Lan­gua­ge: ten­ses

the per­son does so­me­thing re­gu­lar­ly

sim­ple pre­sent

I go

He/she/it goes

I al­ways go to the ca­fe­te­ria for my lunch

He al­ways goes home.

sim­ple pre­sent

 + not

I don´t go

he/she/it doesn´t go

She doesn´t like ea­ting meat.

They don´t live there any more.

sim­ple pre­sent ?

(ques­ti­on word +) do you go?

(ques­ti­on word) does he/she it go?

Where do you usual­ly have lunch?

the per­son is doing so­me­thing right now

pre­sent pro­gres­si­ve

am/are/is + in­fi­ni­ti­ve + -ing

I am stay­ing at a fri­end´s house

pre­sent pro­gres­si­ve + not

am not/are not/is not + in­fi­ni­ti­ve+ -ing

My dog is not ea­ting a bone right now.

pre­sent pro­gres­si­ve ?

are you /is he + in­fi­ni­ti­ve+ -ing?

Are you stay­ing at a hotel?

the per­son did so­me­thing in the past (which is de­fi­ni­te­ly over)

sim­ple past

in­fi­ni­ti­ve + -ed

OR se­cond form of ir­re­gu­lar verbs

I met him in 2010.

sim­ple past + not

didn´t + in­fi­ni­ti­ve

He didn´t meet his fri­ends in his last ho­li­days.

sim­ple past ?

(ques­ti­on word +) did + you + in­fi­ni­ti­ve?

When did you meet him first?

the per­son has never/ever/not yet done so­me­thing

pre­sent per­fect

I have + in­fi­ni­ti­ve+-ed

OR I have + third form of ir­re­gu­lar verbs

he/she /it has + in­fi­ni­ti­ve+ -ed

OR he/she/it has + third form of ir­re­gu­lar verbs

I have never been so happy .

pre­sent per­fect + not

I have not + in­fi­ni­ti­ve+ -ed

OR I have not+ third form of ir­re­gu­lar verbs

he/she /it has not + in­fi­ni­ti­ve+ -ed

OR he/she/it has not+ third form of ir­re­gu­lar verbs

He hasn´t done his ho­me­work yet.

pre­sent per­fect ?

have you + in­fi­ni­ti­ve+-ed?

OR have you + third form of ir­re­gu­lar verbs?

has he/she/it + in­fi­ni­ti­ve+ -ed ?

OR has he/she/it + third form of ir­re­gu­lar verbs?

Have you ever had such a nice ex­pe­ri­ence be­fo­re?

the re­sult of so­me­thing is im­portant (bridge bet­ween the past and the pre­sent)

pre­sent per­fect

I have sent a text to my fri­end and now he´s angry with me.

so­me­thing hap­pe­n­ed be­fo­re ano­ther event in the past

past per­fect

had + in­fi­ni­ti­ve+ -ed

OR had + third form of ir­re­gu­lar verbs

I had hoped and wis­hed to get a new mo­bi­le and I was so, so happy when I found it under the Christ­mas tree.

past per­fect + not

hadn´t + in­fi­ni­ti­ve + -ed

OR hadn´t + third form of ir­re­gu­lar verbs

Alt­hough he hadn´t met his cou­sin be­fo­re he in­vi­ted her to the ci­ne­ma.

past per­fect ?

had + sub­ject + in­fi­ni­ti­ve+ -ed

OR had + sub­ject + third form of ir­re­gu­lar verbs

Had he re­al­ly read the book when he gave the pre­sen­ta­ti­on on it?

so­moe­ne plans to do so­me­thing in the fu­ture

going to-fu­ture

am/are/is going to + in­fi­ni­ti­ve

I am going to fly there next weekend.

going to fu­ture + not

am not/are not/ is not going to + in­fi­ni­ti­ve

They aren´t going to come to the ci­ne­ma with us.

going to-fu­ture ?

am/are/is going to + sub­ject + in­fi­ni­ti­ve?

Are you going to read this book?

So­meo­ne pre­dicts (vor­her­sa­gen) so­me­thing about the fu­ture

will-fu­ture

will + in­fi­ni­ti­ve

There will be many peop­le at the con­cert.

will-fu­ture + not

will not (won´t) + in­fi­ni­ti­ve

He won´t be happy to hear that.

will-fu­ture ?

will  sub­ject  in­fi­ni­ti­ve?

Will there be any nice food at the party?

it is pos­si­ble that so­me­thing hap­pens

con­di­tio­nal I

if + sim­ple pre­sent

will/won´t + in­fi­ni­ti­ve

If he gets the chan­ce to say sorry he will do so.

It is very un­rea­lis­tic that so­me­thing hap­pens

con­di­tio­nal II

If + sim­ple past

Would + in­fi­ni­ti­ve

If so­meo­ne gave me a lot of money I would be so happy.

So­meo­ne said that so­me­thing hap­pe­n­ed at the same time

sim­ple past

He said that he didn´t have time to go the mo­vies that day.

So­meo­ne said that so­me­thing had hap­pe­n­ed be­fo­re

past per­fect

He told me that he had seen that movie be­fo­re.

So­meo­ne said so­me­thing about the fu­ture

Con­di­tio­nal II

Would + in­fi­ni­ti­ve

The an­noun­ce­ment said that the train would be on time.

So­meo­ne said so­me­thing about plans for the fu­ture

Was/were going to + in­fi­ni­ti­ve

He said he was going to tra­vel to Fran­ce at Eas­ter.