Table of English Tenses

Tense Signal words Use Form

Examples
affirmative
Examples
negative
Examples
interrogative
Simple
Present or
Present Simple
every day
sometimes
always
often
usually
seldom
never
first ... then
something happens
repeatedly
how often something
happens
one action follows
another
things in general
after the following
verbs (to love, to
hate, to think, etc.)
future meaning:
timetables,
programmes
infinitive he/she/it
+ -s
work. dont work. !o work!
"e works. "e doesnt work.
!oes he
work!
go. dont go. !o go!
"e goes. "e doesnt go. !oes he go!
Present Progressive
or Present
#ontinuous
now
at the moment
"ook#
"isten#
something is
happening at the
same time of speaking
or around it
future meaning: when
you have already
de$ided and
arranged to do it (a
fi$ed plan, date)
to be %am/are/is& +
infinitive + -ing
%m working. %m not working.
'm
working!
"e%s working. "e isnt working.
(s he
working!
%m going. %m not going. 'm going!
"e%s going. "e isnt going. (s he going!
Simple
Past or
Past
Simple
last ...
... ago
in )**+
yesterday
action took place in
the past, mostly
connected with an
e$pression of time (no
connection to the
present)
regular:
infinitive + -ed
irregular:
,nd $olumn of table
of irregular verbs
worked. didnt work. !id work!
"e worked. "e didnt work. !id he work!
went. didnt go. !id go!
"e went. "e didnt go. !id he go!
Past Progressive
or Past
#ontinuous
while
an action happened in
the middle of another
action
someone was doing
sth. at a certain time
(in the past) & you do
not know whether it
was finished or not
was/were +
infinitive + -ing
was working. wasnt working.
-as
working!
"e was working. "e wasnt working.
-as he
working!
was going. wasnt going. -as going!
"e was going. "e wasnt going.
-as he
going!
Simple
Present
Perfect or
Present
Perfect
.ust
yet
never
ever
already
so far/
up to now/
sin$e
for
re$ently
you say that sth. has
happened or is
finished in the past
and it has a
connection to the
present
action started in the
past and continues up
to the present
have/has + past
parti$iple'
'(infinitive + -ed) or
%0rd $olumn of
table of irregular
verbs&
have worked. havent worked.
1ave
worked!
"e has worked. "e hasnt worked.
1as he
worked!
have gone. havent gone. 1ave gone!
"e has gone. "e hasnt gone. 1as he gone!
Present Perfect
Progressive or
Present Perfect
#ontinuous
all day
the whole day
how long
sin$e
for
action began in the
past and has (ust
stopped
how long the action
has been happening
emphasis2 length of
time of an a$tion
have/has + been +
infinitive + -ing
have been
working.
havent been
working.
1ave been
working!
"e has been
working.
"e hasnt been
working.
1as he been
working!
have been going.
havent been
going.
1ave been
going!
"e has been going.
"e hasnt been
going.
1as he been
going!
Simple
Past
Perfect
or Past
Perfect
(Simple)
already
.ust
never
mostly when two
actions in a story are
related to each other:
the action which had
already happened is
put into Past Perfect,
the other action into
Simple Past
the past of the
Present Perfect
had + past
parti$iple'
'(infinitive + -ed) or
%0rd $olumn of table
of irregular verbs&
had worked. hadnt worked.
1ad
worked!
"e had worked. "e hadnt worked.
1ad he
worked!
had gone. hadnt gone. 1ad gone!
"e had gone. "e hadnt gone. 1ad he gone!
Past Perfect
Progressive or Past
Perfect #ontinuous
how long
sin$e
for
how long something
had been happening
before something else
happened
had + been +
infinitive + ing
had been working.
hadnt been
working.
1ad been
working!
"e had been
working.
"e hadnt been
working.
1ad he been
working!
had been going. hadnt been going.
1ad been
going!
"e had been going.
"e hadnt been
going.
1ad he been
going!
will & future
predictions about the
future (you think that
sth. will happen)
you decide to do sth.
spontaneously at the
time of speaking, you
haven%t made a
decision before
main clause in type
of the if clauses
will + infinitive
ll work. wont work. -ill work!
"ell work. "e wont work. -ill he work!
ll go. wont go. -ill go!
"ell go. "e wont go. -ill he go!
going to & future
when you have
already decided to do
sth. in the future
what you think what
will happen
be %am/are/is& +
going to + infinitive
m going to work.
m not going to
work.
'm going to
work!
"es going to work.
"es not going to
work.
(s he going
to work!
m going to go. m not going to go.
'm going to
go!
"es going to go.
"es not going to
go.
(s he going
to go!
)uture Progressive or
)uture #ontinuous
*n action will be in
progress at a certain
time in the future.
+his action has begun
before the certain
time.
Something happens
because it normally
happens.
will + be + infinitive
+ ing
ll be working. wont be working.
-ill be
working!
"ell be working.
"e wont be
working.
-ill he be
working!
ll be going. wont be going.
-ill be
going!
"ell be going. "e wont be going.
-ill he be
going!
Simple
)uture
Perfect
or
)uture Perfect Simple
sth. will already have
happened before a
certain time in the
future
will + have + past
parti$iple'
'(infinitive + -ed) or
%0rd $olumn of table
of irregular verbs&
ll have worked.
wont have
worked.
-ill have
worked!
"ell have worked.
"e wont have
worked.
-ill he have
worked!
ll have gone. wont have gone.
-ill have
gone!
"ell have gone. "e wont have gone.
-ill he have
gone!
)uture Perfect
Progressive or
)uture
Perfect
#ontinuous
sth. will already have
happened before a
certain time in the
future
emphasis2 length of
time of an a$tion
will + have + been
+ infinitive + ing
ll have been
working.
wont have been
working.
-ill have
been
working!
"ell have been
working.
"e wont have been
working.
-ill he have
been
working!
ll have been going.
wont have been
going.
-ill have
been
working!
"ell have been
going.
"e wont have been
going.
-ill he have
been
working!
#onditional Simple
sth. that might
happen
main clause in type
of the if&clauses
would + infinitive
would work.
wouldnt
work.
-ould
work!
"e would work. "e wouldnt work.
-ould he
work!
would go. wouldnt go. -ould go!
"e would go.
"e wouldnt
go.
-ould he
go!
#onditional
Progressive
or
#onditional
#ontinuous
sth. that might
happen
emphasis2 length of
time of an a$tion
would + be +
infinitive + ing
would be working.
wouldnt be
working.
-ould be
working!
"e would be
working.
"e wouldnt be
working.
-ould he be
working!
would be going. wouldnt be going.
-ould be
going!
"e would be going.
"e wouldnt be
going.
-ould he be
going!
#onditional Perfect
sth. that might have
happened in the past
(t%s too late now.)
main clause in type
of the if clauses
would + have +
past parti$iple'
'(infinitive + -ed) or
%0rd $olumn of table
of irregular verbs&
would have
worked.
wouldnt have
worked.
-ould have
worked!
"e would have
worked.
"e wouldnt have
worked.
-ould he
have
worked!
would have gone. wouldnt have -ould have
gone. gone!
"e would have
gone.
"e wouldnt have
gone.
-ould have
gone!
#onditional Perfect
Progressive
or
#onditional
Perfect
#ontinuous
sth. that might have
happened in the past
(t%s too late now.)
emphasis2 length of
time of an a$tion
would + have +
been + infinitive +
ing
would have been
working.
wouldnt have
been working.
-ould have
been
working!
"e would
have been going.
"e wouldnt have
been going.
-ould he
have been
working!
would have been
going.
wouldnt have
been going.
-ould have
been going!
"e would have been
going.
"e wouldnt have
been going.
-ould he
have been
going!