English Tenses ( The Full Explanation )
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| Simple Present | A: He cooks. N: He does not cook. Q: Does he cook? | • action in the present taking placeonce, 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, …) |
| Present Progressive | A: He is cooking.
N: He is not cooking. Q: Is he cooking? | • 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 |
| Simple Past | A: He cook.
N: He did not cook. Q: Did he cook? | • action in the past taking placeonce, 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, …) |
| Past Progressive | A: He was cooking.
N: He was not cooking. Q: Was he cooking? | • 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 |
| Present Perfect Simple | A: He has cooked.
N: He has not cooked. Q: Has he cooked? | • 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 Progressive | A: He has been cooking.
N: He has not been cooking. Q: Has he been cooking? | • 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 |
| Past Perfect Simple | A: He had cooked.
N: He had not cooked. Q: Had he cooked? | • 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 Progressive | A: He had been cooking.
N: He had not been cooking. Q: Had he been cooking? | • 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 |
| Future I Simple | A: He will cook.
N: He will not cook. Q: Will he cook? | • action in the future that cannot be influenced • spontaneous decision • assumption with regard to the future | in a year, next …, tomorrow If-Satz Typ I (If you ask her, she will help you.) assumption: I think, probably, perhaps |
Future I Simple
(going to)
| A: He is going to cook. N: He is not going to cook. Q: Is he going to cook? | • decision made for the future • conclusion with regard to the future | in one year, next week, tomorrow |
| Future I Progressive | A: He will be cooking. N: He will not be cooking. Q: Will he be cooking? | • 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 II Simple | A: He will have cooked. N: He will not have cooked. Q: Will he have cooked? | • action that will be finished at a certain time in the future | by Monday, in a week |
| Future II Progressive | A: He will have been cooking. N: He will not have been cooking. Q: Will he have been cooking? | • 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 I Simple | A: He would cook. N: He would not cook. Q: Would he cook? | • action that might take place | if sentences type II (If I were you, I would go home.) |
| Conditional I Progressive | A: He would be cooking. N: He would not be cooking. Q: Would he be cooking? | • action that might take place • putting emphasis on the course /duration of the action | - |
| Conditional II Simple | A: He would have cooked.
N: He would not have cooked. Q: Would he have cooked? | • action that might have taken place in the past | if sentences type III (If I had seen that, Iwould have helped.) |
| Conditional II Progressive | A: He would have been cooking. N: He would not have been cooking. Q: Would he have been cooking? | • action that might have taken place in the past • puts emphasis on the course /duration of the action | - |
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Category: Grammatical
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