Present or Present Simple

Signal words	Use	Form	Examples affirmative	Examples negative	Examples interrogative
every day sometimes always often usually seldom never first ... then	something happens repeatedly how often something happens one action follows another things in general after the following verbs (to love, to hate, to think, etc.) future meaning: timetables, programmes	infinitive he/she/it + -s	I work.	I don't work.	Do I work?
			He works.	He doesn't work.	Does he work?
			I go.	I don't go.	Do I go?
			He goes.	He doesn't go.	Does he go?

Past Progressive or Past Continuous

Signal words	Use	Form	Examples affirmative	Examples negative	Examples interrogative
while	an action happened in the middle of another action someone was doing sth. at a certain time (in the past) - you do not know whether it was finished or not	was/were + infinitive + -ing	I was working.	I wasn't working.	Was I working?
			He was working.	He wasn't working.	Was he working?
			I was going.	I wasn't going.	Was I going?
			He was going.	He wasn't going.	Was he going?

Simple Past or Past Simple

Signal words	Use	Form	Examples affirmative	Examples negative	Examples interrogative
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.	I didn't work.	Did I work?
			He worked.	He didn't work.	Did he work?
			I went.	I didn't go.	Did I go?
			He went.	He didn't go.	Did he go?