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Tense
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Signal
words
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Use
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Form
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Examples affirmative
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Examples negative
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Examples interrogative
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every day
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· 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
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sometimes
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always
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I work.
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I don't work.
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Do I work?
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Simple Present
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often
usually
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infinitive
he/she/it:
infinitive
+
s
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He works.
I go.
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He doesn't work.
I don't go.
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Does
he
work?
Do I go?
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seldom
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He goes.
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He doesn't go.
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Does
he
go?
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never
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first ... then
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now
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·
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)
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I'm working.
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I'm not working.
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Am I working?
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Present
Progressive
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at the moment
Look!
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be
(am/are/is) +
infinitive
+
ing
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He's working.
I'm going.
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He isn't working.
I'm not going.
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Is he working?
Am I going?
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Listen!
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He's going.
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He isn't going.
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Is he going?
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Simple Past
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last ...
... ago in 1990
yesterday
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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)
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I
worked. He worked. I
went.
He went.
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I
didn't work. He didn't work. I didn't go.
He didn't go.
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Did I
work?
Did he
work?
Did I
go?
Did he go?
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· 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
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I was working.
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I wasn't working.
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Was I working?
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Past Progressive
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while
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was/were
+
infinitive
+
ing
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He was working.
I was going.
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He wasn't working.
I wasn't going.
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Was he working?
Was I going?
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He was going.
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He wasn't going.
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Was he going?
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just
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· 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
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have/has +
past
participle*
*(infinitive + ed)
or (3rd
column of table of irregular verbs)
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yet
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||
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never
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ever
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I have worked.
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I haven't worked.
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Have I worked?
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||
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Simple Present
Perfect
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already
so far,
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He has worked.
I have gone.
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He hasn’t worked.
I haven't gone.
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Has he worked?
Have I gone?
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||
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up to now,
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He has gone.
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He hasn’t gone.
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Has he gone?
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since
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for
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recently
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all day
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·
action began in the past and has
just stopped
·
how long the action has been
happening
emphasis:
length of time of an action
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I
have been working.
He has been working.
I have been
going.
He has been
going.
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I
haven't been working.
He hasn't been working.
I haven't been going.
He hasn't been going.
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Have I
been working?
Has he
been working?
Have I been going?
Has he been going?
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the whole day
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Present
Perfect Progressive
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how long
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have/has + been +
infinitive + ing
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||||
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since
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||||
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for
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Simple Past Perfect
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already just never
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· 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
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had +
past
participle*
*(infinitive + ed)
or (3rd
column of table of irregular verbs)
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I
had worked.
He had worked. I
had gone.
He had gone.
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I
hadn't worked. He hadn't worked. I
hadn't gone.
He hadn't gone.
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Had I
worked? Had he worked? Had I
gone?
Had he gone?
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I had been working.
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I hadn't been working.
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Had I been working?
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Past Perfect
Progressive
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how long since
for
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how long something had been
happening before something else happened
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had + been +
infinitive
+
ing
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He had been
working.
I had been
going.
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He hadn't been working.
I hadn't been going.
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Had he been working?
Had I been going?
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He had been going.
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He hadn't been going.
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Had he been going?
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· 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
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I'll work.
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I won't work.
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Will I work?
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He'll work.
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He
won't work.
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Will he work?
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will
- future
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will + infinitive
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I'll go.
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I won't go.
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Will I go?
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He'll go.
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He won't go.
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Will he go?
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·
when you have already decided to
do sth. in the future
·
what you think what will happen
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I'm going to
work.
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I'm not going
to
work.
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Am I going to
work?
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going to - future
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be
(am/are/is) +
going to + infinitive
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He's going to
work.
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He's not going
to
work.
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Is he going to
work?
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I'm going to go.
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I'm not going to go.
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Am I going to go?
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He's going to go.
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He's not going to go.
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Is he going to go?
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· 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.
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I'll be working.
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I won't be working.
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Will I be working?
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Future
Progressive
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will + be +
infinitive
+ ing
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He'll be working.
I'll be going.
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He won't be working.
I won't be going.
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Will he be working?
Will I be going?
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He'll be going.
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He won't be going.
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Will he be going?
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I'll have worked.
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I won't have worked.
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Will I have worked?
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Future Perfect Simple
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sth. will already have
happened before a certain time in the future
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will +
have +
past
participle*
*(infinitive + ed)
or (3rd
column of table of irregular verbs)
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He'll have worked.
I'll have gone.
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He
won't have worked.
I won't have gone.
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Will he
have worked?
Will I have gone?
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He'll have gone.
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He won't have gone.
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Will he have gone?
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I'll have been working.
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I
won't have been working.
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Will I
have been working?
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Future Perfect
Progressive
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sth. will already have
happened before a certain time in the future
emphasis: length of time of an action
|
will
+
have +
been +
infinitive
+
ing
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He'll have been working.
I'll have been going.
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He
won't have been working.
I won't have been going.
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Will he
have been working?
Will I
have been going?
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He'll have been
going.
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He won't have been going.
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Will he have been
going?
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· sth. that might happen
·
main clause in type II of the Conditional sentences
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I would work.
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I wouldn't work.
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Would I work?
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Conditional
Simple
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would + infinitive
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He would work.
I would go.
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He wouldn't work.
I wouldn't go.
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Would he work?
Would I work?
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He would go.
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He wouldn't go.
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Would he work?
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I
would be working.
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I
wouldn't be working.
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Would I
be working?
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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.
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He
wouldn't be working.
I wouldn't be going.
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Would
he be working?
Would I be going?
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He would be going.
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He wouldn't be going.
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Would he be going?
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·
sth. that might have happened in
the past
·
main clause in type III of the Conditional sentences
|
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I
would have worked.
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I
wouldn't have worked.
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Would I
have worked?
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Conditional
Perfect
|
would +
have +
past
participle*
*(infinitive + ed)
or (3rd
column of table of irregular verbs)
|
He
would have
worked.
I
would have gone.
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He wouldn't have worked.
I
wouldn't have gone.
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Would he
have worked?
Would I
have gone?
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||
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He would have gone.
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He wouldn't have gone.
|
Would he have gone?
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I
would have
been
working.
|
I
wouldn't have been working.
|
Would I
have been working?
|
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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?
|
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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
