Tenses are pretty much guaranteed to be tested on the SAT®, EST®, and ACT®. It’s certainly not possible to study for the SAT®/EST®/ACT®/GMAT® without understanding the difference between the different tenses and how to use them.

Remember!

Tense	Signal words	Use	Form	Examples affirmative	Examples negative	Examples interrogative
	every day	something happens repeatedly how often something happens one action follows another things in general with verbs like (to love, to hate, to think, etc.) future meaning: timetables, programmes
	sometimes
	always			I work.	I don't work.	Do I work?
*Simple Present*	often usually		infinitive he/she/it: infinitive + s	He works. I go.	He doesn't work. I don't go.	Does he work? Do I go?
	seldom			He goes.	He doesn't go.	Does he go?
	never
	first ... then
	now	something is happening at the same time of speaking or around it future meaning: when you have already decided and arranged to do it (a fixed plan, date)		I'm working.	I'm not working.	Am I working?
*Present Progressive*	at the moment Look!		be (am/are/is) + infinitive + ing	He's working. I'm going.	He isn't working. I'm not going.	Is he working? Am I going?
	Listen!			He's going.	He isn't going.	Is he going?
*Simple Past*	last ... ... ago in 1990 yesterday	action took place in the past, mostly connected with an expression of time (no connection to the present)	regular: infinitive + ed irregular: (2nd column of table of irregular verbs)	I worked. He worked. I went. He went.	I didn't work. He didn't work. I didn't go. He didn't go.	Did I work? Did he work? Did I go? Did he go?

		an action happened in the middle of another action someone was doing sth. at a certain time (in the past) - you don't know whether it was finished or not		I was working.	I wasn't working.	Was I working?
*Past Progressive*	while		was/were + infinitive + ing	He was working. I was going.	He wasn't working. I wasn't going.	Was he working? Was I going?
				He was going.	He wasn't going.	Was he going?
	just	you say that sth. has happened or is finished in the past and it has a connection to the present action started in the past and continues up to the present
	yet
	never
*Simple Present Perfect*	ever already so far, up to now,		have/has + past participle* (infinitive* + ed) or (3rd column of table of irregular verbs)	I have worked. He has worked. I have gone. He has gone.	I haven't worked. He hasn’t worked. I haven't gone. He hasn’t gone.	Have I worked? Has he worked? Have I gone? Has he gone?
	since
	for
	recently
*Present Perfect Progressive*	all day the whole day how long	action began in the past and has just stopped how long the action has been happening	have/has + been + infinitive + ing	I have been working. He has been working.	I haven't been working. He hasn't been working.	Have I been working? Has he been working?
	since for	emphasis: length of time of an action		I have been going. He has been going.	I haven't been going. He hasn't been going.	Have I been going? Has he been going?

*Simple Past Perfect*	already just never	mostly when two actions in a story are related to each other: the action which had already happened is put into Past Perfect, the other action into Simple Past the past of the Present Perfect	had + past participle* (infinitive* + ed) or (3rd column of table of irregular verbs)	I had worked. He had worked. I had gone. He had gone.	I hadn't worked. He hadn't worked. I hadn't gone. He hadn't gone.	Had I worked? Had he worked? Had I gone? Had he gone?
		how long something had been happening before something else happened		I had been working.	I hadn't been working.	Had I been working?
*Past Perfect Progressive*	how long since for		had + been + infinitive + ing	He had been working. I had been going.	He hadn't been working. I hadn't been going.	Had he been working? Had I been going?
				He had been going.	He hadn't been going.	Had he been going?
		predictions about the future (you think that sth will happen) you decide to do sth. spontaneously at the time of speaking main clause in type I of the Conditional sentences		I'll work.	I won't work.	Will I work?
				He'll work.	He won't work.	Will he work?
*will - future*			will + infinitive
				I'll go.	I won't go.	Will I go?
				He'll go.	He won't go.	Will he go?
		when you have already decided to do sth. in the future what you think what will happen		I'm going to work.	I'm not going to work.	Am I going to work?
*going to - future*			be (am/are/is) + going to + infinitive	He's going to work.	He's not going to work.	Is he going to work?
				I'm going to go.	I'm not going to go.	Am I going to go?
				He's going to go.	He's not going to go.	Is he going to go?

	An action will be in progress at a certain time in the future. This action has begun before the certain time. Something happens because it normally happens.		I'll be working.	I won't be working.	Will I be working?
*Future Progressive*		will + be + infinitive + ing	He'll be working. I'll be going.	He won't be working. I won't be going.	Will he be working? 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?
*Future Perfect Simple*	sth. will already have happened before a certain time in the future	will + have + past participle* (infinitive* + ed) or (3rd column of table of irregular verbs)	He'll have worked. I'll have gone.	He won't have worked. I won't have gone.	Will he have worked? Will I have gone?
			He'll have gone.	He won't have gone.	Will he have gone?
			I'll have been working.	I won't have been working.	Will I have been working?
*Future Perfect Progressive*	sth. will already have happened before a certain time in the future emphasis: length of time of an action	will + have + been + infinitive + ing	He'll have been working. I'll have been going.	He won't have been working. I won't have been going.	Will he have been working? Will I have been going?
			He'll have been going.	He won't have been going.	Will he have been going?
	sth. that might happen main clause in type II of the Conditional sentences		I would work.	I wouldn't work.	Would I work?
*Conditional Simple*		would + infinitive	He would work. I would go.	He wouldn't work. I wouldn't go.	Would he work? 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?
*Conditional Progressive*	sth. that might happen emphasis: length of time of an action	would + be + infinitive + ing	He would be working. I would be going.	He wouldn't be working. I wouldn't be going.	Would he be working? Would I be going?
			He would be going.	He wouldn't be going.	Would he be going?
	sth. that might have happened in the past main clause in type III of the Conditional sentences		I would have worked.	I wouldn't have worked.	Would I have worked?
*Conditional* *Perfect*		would + have + past participle* (infinitive* + ed) or (3rd column of table of irregular verbs)	He would have worked. I would have gone.	He wouldn't have worked. I wouldn't have gone.	Would he have worked? Would I have gone?
			He would have gone.	He wouldn't have gone.	Would he have gone?
			I would have been working.	I wouldn't have been working.	Would I have been working?
*Conditional Perfect Progressive*	sth. that might have happened in the past emphasis: length of time of an action	would + have + been + infinitive + ing	He would have been working. I would have been going.	He wouldn't have been working. I wouldn't have been going.	Would he have been working? Would I have been going?
			He would have been going.	He wouldn't have been going.	Would he have been going?

We sometimes use Continuous instead of Progressive. Some signal words can be found in more tenses. We did not list signal words in the future. Always remember what action is described.

Used colours:

blue → infinitive grey → irregular verbs in the Simple Past red → negation

dark green → auxiliary purple → past participle

orange → ending light green → signal word

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