Subject

Object
Possessive

person
Who/that
Who/whom/that/0
Whose

thing
Which/that
Which/that/0
Whose

place

time

reason

where

when

Why

Ex: A girl is talking to Tom. Do you know the girl?

Do you know the girl who is talking to Tom?

Simple Present

infinitive

Present Progressive

form of 'be' and verb + ing

(3rd person singular: infinitive + 's')

I speak

I am speaking

you speak

you are speaking

he / she / it speaks

he / she / it is speaking

we speak

we are speaking

they speak

they are speaking

Simple Present

in general (regularly, often, never)

Colin plays football every Tuesday.
present actions happening one after another
First Colin plays football, then he watches TV.

Present Progressive

right now
Look! Colin is playing football now.
also for several actions happening at the same time
Colin is playing football and Anne is watching.

Signal words

always

at the moment

every ...

at this moment

often

today

normally

now

usually

right now

sometimes

Listen!

seldom

Look!

never

first

then
Note: The following verbs are usually only used in Simple Present:
be, have, hear, know, like, love, see, smell, think, want

Simple Past
irregular verbs: see 2nd column of irregular verbs

Past Progressive
past form of 'be' + ing form of verb

I spoke
regular verbs: verb + ed
I worked

Simple Past

I was speaking
you were speaking
he / she / it was speaking
we were speaking
they were speaking

Past Progressive
after another

at the same time

She came home, switched on the computer and checked

her e-mails.
new action

Simon was playing on the computer while his brother was

watching TV.
action already in progress

My mobile rang (when I was sitting in a meeting.) just

mentioning

While I was sitting in a meeting, (my mobile suddenly rang.)

emphasising progress

Colin played football yesterday.

Yesterday at six o'clock, Colin was playing football.

Simple Past

Past Progressive

first

when

then

while

If-Satz Typ II (If I talked, )

as long as

It is possible and also very likely that the condition will be fulfilled.
Form: if + Simple Present, will-Future
Example: If I find her address, Ill send her an invitation.
Conditional Sentence Type 2
It is possible but very unlikely, that the condition will be fulfilled.
Form: if + Simple Past, Conditional I (= would + Infinitive)
Example: If I found her address, I would send her an invitation.
Conditional Sentence Type 3
It is impossible that the condition will be fulfilled because it refers to the past.
Form: if + Past Perfect, Conditional II (= would + have + Past Participle)
Example: If I had found her address, I would have sent her an invitation.
Exceptions
Sometimes Conditional Sentences Type I, II and III can also be used with other tenses.