Signal Words
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Signal words are the signposts of the English tense system: they tell you which tense is likely — if you know how to read them.
Signal words are time expressions such as always, yesterday, already, or tomorrow that indicate which tense an English sentence most likely needs. They are hints, not laws — the meaning of the sentence decides.
Updated: July 2026
B1 · Signal Words · 10 min
A structured ten-slide lesson for B1 learners. Hear signal words in context, get the full map across every core tense, then practise the matching skill in six interactive drills before a final five-question quiz. The whole arc is under ten minutes and nothing requires a signup.
Signal words are small time expressions — always, yesterday, tomorrow, since — that tell you which tense an English sentence most likely needs. They work like road signs: when you read "two years ago," the arrow points firmly at the past simple; "at the moment" points at the present continuous. That makes them an excellent first-aid tool for learners. Instead of re-deriving the whole tense system every time you write a sentence, you can let the time expression narrow the choice down to one or two candidates before you think any further. The right expectation matters from the start, though: signal words are hints, not laws. They tell you which tense is probable, not which tense is guaranteed, and the meaning of the whole sentence always has the final say. This lesson gives you the full map — the core signal words for present, past and future — so that you make the fast, correct call most of the time, and know exactly when to slow down and look at the sentence more closely.
Three present tenses share most of the everyday signal words. The present simple describes habits and routines; its typical companions are always, usually, often, sometimes, never and every day. "We usually invoice at the end of the month" — a fixed business routine. The present continuous describes what is happening right now; its markers are now, at the moment, currently and right now. "She's in a meeting at the moment" — now, not in general. The present perfect connects the past to now; its signals are already, just, yet, ever and never, plus since and for. "We've already sent the invoice" — done, and the result matters now. Notice that never appears on two lists: "I never drink coffee" is a habit in the present simple, while "I've never been to Japan" is life experience in the present perfect. Overlaps like this are exactly why you should check the sentence structure as well as the signal word — the auxiliary have gives the perfect away immediately.
Past simple signal words are the most reliable of the whole system, because they name a finished point in time: yesterday, ago, last week, last year, in 2019, when I was a child. Once a sentence contains a closed time period, the past simple is almost unavoidable — "They signed the contract two weeks ago." For the future, by contrast, you choose between two forms, and the signal words only do half the work. The will-future suits spontaneous decisions, predictions and assumptions; its typical companions are tomorrow, next week and soon, often together with I think, probably and perhaps: "I'll probably call you tomorrow." The going-to future expresses plans and intentions that are already settled: "We're going to launch the new website next month" — the decision has been made. Keep the division of labour straight: tomorrow and next week only tell you the sentence is about the future. Whether will or going to is the better choice depends not on the signal word but on whether a plan already exists in the speaker's head.
German learners usually meet signal words at school — and that is exactly where the danger begins: many treat them as mathematical rules. "See since, tick present perfect" works in plenty of workbook exercises, but not in real language. First, several signal words have two faces: since can mean "from that time until now," where the present perfect is indeed common, but it can also mean "because" — "Since the client was late, we started without him" is perfectly correct past simple. Second, a signal word cannot force a tense when the context says otherwise: this morning can call for the present perfect while it is still morning, and for the past simple once the afternoon has started. Third, learners who lean on signal words alone are lost the moment a sentence contains no time expression at all — which is most sentences. So use signal words the way an experienced driver uses a sat-nav: for orientation, never as a substitute for watching the road. Always add the control question: is the action a habit, in progress, completed, or planned?
A small group of time expressions fits several tenses — and these are precisely the words behind most mistakes in tests and emails. This week, this month, today and this year describe periods that are not yet finished. That is why they can appear with the present perfect ("I've had three meetings this week" — the week is still running), with the present continuous ("I'm working from home this week" — a temporary situation), and even with the past simple when the individual event inside the week is already over ("I met the new director this week"). Recently also swings between present perfect and past simple, depending on whether the result or the event itself is in focus. And durations with for work across several tenses too: "I've worked here for two years" (I still work here) versus "I worked there for two years" (that time is over). For these words, one simple rule of thumb applies: the signal word only fixes the time period. Whether the action inside that period is finished or still going on is something you must read from the context — and only then choose the tense.
In business English, signal words often carry more meaning than the tense itself, because they communicate commitment and urgency. "We usually reply within 24 hours" states a service standard; "We're currently reviewing your proposal" signals work in progress; "We've already transferred the payment" politely closes a payment reminder; "I'll get back to you tomorrow" is a promise with a date attached. Place your signal words precisely and you come across as organised and reliable — combine them wrongly and you confuse people: "We have already sent the invoice yesterday" mixes two time zones in a single sentence. For emails, a short checking routine therefore pays off on every sentence with a time reference. Does it contain a finished point in time (last Friday, two weeks ago)? Past simple. Is it about a standard or rhythm (always, every quarter)? Present simple. Is the work happening right now (at the moment, currently)? Present continuous. Is something done and relevant now (already, just)? Present perfect. These four questions cover almost every business email — and the signal words usually hand you the answer for free.
No — and that is the single most important point of this lesson. Signal words show you the most likely tense, but the meaning of the sentence decides. "Since" often appears with the present perfect, yet it sometimes means "because" and then fits any tense. "This week" can take the present perfect, the present continuous, or the past simple depending on context. Treat signal words like signposts: they show the direction, but you still have to do the driving.
Because two signals are working against each other: the present perfect ties an action to now, but "last week" names a closed period in the past. Finished-time markers — yesterday, ago, last week, in 2019 — call for the past simple in English: "We visited the client last week." This exact conflict is one of the most common tense mistakes among German learners, because the German Perfekt ("Wir haben den Kunden letzte Woche besucht") happily does both jobs.
"This week" only names the time period, not the state of the action inside it. The week is still running, so the present perfect fits a running total ("I've had three meetings this week"). A temporary situation inside the week takes the present continuous ("I'm working from home this week"). And a single event inside the week that is already over takes the past simple ("I met the new director this week"). The signal word opens three doors here — which one you walk through is decided by context.
Almost, with one important exception: already, just, and yet. In British English these three words normally call for the present perfect ("I've already eaten"), while American English often pairs them with the past simple ("I already ate"). Both are understood worldwide, but exam boards generally treat the British pattern as the standard. If you are learning for an exam or for European business communication, the British mapping is the safe choice.
This overview assumes you already know the individual tenses. If the present simple (*present-simple*, A2) or the past simple (*past-simple*, A2) still feels shaky, start there — matching signal words only makes sense once you can build the forms themselves. After this lesson, *signal-words-present-perfect* (A2) is the natural next step: a deep dive into the trickiest group of all, namely already, just, yet, since and for.
In spoken German, the Perfekt covers almost the whole past ("Ich habe gestern angerufen"), and time adverbs do the fine-tuning. English distributes the work differently: the tense itself encodes whether something is a habit, in progress, completed, or still relevant — and the signal words make that choice visible. That is why English tenses feel over-engineered to German speakers at first, when they are really a precision tool: an English sentence often reveals how an action sits in time without any time adverb at all.
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