Tenses are forms of verbs that tell us when an action happens—whether it happens in the present, happened in the past, or will happen in the future. They also help us understand whether an action is regular, happening at a particular time, already completed, or continuing for some time.

There are three main times in English:

• Present Tense – tells us about an action that happens now, regularly, or generally.
  Example: She goes to school every day.

• Past Tense – tells us about an action that happened before now.
  Example: She went to school yesterday.

• Future Tense – tells us about an action that will happen later.
  Example: She will go to school tomorrow.

Each tense has four forms:

• Simple – describes a regular, usual, general, or completed action.
  Example: I play cricket.

• Continuous – describes an action that is, was, or will be in progress at a particular time.
  Example: I am playing cricket.

• Perfect – describes an action that has been completed before a certain time or has a connection with another time/action.
  Example: I have played cricket.

• Perfect Continuous – describes an action that started earlier and continued for a period of time, often showing how long it has been happening.
  Example: I have been playing cricket for two hours.

In short: Tenses help us understand the time of an action as well as its state—whether it is regular, in progress, completed, or continuing.