English Verb Tenses and Grammar Rules: A Comprehensive Review

Present Simple and Present Continuous

Present Simple: Used for habits, routines, states, opinions, or feelings.

Present Continuous: Used for activities in progress, temporary activities or situations, and fixed plans and arrangements.

Future Tenses: Will and Be Going To

Will: Used for predictions based on personal opinions.

Be going to: Used for predictions with specific evidence, plans, and intentions.

Past Simple and Past Continuous

Past Continuous: (e.g., was living in 2002) Used for actions in progress at a specific time in the past, or actions in progress interrupted by another.

Past Simple: (e.g., he spoke at a conference in 2007) Used for completed past actions.

Used To

Used to: (e.g., they used to use oil lamps) Used for habits or states in the past that are no longer true.

Present Perfect Simple and Continuous

Present Perfect Simple: (e.g., I have made) Used for actions at an unspecified time in the past or past actions with consequences in the present.

Present Perfect Continuous: (e.g., she has been studying) Used to emphasize the duration of an action.

Past Perfect Simple

Past Perfect Simple: (e.g., she had taken) Used for a past action that occurred before another past action.

Defining and Non-Defining Relative Clauses

Defining Relative Clauses: (Who/that, which/that, whose, where, when)

• They give essential information.
• They do not use commas.

Non-defining Relative Clauses: (who, which, whose, where, when)

• They give extra information.
• They do not use "that".
• Example: Joe, who was German,...

Modal Verbs

Obligation: (Must, have to, had to)

Prohibition: (can't, mustn't)

Lack of Obligation: (don't have to, needn't, didn't have to)

Advice: (Should, ought to)

Past Advice: (should have, ought to have)

Speculation and Deduction Modal Verbs

Certainty: (must, must have)

Possibility: (may/might/could, may have/might have/could have)

Impossibility: (can't, can't have)

Conditional Sentences

First Conditional: (if + subject + present simple, ... will + infinitive) Used for probable future events.

Second Conditional: (If + subject + past simple, ... would + infinitive) Used for hypothetical or very unlikely future events.

Third Conditional: (If + subject + past perfect, ... would have + past participle) Used for hypothetical past events.

Active and Passive Voice

Present Simple: Once a week, Tom cleans the car. / Once a week, the house is cleaned.

Present Continuous: Right now, Sarah is writing the letter. / Right now, the letter is being written.

Past Simple: Sam repaired the car. / The car was repaired.

Past Continuous: The police were helping the family when the thief came into the store.

Present Perfect: Many tourists have visited Spain. / Spain has been visited by many tourists.

Present Perfect Continuous: Recently, John has been doing the work. / Recently, the work has been being done by John.

Past Perfect: Joe had repaired many cars before he received his license. / Many cars had been repaired before he received his license.

Past Perfect Continuous: Joe had been preparing dinner for 2 hours after he arrived from work. / Dinner had been being prepared by Joe for 2 hours after he arrived from work.

Will: Joe will finish the work by 5:00 PM. / The work will be finished by 5:00 PM.

Future Simple: Joe is going to make dinner tonight. / Dinner is going to be made tonight.

Future Continuous: At 9:00, John will be washing the dishes. / At 9:00, the dishes will be being washed.

Used to: Jerry used to pay the bills. / The bills used to be paid.

Would: John would finish the work by 5:00 PM. / The work would be finished by 5:00 PM.