|
Tense |
When to Use |
Signal Words |
Affirmative |
Negative |
Question |
|
Present Simple |
To express regular, usual or repetitive actions in present |
|
I speak. He thinks. |
I don't speak. He doesn't think. |
Do I speak? Does he think? |
|
Present Progressive |
To express an action that is happening at this very moment, when we speak about it |
|
I am speaking. He is thinking.
|
I am not speaking. He is not thinking. |
Am I speaking? Is he thinking? |
|
Present Perfect |
To express an action that has already happened, but we don’t know the exact time when |
|
I have visited Paris many times. He has never told me the truth. |
I haven’t heard about this author. She hasn’t had lunch yet. |
Have you already finished your classes? Has he ever brought his dog to school? |
|
Present Perfect Progressive |
An action has already started, but hasn’t finished yet |
|
I have been feeling sick lately. |
I haven't been feeling well. (lately) |
Have you been eating too much? (lately) |
|
Past Simple |
An action happened at a certain time in the past |
|
I went to the Canary Islands last year. |
I didn't go anywhere yesterday. |
Did you meet him last night? |
|
Past Progressive |
To express some action that was happening in the process in the past |
|
When she was reading, he was listening to some tape. |
Was he sleeping all the evening? |
Why wasn't he looking when I was speaking to him? |
|
Past Perfect |
There are two past actions in the same sentence. Past Perfect is the action that had finished before the other past action began. |
Many different, but no specific |
When I looked at him I noticed that he had shaven his beard. |
When I looked at him I noticed that he had not shaven again. |
Did you see that I had done all the dishes? |
|
Past Perfect Progressive |
There are two past actions in the same sentence. Past Perfect Progressive is the action that had been happening for some time and finished before another past action started. |
|
When I looked at the clock I noticed that we had been speaking for more than 2 hours. |
I left because I hadn't been feeling well since early morning. |
Did he tell you that he had already eaten lunch? |
|
Future Simple |
Some action will happen at some moment of time in the future. Pozor! You cannot use WILL after a time clause starting with if, after, as soon as, when, ...etc. |
|
I will be free in an hour. He will come to see me next month. |
He will not stay long. |
Will you do it for me? |
|
Future Progressive |
Some action will be in the process in the future |
|
I will be swimming at the Danube hotel at 5 p.m. He will be calling his mother at 7 p.m. |
I will not be preparing for the Midterm all the day, I can go for a walk with you. |
When I arrive tomorrow, will you be waiting for me? |
|
Future Perfect |
There is a time limit by which some future action will have finished |
|
I will have finished this handout by 7 p.m. |
He won't have read the book by tomorrow, so don't count on it. |
Will you have finished your homework by 5? |
|
Future Perfect Progressive |
By a certain moment in the future a certain action will have been in process for some time |
|
By 7 o'clock tonight, I will have been preparing a new grammar quiz for 3 hours. |
I won't have been writing the quiz for more than 20 minutes when you call, so I cannot tell you all the answers. |
Will Peter have been waiting for us for 3 hours by the time we get to the train station? I doubt it. |