The English tenses, on one page
An interactive one-page reference for all twelve English tenses — structure, examples, and Turkish translations, side by side.
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English has twelve tenses, and most of the trouble people have with them is that they get taught one at a time — twelve separate rules to memorize instead of one system to understand. So at some point I built the opposite: a single page that lays all twelve out at once.
Each tense sits in its own card with its structure formula, a few example sentences, and the Turkish translation under each one. You can group the cards by aspect (simple, continuous, perfect, perfect continuous) or by time (past, present, future), filter down to just the ones you’re working on, and compare all twelve side by side in the study table at the end. Self-study mode hides the Turkish until you tap it, so you can test yourself.
The point isn’t to teach a lesson — it’s to make the pattern visible. Once the grid is in front of you, “I have been working” and “I had been working” stop being two things to memorize and start looking like what they are: the same shape aimed at two different moments.
01
Simple Tenses
Simple tenses are used whenever we are talking about a point in time.
Simple Past
Use for an action that happened at a point in time in the past.
S + V2 / V-edS + did not + V1Did + S + V1?- I ate breakfast this morning.Bu sabah kahvaltı ettim.
- I went to school.Okula gittim.
- I lost my bag yesterday.Dün çantamı kaybettim.
Simple Present
Use when making a general statement of truth at the present point in time.
S + V1 / V-sS + do/does not + V1Do/Does + S + V1?- I eat breakfast every day.Her gün kahvaltı ederim.
- I go to school.Okula giderim.
- I take English classes every Monday.Her pazartesi İngilizce dersleri alırım.
- I drink milk every morning.Her sabah süt içerim.
Simple Future
Use for an action that will happen at a point in time in the future.
S + will + V1S + will not + V1Will + S + V1?- I will eat breakfast later.Daha sonra kahvaltı edeceğim.
- I will go to school.Okula gideceğim.
- I will go to Ankara tomorrow.Yarın Ankara'ya gideceğim.
02
Continuous Tenses
Continuous tenses are used whenever we are talking about a length of time (ongoing action).
Past Continuous
Use for an action that was happening for a length of time in the past when another action happened in the middle of it.
S + was/were + V-ingS + was/were not + V-ingWas/Were + S + V-ing?- I was eating breakfast when my brother arrived.Kardeşim geldiğinde kahvaltı ediyordum.
- I was going to school.Okula gidiyordum.
- I was washing the car when it rained.Yağmur yağdığında arabayı yıkıyordum.
- I was watching television last night.Dün gece televizyon izliyordum.
Present Continuous
Use for an action that is happening now.
S + am/is/are + V-ingS + am/is/are not + V-ingAm/Is/Are + S + V-ing?- Right now, I am eating breakfast.Şu anda kahvaltı ediyorum.
- I am going to school.Okula gidiyorum.
- I am studying.Ders çalışıyorum.
- I am studying English now.Şimdi İngilizce çalışıyorum.
Future Continuous
Use for an action that will be happening for a length of time in the future.
S + will be + V-ingS + will not be + V-ingWill + S + be + V-ing?- I will be eating breakfast from 9:00 to 9:30.Saat 9:00'dan 9:30'a kadar kahvaltı ediyor olacağım.
- I will be going to school.Okula gidiyor olacağım.
- I will be fishing this time next week.Gelecek hafta bu zamanlar balık tutuyor olacağım.
- I will be going to school at eight o'clock tomorrow morning.Yarın sabah sekizde okula gidiyor olacağım.
03
Perfect Tenses
Perfect tenses are used whenever we are talking about a point in time before another point in time.
Past Perfect
Use for an action that happened in the past before another action.
S + had + V3S + had not + V3Had + S + V3?- I had already eaten breakfast when my brother arrived.Kardeşim geldiğinde kahvaltı etmiştim.
- I had gone to school.Okula gitmiştim.
- I had washed the car before it rained.Yağmur yağmadan önce arabayı yıkamıştım.
- I had finished my homework before I went out.Dışarı çıkmadan önce ev ödevimi bitirmiştim.
Present Perfect
Use for an action that happened in the past before the present moment, carrying relevance to now.
S + have/has + V3S + have/has not + V3Have/Has + S + V3?- I have already eaten breakfast.Çoktan kahvaltı ettim.
- I have been to school.Okulda bulundum (Okula gittim).
- I have already studied the tenses today.Bugün zamanlar konusuna çoktan çalıştım.
- I have studied English.İngilizce çalıştım.
Future Perfect
Use for an action that will happen in the future before another action or point in time.
S + will have + V3S + will not have + V3Will + S + have + V3?- I will have already eaten breakfast by the time my brother arrives.Kardeşim gelene kadar kahvaltı etmiş olacağım.
- I will have gone to school.Okula gitmiş olacağım.
- I will have learned all the tenses by tomorrow.Yarına kadar tüm zamanları öğrenmiş olacağım.
- I will have finished painting the wall by dinner time.Akşam yemeğine kadar duvarı boyamayı bitirmiş olacağım.
04
Perfect Continuous Tenses
Perfect continuous tenses are used whenever we are talking about a length of time up to a point in time.
Past Perfect Continuous
Use for an action that was happening for a length of time in the past up to the moment when another action happened.
S + had been + V-ingS + had not been + V-ingHad + S + been + V-ing?- I had been eating breakfast for 30 minutes when my brother arrived.Kardeşim geldiğinde 30 dakikadır kahvaltı etmekteydim.
- I had been going to school.Okula gitmekteydim.
- I had been going to school for a year when it was closed.Okul kapandığında bir yıldır okula gitmekteydim.
- I had been running for two hours when my brother arrived.Kardeşim geldiğinde iki saattir koşmaktaydım.
Present Perfect Continuous
Use for an action that was happening for a length of time up to the present moment.
S + have/has been + V-ingS + have/has not been + V-ingHave/Has + S + been + V-ing?- I have been eating my breakfast for 30 minutes.30 dakikadır kahvaltımı etmekteyim.
- I have been going to school.Okula gitmekteyim.
- I have been learning English for three years.Üç yıldır İngilizce öğrenmekteyim.
- I have been studying English for two years.Ben iki yıldır İngilizce çalışmaktayım.
Future Perfect Continuous
Use for an action that will be happening in the future for a length of time up to the moment when another action will happen.
S + will have been + V-ingS + will not have been + V-ingWill + S + have been + V-ing?- I will have been eating my breakfast for 30 minutes by the time you arrive.Sen gelene kadar 30 dakikadır kahvaltımı ediyor olacağım.
- I will have been going to school.Okula gitmekte olacağım.
- I will have been studying English for three years by this summer.Bu yaza kadar üç yıldır İngilizce çalışmakta olacağım.
- I will have been sleeping for two hours by midnight.Gece yarısı geldiğinde ben iki saattir uyumakta olacağım.
01
Past Tenses
Tenses used to describe events, actions, or states that occurred in the past.
02
Present Tenses
Tenses used to describe events, actions, or states occurring in the current timeframe.
03
Future Tenses
Tenses used to describe events, actions, or states that will occur in the future.
05
Study Table
Compare the tenses across different timeframes and aspects side-by-side.
| Time | Tense | Formula | Sentence | Türkçe |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Past | Simple Past | S + V2 / V-ed | He worked. | O, çalıştı.yaptım |
| Past Continuous | S + was/were + V-ing | He was working. | O, çalışıyordu.yapıyordum | |
| Past Perfect | S + had + V3 | He had worked. | O, çalışmıştı.yapmıştım | |
| Past Perfect Continuous | S + had been + V-ing | He had been working. | O, çalışmakta idi.yapmaktaydım | |
| Present | Simple Present | S + V1 / V-s | He works. | O, çalışır.yaparım |
| Present Continuous | S + am/is/are + V-ing | He is working. | O, çalışıyor.yapıyorum | |
| Present Perfect | S + have/has + V3 | He has worked. | O, çalıştı. (çalışmış bulunuyor)yaptım (yeni bitti) | |
| Present Perfect Continuous | S + have/has been + V-ing | He has been working. | O, çalışmaktadır.yapmaktayım | |
| Future | Simple Future | S + will + V1 | He will work. | O, çalışacak.yapacağım |
| Future Continuous | S + will be + V-ing | He will be working. | O, çalışıyor olacak.yapıyor olacağım | |
| Future Perfect | S + will have + V3 | He will have worked. | O, çalışmış olacak.yapmış olacağım | |
| Future Perfect Continuous | S + will have been + V-ing | He will have been working. | O, çalışmakta olacak.yapmakta olacağım |