At times learning the various tenses in English can become very confusing. I have often noticed how students will start making mistakes in basic sentence structure each time they learn a new tense. However, it shouldn't be that difficult, although I understand why it can be difficult! The good news is that structure does not change no matter the tense. The only thing that changes is the verb used. Remember that each tense changes in the auxiliary verb, rather than the main verb. The main verb is either in its simple form (do - did, play - played, make - made), the present participle (going, playing, watching, eating) or the past participle (had, done, thought, etc.) The only tenses that do NOT take an auxiliary verb are the present simple and past simple.
The following chart provides the structure for each tense in English. Notice how each element (subject, auxiliary verb, main verb, objects) changes, but that the structure remains the same. Try to follow these structures no matter which tense you use.
Sentence Structure Chart
Positive Sentences
| Tense | Subject | Auxiliary Verb | Main Verb | Objects |
| Present Simple | I | work | in the city. | |
| Present Continuous | You | are | studying | math at the moment. |
| Past Simple | We | flew | to Germany last month. | |
| Past Continuous | They | were | watching | TV at three o'clock yesterday afternoon. |
| Future with Will | Mary | will | help | the students. |
| Future with Going to | You | are going to | move | to New York. |
| Future Continuous | Anna | will be | working | at three o'clock tomorrow. |
| Present Perfect | We | have | lived | in Seattle for a long time. |
| Present Perfect Continuous | He | has been | playing | golf for two hours. |
| Past Perfect | We | had | eaten | dinner before he arrived. |
| Past Perfect Continuous | She | had been | studying | for three hours when he arrived. |
| Future Perfect | I | will have | finished | the job by tomorrow. |
| Future Perfect Continuous | We | will have been | working | for eleven hours by ten o'clock. |
Negative Sentences
| Tense | Subject | Auxiliary Verb + Not | Main Verb | Objects |
| Present Simple | I | don't | work | in the city. |
| Present Continuous | They | aren't | working | on the project at the moment. |
| Past Simple | Mary | didn't | go | on vacation last year. |
| Past Continuous | Jack | wasn't | working | when I arrived. |
| Future with Will | We | won't | visit | him next week. |
| Future with Going to | You | aren't going to | play | golf this weekend. |
| Future Continuous | They | won't be | working | on Saturday afternoon. |
| Present Perfect | Susan | hasn't | visited | Puerto Rico yet. |
| Present Perfect Continuous | He | hasn't been | eating | dinner for very long. |
| Past Perfect | They | hadn't | spoken | to Peter for a long time. |
| Past Perfect Continuous | Joe | hadn't been | studying | for a long time when she came home. |
| Future Perfect | Angela | won't have | finished | the project by tomorrow. |
| Future Perfect Continuous | The teacher | won't have been | teaching | for long at ten in the morning. |
Questions
| Tense | (Question Word) | Auxiliary Verb | Subject | Main Verb | (Objects)? |
| Present Simple | Where | do | you | live | ? |
| Present Continuous | What | are | you | doing | with that? |
| Past Simple | When | did | he | move | to Chicago? |
| Past Continuous | What | were | they | doing | when he arrived? |
| Future with Will | How | will | she | travel | to Seattle? |
| Future with Going to | Where | are | you | going to stay | on vacation? |
| Future Continuous | What time | will | he | be giving | his presentation? |
| Present Perfect | How often | have | you | been | to France? |
| Present Perfect Continuous | How long | has | she | been playing | tennis? |
| Past Perfect | How much | had | she | completed | before it was due? |
| Past Perfect Continuous | How long | had | they | been sleeping | when he woke them up? |
| Future Perfect | How many books | will | they | read | by the end of the month. |
| Future Perfect Continuous | How long | will | Tom | have been playing | golf by the end of the day? |
