English Tenses

Present simple

-          Fact, general truth

-          Schedule, time table

-          Actions taking place one after another

Signal words : always, never, often, sometimes, usually

Ex. He speaks

Present continuous

-          Action taking place at the moment of speaking

-          Action taking place only for a limited period of time

Signal words : at the moment, juste, right now

Ex. He is speaking

Past simple

-          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, last Friday

Ex. He spoke

Past continuous

-          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

Ex. He was speaking

Present perfect

-          putting emphasis on the result

-          action that is still going on

-          action that stopped recently

-          finished action that has an influence on the present

Signal words : already, ever, just, never, so far, till now, up to now, yet

Ex. He has spoken

Present perfect continuous

-          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

Signal words : all day long, for 4 years, since 1994, the whole week

Ex. He has been speaking

Past perfect

-          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, juste, never, not yet, once, untl that day

Ex. He had spoken

Past perfect continuous

-          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

Ex. He had been speaking

Future forms

1. Will + verb

-          action in the future that cannot be influenced

-          spontaneous decision

Ex. He will speak

2. Going to + verb

-          decision made for the future

Ex. He is going to speak

3. Futur continuous

-          action that is going on at a certain time in the future

Ex. He will have spoken

Conditionals

Type  0 : certainty

The condition can be true at any time (it is a fact).

Structure : Present simple + present simple

Ex. If you heat water at 100 degrees, it boils.

Type 1 : real possibility

Certainty in the future

Structure : Present simple + will infinitive

Ex. If you don't hurry, you'll miss the bus.

Type 2 : unreal possibility or dream

Something which is unlikely to happen or is an imaginary situation.

Structure : Past simple + would infinitive

I wouldn't (would not) refuse if you offered me $10,000/ If I had more time, I'd (I would) travel more.  

Type 3 : no possibility

We talk about a condition in the past that did not happen, there is no possibility for this condition.

Structure : Past perfect, would have + past participle

If she hadn't been ill, she would have gone to the cinema.