TENSE

PRESENT
SIMPLE

PRESENT
CONTINUOUS

PAST SIMPLE

SIGNAL WORDS
EVERY DAY
SOMETIMES
ALWAYS
OFTEN
USUALLY
SELDOM
NEVER
FIRSTTHEN

NOW
AT THE MOMENT
LOOK!
LISTEN!

LAST
AGO
IN 1990
YESTERDAY

WHILE
PAST
CONTINUOUS

USE
Something happens repeatdly.
How often something happens.
One action follows another.
Things in general.
With the following verbs: to
love, to hate, to think, etc.
Future meaning: timetables,
programmes.

Something is happening at the

same time of speaking or around
it.
Future meaning: when you have
already decided and arranged to
do it: a fixed plan, date.

Action took place in the past,

mostly connected with an
expression
of
time
(no
connection to the present)

FORM

AFFIRMATIVE

NEGATIVE

INTERROGATIVE

Infinitive

I work

I dont work

Do I work?

He/she/it + s

He Works

He doesnt work

Does he work?

I go

I dont go

Do I go?

He goes

He doesnt go

Does he go?

Im working

Im not working

Am I working?

Hes working

He isnt working

Is he working?

Im going

Im not going

Am I going?

Hes going

He isnt going

Is he going?

I worked

I didnt work

Did I work?

He worked

He didnt work

Did he work?

I went

I didnt go

Did I go?

He went

He didnt go

Did he go?

I was working

I wasnt working

Was I working?

He was working

He wasnt working

Was he working?

I was going

I wasnt working

Was I going?

He was going

He wasnt working

Was he going?

To be + Infinitive
+ ing

Regular:
Infinitive + -ed
Irregular:
2nd column

An action happened in the

middle of another action
Someone was doing something
at a certain time; you dont know
whether it was finished or not

Was/were +
infinitive + ing

PRESENT
PERFECT

PRESENT
PERFECT
CONTINUOUS

JUST
YET
NEVER
EVER
ALREADY
SO FAR
UP TO NOW
SINCE
FOR
RECENTLY
ALL DAY
THE WHOLE DAY
HOW LONG
SINCE
FOR

You say that something 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

Action began in the past and has

just stopped
How long the action has been
happening
Emphasis: length of time of an
action

Have/has + past
participle
(infinitive + ed or
3rd column of
table)

Have/has + been
+ infinitive + ing

I have worked

I havent worked

Have I worked?

He has worked

He hasnt worked

Has he worked?

I have gone

I havent gone

Have I gone?

He has gone

He hasnt gone

Has he gone?

I have been
working

I havent been
working

Have I been
working?

He has been
working

He hasnt been
working

Has he been
working?

I have been
going

I havent been going

Have I been going?

He hasnt been going

Has he been going?

I had worked

I hadnt worked

Had I worked?

He had worked

He hadnt worked

Had he worked?

I had gone

I hadnt gone

Had I gone?

He had gone

He hadnt gone

Had he gone?

He has been
going

PAST PERFECT

ALREADY
JUST
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
participle

 How long something had been

happening before something
else happened

PAST PERFECT
CONTINUOUS

FUTURE
SIMPLE

FUTURE
CONTINUOUS

HOW LONG
SINCE
FOR

Had + been +
infinitive + ing

Predictions about the future

(you think that something will
happen)
You decided to do something
spontaneouly at the time of
speaking, you havent made a
main clause in type I of the if
clauses
An action will be in progress at a
certain time in the future. This
action has begun before certain
time
Something happens because it
normally happens

Will + infinitive

will + be +
infinitive + ing

I had been
working

I hadnt been
working

Had I been working?

He had been
working

He hadnt been
working

I had been going

I hadnt been going

Had I been going?

He had been
going

He hadnt been
going

Had he been going?

Ill work

I wont work

Will I work?

Hell work

He wont work

Will he work?

Ill go

I wont go

Will I go?

Hell go

He wont go

Will he go?

I will be working

I wont be working

Will I be working?

Hell be working

He wont be working

Will he be working?

Ill be going

I wont be going

Will I be going?

Hell be going

He wont be going

Will he be going?

Had he been
working?

 Something will already have

happened before a certain time
in the future

Will + have + past

participle

FUTURE
PERFECT

I will have
worked
Hell have
worked

I wont have worked

Will I have worked?

He wont have
worked

Will he have worked?

Will I have gone?

I wont have gone

Ill have gone

Will he have gone?

He wont have gone

Hell have gone

FUTURE
PERFECT
CONTINUOUS

FUTURE BE
GOING TO

Something will already have

happened before a certain time
in
the
future
enphasis: lenght of time of an
action

When you have already decided

to do something in the future
What you think what will happen

Will + have +
been + infinitive
+ ing

Be + going to +
infinitive

I will have been

working

I wont have been

working

Will I have been

working?

Hell have been

working

He wont have been

working

Will he have been

working?

Ill have been

going

I wont have been

going

Will I have been

going?

Hell have been

going

He wont have been

going

Will he have been

going?

Im going to
work

Im not going to
work

Am I going to work?

Hes going to
work

He isnt going to
work

Am I going to go?

Im going to go

Im not going to go

Is he going to go?

Hes going to go

He isnt going to go

Is he going to work?

I
CONDITIONAL

Real possibility

II
CONDITIONAL

Unreal situations

III
CONDITIONAL

talk
about
'impossible'
conditions, impossible because
they are in the past and we
cannot change what has
happened.

If + present
simple will +
infinitive

If it rains
tomorrow, well
go to the
cinema

If + past simple
would +
infinitive

If I had a lot of
money, I would
travel around
the world

If + past perfect
would + have
+ past participle

If I had gone to
bed early, I
would have
cought the train