The simple present tense is sometimes used to talk about the future. This, for example, happens when we are talking about events that are part of a timetable.

The future tense is a tense which correlates with time later than the time of speaking. While some languages like Spanish, French and Italian have a distinct future tense, English has no future tense at all. In English, we have many ways of talking about future time. All of these involve present-tense forms:

Fill in the blanks with the most appropriate verb forms.

1. The plane ——————– at 4.30 pm.

a) arrive
b) arrives
c) will arrive
d) has arrive

Simple future

The simple future tense is used to talk about an action or event which is yet to take place. Sentences in this tense have the following structure:

The present indefinite or the simple present

Form:
Affirmative

I work.
She works.
They/you work.

Negative

I don’t work.
She doesn’t work.
They/you don’t work.

Interrogative

We have seen that the past perfect tense is used to talk about a completed past action. Note that when two past actions have to be mentioned, the past perfect is used for the earlier of the two, and the simple past for the later.

The tense of a verb shows not only the time of the action but also whether it is complete or not. There are three tenses in English: