table

Affirmative \Negative \Question	Use	Signal Words	Tense
A: He speaks. N: He does not speak. Q: Does he speak?	■      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	always, every …, never, normally, often, seldom, sometimes, usually if sentences type I (If Italk, …)	Simple Present
A: He is speaking. N: He is not speaking. Q: Is he speaking?	■      action taking place in the moment of speaking ■      action taking place only for a limited period of time ■      action arranged for the future	at the moment, just, just now, Listen!, Look!, now, right now	Present Progressive
A: He spoke. N: He did not speak. Q: Did he speak?	■      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	yesterday, 2 minutes ago, in 1990, the other day, last Friday if sentence type II (If Italked …)	Simple Past
A: He was speaking. N: He was not speaking. Q: Was he speaking?	■      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	when, while, as long as	Past Progressive
A: He has spoken. N: He has not spoken. Q: Has he spoken?	■      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	already, ever, just, never, not yet, so far, till now, up to now	Present Perfect Simple
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) ■      action that recently stopped or is still going on ■      finished action that influenced the present	all day, for 4 years, since 1993, how long?, the whole week	Present Perfect Progressive
A: He had spoken. N: He had not spoken. Q: Had he spoken?	■      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)	already, just, never, not yet, once, until that day if sentence type III (If Ihad talked …)	Past Perfect Simple
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 ■      sometimes interchangeable with past perfect simple ■      putting emphasis on the duration or course of an action	for, since, the whole day, all day	Past Perfect Progressive
A: He will speak. N: He will not speak. Q: Will he speak?	■      action in the future that cannot be influenced ■      spontaneous decision ■      assumption with regard to the future	in a year, next …, tomorrow If-Satz Type I (If you ask her, she will help you.) assumption: I think, probably, perhaps	Future I Simple
A: He is going to speak. N: He is not going to speak. Q: Is he going to speak?	■      decision made for the future ■      conclusion with regard to the future	(going to) in one year, next week, tomorrow	Future I Simple
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 I Progressive
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 II Simple
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	Future II Progressive
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 Simple
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 I Progressive
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, Iwould have helped.)	Conditional II Simple
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		Conditional II Progressive