English tenses

Practice

English tenses - Complex Test 1

Exercises - English tenses

Tense

Signal words

Use

Form

something
happens
repeatedly
every day
sometimes
always
Simple
often
Present
or
usually
Present Simple
seldom
never
first ... then

how often
something
happens
one action
follows another
things in
general

infinitive
he/she/it + -s

after the
following verbs
(to love, to
hate, to think,
etc.)
future meaning:
timetables,
programmes

now
Present
Progressive or
Present
Continuous

at the moment
Look!
Listen!

Simple
Past
or
Past
Simple

last ...
... ago
in 1990
yesterday

something is
happening at
the same time
of speaking or
around it

to be
(am/are/is) +
future meaning:
infinitive +
when you have
-ing
already
decided and
arranged to do
it (a fixed plan,
date)
action took
regular:
place in the
infinitive +
past, mostly
-ed irregular:
connected with
2nd column of
an expression of
table of
time (no
irregular
connection to
verbs
the present)

Examples
affirmative

Examples
negative

Examples
interrogative

Past
Progressive or
Past
Continuous

an action
happened in the
middle of
another action
while

was/were +
someone was
infinitive +
doing sth. at a
-ing
certain time (in
the past) - you
do not know
whether it was
finished or not

just
yet
never
Simple
Present
Perfect
or
Present
Perfect

ever
already
so far,
up to now,
since

you say that

sth. has
happened or is
finished in the
past and it has
a connection to
the present

have/has +
past
participle*

*(infinitive +
-ed) or (3rd
column of
action started in table of
the past and
irregular
continues up to verbs)
the present

for
recently
all day

action began in
the past and
has just stopped

Present Perfect the whole day

Progressive or
how long the
Present
how long
action has been
Perfect
happening
Continuous
since
emphasis:
for
length of time
of an action

Simple
Past
Perfect
or
Past
Perfect
(Simple)

already
just
never

have/has +
been +
infinitive +
-ing

mostly when
two actions in a
story are
related to each had + past
other: the
participle*
action which
had already
*(infinitive +
happened is put -ed) or (3rd
into Past
column of
Perfect, the
table of
other action into irregular
Simple Past
verbs)
the past of the
Present Perfect

Past Perfect
Progressive or
Past Perfect
Continuous

how long
since
for

how long
had + been +
something had infinitive + ing
been happening
before
something else

happened
predictions
about the future
(you think that
sth. will
happen)

will - future

you decide to
do sth.
will +
spontaneously
infinitive
at the time of
speaking, you
haven't made a
decision before
main clause in
type I of the if
clauses

going to future

Future
Progressive or
Future
Continuous

when you have

already decided
to do sth. in the be
future
(am/are/is) +
going to +
what you think infinitive
what will
happen
An action will be
in progress at a
certain time in
the future. This
action has
begun before
the certain
will + be +
time.
infinitive + ing
Something
happens
because it
normally
happens.

Simple
Future
Perfect
or
Future Perfect
Simple

Future
Perfect
Progressive or
Future
Perfect

will + have +
past
participle*

sth. will already

have happened
*(infinitive +
before a certain
-ed) or (3rd
time in the
column of
future
table of
irregular
verbs)

sth. will already will + have +

have happened been +
before a certain infinitive + ing
time in the
future

Continuous
emphasis:

sth. that might

happen
Conditional
Simple

Conditional
Progressive
or
Conditional
Continuous

would +
main clause in infinitive
type II of the ifclauses

sth. that might

happen
would + be +
emphasis:
infinitive + ing
length of time
of an action

Conditional
Perfect

would + have
sth. that might
+ past
have happened
participle*
in the past
(It's too late
*(infinitive +
now.)
-ed) or (3rd
column of
main clause in
table of
type III of the if
irregular
clauses
verbs)

Conditional
Perfect
Progressive
or
Conditional
Perfect
Continuous

sth. that might

have happened
in the past
(It's too late
would + have
now.)
+ been +
infinitive + ing
emphasis:
length of time
of an action

English tenses
English tenses - Complex Test 1
Exercises - English tenses

Tense

Signal words

every day
sometimes
always
Simple
often
Present
or
usually
Present Simple
seldom
never
first ... then

Examples
affirmative

Examples
negative

Examples
interrogative

something
happens
repeatedly

I work.

I don't work.

Do I work?

He works.

He doesn't
work.

Does he work?

how often
something
happens

I go.

I don't go.

Do I go?

He goes.

He doesn't go. Does he go?

I'm working.

I'm not
working.

Am I working?

He's working.

He isn't
working.

Is he working?

Use

Form

one action
follows another
things in
general

infinitive
he/she/it + -s

after the
following verbs
(to love, to
hate, to think,
etc.)
future meaning:
timetables,
programmes

now
Present
Progressive or
Present
Continuous

at the moment
Look!
Listen!

Simple
Past
or
Past
Simple

last ...
... ago
in 1990
yesterday

something is
happening at
the same time
of speaking or
around it

to be
(am/are/is) + I'm going.
future meaning:
infinitive +
when you have
-ing
already
decided and
He's going.
arranged to do
it (a fixed plan,
date)
action took
regular:
place in the
infinitive +
past, mostly
-ed irregular:
connected with 2nd column of
an expression of table of
time (no
irregular
connection to
verbs

I'm not going. Am I going?

He isn't going. Is he going?

I worked.

I didn't work. Did I work?

He worked.

He didn't
work.

Did he work?

I went.

I didn't go.

Did I go?

He went.

He didn't go.

Did he go?

Past
Progressive or
Past
Continuous

the present)
an action
happened in the
middle of
another action
while

was/were +
someone was
infinitive +
doing sth. at a
-ing
certain time (in
the past) - you
do not know
whether it was
finished or not

just
yet
never
Simple
Present
Perfect
or
Present
Perfect

ever
already
so far,
up to now,
since

you say that

sth. has
happened or is
finished in the
past and it has
a connection to
the present

have/has +
past
participle*

*(infinitive +
-ed) or (3rd
column of
action started in table of
the past and
irregular
continues up to verbs)
the present

I was working.

I wasn't
working.

Was I
working?

He was
working.

He wasn't
working.

Was he
working?

I was going.

I wasn't
going.

Was I going?

He was going.

He wasn't
going.

Was he going?

I have
worked.

I haven't
worked.

Have I
worked?

He has
worked.

He hasn't
worked.

Has he
worked?

I have gone.

I haven't
gone.

Have I gone?

He has gone.

He hasn't
gone.

Has he gone?

I have been
working.

I haven't been Have I been

working.
working?

He has been
working.

He hasn't been Has he been

working.
working?

I have been
going.

I haven't been Have I been

going.
going?

He has been
going.

He hasn't been Has he been

going.
going?

I had worked.

I hadn't
worked.

Had I worked?

He had
worked.

He hadn't
worked.

Had he
worked?

I had gone.

I hadn't gone. Had I gone?

He had gone.

He hadn't
gone.

Had he gone?

I hadn't been
working.

Had I been
working?

He hadn't

Had he been

for
recently
all day

action began in
the past and
has just stopped

Present Perfect the whole day

Progressive or
how long the
Present
how long
action has been
Perfect
happening
Continuous
since
emphasis:
for
length of time
of an action

Simple
Past
Perfect
or
Past
Perfect
(Simple)

already
just
never

have/has +
been +
infinitive +
-ing

mostly when
two actions in a
story are
related to each had + past
other: the
participle*
action which
had already
*(infinitive +
happened is put -ed) or (3rd
into Past
column of
Perfect, the
table of
other action into irregular
Simple Past
verbs)
the past of the
Present Perfect

Past Perfect
Progressive or
Past Perfect

how long
since

how long
had + been + I had been
something had infinitive + ing working.
been happening
He had been

Continuous
for

working.

been working. working?

I had been
going.

I hadn't been
going.

Had I been
going?

He had been
going.

He hadn't
been going.

Had he been
going?

I'll work.

I won't work.

Will I work?

He'll work.

He won't
work.

Will he work?

I'll go.

I won't go.

Will I go?

He'll go.

He won't go.

Will he go?

I'm going to
when you have
work.
already decided
He's going to
to do sth. in the be
future
(am/are/is) + work.
going to +
I'm going to
what you think infinitive
go.
what will
He's going to
happen
go.

I'm not going

to work.

Am I going to
work?

An action will be
I'll be
in progress at a
working.
certain time in
He'll be
the future. This
working.
action has
begun before
I'll be going.
the certain
will + be +
time.
infinitive + ing

I won't be
working.

Will I be
working?

He won't be
working.

Will he be
working?

I won't be
going.

Will I be
going?

He'll be
going.

He won't be
going.

Will he be
going?

I'll have
worked.

I won't have
worked.

Will I have
worked?

He'll have
worked.

He won't have Will he have

worked.
worked?

I'll have
gone.

I won't have
gone.

He'll have
gone.

He won't have Will he have

gone.
gone?

before
something else
happened
predictions
about the future
(you think that
sth. will
happen)

will - future

you decide to
do sth.
will +
spontaneously
infinitive
at the time of
speaking, you
haven't made a
decision before
main clause in
type I of the if
clauses

going to future

Future
Progressive or
Future
Continuous

Something
happens
because it
normally
happens.

Simple
Future
Perfect
or
Future Perfect
Simple

Future
Perfect
Progressive or
Future

will + have +
past
participle*

sth. will already

have happened
*(infinitive +
before a certain
-ed) or (3rd
time in the
column of
future
table of
irregular
verbs)

sth. will already will + have + I'll have been

have happened been +
working.
before a certain infinitive + ing
He'll have
time in the
been

He's not going Is he going to

to work.
work?
I'm not going
to go.

Am I going to
go?

He's not going Is he going to

to go.
go?

Will I have
gone?

I won't have
Will I have
been working. been working?
He won't have Will he have
been working. been working?

working.

Perfect
Continuous

I'll have been I won't have

going.
been going.

future
emphasis:

Conditional
Simple

Conditional
Progressive
or
Conditional
Continuous

Conditional
Perfect

Conditional
Perfect
Progressive
or
Conditional
Perfect
Continuous

sth. that might

happen
main clause in
type II of the ifclauses

would +
infinitive

sth. that might

happen

Will I have
been working?

He'll have
been going.

He won't have Will he have

been going.
been working?

I would work.

I wouldn't
work.

Would I
work?

He would
work.

He wouldn't
work.

Would he
work?

I would go.

I wouldn't go. Would I go?

He would go.

He wouldn't
go.

Would he
go?

I would be
working.

I wouldn't be
working.

Would I be
working?

He would be
would + be + working.
emphasis:
infinitive + ing I would be
length of time
going.
of an action
He would be
going.

He wouldn't be Would he be
working.
working?

would + have I would have

sth. that might
+ past
worked.
have happened
participle*
in the past
He would
(It's too late
have worked.
*(infinitive +
now.)
-ed) or (3rd
I would have
column of
gone.
main clause in
table of
type III of the if
He would
irregular
clauses
have gone.
verbs)

I wouldn't
Would I have
have worked. worked?

sth. that might

have happened
in the past
(It's too late
would + have
now.)
+ been +
infinitive + ing
emphasis:
length of time
of an action

I wouldn't be
going.

Would I be
going?

He wouldn't be Would he be
going.
going?

He wouldn't
Would he have
have worked. worked?
I wouldn't
have gone.

Would I have
gone?

He wouldn't
have gone.

Would I have
gone?

I wouldn't
I would have
have been
been working.
working.

Would I have
been working?

He would
have been
going.

He wouldn't
have been
going.

Would he
have been
working?

I would have
been going.

I wouldn't
have been
going.

Would I have
been going?

He would
have been
going.

He wouldn't
have been
going.

Would he
have been
going?