Tuesday 3 October 2017

                                                                   ENGLISH VERB TENSES
Tense
Signal words
Use
Form
Examples affirmative
Examples negative
Examples interrogative

every day



·     something happens repeatedly
·     how often something happens
·     one action follows another
·     things in general
·     with verbs like (to love, to hate, to think, etc.)
·     future meaning: timetables, programmes





sometimes





always

I work.
I don't work.
Do I work?

Simple Present
often

usually
infinitive

he/she/it:
infinitive + s
He works.

I go.
He doesn't work.

I don't go.
Does he work?

Do I go?

seldom

He goes.
He doesn't go.
Does he go?

never





first ... then





now
·     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)

I'm working.
I'm not working.
Am I working?

Present Progressive
at the moment

Look!

be (am/are/is) +
infinitive + ing
He's working.

I'm going.
He isn't working.

I'm not going.
Is he working?

Am I going?

Listen!

He's going.
He isn't going.
Is he 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:
infinitive + ed

irregular:
(2nd column of table of irregular verbs)
I worked. He worked. I went.
He went.
I didn't work. He didn't work. I didn't go.
He didn't go.
Did I work? Did he work? Did I go?
Did he go?





·     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

I was working.
I wasn't working.
Was I working?

Past Progressive

while

was/were +
infinitive + ing
He was working.

I was going.
He wasn't working.

I wasn't going.
Was he working?

Was I going?



He was going.
He wasn't going.
Was he going?

just






·     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 of table of irregular verbs)




yet




never




ever
I have worked.
I haven't worked.
Have I worked?
Simple Present Perfect
already

so far,
He has worked.

I have gone.
He hasn’t worked.

I haven't gone.
Has he worked?

Have I gone?

up to now,
He has gone.
He hasn’t gone.
Has he gone?

since




for




recently





all day

·     action began in the past and has just stopped
·     how long the action has been happening

emphasis: length of time of an action

I have been working.

He has been working.

I have been going.

He has been going.
I haven't been working.

He hasn't been working.

I haven't been going.

He hasn't been going.
Have I been working?

Has he been working?

Have I been going?

Has he been going?

the whole day

Present Perfect Progressive
how long
have/has + been +
infinitive + ing

since


for







Simple 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*

*(infinitive + ed) or (3rd column of table of irregular verbs)
I had worked. He had worked. I had gone.
He had gone.
I hadn't worked. He hadn't worked. I hadn't gone.
He hadn't gone.
Had I worked? Had he worked? Had I gone?
Had he gone?




I had been working.
I hadn't been working.
Had I been working?

Past Perfect Progressive
how long since
for

how long something had been happening before something else happened

had + been +
infinitive + ing
He had been working.

I had been going.
He hadn't been working.

I hadn't been going.
Had he been working?

Had I been going?




He had been going.
He hadn't been going.
Had he been going?


·     predictions about the future (you think that sth will happen)
·     you decide to do sth. spontaneously at the time of speaking
·     main clause in type I of the Conditional sentences


I'll work.

I won't work.

Will I work?


He'll work.
He won't work.
Will he work?
will - future
will + infinitive





I'll go.
I won't go.
Will I go?


He'll go.
He won't go.
Will he go?




·     when you have already decided to do sth. in the future
·     what you think what will happen

I'm going to
work.
I'm not going to
work.
Am I going to
work?

going to - future

be (am/are/is) +
going to + infinitive
He's going to
work.
He's not going to
work.
Is he going to
work?


I'm going to go.
I'm not going to go.
Am I going to go?


He's going to go.
He's not going to go.
Is he going to go?





·     An action will be in progress at a certain time in the future. This action has begun before the certain time.
·     Something happens because it normally happens.

I'll be working.
I won't be working.
Will I be working?

Future Progressive

will + be + infinitive
+ ing
He'll be working.

I'll be going.
He won't be working.

I won't be going.
Will he be working?

Will I be going?


He'll be going.
He won't be going.
Will he be going?




I'll have worked.
I won't have worked.
Will I have worked?

Future Perfect Simple


sth. will already have happened before a certain time in the future
will + have + past participle*

*(infinitive + ed) or (3rd column of table of irregular verbs)

He'll have worked.

I'll have gone.

He won't have worked.

I won't have gone.

Will he have worked?

Will I have gone?



He'll have gone.
He won't have gone.
Will he have gone?




I'll have been working.
I won't have been working.
Will I have been working?

Future Perfect Progressive
sth. will already have happened before a certain time in the future

emphasis: length of time of an action


will + have + been +
infinitive + ing
He'll have been working.

I'll have been going.
He won't have been working.

I won't have been going.
Will he have been working?

Will I have been going?



He'll have been going.
He won't have been going.
Will he have been going?



·     sth. that might happen
·     main clause in type II of the Conditional sentences

I would work.
I wouldn't work.
Would I work?

Conditional Simple

would + infinitive
He would work.

I would go.
He wouldn't work.

I wouldn't go.
Would he work?

Would I work?


He would go.
He wouldn't go.
Would he work?







I would be working.
I wouldn't be working.
Would I be working?

Conditional Progressive
sth. that might happen

emphasis: length of time of an action

would + be +
infinitive + ing
He would be working.

I would be going.
He wouldn't be working.

I wouldn't be going.
Would he be working?

Would I be going?



He would be going.
He wouldn't be going.
Would he be going?





·     sth. that might have happened in the past
·     main clause in type III of the Conditional sentences

I would have worked.
I wouldn't have worked.
Would I have worked?


Conditional Perfect
would + have + past participle*

*(infinitive + ed) or (3rd column of table of irregular verbs)
He would have worked.

I would have gone.
He wouldn't have worked.

I wouldn't have gone.
Would he have worked?

Would I have gone?


He would have gone.
He wouldn't have gone.
Would he have gone?




I would have been working.
I wouldn't have been working.
Would I have been working?

Conditional Perfect Progressive
sth. that might have happened in the past

emphasis: length of time of an action


would + have + been
+ infinitive + ing
He would have been working.

I would have been going.
He wouldn't have been working.

I wouldn't have been going.
Would he
have been working?

Would I have been going?



He would have been going.
He wouldn't have been going.
Would he
have been going?

We sometimes use Continuous instead of Progressive. Some signal words can be found in more tenses. We did not list signal words in the future. Always remember what action is described.
Used colours:
blue infinitive                                           grey irregular verbs in the Simple Past                                      red negation
dark green auxiliary                                 purple past participle

orange ending                                           light green signal word

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