TOEIC Link Verb Tenses Mastery — The 12-Tense Matrix, Tense Shifts, Signal Words, and Six Common Part 5 / 6 Traps

The 12-tense matrix

English verb tense is best organized as a 3 × 4 matrix: time axis (present / past / future) × aspect axis (simple / progressive / perfect / perfect progressive). All 12 tenses appear on TOEIC Link, but frequency is heavily skewed: present simple, past simple, present perfect, present progressive, past perfect, future progressive, and future perfect together account for ~80% of tense questions. The remaining five (past progressive, past perfect progressive, present perfect progressive, future simple = will + V, future perfect progressive) appear at a rate of 1-2 per week.

The time axis defines "when": present = at the time of speaking, past = a specific point before now, future = a point after now. The aspect axis defines "how the action is viewed at that point": simple = complete or habitual, progressive = ongoing at that point, perfect = completed by or relevant to that point, perfect progressive = continuous activity from earlier.

Present simple expresses habits, general truths, schedules, or states. "He works at Sony" (habit / occupation), "Water boils at 100℃" (general truth), "The train leaves at 9 AM" (fixed schedule). Common Part 5 signal words: usually / often / always / every day / on Mondays.

Past simple expresses a complete event at a specific past moment. "I met him yesterday" / "She graduated in 2020" / "We launched the product last quarter." Signal words: yesterday / last week / in 2020 / two years ago / at 3 PM. Specific past moments require past simple (met), not present perfect (have met).

Present perfect (have/has + past participle) expresses a past event with present relevance, an ongoing duration up to now, or experience. "I have lived here for 10 years" (ongoing duration), "He has finished the report" (completed with present result), "They have visited Japan three times" (experience). Signal words: for / since / already / yet / ever / never / so far / up to now. Incompatible with specific past moments (yesterday / last year).

Present progressive (am/is/are + V-ing) expresses an ongoing action at the time of speaking, a temporary state, or a near-future fixed plan. "He is writing a report" / "I am staying at this hotel this week" / "We are meeting them tomorrow at 10 AM." Signal words: now / right now / at the moment / currently / this week / tomorrow (for fixed plans). Stative verbs (know / belong / contain / consist) generally do not take progressive form.

Past perfect (had + past participle) expresses an event completed before another past event. "By the time I arrived, the meeting had already started" / "She had worked there for 5 years before the merger." Frequently paired with by the time / before / when subordinate clauses to mark sequence between two past events.

Future progressive (will + be + V-ing) expresses an action in progress at a specified future moment. "At 3 PM tomorrow, I will be giving the presentation" / "Next month at this time, we will be moving offices." Signal words: at + future time / next week at this time / by then.

Future perfect (will + have + past participle) expresses an action completed by a specified future moment. "By next year, we will have completed the migration" / "By the end of Q3, the team will have shipped the next release." Signal words: by + future point / before + future point. Common in Part 6 longer texts.

• 12 tenses = time (present / past / future) × aspect (simple / progressive / perfect / perfect progressive)
• Top 7 tenses cover ~80% of TOEIC Link tense questions
• Present perfect is incompatible with specific past moments (yesterday / last year)
• Stative verbs (know / belong / contain) do not take progressive
• by + future point → future perfect / by the time + past → past perfect

Signal-word system for tense decisions

Tense questions cannot be solved by the verb form alone — you decide based on signal words in the sentence. Signal words fall into four groups: (a) specific-past group (yesterday / last week / two days ago / in 2020 / when I was a child), (b) present-perfect group (for / since / already / yet / ever / never / so far / up to now / recently / lately), (c) progressive group (now / right now / at the moment / currently / these days), (d) future-perfect group (by next year / by the end of Q3 / before next quarter).

For vs since is a frequent distinction in present perfect / present perfect progressive. For expresses duration: for three years / for a long time / for 6 months. Since expresses a starting point: since 2018 / since last quarter / since the merger. "I have worked here for 5 years" and "I have worked here since 2020" can be equivalent in meaning, but the signal word changes which preposition follows.

Already / yet / just are present-perfect signal words with polarity differences. Already → affirmative; yet → questions / negatives; just → very recent completion. "He has already finished" (affirmative) / "Has he finished yet?" (question) / "He has just arrived" (just-completed). On Part 5, when tense + signal-word combinations appear, always check polarity.

Subordinate-clause conjunctions (when / while / as soon as / by the time / before / after) determine the relationship between main-clause and subordinate-clause tenses. "By the time he arrived, we had finished" (past perfect + past simple), "After we had reviewed the data, we made the decision" (past perfect + past simple), "As soon as the meeting starts, please mute" (present simple + imperative; future replacement).

Will and "be going to" both express future, with nuance differences. Will = decided at the moment of speaking, objective prediction, offer, promise. "Be going to" = pre-existing plan, prediction from current evidence. "I am going to study abroad next year" / "Look at those clouds — it is going to rain" use "be going to." Part 5 rarely contrasts these two directly, but Part 7 reading texts often use the distinction.

• Specific-past group (yesterday / last week / in 2020) → past simple
• Present-perfect group (for / since / already / yet / ever / never) → present perfect
• Progressive group (now / currently / these days) → present progressive
• Future-perfect group (by + future point) → future perfect
• For = duration / since = starting point
• Will = decided now / be going to = pre-existing plan

Tense shift between main and subordinate clauses

When the main clause is past, the subordinate clause shifts back one step in tense. "He says he is tired" → "He said he was tired" (present → past), "He says he has finished" → "He said he had finished" (present perfect → past perfect), "He says he will come" → "He said he would come" (will → would). This rule is called "sequence of tenses."

Exceptions to tense shift include general truths, unchanging facts, and currently-true conditions. "Galileo proved that the Earth revolves around the Sun" (revolves stays present, unchanging truth), "He told me that he lives in Tokyo" (if he still lives there, lives can stay present). On Part 5 / 6, these exceptions are rare; default to one-step backshift.

Reported speech also requires shifts in personal pronouns, demonstratives, and time adverbs. "He said, 'I will come tomorrow'" → "He said he would come the next day" (I → he, will → would, tomorrow → the next day). Part 5 has limited reported speech, but Part 7 reports and minutes use it heavily.

In adverbial clauses introduced by if / unless / when / before / after, the future is expressed by present simple, not by will. "If it rains tomorrow, we will cancel" (rains, not will rain), "When she arrives, please notify me" (arrives, not will arrive), "Before we launch, we need to test" (launch, present simple). On Part 5, when an adverbial clause has will + V vs V-s as choices, V-s is correct.

Wish / If only express counterfactual desires with backshift. "I wish I had more time" (current desire, past form had = subjunctive past), "I wish I had studied harder" (past regret, past perfect had studied = subjunctive past perfect).

• Main clause past → subordinate clause one-step back (was / had + p.p. / would)
• General truths / unchanging facts stay present (revolves)
• Reported speech: tense + person + demonstrative + time adverb all shift
• Adverbial clauses (if / when / before / after) → no will, present simple
• Wish / if only: current desire → past form / past regret → past perfect

Six common Part 5 / 6 traps

*Trap 1: Confusing present perfect with past simple*. "I ___ him yesterday" → met (yesterday is a specific past moment → past simple). "I have met him yesterday" is incorrect. Conversely, "I ___ him for 10 years" → have known (ongoing → present perfect / present perfect progressive). Decide by signal words.

*Trap 2: Wrong tense after "by + time"*. "By 2030, technology ___ many jobs" → will have replaced (future perfect). Replaces / is replacing / replaced are wrong. "By the time he arrived, we ___" → had finished (past perfect). After "by," future point → future perfect; past point → past perfect.

*Trap 3: Will misuse in adverbial clauses*. "If it ___ tomorrow, we will cancel" → rains (not will rain). "When she ___ here, please notify me" → arrives (not will arrive). After if / when / before / after / as soon as / unless, never use will.

*Trap 4: Stative-verb progressive misuse*. "I ___ Tokyo well" → know (knowing is wrong, stative). "This box ___ chocolates" → contains (containing is wrong). "He ___ a Japanese passport" → has (own meaning, stative; "have lunch" = action, can take progressive). Stative verbs (know / belong / contain / consist / own) generally do not take progressive form.

*Trap 5: Forgetting tense backshift*. "He said that he ___ tired" → was (main clause past → subordinate also past, is is wrong). "She told me that she ___ the report" → had finished (main clause past + completed meaning → past perfect, has finished is wrong). Backshift one step in reported speech.

*Trap 6: Progressive vs simple meaning difference*. "I work at Sony" (present simple = occupation / permanent), "I am working at Sony" (present progressive = temporary / time-bounded). On Part 5, if the context implies "secondment" or "temporarily," use present progressive; for stable occupation, present simple. "Lately I ___ early these days" → have been getting up (recent ongoing → present perfect progressive).

Tense awareness in Listening / Reading

In Listening Part 3, tense signal words determine the conversation's timeline. "I have just finished" (just-completed) and "I will finish soon" (future) lead to different answers for "What is the speaker doing now?" Reflexive recognition of signal words boosts accuracy.

In Listening Part 4 announcements / reports, mixing present perfect ("we have launched") and future ("we will launch") signals time order. Catching the verb form at the start of each sentence clarifies what has happened vs what will happen.

In Reading Part 6 cloze passages, signal words (since / by / next quarter / last year) around the blank uniquely determine the verb tense. When multiple tenses appear as choices, marking signal words with a highlighter boosts accuracy.

In Reading Part 7 emails / reports, past perfect (had + p.p.) marks events earlier than another past event. Sorting events along a timeline clarifies "What happened first?" answers.

EnglishBlitz Reading drills test tense in business documents (minutes, periodic reports, quarterly summaries) with signal-word-rich settings, building tense intuition for live exam contexts.

• Part 3: tense signal words decide "now vs just-completed vs upcoming"
• Part 4: tense mixes in announcements track timeline
• Part 6: signal words around the blank uniquely determine tense
• Part 7: past perfect marks "earlier than past event"
• EnglishBlitz drills: business-document tense practice

12-tense matrix

* Top 7 high-frequency tenses on TOEIC Link = present simple / past simple / present perfect / present progressive / past perfect / future progressive / future perfect

Frequently Asked Questions