Tense
7:35 AM
Table of English Tenses with example
Table of English Tenses
tense | Affirmative/Negative/Question | Use | Signal Words |
Simple Present | A: He speaks. N: He does not speak. Q: Does he speak? | · action in the present taking place once, never or several times · facts · actions taking place one after another · action set by a timetable or schedule | always, every …, never, normally, often, seldom, sometimes, usually if sentences type I (If Italk, …) |
Present Progressive | A: He is speaking. N: He is not speaking. Q: Is he speaking? | · action taking place in the moment of speaking · action taking place only for a limited period of time · action arranged for the future | at the moment, just, just now, Listen!, Look!, now, right now |
Simple Past | A: He spoke. N: He did not speak. Q: Did he speak? | · action in the past taking place once, never or several times · actions taking place one after another · action taking place in the middle of another action | yesterday, 2 minutes ago, in 1990, the other day, last Friday if sentence type II (If I talked, …) |
Past Progressive | A: He was speaking. N: He was not speaking. Q: Was he speaking? | · action going onat a certain time in the past · actions taking place at the same time · action in the past that is interrupted by another action | when, while, as long as |
Present Perfect Simple | A: He has spoken. N: He has not spoken. Q: Has he spoken? | · putting emphasis on the result · action that is still going on · action that stopped recently · finished action that has an influence on the present · action that has taken place once, never or several times before the moment of speaking | already, ever, just, never, not yet, so far, till now, up to now |
Present Perfect Progressive | A: He has been speaking. N: He has not been speaking. Q: Has he been speaking? | · putting emphasis on the course or duration (not the result) · action that recently stopped or is still going on · finished action that influenced the present | all day, for 4 years, since 1993, how long?, the whole week |
Past Perfect Simple | A: He had spoken. N: He had not spoken. Q: Had he spoken? | · action taking place before a certain time in the past · sometimes interchangeable with past perfect progressive · putting emphasis only on the fact (not the duration) | already, just, never, not yet, once, until that day if sentence type III (If I had talked, …) |
Past Perfect Progressive | A: He had been speaking. N: He had not been speaking. Q: Had he been speaking? | · action taking place before a certain time in the past · sometimes interchangeable with past perfect simple · putting emphasis on the duration or course of an action | for, since, the whole day, all day |
Future I Simple | A: He will speak. N: He will not speak. Q: Will he speak? | · action in the future that cannot be influenced · spontaneousdecision · assumption with regard to the future | in a year, next …, tomorrow If-Satz Typ I (If you ask her, she will helpyou.) assumption: I think, probably, perhaps |
Future I Simple (going to) | A: He is going to speak. N: He is not going to speak. Q: Is he going to speak? | · decision made for the future · conclusion with regard to the future | in one year, next week, tomorrow |
Future I Progressive | A: He will be speaking. N: He will not be speaking. Q: Will he be speaking? | · action that isgoing on at a certain time in the future · action that is sure to happen in the near future | in one year, next week, tomorrow |
Future II Simple | A: He will have spoken. N: He will not have spoken. Q: Will he have spoken? | · action that will be finished at a certain time in the future | by Monday, in a week |
Future II Progressive | A: He will have been speaking. N: He will not have been speaking. Q: Will he have been speaking? | · action taking place before a certain time in the future · putting emphasis on the course of an action | for …, the last couple of hours, all day long |
Conditional I Simple | A: He would speak. N: He would not speak. Q: Would he speak? | · action thatmight take place | if sentences type II (If I were you, Iwould gohome.) |
Conditional I Progressive | A: He would be speaking. N: He would not be speaking. Q: Would he be speaking? | · action that might take place · putting emphasis on the course /duration of the action | |
Conditional II Simple | A: He would have spoken. N: He would not have spoken. Q: Would he have spoken? | · action thatmight have taken place in the past | if sentences type III (If I had seen that, I would have helped.) |
Conditional II Progressive | A: He would have been speaking. N: He would not have been speaking. Q: Would he have been speaking? | · action that might have taken place in the past · puts emphasis on the course /duration of the action |
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