English tenses made easy

Simple Present

A: He speaks
N: He does not speak
Q: Does he speak
Use: 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
Signal Words : always, every …, never, normally, often, seldom, sometimes, usually
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Present Progressive

A: He is speaking
N: He is not speaking
Q: Is he speaking
Use : action taking place in the moment of speaking
action taking place only for a limited period of time
action arranged for the future
Signal Words : 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
Use : 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
Signal Words : yesterday, 2 minutes ago, in 1990, the other day, last Friday
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Past Progressive

A: He was speaking
N: He was not speaking
Q: Was he speaking
Use : action going on at a certain time in the past
actions taking place at the same time
action in the past that is interrupted by another action
Signal Words : when, while, as long as
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Present Perfect Simple

A: He has spoken
N: He has not spoken
Q: Has he spoken
Usep : 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
Signal Words : 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
Use : action that recently stopped or is still going on
finished action that influenced the present
Signal Words : 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
Use : 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
Signal Words : already, just, never, not yet, once, until that day
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Past Perfect Progressive

A: He had been speaking
N: He had not been speaking
Q: Had he been speaking
Use : 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
Signal Words : for, since, the whole day, all day
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Future I Simple

A: He will speak
N: He will not speak
Q: Will he speak
Use : action in the future that cannot be influenced
spontaneous decision
assumption with regard to the future
Signal Words : in a year, next …, tomorrow
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Future I Simple
(going to)

A: He is going to speak
N: He is not going to speak
Q: Is he going to speak
Use : decision made for the future
conclusion with regard to the future
Signal Words : 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
Use : action that is going on at a certain time in the future
action that is sure to happen in the near future
Signal Words : 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
Use : action that will be finished at a certain time in the future
Signal Words : 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
Use : action taking place before a certain time in the future
putting emphasis on the course of an action
Signal Words : 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 that might take place
if sentences type II
(If I were you, I would go home.)
-------------------------------------------------------------------

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 spoke
Q: Would he have spoken
action that might 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