Common Tenses
Posted inCommunicative English

Common Tenses

Tense Signal words Use Form Examples
Simple Present ·         every day·         sometimes·         always·         often·         usually·         seldom·         never·         first … then ·         something happens repeatedly·         how often something happens·         sequence of actions·         things in general·         after the following verbs (to love, to hate, to think, etc.)·         future meaning: timetables, programmes infinitive (he/she/it) + -s ·         I work·         he works·         I go·         he goes
Present Progressive ·         now·         at the moment·         Look!·         Listen! ·         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) to be (am/are/is) + infinitive + -ing ·         I’m working·          he’s working·          I’m going·         he’s going
Simple Past ·         last …·         … ago·         in 1990·         yesterday action took place in the past, mostly connected with an expression of time (no connection to the present) ·         regular: Infinitiv + -ed·         irregular: 2nd column ·         I worked·         he worked·         I went·         he went
Past Progressive   ·         an action happened in the middle of another action·         someone was doing sth. at a certain time (in the past) – you don’t know whether it was finished or not was/were + infinitive + -ing ·         I was working·         he was working·         I was going·         he was going
Simple Present Perfect ·         yet·         never·         ever·         already·         so far,·         up to now,·         since, for, recently ·         you say that sth. 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 have/has + past participle (infinitive + -ed) or (3rd column) ·         I‘ve worked·         he‘s worked·         I‘ve gone·         he‘s gone
Present Perfect Progressive   ·         emphasis: length of time of an action·         action began in the past and has just stopped·         how long the action has been happening have/has + been + infinitive + -ing ·         I‘ve been working·         he‘s been working·         I‘ve been going·         he‘s been going
Simple Past Perfect   ·         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 (infinitive + -ed) or (3rd column) ·         I had worked·         he had worked·         I had gone·         he had gone
will-future   ·         predictions about the future (you think that sth. will happen)·         you decide to do sth. spontaneously at the time of speaking, you haven’t made a decision before·         main clause in if clause type I will + infinitive ·         I‘ll work·         he‘ll work·         I‘ll go·         he‘ll go
going to-future   ·         when you have already decided to do sth. in the future·         what you think what will happen to be (am/are/is) + going to + infinitive ·         I‘m going to work·         he‘s going to work·         I‘m going to go·         he‘s going to go