Understanding Tenses Simple Present, Past & Future You will probably know tenses as the hardest and most confusing topic taught in English classes. But do you know? Without tenses, English language is “Nothing.” You can do nothing right – not even forming a basic sentence. Tenses determine when an event has happened. Each tense indicates the connection between two or more time periods or the exact time an activity occurred. This makes clear, the vital role tenses play in language. In English there are three basic forms of tenses: Present, Past and Future. Depending up on the time, they each divide into different sub tenses. However, in this lesson, I would like to focus on the basics – When to apply, how to structure sentences and many more. Simple Present Tense Simple present tense is mainly used to talk about routine activities – things that happen regularly, in a selected span of time. In some cases, it is also used to express something happening even now. One suc...