Where to Start?
Completion requirements
Struggling to decide which tense to start with?
You can follow the order below or use this quick-reference table to find the tense that fits your situation best, making English grammar easier to navigate!
| Scenario | Example Sentence | Tense |
|---|---|---|
| Describing your daily routine to a friend? | "I take the bus to work every day." | Present Simple |
| Explaining what you’re doing right now? | "I’m reading an interesting book right now." | Present Continuous |
| Want to share a life experience without mentioning when? | "I have visited Italy three times." | Present Perfect |
| Talking about an activity you’ve been doing for a while? | "I have been studying French for two years." | Present Perfect Continuous |
| Sharing something you did yesterday? | "I watched a great movie last night." | Past Simple |
| Describing what you were doing when something else happened? | "I was cooking dinner when you called." | Past Continuous |
| Talking about something you completed before another past event? | "By the time the meeting started, I had finished my report." | Past Perfect |
| Emphasizing the duration of an action before something else happened? | "She had been waiting for an hour before the bus arrived." | Past Perfect Continuous |
| Making a promise or a quick decision? | "I will call you tomorrow." | Future Simple |
| Talking about what you’ll be doing at a specific time in the future? | "This time next week, I will be relaxing on the beach." | Future Continuous |
| Discussing something you will have completed by a certain future date? | "By next year, I will have completed my degree." | Future Perfect |
| Describing how long you’ll have been doing something by a future point? | "In December, I will have been working here for five years." | Future Perfect Continuous |