Future Simple – Verb Form

This post will show you how to form the Future Simple. To see how to use the Future Simple, click here.

The FOUR future forms are: Be Going To, Present Progressive (also called the Present Continuous), Will, and the Present Simple.

THE FUTURE WITH BE GOING TO

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Affirmative Statements

Subject	Be	Going To	Base Verb
I	am	going to	help	later.
You	are	going to	work	tomorrow.
She/He/It	is	going to	rain	again.
We	are	going to	have	so much fun!
They/You (plural)	are	going to	send	her a package.

Negative Statements

Subject	Be	Not	Going To	Base Verb
I	am	not	going to	finish	in time.
You	are	not	going to	go	away this weekend.
She/He/It	is	not	going to	see	the doctor.
We	are	not	going to	cook	dinner
They/You (plural)	are	not	going to	buy	a new car.

Yes/No Questions

Be	Subject	Going To	Base Verb
Am	I	going to	be	okay?
Are	you	going to	clean	the house?
Is	she/he/it	going to	study	next semester?
Are	we	going to	stick	to the plan?
Are	they/you (plural)	going to	live	in New Zealand?

Short Answers

Yes	Subject	Be	No	Subject + Be + Not
Yes,	I	am.	No,	I’m not.
Yes,	he	is.	No,	he’s not.
Yes,	they	are.	No,	they’re not.

Information Questions

WH- Word	Be	Subject	Going To	Base Verb
Who	are	you	going to	call	later?
What	is	she	going to	do	tomorrow?
When	are	they	going to	study	at the library?
Who (subject)	is		going to	win	the election?
What (subject)	is		going to	happen	next?

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THE FUTURE WITH THE PRESENT CONTINUOUS/PROGRESSIVE

Affirmative Statements

Subject +Be	Verb + ing
I’m	helping	later.
You ‘re	moving	next week.
She’s/He’s/It’s	coming	tomorrow.
We’re	cooking	dinner tonight.
They’re/You’re	changing	schools next month.

Negative Statements

Subject + Be

Not

Verb + ing

I’m

not

leaving

yet.

You’re

not

taking

an exam tomorrow.

She’s/He’s/It’s

not

playing

soccer next Saturday.

We’re

not

staying

with relatives.

They’re/You’re

not

graduating

this semester.

Yes/No Questions

Be	Subject	Verb + ing
Am	I	going	to work tomorrow?
Are	you	moving	to Japan?
Is	she/he/it	going	to Europe next summer?
Are	we	doing	anything for Valentine’s Day?
Are	they/you (plural)	coming	to the party this weekend?

Short Answers

Yes	Subject	Be	No	Subject + Be + Not
Yes,	I	am.	No,	I’m not.
Yes,	he	is.	No,	he’s not.
Yes,	they	are.	No,	they’re not.

Information Questions

WH- Word	Be	Subject	Verb + ing
Who	are	you	calling	later?
What	is	she	doing	tomorrow?
When	are	they	studying	at the library?
Who (subject)	is		going	to head office?
What (subject)	is		happening	next?

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THE FUTURE WITH WILL + BASE VERB

Affirmative Statements

Subject + Will	Adverb	Base Verb
I’ll		study	much harder, I promise.
You’ll		be	cold without a jacket.
She’ll/He’ll/It’ll	most likely	have	a good time at the party.
We’ll	hopefully	see	piranhas in the Amazon.
They’ll/You’ll (plural)	probably	do	their homework in the morning.

Negative Statements

Subject	Adverb	Will + Not (won’t)	Base Verb
I	probably	won’t	exercise	tomorrow.
You		won’t	be	happy about this.
She/He/It		won’t	spend	the summer in Hollywood.
We	most likely	won’t	live	on Mars in the future.
They/You (plural)	probably	won’t	like	the weather in Wisconsin.

Yes/No Questions

Will	Subject	Base Verb
Will	I	see	you next week?
Will	you	do	me a favor?
Will	she/he/it	finish	this soon?
Will	we	work	full-time?
Will	they/you (plural)	be	on time for class tomorrow?

Short Answers

Yes	Subject	Will	No	Subject + Will + Not
Yes,	I	will.	No,	I won’t.
Yes,	he	will.	No,	he won’t.
Yes,	they	will.	No,	they won’t.

Information Questions

WH- Word	Will	Subject	Base Verb
Who	will	you	call	later?
What	will	she	do	tomorrow?
When	will	they	study	at the library?
Who (subject)	will		go	to head office?
What (subject)	will		happen	next?

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FURURE WITH PRESENT SIMPLE

Affirmative Statements

Subject	Present Simple
I	leave	on a 6:00 am flight.
You	arrive	tomorrow night.
She/He/It	starts	next fall.
We	open	the store at 9:00 am.
They/You (plural)	close	at 5:00 pm.

Negative Statements

Subject	Do Not (don’t), Does Not (doesn’t)	Present Simple
I	don’t	leave	on a 6:00 am flight.
You	don’t	arrive	tomorrow night.
She/He/It	doesn’t	start	next fall.
We	don’t	open	at 9:00 am.
They	don’t	close	at 5:00 pm.

Yes/No Questions

Do/Does	Subject	Present Simple
Do	I	work	early tomorrow?
Do	you	arrive	next week?
Does	she/he/it	start	on time?
Do	we	leave	after breakfast?
Do	they/you (plural)	go	to the airport this Sunday?

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Information Questions

WH- Word	Do/Does	Subject	Base Verb
Who	do	I	call	if I have a problem?
What	does	she	do	to register?
When	do	they	arrive	in Kenya?
Who (subject)			goes	to head office tomorrow?
What (subject)			happens	next?

Past Perfect Progressive – Verb Meaning and Use

This post will show you how to use the Past Perfect Progressive (also called the Past Perfect Continuous). To see how to form the Past Perfect Progressive, click here.

The Past Perfect Progressive expresses the relationship in time between two past events, similar to the Past Perfect. However, the Past Perfect Progressive emphasizes that the first event was ongoing and continued up to or just before the second event.

• Tomomi had been studying all night. (Past Perfect Progressive, 1^st event)
• She was exhausted at breakfast. (Past Simple, 2^nd event)

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 For and since often show how long a situation lasted before the second past event.

• Chris left his office at 6:00 pm. (Past Simple, 2^nd event)
• He‘d been working since 8:00 am. (Past Perfect Progressive, 1^st event)

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The Past Perfect Progressive is often used in sentences using past time clauses.

• Michelle had been working for nine and a half hours (Past Perfect Progressive, 1^st event)
• by the time she left her office. (Past Simple, 2^nd event)

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Certain common verbs can be used with the Past Perfect and the Past Perfect Progressive with little or no difference in meaning, but using the Progressive can show a more intense or emotional situation.

• Mr. Garcia had lived there since 1982. (Past Perfect)
• Mr. Garcia had been living there since 1982.  (Past Perfect Progressive)
• I’d waited an hour (neutral)
• I’d been waiting an hour. (I was so mad!)

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The Past Perfect can express a completed action that may or may not have happened recently. In contrast, the Past Perfect Progressive suggests that an action was continuing up to or ended just before a specific time in the past.

• Janice had watered the garden before I arrived. (She may have watered it a few minutes or many hours before I arrived.)
• Janice had been watering the garden before I arrived. (She watered the garden a few minutes before I arrived. The ground was still wet.)

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We do not use the Past Perfect Progressive to tell how many times an action is repeated.

• I’d read it three times before. (Correct)
• I’d been reading it three times before. (Incorrect)

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Both the Past Perfect and the Past Perfect Progressive are used to provide background information about earlier events. They are used to give reasons with because, express contrasts with although or even though, and are used to draw conclusions.

• She looked very tired because she had been studying all night. (Reason)
• She looked very tired because she had studied all night. (Reason)
• She looked very tired although she had been sleeping for 12 hours. (Contrast)
• She looked very tired although she had slept for 12 hours. (Contrast)
• I realized that he had been criticizing my work. (Conclusion)
• I realized that he had criticized my work. (Conclusion)

Past Perfect Progressive – Verb Form

This post will show you how to form the Past Perfect Progressive. To see how to use the Past Perfect Progressive, click here.

Affirmative Statements

Subject + Had		Been	Verb + ing
I’d		been	working	all day.
You’d		been	waiting	for a long time.
She’d/He’d/It’d		been	snowing	all night.
We’d		been	eating	dinner.
They’d/You’d (plural)		been	investing	a lot of money.

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Negative Statements

Subject	Had Not (hadn’t)	Been	Verb + ing
I	hadn’t	been	going	to school for some time.
You	hadn’t	been	writing	your essay.
She/He/It	hadn’t	been	dating	her for very long.
We	hadn’t	been	traveling	for a while.
They/You (plural)	hadn’t	been	sleeping	well.

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Yes/No Questions

Had	Subject	Been	Verb + ing
Had	you	been	living	in Dubai
Had	it	been	raining	all morning?
Had	they	been	driving	all night?

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Short Answers

Yes	Subject	Had	No	Subject	Had + Not (hadn’t)
Yes,	I	had.	No,	I	hadn’t.
Yes,	he	had.	No,	he	hadn’t.
Yes,	they	had.	No,	they	hadn’t.

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Information Questions

Wh- Word	Had	Subject	Been	Verb + ing
Who	had	you	been	talking	to?
What	had	she	been	doing	all morning?
When	had	he	been	working?
Where	had	it	been	snowing?
How	had	they	been	traveling?
Why	had	they	been	going	to Hong Kong?
Who (subject)	had		been	eating	my food?
What (subject)	had		been	happening	before I arrived?

Past Perfect – Verb Form

This post will show you how to form the Past Perfect. To see how to use the Past Perfect, click here.

Affirmative Statements

Subject	Had	Past Participle
I	had	gone	to school.
You	had	lived	in Alaska.
He/She/It	had	watched	TV.
We	had	walked	to the store.
They/You (plural)	had	played	tennis.

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Negative Statements

Subject	Had + Not (hadn’t)	Past participle
I	hadn’t	eaten	dinner.
You	hadn’t	waited	for us.
She/He/It	hadn’t	driven	very fast.
We	hadn’t	thought	about the consequences.
They/You (plural)	hadn’t	slept	by 8:00 am.

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Yes/No Questions

Had	Subject	Past Participle
Had	you	been	to Frankfurt before?
Had	he	cooked	dinner?
Had	they	written	their essay?

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Short Answers

Yes	Subject	Had	No	Subject	Had + Not (hadn’t)
Yes,	I	had.	No,	I	hadn’t.
Yes,	he	had.	No,	he	hadn’t.
Yes,	they	had.	No,	they	hadn’t.

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Information Questions

Wh- Word	Had	Subject	Past Participle
Who	had	you	voted	for?
What	had	she	arranged?
When	had	he	quit	smoking?
Where	had	it	gone?
How	had	they	broken	the dishes?
Why	had	they	changed	jobs?
Who (subject)	had		left?
What (subject)	had		happened?

Past Perfect – Meaning and Use

This post will show you how to use the Past Perfect. To see how to form the Past Perfect, click here.

The Past Perfect expresses the relationship in time between two past events. It shows that one action or state happened before another action or state in the past. The Past Perfect expresses the first event and the Past Simple often expresses the second, or later, event.

• I had just completed the exam. (Past perfect, 1^st event)
• I felt so relieved. (Past Simple, 2^nd event)

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The past time can be recent or distant.

• Michael called me this morning, but I wasn’t there; I had already left.  (Recent time)
• Michael wrote me last year, but I never got the letter; I had moved away.

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The Past Perfect is often used in sentences containing past time clauses. The Past Perfect is used to indicate the first event, and the Past Simple is used for the second event. Before, by the time, when, until, and after introduce the time clause.

Past Perfect (1^st Event)                                    Past Simple (2^nd Event)

The thief had escaped                                    before I called the police.

We had calmed down                                    by the time the police came.

He had been upstairs                                    when we came home.

We hadn’t noticed                                                until we heard the footsteps.

After I had called the police,                         we realized the thief was gone.

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In sentences with before, after, by the time, and until, the Past Perfect is sometimes replaced by the Past Simple with no difference in meaning.

• I had gone inside before I took off my coat. = I went inside before I took off my coat.
• After I had gone inside, I took off my coat. = After I went inside, I took off my coat.

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The Past Perfect is often used with the same adverbs and prepositions as the Present Perfect: already, yet, still, ever, never, for, since, and just.

•  By  lunch time, we had  already discussed the new budget and written a new report.
• I had lived in Texas for 12 years before I moved to California.
• Had she ever eaten a hot dog before she came to the United States? No, she’d never had one!!

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By + a time can be used with the Past Perfect to express the later time in the sentence.

• We had finished by then.
• By noon, we had hiked two miles.