to telephone — English conjugation

Frequency#14163Regular

Indicative

Present (Simple Present) Regular

The simple present describes habitual actions, general truths, and states. It is the most basic tense in English. For most verbs, add -s or -es for the third person singular (he, she, it).

She speaks three languages.

PronounEnglish
Itelephone
youtelephone
he/she/ittelephones
wetelephone
you (pl.)telephone
theytelephone

Past (Simple Past) Regular

The simple past describes completed actions at a specific time in the past. Regular verbs add -ed. There are around 200 common irregular verbs with unique past forms that must be learned individually.

She spoke to the manager yesterday.

PronounEnglish
Itelephoned
youtelephoned
he/she/ittelephoned
wetelephoned
you (pl.)telephoned
theytelephoned

Present continuous (Present Continuous) Regular

The present continuous describes actions happening right now or temporary situations. Formed with am/is/are + verb-ing. Also used for definite future arrangements.

She is speaking to a client at the moment.

PronounEnglish
Iam telephoning
youare telephoning
he/she/itis telephoning
weare telephoning
you (pl.)are telephoning
theyare telephoning

Past continuous (Past Continuous) Regular

The past continuous describes actions that were in progress at a specific moment in the past, often interrupted by another event. Formed with was/were + verb-ing.

She was speaking when the fire alarm went off.

PronounEnglish
Iwas telephoning
youwere telephoning
he/she/itwas telephoning
wewere telephoning
you (pl.)were telephoning
theywere telephoning

Present perfect (Present Perfect) Regular

The present perfect connects the past to the present. It describes experiences, recent events, or situations that started in the past and continue now. Formed with have/has + past participle.

She has spoken at over fifty conferences.

PronounEnglish
Ihave telephoned
youhave telephoned
he/she/ithas telephoned
wehave telephoned
you (pl.)have telephoned
theyhave telephoned

Past perfect (Past Perfect) Regular

The past perfect describes an action completed before another past event — the past of the past. Formed with had + past participle. Always implies a reference point in the past.

She had spoken to him before the meeting started.

PronounEnglish
Ihad telephoned
youhad telephoned
he/she/ithad telephoned
wehad telephoned
you (pl.)had telephoned
theyhad telephoned

Future (will) (Future Simple) Regular

The future simple expresses predictions, spontaneous decisions, and promises. Formed with will + base infinitive. The contracted form will not = won't is very common in spoken English.

She will speak at the conference tomorrow.

PronounEnglish
Iwill telephone
youwill telephone
he/she/itwill telephone
wewill telephone
you (pl.)will telephone
theywill telephone

Future continuous (Future Continuous) Regular

The future continuous describes an action that will be in progress at a specific future moment. Formed with will be + verb-ing. Often used to describe planned or expected ongoing actions.

This time tomorrow she will be speaking to the board.

PronounEnglish
Iwill be telephoning
youwill be telephoning
he/she/itwill be telephoning
wewill be telephoning
you (pl.)will be telephoning
theywill be telephoning

Future perfect (Future Perfect) Regular

The future perfect describes an action that will be completed before a specific point in the future. Formed with will have + past participle. Common with time expressions like by then, by the time.

By Friday she will have spoken to all the clients.

PronounEnglish
Iwill have telephoned
youwill have telephoned
he/she/itwill have telephoned
wewill have telephoned
you (pl.)will have telephoned
theywill have telephoned

Subjunctive

Conditional (would) (Conditional) Regular

The conditional describes hypothetical situations and their results. Formed with would + base infinitive. Used in if-clauses, polite requests, and reported speech about future events.

She would speak more if she had the chance.

PronounEnglish
Iwould telephone
youwould telephone
he/she/itwould telephone
wewould telephone
you (pl.)would telephone
theywould telephone