USES OF ENGLISH TENSES

TENSES	SIGNAL WORDS	USES
PRESENT  SIMPLE	- Adverbs of frequency:    always, usually, often,    rarely, seldom, never - Every day / week /    month / year - On Fridays / Mondays	-       Habitual actions or routines :        I play tennis every Tuesdays -       Generally truths         The sun rises in the east -       Permanent situations         I study at Mater Purissima School -       Consecutive actions          I arrive at home at 2.45, have lunch,            rest a little, do my homework, …… -       Timetables             The plane takes off at 4.15
PRESENT  CONTINUOUS	- For a few days - Today / tonight - At the moment - Later  - Currently - Little by Little - Look! / Listen!	-       Temporary situations       I am staying with a friend for a few days -       Happening now Susan is sleeping at the moment -       Annoying habits (with always) You are always losing your keys -       Changing situations The weather is improving -       Definitive future plans I am meeting my friends later
PRESENT  PERFECT	- For / Since - Yet, Already - Just - Recently - Ever, never - So far - Up to now - How long	-       To talk about a state that started in the  past and continuous until now I haven’t seen Kevin since last week Up to now I have completed 5 reports
PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS	-       For / since -       All day -       The whole day -       How long	-       Action started in the past and has just  finished now I have been doing English exercises all     evening -       To emphasize the length of time of an Action
SIMPLE PAST	- Yesterday - Last week / month /           year - Ago - The other day - Last Tuesday / Sunday/            Friday - In 2017	-       Action finished in the past They visited their grandparents every           weekends -       Action taking part in the middle of another action When I was having a shower, the pone        rang -       Consecutive actions in the past I got up at 7.00, had a shower, got dressed, had breakfast and left home
PAST  CONTINUOUS	-       While -       At 10.20  yesterday  morning	-       To describe an action that was in progress  at a specific time in the past Mary was working at 10 yesterday -       To talk about an action which was in  progress when a second action happened I was playing my favourite game when the electricity went out -       To give background information in a story It was getting dark, I was walking down  the road when I saw a strange man … -       For simultaneous actions in the past She was having a bath while her husband was cooking
PAST PERFECT	-       Never -       Already -       Just -       By the time -       Before -       After	-       One event happened before another event The meeting had already started when I Arrived
PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS	-       How long -       Since / For	-       How long something had happened before something else happened (emphasize)
GOING TO		-       Future plans and intentions I am going to study a lot this year -       Decisions before the moment of speaking We are going to have a disguised party next weekend -       Predicitions with evidences I feel terrible. I’m going to be sick
WILL		-       Unplanned decisions, taken at the moment of speaking I’ll take this one. This is the most beautiful dress -       To make an offer, promises and refusals Don’t worry. I’ll help you I’ll return your book as soon as I’ve read it No, I won’t do your homework for you  -       Predictions without evidences One day people will have holidays on Mars
FUTURE CONTINUOUS		-       To say that an action will be in pogress at a  certain time in the future This time tomorrow, I willbe lying on the beach in the sun
FUTURE  PERFECT	- by …	-       To say that something will already be  completed before a specified time in the  futurre.  We will have finished our dinner by 9.00
FUTURE  PERFECT CONTINUOUS		-       Something will already have happened  beforea certain time in the future   (emphasize) Next year I will have been working here for four hours
CONDITIONAL SIMPLE		-       Something that might happen They would open the store next week
CONDITIONAL CONTINUOUS		-       Actions which might take place and put  emphasis on the length of the action. I wouldn’t be sleeping all day
CONDITIONAL PERFECT		-       Something that might have happened in  the  past I wouldn’t have stayed in my hometown
CONDITIONAL PERFECT CONTINUOUS		-       Something that might have happened in  the past. (Emphasize) Frida would have been singing