Tense Affirmative/Negative/Question Use Signal Words

always, every …, never,

Simple A: He speaks.  action in the present taking place regularly, normally, often, seldom,
Present N: He does not speak. never or several times sometimes, usually
Q: Does he speak? if sentences type I (If I talk, …)
 facts
 actions taking place one after another
 action set by a timetable or schedule
Present A: He is speaking. at the moment, just, just now,
Progressive N: He is not speaking.  action taking place in the moment of Listen!, Look!, now, right now
Q: Is he speaking? speaking
 action taking place only for a limited period
of time
 action arranged for the future
Simple Past A: He spoke. yesterday, 2 minutes ago, in
N: He did not speak.  action in the past taking place once, never 1990, the other day, last Friday
Q: Did he speak? or several times if sentence type II (If
I talked, …)
 actions taking place one after another
 action taking place in the middle of another
action
Past A: He was speaking. while, as long as
Progressive N: He was not speaking.  action going on at a certain time in the past
Q: Was he speaking?
 actions taking place at the same time
 action in the past that is interrupted by
another action
Present A: He has spoken. already, ever, just, never, not yet,
Perfect N: He has not spoken.  putting emphasis on the result so far, till now, up to now
Simple Q: Has he spoken?
 action that is still going on
 action that stopped recently
 finished action that has an influence on the
present
 action that has taken place once, never or
several times before the moment of
speaking
Present A: He has been speaking. all day, for 4 years, since 1993,
Perfect N: He has not been speaking.  putting emphasis on the course or how long?, the whole week
Progressive Q: Has he been speaking? duration (not the result)
 action that recently stopped or is still going
on
 finished action that influenced the present
Past A: He had spoken. already, just, never, not yet,
Perfect N: He had not spoken.  action taking place before a certain time in once, until that day
Simple Q: Had he spoken? the past if sentence type III (If I had
talked, …)
 sometimes interchangeable with past perfect
progressive
 putting emphasis only on the fact (not the
duration)
Past A: He had been speaking. for, since, the whole day, all day
Perfect N: He had not been speaking.  action taking place before a certain time in
Progressive Q: Had he been speaking? the past
 sometimes interchangeable with past perfect
simple

Future I A: He will speak.
Simple N: He will not speak.
Q: Will he speak?
Future I A: He is going to speak.
Simple N: He is not going to speak.
Q: Is he going to speak?
(going to)
Future I A: He will be speaking.
Progressive N: He will not be speaking.
Q: Will he be speaking?
Future II A: He will have spoken.
Simple N: He will not have spoken.
Q: Will he have spoken?
Future II A: He will have been speaking.
Progressive N: He will not have been speaking. 
Q: Will he have been speaking?
Conditional A: He would speak.
I Simple N: He would not speak.
Q: Would he speak?
Conditional A: He would be speaking.
I N: He would not be speaking.
Progressive Q: Would he be speaking?
Conditional A: He would have spoken.
II Simple N: He would not have spoken.
Q: Would he have spoken?
Conditional A: He would have been speaking.
II N: He would not have been
Progressive speaking.
Q: Would he have been speaking?
 putting emphasis on the duration or
course of an action
in a year, next …, tomorrow
 action in the future that cannot be If-Satz Typ I (If you ask her,
influenced she will help you.)
assumption: I think, probably,
 spontaneous decision perhaps
 assumption with regard to the future
in one year, next week,
 decision made for the future tomorrow
 conclusion with regard to the future
in one year, next week,
 action that is going on at a certain time in tomorrow
the future
 action that is sure to happen in the near
future
by Monday, in a week
 action that will be finished at a certain time
in the future
for …, the last couple of hours,
action taking place before a certain time in all day long
the future
 putting emphasis on the course of an action
if sentences type II
 action that might take place (If I were you, I would go home.)
 action that might take place
 putting emphasis on
the course / duration of the action
if sentences type III
 action that might have taken place in the (If I had seen that, I would have
past helped.)
 action that might have taken place in the
past
 puts emphasis on the course / duration of
the action