TENSE CHART

TENSE    CHART  

Verb (to play)	Tense	Use	Example
I play	Present simple	▪ Regular activities - routine - habits	▪ Anne and Sophie play tennis on Saturday afternoons.
I am playing	Present continuous	▪ Continuous action now or at the present time.	▪ Anne and Sophie are playing at the moment.
I have played	Present Perfect Simple	▪ Finished part of a continuous action  ▪ Completed actions in an unfinished period of time  ▪ Recent events (no time mentioned)  ▪ Past action with a result in the present.  ▪ Experiences (no time mentioned)	▪ So far they have playedtwo sets. ▪ They have played several other matches this month. ▪ Their parents have justarrived.  ▪ Sophie has broken her racket so she's got to change it. ▪ They have played in many tournaments.
I have been playing	Present Perfect Continuous	▪ Actions begun in the past which continue today.	▪ They have been playingtennis since 2 pm.
I played	Past Simple	▪ Finished actions at a specific time in the past.	▪ Last Saturday Sophieplayed in another tournament.
I was playing	Past Continuous	▪ Continuous actions at a specific time in the past.	▪ At 2.30 pm they were starting the second set.
I had played	Past Perfect Simple	▪ Actions before a specific time in the past.	▪ Before they arrived,  two other people had played a match.
I had been playing	Past Perfect Continuous	▪ Past continuous actions	▪ When their parents arrived, they were alreadyplaying.
I will play	Future simple	▪ Predictions   ▪ Spontaneous decisions or offers	▪ Sophie will win the match today. ▪ I'll lend you my tennis racket!
I will be playing	Future continuous	▪ Future continuous actions	▪ Next Saturday they will be playing in another town.
I will have played	Future perfect	▪ Completed future action.	▪ By September, they will have played 12 matches.
I will have been playing	Future perfect continuous	▪ Continuous future action completed at a given time.	▪ At 4 pm Anne and Sophiewill have been playing for 2 hours.
I would play	Conditional Simple	▪ Probable action in an imaginary situation	▪ I would play tennis if I had a racket.
I would be playing	Conditional Continuous	▪ Continuous action in an imaginary situation.	▪ Anne would be playingtennis if you came on a Saturday afternoon.
I would have played	Conditional  Perfect	▪ Speculating about hypothetical situations in the past.	▪ I would have playedyesterday if you had asked me.
I would have been playing	Cond. Perfect Continuous	▪ Continuous hypothetical situations.	▪ I would have been playing with Anne if I had won my last match.

Related page

What is Tense? Definition of Tense.

What is the type of tense?

What Is the Past Tense?

What Is the Present Tense?

What is the Future Tense?

Structure of All Tense

Simple Present Tense

Present Continuous Tense

Present Perfect Tense

Present Perfect Continuous Tense

Simple Past Tense

Past Continuous Tense

Past Perfect Tense

Past Perfect Continuous Tense

Simple Future Tense

Future Continuous Tense

Future Perfect Tense

Future Perfect Continuous Tense

All Tense with example

Table of English Tenses with example

TENSE CHART