Note about all-tenses table (page 2)
In All-Tenses Table (page 2), you will learn how to form the past continuous, present perfect simple, and present perfect continuous, in addition to their uses and the signal words associated with them.
| TENSE | FORMATION RULE | AFFIRMATIVE | NEGATIVE | INTERROGATIVE | SIGNAL WORDS | USE/FUNCTION |
| Past Continuous/ Progressive | subject+was/were +verb-ing | – I/He/She/It was working/ writing – We/You/They were working/ writing | – I/He/She/It wasn’t (=was not) working/ writing – We/You/They weren’t (=were not) working/ writing | – Was I/he/she/it working /writing? — Were we/you/ they working/ writing? | – while+time expression (yesterday‚last Friday …etc)+hour (5:00‚7:30‚12:15…etc) | – continuous/long action that took place at a point of time in the past – two actions that were taking place at the same time in the past |
| Present Perfect Simple | subject+have/has+past participle | – I/You/We/they have worked /written – He/She/It has worked/written | – I/You/We/They haven’t (=have not) worked/ written –He/She/It hasn’t (=has not) worked/ written | – Have I/you/we/ they worked/written? – Has he/she/it worked /written? | – just -yet – already – never – ever – so far – since – for – recently – up to now – lately – how long | – something happened/finished in the past but has an effect in the present – the action started the in the past but continues up to the present – repeated actions that started in the past but have not finished yet – action whose time is not definite |
| Present Perfect Continuous | Subject+have/has been +verb-ing | – I/You/We/They have been working/writing – He/She/It has been working/ writing | – I/You/We/They haven’t been working/writing – He/She/It hasn’t been working/ writing | – Have I/you/we/ they been working/writing? — Has he/she/it been working/ writing? | – how long -lately – recently – since – for | – an action that began in the past and has and has just stopped – length of time of an action. i.e. how long the action has been happening |
