Table of English tenses

Affirmative/
tense Use Signal Words
Negative/Question
• action in the present taking place regularly, always, every …,
never or several times never, normally, often,
A: He speaks.
seldom, sometimes,
Simple Present N: He does not speak. • facts
usually
Q: Does he speak? • actions taking place one after another if sentences type I (If
• action set by a timetable or schedule I talk, …)
• action taking place in the moment of
A: He is speaking. speaking at the moment, just,
Present
N: He is not speaking. • action taking place only for a limited period just now, Listen!,
Progressive
Q: Is he speaking? of time Look!, now, right now
• action arranged for the future
• action in the past taking place once, never yesterday, 2 minutes
A: He spoke. or several times ago, in 1990, the other
Simple Past N: He did not speak. • actions taking place one after another day, last Friday
Q: Did he speak? • action taking place in the middle of another if sentence type II (If
action I talked, …)

A: He was speaking. • action going on at a certain time in the past

Past N: He was not • actions taking place at the same time
while, as long as
Progressive speaking. • action in the past that is interrupted by
Q: Was he speaking? another action
• putting emphasis on the result
• action that is still going on
• action that stopped recently
A: He has spoken. already, ever, just,
Present Perfect
N: He has not spoken. • finished action that has an influence on the never, not yet, so far,
Simple present
Q: Has he spoken? till now, up to now
• action that has taken place once, never or
several times before the moment of
speaking
A: He has been • putting emphasis on the course or
speaking. duration (not the result) all day, for 4 years,
Present Perfect N: He has not been
• action that recently stopped or is still going since 1993, how long?,
Progressive speaking.
on the whole week
Q: Has he been
speaking? • finished action that influenced the present
• action taking place before a certain time in
the past already, just, never, not
A: He had spoken. yet, once, until that
Past Perfect • sometimes interchangeable with past
N: He had not spoken. day
Simple perfect progressive
Q: Had he spoken? if sentence type III (If
• putting emphasis only on the fact (not the I had talked, …)
duration)
Past Perfect A: He had been • action taking place before a certain time in for, since, the whole
Progressive speaking. the past day, all day
N: He had not been
• sometimes interchangeable with past
speaking.
perfect simple
Q: Had he been
 • putting emphasis on the duration or
speaking?
course of an action
in a year, next …,
• action in the future that cannot be tomorrow
A: He will speak. influenced If-Satz Typ I (If you
Future I
N: He will not speak. ask her, she will
Simple • spontaneous decision
Q: Will he speak? help you.)
• assumption with regard to the future assumption: I think,
probably, perhaps
A: He is going to
Future I
speak.
Simple • decision made for the future
N: He is not going to in one year, next week,
speak. • conclusion with regard to the future tomorrow
(going to) Q: Is he going to
speak?
A: He will be
speaking. • action that is going on at a certain time in
Future I N: He will not be the future in one year, next week,
Progressive speaking. • action that is sure to happen in the near tomorrow
Q: Will he be future
speaking?
A: He will have
spoken.
Future II N: He will not have • action that will be finished at a certain time
by Monday, in a week
Simple spoken. in the future
Q: Will he have
spoken?
A: He will have been
speaking. • action taking place before a certain time in
Future II N: He will not have the future for …, the last couple
Progressive been speaking. of hours, all day long
Q: Will he have been • putting emphasis on the course of an action
speaking?
A: He would speak.
if sentences type II
Conditional I N: He would not
• action that might take place (If I were you, I would
Simple speak.
go home.)
Q: Would he speak?
A: He would be
speaking. • action that might take place
Conditional I N: He would not be
Progressive speaking. • putting emphasis on
Q: Would he be the course / duration of the action
speaking?
A: He would have
spoken.
if sentences type III
Conditional II N: He would not have • action that might have taken place in the
(If I had seen that,
Simple spoken. past
I would have helped.)
Q: Would he have
spoken?
Conditional II A: He would have • action that might have taken place in the
Progressive been speaking. past
N: He would not have
• puts emphasis on the course / duration of
been speaking.
the action
Q: Would he have
been speaking?
 Examples
Explanation
action that takes place once,
never or several times
actions that happen one after
another
state
action going on at that moment
actions taking place at the same
time
action taking place before a
certain moment in time;
emphasises the result
action taking place before a
certain moment in time (and
beyond), emphasises the
duration
Past Present Future
Simple Past Simple Present Future I Simple
He played football He plays football He will / is going to play
every Tuesday. every Tuesday. football every Tuesday.
He played football and He plays football and He will play football and
then he went home. then he goes home. then he will go home.
He loved football. He loves football. He will love football.
Past Progressive Present Progressive Future I Progressive
He was playing He will be playing
He is playing football.
football. football.
He was playing
He is playing football He will be playing football
football and she was
and she is watching. and she will be watching.
watching.
Present Perfect
Past Perfect Simple Future II Simple
Simple
He had won five He has won five He will have won five
matches until that day. matches so far. matches by then.
Past Perfect Present Perfect
Future II Progressive
Progressive Progressive
He had been playing He has been playing He will have been playing
football for ten years. football for ten years. football for ten years.