| Tenses | Signal words | Affirmative | Negative | Interrogative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present Simple |
|
I read | I do not read | Do I read? |
|
He reads
third person singular -s |
He does not read | Does he read? | ||
| Present Continuous |
|
I am reading | I am not reading | Am I reading |
| He is reading | He is not reading | Is he reading? | ||
|
Present perfect simple
have/has |
|
I have seen
past participle |
I have not seen | Have I seen? |
| He has seen | He has not seen | Has he seen? | ||
|
Present Perfect Continuous
have/has |
|
I have been walking | I have not been walking | Have I been walking |
| He has been walking | He has not been walking | Has he been walking? | ||
| Past Simple |
|
I walked
preterit |
I did not walk
auxiliary in the Past Simple |
Did I walk
auxiliary in the Past Simple |
| He walked | He did not walk | Did he walk? | ||
|
Past Continuous
was/were |
|
I was reading | I was reading | Was I reading |
| They were reading | They were not reading | Were they reading? | ||
|
Past Perfect simple
Pluperfect |
|
I had walked
past participle |
I had not walked | Had I walked |
| He had walked | He had not walked | Had he walked? | ||
| Past Perfect Continuous |
|
I had been reading | I had not been reading | Had I been reading |
| He had been reading | He had not been reading | Had he been reading? | ||
| Future | Present Continuous | I'm leaving tomorrow | I have already decided and arranged to do it | |
| Present Simple | My train leaves at 9:30 | When we talk about timetables and programmes | ||
| Be going to | He is going to read | I have already decided to do it, I intend to do it | ||
| Will | He will read |
What we know or believe about the future
We have just decided to do something |
||
| Future Continuous | I'll be leaving tomorrow | I will be in the middle of doing it | ||
| Future Perfect | I'll have left by this time tomorrow | It will be complete before a time in the future | ||
| Future Perfect Continuous | Next year, I'll have been working in the company for 30 years | Emphasise the duration of an activity in progress at a particular point in the future | ||
Sources:
Joint