Vaak zit er woord in de zin dat aangeeft dat het gaat om het verleden, dit noemen we een signaalwoord
 talk: I talk
ed to Jim 
this morning.
 watch: We watched the match yesterday.
play: She played with her brother last evening.
 walk: Last week, they walked towards the forest.
laugh: This afternoon, I laughed so loud that everybody could hear it.