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15-Dec-2003, 23:04
| | Editor, UsingEnglish.com | | Join Date: Nov 2002 Country: UK
Posts: 27,067
Current Location: Phnom Penh First Language: English Member Type: English Teacher | | I'm a two-tense chap. | 
16-Dec-2003, 14:39
|  | VIP Member | | Join Date: Nov 2002 Country: USA
Posts: 6,089
Current Location: New York First Language: American English Member Type: Academic | | Quote: |
Originally Posted by tdol I'm a two-tense chap.  | Indeed! :wink: | 
16-Dec-2003, 21:51
| | Editor, UsingEnglish.com | | Join Date: Nov 2002 Country: UK
Posts: 27,067
Current Location: Phnom Penh First Language: English Member Type: English Teacher | | Quote: |
Originally Posted by Casiopea In all, there are close to thirty tenses, in English, marked by auxiliaries.
:D | Are youincluding passives as separate tenses? If not, I'm not sure how you get that number. | 
08-Sep-2007, 22:03
| | Newbie | | Join Date: Sep 2007 Country: Bulgaria
Posts: 5
Current Location: Sofia First Language: Bulgarian Member Type: Student or Learner | | Re: How many tenses are there in English language? There are 16 tenses in english. I'll list them ...
1. Present Simple - I play
2. Present Continuous - I am playing
3. Present Perfect - I have played
4. Present Perfect Continuous - I have been playing
5. Past Simple - I played
6. Past Continuous - I was playing
7. Past Perfect - I had played
8. Past Perfect Continuous - I had been playing
9. Future Simple - I will play (including "be going to + infinitive" form) I am goint to play
10. Future Continuous - I will be playing
11. Future Perfect - I will have played
12. Future Perfect Continuous - I will have been playing
13. Future Simple in the past - I would play (including the "was/were going to + infinitive" form)
14. Future Continuous in the past - I would be bathing
15. Future Perfect in the past - I would have played
16. Future Perfect Continuous in the past - I would have been playing
:)) | 
09-Sep-2007, 03:38
|  | VIP Member | | Join Date: Sep 2007 Country: Canada
Posts: 5,533
Current Location: Shanghai, China First Language: English Member Type: English Teacher | | Re: How many tenses are there in English language? There are just the two, actually. 1 Present Tense
1. Present Simple - I play
2. Present Continuous - I am playing
3. Present Perfect - I have played
4. Present Perfect Continuous - I have been playing 2 Past Tense
5. Past Simple - I played
6. Past Continuous - I was playing
7. Past Perfect - I had played
8. Past Perfect Continuous - I had been playing Aspect
9. Future Simple - I will play (including "be going to + infinitive" form) I am goint to play
10. Future Continuous - I will be playing
11. Future Perfect - I will have played
12. Future Perfect Continuous - I will have been playing
13. Future Simple in the past - I would play (including the "was/were going to + infinitive" form)
14. Future Continuous in the past - I would be bathing
15. Future Perfect in the past - I would have played
16. Future Perfect Continuous in the past - I would have been playing | 
18-Sep-2008, 08:26
| | Member | | Join Date: Jun 2008 Country: India
Posts: 434
Current Location: Hyderabad First Language: Telugu Member Type: Student or Learner | | Re: How many tenses are there in English language? Quote:
Originally Posted by Soup There are just the two, actually. 1 Present Tense
1. Present Simple - I play
2. Present Continuous - I am playing
3. Present Perfect - I have played
4. Present Perfect Continuous - I have been playing 2 Past Tense
5. Past Simple - I played
6. Past Continuous - I was playing
7. Past Perfect - I had played
8. Past Perfect Continuous - I had been playing Aspect
9. Future Simple - I will play (including "be going to + infinitive" form) I am goint to play
10. Future Continuous - I will be playing
11. Future Perfect - I will have played
12. Future Perfect Continuous - I will have been playing
13. Future Simple in the past - I would play (including the "was/were going to + infinitive" form)
14. Future Continuous in the past - I would be bathing
15. Future Perfect in the past - I would have played
16. Future Perfect Continuous in the past - I would have been playing | There are only two
What about Future tense family then? | 
18-Sep-2008, 08:50
|  | Key Member | | Join Date: Apr 2006 Country: Poland
Posts: 2,332
Current Location: Jelenia Gora, Poland First Language: Polish Member Type: Other | | Re: How many tenses are there in English language? Quote:
Originally Posted by kiranlegend There are only two
What about Future tense family then?  | Look back at Soup's post. THERE ARE ONLY TWO TENSES AS SUCH IN ENGLISH; the other ways of talking about time are called the ASPECTS! | 
18-Sep-2008, 10:30
|  | Member | | Join Date: Apr 2008 Country: U.S.A.
Posts: 127
Current Location: Linzi District,Shandong,China First Language: American Member Type: English Teacher | | Re: How many tenses are there in English language? TDOL, thanks for putting in your two tense; hey....... that nun with the ruler in gradeschool has some 'splainn' to do!!
I agree with the two tenses, but three is the "norm" when most of my class was asked their response to the question(secret ballot-no mob theory). It's tough to teach "aspects" when they have Past, Present, Future in their heads from their own language.--Any ideas on how i might broach the subject, or "go along to get along"??
B. | 
06-Nov-2009, 19:37
| | Newbie | | Join Date: Nov 2009 Country: Ukraine
Posts: 1
Current Location: Ukraine First Language: Russian Member Type: English Teacher | | Re: How many tenses are there in English language? Guys, please, read it and maybe it'll make the learning of tenses easier.
There are 4 groups of tenses: Simple, Continuous, Perfect and Perfect Continuous.
Meanings. Simple Tenses: simple regular actions, something that is always true.
Eg. I read books every day. Continuous Tenses: action in progress, action that is happening at the moment of speaking.
Eg. I am reading a book now. Perfect Tenses: actions which have results.
Eg. I have read three books this month. Perfect Continuous Tenses: actions that combine result+action in process.
Eg. I have been reading a book from the moment I came home.
And: each of this tenses has forms of the present, past and future which makes altogether 12 tenses!!!
Hope it will help. It's fun to learn tenses. Good luck to everybody. | 
07-Nov-2009, 02:03
|  | Key Member | | Join Date: Mar 2009 Country: Canada
Posts: 2,612
Current Location: Toronto First Language: English Member Type: Academic | | Re: How many tenses are there in English language? To me, there are five tenses and five aspects, for twenty-five total possibilities. However, some are logically impossible, so we only have a few, about half of those:
Here's my explanation in a pdf I made about 5 years ago: www.chass.utoronto.ca/french/as-sa/timezonesfortenses.pdf |  | | | Thread Tools | | | | Display Modes | Linear Mode |
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