The Formulas of English Tenses

It is necessary to learn all tense forms by heart. The best way is to memorize them in the following formula: Personal pronoun + tense form (I write, he writes, we write, you write, etc.) Memorizing tense forms in such constructions will also help you to memorize basic agreement between the subject and predicate in person and number.

 

Необходимо выучить все временные формы наизусть. Лучше всего запоминать их в следующей формуле: Личное местоимение + временная форма (I write, he writes, we write, you write и т.д.) Запоминание временных форм в таких конструкциях поможет вам также запомнить базовое согласование подлежащего со сказуемым по лицу и числу.

The formulas of the tenses in the active

Two verbs are given below, one regular (work – worked – worked), the other irregular (write – wrote – written), in the tenses in the active voice. The most common tenses are marked with the plus sign (+).

 

Ниже даны два глагола, один правильный (work – worked – worked), другой неправильный (write – wrote – written), во временах в активном залоге. Наиболее употребительные времена отмечены знаком плюс (+).

 

+ Simple present

I / we / you / they work, write

he / she / it works, writes

 

+ Present continuous

I am working, am writing

he / she / it is working, is writing

we / you / they are working, are writing

 

+ Present perfect

I / we / you / they have worked, have written

he / she / it has worked, has written

 

+ Present perfect continuous

I / we / you / they have been working, have been writing

he / she / it has been working, has been writing

 

+ Simple past

I / he / she / it / we / you / they worked, wrote

 

+ Past continuous

I / he / she / it was working, was writing

we / you / they were working, were writing

 

Past perfect

I / he / she / it / we / you / they had worked, had written

 

Past perfect continuous

I / he / she / it / we / you / they had been working, had been writing

 

+ Simple future

I / he / she / it / we / you / they will work, will write

 

Future continuous

I / he / she / it / we / you / they will be working, will be writing

 

Future perfect

I / he / she / it / we / you / they will have worked, will have written

 

Future perfect continuous

I / he / she / it / we / you / they will have been working, will have been writing

 

The formulas of the tenses in the passive

Two verbs are given below, one regular (call – called – called), the other irregular (choose – chose – chosen), in the tenses in the passive voice. The most common tenses are marked with the plus sign (+). The perfect continuous tenses and the future continuous are generally not used in the passive.

 

Ниже даны два глагола, один правильный (call – called – called), другой неправильный (choose – chose – chosen), во временах в пассивном залоге. Наиболее употребительные времена отмечены знаком плюс (+). Времена группы perfect continuous и время future continuous обычно не употребляются в пассиве.

 

+ Simple present

I am called, am chosen

he / she / it is called, is chosen

we / you / they are called, are chosen

 

Present continuous

I am being called, am being chosen

he / she / it is being called, is being chosen

we / you / they are being called, are being chosen

 

+ Present perfect

I / we / you / they have been called, have been chosen

he / she / it has been called, has been chosen

 

+ Simple past

I / he / she / it was called, was chosen

we / you / they were called, were chosen

 

Past continuous

I / he / she / it was being called, was being chosen

we / you / they were being called, were being chosen

 

Past perfect

I / he / she / it / we / you / they had been called, had been chosen

 

+ Simple future

I / he / she / it / we / you / they will be called, will be chosen

 

Future perfect

I / he / she / it / we / you / they will have been called, will have been chosen

 

The Formulas of the Tenses in Charts

The formulas of the tenses are easier to memorize if they are arranged in a chart. The verb TAKE is irregular (take – took – taken).

 

Формулы времен легче запомнить, если они расположены в таблице. Глагол TAKE неправильный (take – took – taken).

 

Active voice

 

	Simple	Continuous	Perfect	Perfect continuous
Present	I, we, you, they take he, she, it takes	I am taking he, she, it is taking we, you, they are taking	I, we, you, they have taken he, she it has taken	I, we, you, they have been taking he, she it has been taking
Past	took	I, he, she, it was taking we, you, they were taking	had taken	had been taking
Future	will take	will be taking	will have taken	will have been taking

 

Passive voice

 

	Simple	Continuous	Perfect	Perfect continuous
Present	I am taken he, she, it is taken we, you, they are taken	I am being taken he, she, it is being taken we, you, they are being taken	I, we, you, they have been taken he, she it has been taken	–
Past	I, he, she, it was taken we, you, they were taken	I, he, she, it was being taken we, you, they were being taken	had been taken	–
Future	will be taken	–	will have been taken	–