is learned in practice. That is why it is recommended to study the tenses of the English language with examples that will not only demonstrate the method of formation and use, but also show typical situations of use.

Remember, when choosing verb tenses in English, follow following diagram .

1. Determine whether the action refers to the past, present or future (Present, Past, Future)
2. Figure it out: what you see or what you know.
3. If you know exactly about the event (no matter where), then the Simple group.
4. If you see, then: the action itself is Continuous, traces or signs, the result is Perfect, I see the action, but I compare it with what I saw before - Perfect Continuous.

So, let's summarize. We can say that there are 12 tenses in the active voice, reflecting the periods of action.

• Present Simple (Indefinite), Past Simple (Indefinite), Future Simple (Indefinite)
• Present Continuous (Progressive), Past Continuous (Progressive), Future Continuous (Progressive)
• Present Perfect, Past Perfect, Future Perfect
• Present Perfect Continuous, Past Perfect Continuous, Future Perfect Continuous

Tenses in English will take a lot of your energy. Well, what can you do? But tables will help you remember and put everything in your memory faster and easier, although they are not enough for complete comprehension.

Verb forms in English are one of the most intimidating grammatical topics for Russian speakers. And it frightens not with its complexity, but with its volume. Surely, everyone has ever heard that in English, compared to Russian, it is simply great amount temporary forms. There is some truth in this, but not everything is so scary. The English language has a very developed system of verb tenses. We'll talk about it today. And at the same time we will try to answer the main question:

It is necessary to immediately make a reservation that this question is rather of a philosophical nature. Absolutely possible here various options answer and it all depends on “how to count.” If you use several reference books on English grammar at once, you may get completely different answers to the question posed. From possible options will be: 12, 14, 16 (in two ways), 24, 26, 32. The thing is that in some sources only forms of the active voice are taken into account, in some they are added to the forms of the passive voice (10 forms), in some they are added here the same forms “future in the past”, which are used only in indirect speech, or structures with modal verbs and to be going to. Now you understand what is possible different variants answer to the question - how many tenses are there in English? It all depends on what you understand by the concept of verb tense. Each answer will be correct and scientifically based.

But still, most classic reference books on English grammar There are 12 main temporary forms of the active voice. And I also advise you, in order not to get confused in the rather voluminous system of English tenses, consider that there are 12 tenses in the English language. You will become familiar with other nuances and forms of the English verb as you improve your language. In the meantime, don’t complicate what’s already “complicated.”

Please review the following table carefully. This is the form in which the English tense diagram is usually depicted in most textbooks.

Let's figure out how this tablet works and where the 12 times come from.

Past - Present - Future

In the rows of the table you see the so-called “absolute tenses”: Past - past, Present - present, Future - future. They describe "when the action occurs." So far everything is very similar to the tense system in Russian. These tenses work the same way as in Russian: if an action was performed in the past, we use Past, if it is performed in the present, we use Present, and will be performed in the future, we use Future.

Simple - Continuous - Perfect - Perfect Continuous

Now comes the hard part. The columns of the table indicate 4 subcategories, namely 4 types of tense forms of the verb: Simple - simple, Continuous - continuous, Perfect - perfect, Perfect Continuous - completely continuous. They determine not “when an action occurs,” but “how it occurs.” For comparison, remember that in Russian there are 2 types of verbs: perfect (expresses the result) and imperfect (expresses the process).

• The tense forms in the Simple (Indefinite) group are translated as simple (indefinite) tenses. Simple tenses are used to describe an action or state in the past, present or future, without indicating the nature of the action. For example: I did it yesterday, I do it in general, I will do it tomorrow. That is, they describe the action in the most general way, without indicating duration, completion, or precedence.
• Temporal forms in the Continuous (Progressive) group, translated into Russian as continuous (long) tenses, are used to emphasize the “duration” of an action. That is, they express an action as lasting (flowing) at some specific moment or period of past, present or future time.
• The tense forms in the Perfect group are perfect (perfect) tenses. Perfect tenses usually imply the presence of some result of an action that is observed in the past, present or future. The main meaning of perfect tenses is to express the connection of a past action with the present time or to express the precedence of an action to any moment in the past or future tense.
• The tense forms in the Perfect Continuous (Perfect Progressive) group combine the characteristics of the two previous groups. They are translated into Russian as completely long tenses. They express long action which began before the moment of speech, or until some point in the past or future and lasted until that moment.

What happens in the end? When crossing 3 rows and 4 columns, we formed 12 combinations. Here they are, the main tenses of the English language:

1. Present Simple (Indefinite) Tense − Present simple (indefinite) tense
2. Present Continuous (Progressive) Tense − Present continuous (continuous) tense
3. Present Perfect Tense − Present perfect tense
4. Present Perfect Continuous (Progressive) Tense − Present perfect continuous tense
5. Past Simple (Indefinite) Tense − Past simple (indefinite) tense
6. Past Continuous (Progressive) Tense − Past continuous (continuous) tense
7. Past Perfect Tense − Past Perfect Tense
8. Past Perfect Continuous (Progressive) Tense − Past perfect continuous tense
9. Future Simple (Indefinite) Tense − Future simple (indefinite) tense
10. Future Continuous (Progressive) Tense − Future Continuous (Continuous) Tense
11. Future Perfect Tense − Future Perfect Tense
12. Future Perfect Continuous (Progressive) Tense − Future perfect continuous tense

However, many of these tenses are rarely used both in writing and in oral speech. In oral narration, the following tenses are most often used: Present Simple Tense, Past Simple Tense, Future Simple Tense, Present Perfect Tense, Present Continuous Tense.

Therefore, if you are just starting to learn tense forms of the English language, I advise you to start with the Simple group. This can be said to be the “basic” group of times. Having mastered them, proceed to the other two important tenses: Present Perfect Tense, Present Continuous Tense. And only then gradually introduce the remaining tenses from unfamiliar table cells that are not used very often in colloquial speech.

Looking ahead, I want to warn you that this is not all. 8 of the 12 tenses presented above can have, in addition to the active voice, also the passive voice. But this is a slightly different topic.

Let's summarize. The verb in English, unlike the Russian language, has a rather complex and extensive system of tenses. When asked how many tenses there are in the English language, we can safely answer that there are 12 main tense forms. They are formed as combinations of 3 “absolute” tenses - Past, Present and Future with 4 “species forms” - Simple, Continuous, Perfect , Perfect Continuous.