Tense

Affirmative/Negative/Question

Use
action in the present

Simple

A: He speaks.

Present

N: He does not speak.

Q: Does he speak?

taking place once, never

or several times

facts

actions taking place

one after another
action set by a

timetable or schedule

Signal Words
always,
every , never,
normally, often,
seldom,
sometimes,
usually
if sentences
type I (If
Italk, )

Present

A: He is speaking.

action taking place

in the moment of

Progressive N: He is not speaking.

speaking

Q: Is he speaking?

action taking place

at the moment,
just, just now,
Listen!, Look!,
now, right now

only for a limited period of

time

action arranged for

the future

Simple Past A: He spoke.

N: He did not speak.

Q: Did he speak?

Past

A: He was speaking.

yesterday, 2

taking placeonce, never or minutes ago, in

several times
1990, the other
actions taking place
day, last Friday
one after another
if sentence type
action taking place in
II (If Italked, )
the middle of another action
action going on at a
certain time in the past

Progressive N: He was not speaking.

Q: Was he speaking?

action in the past

when, while, as
long as

actions taking place at

the same time

action in the past that

is interrupted by another
action

Present

A: He has spoken.

Perfect

N: He has not spoken.

Simple

Q: Has he spoken?

putting emphasis on
the result

action that is still

going on

action that stopped

recently

finished action that

already, ever,
just, never, not
yet, so far, till
now, up to now