Twelve Forms of Tense (with Their Signal Words)

          

Simple Present - v1/v5

with these signal words: [always, often, seldom, sometimes, every (day/week/ month/year), once/twice /thrice a (day/week/ month/year), nowadays, rarely, usually, generally, frequently, daily, hardly, occasionally, these days, regularly, normally, on Saturdays]

Sony always gets up at 6 o’clock.

He often comes here.

He sometimes visits new places.

Min brushes his teeth twice a day.

She changes her job every two years.

I usually work till 8.

He plays tennis on Saturdays.

Universal truth: The earth moves around the sun.

General truth: A cow eats grass.

Habit: He drinks wine.

with the verbs of sensations such as likes, dislikes, and appearance (smell, hear, see, notice, think, believe, know, remember, forget, suppose, seem, understand, want, wish,
like, dislike, love, hate, etc.

She loves Michael.

I hate sitting in a crowded place.

I smell something burning.

She seems happy today.

We understand your problem.

I hear someone upstairs.

Fixed timetable: The exam starts at 10am.

Newspaper headline: 7 die in bus accident

Present Continuous- is/am/are +v4

with the signal words: [now, still, at present, at the moment, today, this evening (with fixed time)]

Where are you living now?

They are reading newspapers at the moment.

We are playing cricket today.

He is going to a concert at 5 this evening.

With the expressions- [Look!, Listen! and  Hurry up!]

Look! The boy is coming to you. Hurry up! You are getting late. Listen! Music is playing.

Gradual change:

The price of things is going up.

The children are growing so fast.

Present Perfect- has/have + v3

with the signal words: [just, yet, never, already, ever, so far, up to now, recently, lately, since, for, once, twice, many times, several times, by now]

Have you read this book yet?

Nobody has ever climbed that mountain.

You have seen her lately.

He has written ten letters to me.

We have had the same car for ten years.

to talk about traveling and personal experiences:

I have never been to Pokhara.

He has never traveled by plane.

to express the happenings in the past that effect or explain the present situation:

Diya looks upset. Has she failed the exam?

When the verbs like know, have and be are used with for/since + time

I’ve known her for a year.

Present Perfect Continuous-has/have + been +v4

with the signal words: [all this morning, all this week, all this year]

She has been washing her clothes all this morning.

action verb+ for period of time/since +point in time:

They have been talking for an hour.

She has been teaching in this school since 2005.

Simple Past -v2

with the signal words: [ago, yesterday, last, those days, just now, this morning]

It happened many years ago.

in + past time:

She visited Kathmandu in 2001.

narration in stories:

Once upon a time, there lived a king. He had a son and daughter………. .

past facts or generalizations or situations which are no longer true

He frequently wrote a letter to me when he was in Kathmandu.

Past Continuous - was/were + v4

With the signal words: [all yesterday, all morning yesterday, all evening yesterday, all afternoon yesterday, at 3 o’clock yesterday, this time yesterday]

Kiran was watching TV all yesterday.

She was playing volleyball at 3 o’clock yesterday.

At this time yesterday, I was reading a novel.

to talk about the interrupted actions in the past:

I was watching TV when she called.

When the phone rang, she was writing a letter.

Past Perfect- had + v3

to express an action that took place before another action:

After I had got a new job, I left the previous one.

The police had cleared the road before the rally approached.

By the time the police came, the crowd had dispersed.

Past Perfect Continuous -   had + been + v4

to express an action that started in the past and continued up until another time in the past:

She had been working at the supermarket for two years when the trouble began.

Simple Future - shall/will + v1

with the signal words: [tomorrow, next (day/week/year), soon, tonight, in a few days]

when/until/unless/if + simple present:

I will see him in few days.

They won’t be able to help us tonight.

She will call him when he arrives.

They will wait until he returns.

Future Continuous -shall/will + be + v4

with the signal words: [at this time tomorrow, this time next week]

At this time tomorrow, they will be studying at the library.

Future Perfect- shall/will + have + v3

with the signal words: [by the time/before/ until/when+ simple present, by + future time]

By the time he arrives, everybody will have gone.

By tomorrow, he will have left for London.

Future Perfect Continuous - shall/will + have + been +v4

with the signal words: [by + future time ------- for + time period, by the time/when + simple present ------- for + period of time]

By tomorrow, he will have been living here for 2 months.

By the time you return, I will have been waiting here for 4 days.