Tenses and article (1)

tense
Affirmative/ Negative /Question
Use
Signal Words
Simple Present
A: He speaks.
N: He does not speak .
Q: Does he speak ?

• action in the present taking place once , never or several times
  
• facts
  
• actions taking place one after another
  
• action set by a timetable or schedule
  

always, every …, never, normally, often, seldom, sometimes, usually
if sentences type I (If I talk , …)
Present Progressive
A: He is speaking.
N: He is not speaking.
Q: Is he speaking?

• action taking place in the moment of speaking
  
• action taking place only for a limited period of time
  
• action arranged for the future
  

at the moment, just, just now, Listen !, Look !, now, right now
Simple Past
A: He spoke.
N: He did not speak.
Q: Did he speak?

• action in the past taking place once, never or several times
  
• actions taking place one after another
  
• action taking place in the middle of another action
  

yesterday , 2 minutes ago, in 1990, the other day, last Friday
if sentence type II (If I talked , …)
Past Progressive
A: He was speaking.
N: He was not speaking.
Q: Was he speaking?

• action going on at a certain time in the past
  
• actions taking place at the same time
  
• action in the past that is interrupted by another action
  

when, while , as long as
Present Perfect Simple
A: He has spoken.
N: He has not spoken.
Q: Has he spoken?

• putting emphasis on the result
  
• 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
  

already , ever, just, never, not yet, so far, till now, up to now
Present Perfect Progressive
A: He has been speaking.
N: He has not been speaking.
Q: Has he been speaking?

• putting emphasis on the course or duration (not the result)
  
• action that recently stopped or is still going on
  
• finished action that influenced the present
  

all day, for 4 years , since 1993, how long?, the whole week
Past Perfect Simple
A: He had spoken.
N: He had not spoken.
Q: Had he spoken?

• action taking place before a certain time in the past
  
• sometimes interchangeable with past perfect progressive
  
• putting emphasis only on the fact (not the duration)
  

already, just, never, not yet, once, until that day
if sentence type III (If I had talked, …)
Past Perfect Progressive
A: He had been speaking.
N: He had not been speaking.
Q: Had he been speaking?

• action taking place before a certain time in the past
  
• sometimes interchangeable with past perfect simple
  
• putting emphasis on the duration or course of an action
  

for, since, the whole day, all day
Future I Simple
A: He will speak.
N: He will not speak.
Q: Will he speak?

• action in the future that cannot be influenced
  
• spontaneous decision
  
• assumption with regard to the future
  

in a year , next …, tomorrow
If-Satz Typ I (If you ask her, she will help you.)
assumption: I think, probably, we might …, perhaps
Future I Simple
(going to)
A: He is going to speak.
N: He is not going to speak.
Q: Is he going to speak?

• decision made for the future
  
• conclusion with regard to the future
  

in one year, next week, tomorrow
Future I Progressive
A: He will be speaking.
N: He will not be speaking.
Q: Will he be speaking?

• action that is going on at a certain time in the future
  
• action that is sure to happen in the near future
  

in one year, next week, tomorrow
Future II Simple
A: He will have spoken.
N: He will not have spoken.
Q: Will he have spoken?

• action that will be finished at a certain time in the future
  

by Monday , in a week
Future II Progressive
A: He will have been speaking.
N: He will not have been speaking.
Q: Will he have been speaking?

• action taking place before a certain time in the future
  
• putting emphasis on the course of an action
  

for …, the last couple of hours , all day long
Conditional I Simple
A: He would speak.
N: He would not speak.
Q: Would he speak?

• action that might take place
  

if sentences type II
(If I were you, I would go home.)
Conditional I Progressive
A: He would be speaking.
N: He would not be speaking.
Q: Would he be speaking?

• action that might take place
  
• putting emphasis on the course / duration of the action
  

 
Conditional II Simple
A: He would have spoken.
N: He would not have spoken.
Q: Would he have spoken?

• action that might have taken place in the past
  

if sentences type III
(If I had seen that, I would have helped.)
Conditional II Progressive
A: He would have been speaking.
N: He would not have been speaking.
Q: Would he have been speaking?

• action that might have taken place in the past
  
• puts emphasis on the course / duration of the action
  

You use the when you know that the listener knows or can work out what particular person / thing you are talking about.
For example:
"The apple you ate was rotten."
"Did you lock the car?"
You should also use the when you have already mentioned the thing you are talking about.
For example:
"She's got two children ; a girl and a boy. The girl's eight and the boy's fourteen ."
We use the to talk about geographical points on the globe .
For example:
the North Pole, the equator
We use the to talk about rivers , oceans and seas
For example:
the Nile, the Pacific , the English channel
We also use the before certain nouns when we know there is only one of a particular thing.
For example:
the rain, the sun, the wind, the world, the earth, the White House etc..
However if you want to describe a particular instance of these you should use a/an.
For example:
"I could hear the wind." / "There's a cold wind blowing."
"What are your plans for the future?" / "She has a promising future ahead of her."
The is also used to say that a particular person or thing being mentioned is the best , most famous , etc. In this use, 'the' is usually given strong pronunciation:
For example:
" Harry 's Bar is the place to go."
"You don't mean you met the Tony Blair, do you?"
! Note - The doesn't mean all:-
For example:
"The books are expensive ." = (Not all books are expensive, just the ones I'm talking about.)
"Books are expensive." = (All books are expensive.)
No article
We usually use no article to talk about things in general:-
 
Inflation is rising.
People are worried about rising crime. (Note! People generally, so no article)
You do not use an article when talking about sports .
For example:
My son plays football.
Tennis is expensive.
You do not use an article before uncountable nouns when talking about them generally.
For example:
Information is important to any organisation .
Coffee is bad for you.
You do not use an article before the names of countries except where they indicate multiple areas or contain the words (state(s), kindom, republic , union). Kingdom, state, republic and union are nouns, so they need an article.
For example:
No article - Italy, Mexico , Bolivia, England
Use the - the UK (United Kingdom), the USA (United States of America), the Irish Republic
Multiple areas! the Netherlands , the Philippines , the British Isles