| A: Affirmative
N: Negative
Q: Question | Use | Key Words |
|---|
| PRESENT | A: He speaks
N: He does not speak
Q: Does he speak? | for routines,
habits or facts | always,usually,often, sometimes,never, every day, on Tuesdays
if sentences type I (If I talk, …) |
| | . | |
PRESENT
CONTINUOUS | A: He is speaking
N: He is not speaking
Q: Is he speaking? | action taking place at the moment of speaking or only for a limited period of time/ future arrangements | now, right now, just now, at this moment |
| | . | |
| PAST | A: He spoke
N: He did not speak
Q: Did he speak? | for past actions | yesterday, five minutes ago, in 1990, the other day, last Friday, last century
if sentence type II (If I talked, …) |
| | . | |
PAST
CONTINUOUS | A: He was speaking
N: He was not speaking
Q: Was he speaking? | action going on at a certain time in the past or actions taking place at the same time/ action in the past that is interrupted by another action | while, as long as |
| | . | |
PRESENT
PERFECT | A: He has spoken
N: He has not spoken
Q: Has he spoken? | action that began in the past but still continues/ finished action that has an influence on the present/ action that has taken place once, never or several times before the moment of speaking | already, yet, ever, just, up to now |
| | . | |
PRESENT
PERFECT
CONTINUOUS | A: He has been speaking
N: He has not been speaking
Q: Has he been speaking? | putting emphasis on the duration (not the result) /action that recently stopped or is still going on/ finished action that influences the present | all day, for two years, since 1993, the whole week, how long? |
| | . | |
PAST
PERFECT | A: He had spoken
N: He had not spoken
Q: Had he spoken? | action taking place before a certain time in the past (the past before the past) | already, just, never, yet, once, until that day
if sentence type III (If I had talked, …) |
| | . | |
PAST
PERFECT
CONTINUOUS | A: He had been speaking
N: He had not been speaking
Q: Had he been speaking? | action taking place before a certain time in the past interchangeable with past perfect (emphasis on the duration) | for, since, all day, the whole day |
| | . | |
| FUTURE | A: He will speak
N: He will not speak
Q: Will he speak? | sudden
spontaneous decision | in a year, next …, tomorrow
If-sentence type I (If you ask her, she will help you.)
I think, probably, perhaps |
| | . | |
FUTURE
GOING TO | A: He is going to speak
N: He is not going to speak
Q: Is he going to speak? | planned decision or conclusion with regard to the future | in one year, next week, tomorrow |
| | . | |
FUTURE
CONTINUOUS | A: He will be speaking
N: He will not be speaking
Q: Will he be speaking? | action that is going on at a certain time in the future action that is sure to happen in the near future | in one year, next week, tomorrow |
| | . | |
FUTURE
PERFECT | A: He will have spoken
N: He will not have spoken
Q: Will he have spoken? | action that will be finished at a certain time in the future | by Monday, in a week |
| | . | |
FUTURE
PERFECT
CONTINUOUS | A: He will have been speaking
N: He will not have been speaking
Q: Will he have been speaking? | action taking place before a certain time in the future putting emphasis on the course of an action | for …, the last couple of hours, all day long |
| | . | |
| CONDITIONAL | 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
PERFECT | A: He would have spoken.
N: He would not have spoken.
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.) |
| | . | |
