OVERVIEW OF MAIN VERB TENSES Tense Simple Present Present Continuous Simple Past Signal words Use every day sometimes always often usually´ seldom never first…then… - actions that happen regularly, frequency of actions and routines, one action that follows another, facts in general and universal truths, opinions and thoughts. now at the moment tonight - something which is happening at the moment or around that time, future meaning: when you have already decided and arranged to do it. last … (week, month…) …ago in 1990 yesterday - actions that took place in the past and are finished, mostly connected with an expression of time (no connection to the present). Form Examples affirmative Examples negative Examples interrogative I/you/we/they: infinitive form I work He works I don’t work He doesn’t go Do I work…? Does she work…? He/she/it: infinitive + -s/-es/ies I go She goes You don’t go She doesn’t go Do you go…? Does he go…? to be (am/is/are) + verb with -ing I’m working He’s working I’m not working He isn’t working Am I working…? Is he working…? You’re going She’s going You aren’t going They aren’t going Are you going…? Is she going…? Regular verbs: verb + -ed/-d/-ied I worked He worked I didn’t work She didn’t work Did you work…? Did she work…? Irregular verbs: (see list) You went They went They didn’t go We didn’t go Did they go…? Did we go…? OVERVIEW OF MAIN VERB TENSES Tense Past Continuous Present Perfect Future Simple Signal words while Use - an action that happened in the middle of another action - someone was doing something at a certain time (in the past) – you don’t know whether it was finished or not. Form to be: was/were + verb with -ing just yet never ever already so far up to now since for recently - you say that something happened in the past, but it has an influence or connection to the present. - action which started in the past and continues up to the present. infinitive + -ed) or (irregular verbs: 3rd column of the list) tomorrow next..(week, month, year…) - predictions about the future. - spontaneous decisions. - offers and promises. will + infinitive of the verb to have: have/has + past participle of the Examples affirmative Examples negative Examples interrogative I was working He was working I wasn’t working He wasn’t working Was I working…? Was he working…? You were going She was going You weren’t going They weren’t going Were you going…? Was she going…? I have worked He has worked I haven’t worked He hasn’t worked Have you worked…? Has she worked…? You have gone She has gone You haven’t gone She hasn’t gone Have you gone…? Has she gone..? I will work She will work I won’t work She won’t work Will you work…? Will she work…? You will go They will go You won’t go They won’t go Will you go…? Will they go…? verb * *(regular verbs: OVERVIEW OF MAIN VERB TENSES Tense Be going to Present Perfect Continuous Signal words this…(morning, afternoon, tonight…) all day the whole day how long since for Use - when you have already decided to do something in the future. - something we expect to happen. - plans - action began in the past and has stopped now. - how long the action has been happening. Form am/is/are going to + infinitive of the verb Examples affirmative Examples negative Examples interrogative I am not going to work He isn’t going to work Am I going to work…? Is he going to work…? You aren’t going to go They aren’t going to go Are you going to go…? Is she going to go…? I haven’t been working She hasn’t been working Have I been working…? Has she been working…? You haven’t been going They haven’t been going Have you been going…? Have they been going…? I had worked He had worked I hadn’t worked He hadn’t worked Had you worked…? Had she worked…? You had gone She had gone You hadn’t gone She hadn’t gone Had you gone…? Had she gone..? I am going to work He is going to work You are going to go She is going to go have/has + been + verb with -ing I have been working She has been working You have been going They have been going * Emphasis: length of time of an action Past Perfect already just never - when we talk about an action in the past time we use the Past Simple (e.g. flew); if we talk about an event before that action we use the Past Perfect (e.g. had been). - used in reported speech had + past participle* *(regular verbs: infinitive + -ed) or (irregular verbs: 3rd column of the list) OVERVIEW OF MAIN VERB TENSES Tense Past Perfect Continuous Future Continuous Signal words how long just never (same as for future simple) Use - how long an action had been happening before something else happened. - an action that will be in progress at a certain time in the future. This action began before that certain time. - something happens because it normally happens. Form had + been + verb with -ing Examples affirmative Examples negative Examples interrogative I had been working She had been working I hadn’t been working She hadn’t been working Had I been working…? Had she been working…? You hadn’t been going They hadn’t been going Had you been going…? Had they been going…? I won’t be working She won’t be working Will you be work…? Will she be working…? You won’t be going They won’t be going Will you be going…? Will they be going…? You had been going They had been going will + be + verb with -ing I will be working She will be working You will be going They will be going
