Table Of English Tenses

Table of English Tenses
tense | Affirmative/Negative/Question | Use | Signal Words |
Simple Present | A: He speaks.
N: He does not speak.
Q: Does he speak? | * action in the present takingplace once, never or several times * facts * actions taking place one after another * action set by a timetable or schedule | always, every …, never, normally, often, seldom, sometimes, usuallyif sentences type I (If I talk, …) |
Present Progressive | A: He is speaking.
N: He is not speaking.
Q: Is he speaking? | * action taking place in the moment of speaking * action taking placeonly for a limited period of time * action arranged for the future | at the moment, just, just now, Listen!, Look!, now, right now |
Simple Past | A: He spoke.
N: He did not speak.
Q: Did hespeak? | * action in the past taking place once, never or several times * actions taking place one after another * action taking place in the middle of another action | yesterday, 2 minutes ago,in 1990, the other day, last Friday
if sentence type II (If Italked, …) |
Past Progressive | A: He was speaking.
N: He was not speaking.
Q: Was he speaking? | * action going on at a certaintime in the past * actions taking place at the same time * action in the past that is interrupted by another action | when, while, as long as |
Present Perfect Simple | A: He has spoken.
N: Hehas not spoken.
Q: Has he spoken? | * putting emphasis on the result * action that is still going on * action that stopped recently * finished action that has an influence on the present *action that has taken place once, never or several times before the moment of speaking | already, ever, just, never, not yet, so far, till now, up to now |
Present Perfect Progressive | A: He hasbeen speaking.
N: He has not been speaking.
Q: Has he been speaking? | * putting emphasis on the course or duration(not the result) * action that recently stopped or is still going on *...