English tenses, finally visible.
See every tense on a timeline. Understand the difference in seconds, then test yourself with a short quiz.
I have lost my keys.
A past action whose result reaches now. Present Perfect →
Not sure which tense? Answer two questions.
Think of the sentence you want to say.
All 12 tenses on one map
Three times, four shapes. Once you see the shape, you know the tense.
The orange line marks now. The dashed line is the point in the past or future you're talking about.
The comparisons people get stuck on
- Past Simple vs Past Continuouscomplete action · in progress, background
- Present Perfect vs Present Perfect Continuousresult, how much · activity, how long
- Present Simple vs Present Continuoushabits, facts, permanent · now, temporary
- Past Perfect vs Past Simplethe main story · the earlier past
- Will vs Going todecided now, opinion · planned before, evidence now
You understand it. Now find it in your own writing.
Paste an email or an essay. Clarigram marks the mistakes you actually make, shows the rule behind each one as a picture, and builds your practice from them.
Questions people ask
How many tenses are there in English?
Grammar books usually list 12: three times (past, present, future) combined with four aspects (simple, continuous, perfect, perfect continuous). Strictly speaking, English marks only two tenses on the verb itself, present and past, and builds the future with will, going to and other forms. For learning, the 12-tense map is the most useful way to see the system.
Which tenses should I learn first?
Present Simple, Present Continuous, Past Simple and will/going to cover most everyday English. Next comes the Present Perfect, the tense learners mix up most.
What do the shapes on the timeline mean?
A dot is a single moment, a bar is an action in progress or lasting for a while, and an arc connects an earlier action to a later moment. The orange line marks now; a dashed line marks the past or future moment you're talking about.