Transcript for:
Comprehensive Guide to English Tenses

Hello and welcome back to Pronunciation with  Emma or welcome if you're brand new to my channel   today's video is going to be very different  because you're going to learn about English   grammar more specifically you're going to learn  how to use all the tenses in English from Level   A1 to B2 to talk about the past present and  future correctly in English I will be using   the Cambridge English grammar in use ebook by  Raymond Murphy to teach you all all the tenses   today this is the world's bestselling grammar  book and is perfect if you're self-studying   and you want to learn and improve your English  grammar with the new interactive ebook version   of English grammar in use you can complete the  activities check your answers instantly make   notes and highlight important information and  listen to recordings so you can improve your   listening and pronunciation at the same time  which is why I love this new ebook version   you can also take it with you on the go so you  can practice at any time on your device just for   watching this lesson today I want to give you a  special gift you can get 25% off the Cambridge   English grammar in use ebook when you use the code  GIUSAVE25 GIUSAVE25 to get your own copy of the   ebook just click the link in the description and  remember to use the code GIUSAVE25 to get your   25% off once you have purchased your ebook you can  start using it straight away no waiting around for   deliveries now let's start with today's English  grammar lesson to help you practice and improve   your English grammar even faster I have created a  pdf version of today's lesson notes and activities   for you to download completely for free the free  pdf contain all of today's lesson notes summarised   for you all of the activities as well as some  additional pronunciation tips because of course   it's important to focus on your pronunciation too  and I am pronunciation with Emma so to download   your free pdf just click the link Down Below in  the description so today you're going to learn 10   different tenses and ways to talk about the past  present and future more accurately in English you   can use the timestamps down at the bottom of the  video or in the description to choose the tense   that you want to focus on or you can just watch  the whole lesson at the end of every unit there   is a little test for you to practice and see how  much you've learned are you ready let's go let's   start with the present continuous take a look  at this example here Sarah is in her car she   is on her way to work she is driving to work this  means that Sarah is driving right now at the time   of speaking the action has not finished to create  the present continuous start with the subject for   example I you she he it and so on then you add  the conjugated form of to be for example I am you   are he she it is ETC we call this type of verb an  auxiliary verb this is because the verb be like I   am you are Etc in this case in this specific tense  it's not actually the action it's not actually the   verb this verb B is going to help us construct  the tense so now we have the subject we have the   auxiliary verb be after that we add the ing form  of the verb this particular ing form is called the   gerund in English but to keep things very simple  and to not use too many technical terms I'm just   going to call it the ing form so to create the ing  form or the gerund form of the verb you just take   the normal verb and you add ing to the end of  it so work becomes working do becomes doing and   drive becomes driving if the verb ends with an e  for example like in drive as we saw in our first   sentence you remove the E and then you add in so  it becomes driving the same happens with write   you remove the E and then you add in to create  writing to sound more natural in English you can   combine the subject and our auxiliary verb to be  together so I am becomes I'm you are becomes your   she is becomes she's Etc using contractions will  make you sound much more natural so get used to   using them and hearing them because you will hear  them a lot so now you know how to use the present   continuous to talk about an action happening  right now at the time of speaking but you can   also use the present continuous to talk about an  action that's in progress and hasn't finished yet   let me give you an example I'm reading a really  good book right now I'm not reading the book now   in this moment it's not in my hand off camera  it's not happening now but I started reading   the book and the action of reading that book  continues I haven't finished reading the book   I am still continuing to read the book so we can  use the present continuous to talk about actions   that haven't finished yet we are still in the  middle of that action I'm still in the middle   of reading my book to make the negative form all  you need to do is add not after the auxiliary verb   be so I am not reading a book or I'm not reading  a book Let's now do some activities to help you   practice the present continuous take a look at  these pictures and tell me what's happening use   the verb above the picture to help you construct  the sentence pause the video if you feel you need   a bit more time so for number one you can say  she is taking a picture she's taking a picture   or you can use the contracted form she's taking  a picture for the second one you can say they   are crossing the road they are crossing the road  or the contracted form they're crossing the road   now we're going to look at the present simple look  at this example Alex works as a nurse he drives to   work every day we use the present simple tense to  talk about things in general like facts or we use   it to talk about routines and habits Alex works  as a nurse is a fact it's something constant it's   something general it's true and he drives to work  every day is a habit it's a routine to make the   present simple tense for regular verbs all  you need to do is take the infinitive form   of the word for example to work and you remove  to so you're left with What's called the bare   infinitive once you're left with that all you  need to do is just conjugate it for he she it   this is very simple a lot of the time you just add  an S so you have I work you work he she it works   they work we work and that's it you only conjugate  he she it in English when you're talking about the   present simple let's try another one for example  to drive what do we do we remove to so we're left   with drive then we only conjugate the third  person so he she it and what do we add to the   end an S so we say I drive you drive he she it  drives we drive they drive remember he she it is   the only one that changes to make the negative  form of the present simple all you need to do   is add do not or does not for he she it and you  add that after the subject so I do not drive she   does not drive you only need to conjugate do in  this case so you don't need to say she does not   drives that's a really common mistake you only  conjugate does he does not drive she does not   drive again if you want to sound more natural  then make sure you use the contracted form I   don't drive she doesn't drive so let's practice  the present simple with some activities complete   these sentences using the following verbs  and pause the video if you feel you need more time number one I speak English and French number  two John and Jane do not go to the same school or   John and Jane don't go to the same school number  three the shop closes at 6:00 p.m. so it's the   only one that changes the shop Clos closes because  it's a singular here we're treating it like it so   he she it closes the shop closes so remember  to add that s now let's compare the present   continuous and the present simple so you use the  present continuous to talk about things that are   happening at or around the time of speaking or  when an action started in the past and it isn't   complete yet you use the present simple to talk  about more General things like facts or to talk   about things that happen repeatedly like habits  or routines here are some examples to show you the   difference I'm filming a video right now which  is true I'm in this moment and telling you I'm   filming a video right now I'm talking about an  action as I am doing that action but I film a   video video every week is a routine it's something  repeated here are now some exercises to help you   practice the difference between present simple  and present continuous look at the underlined   verb and decide whether it's correct or not if  it's not correct then I'd like you to correct   it feel free to pause the video if you need  more time number one John is looking for a job this sentence is correct because  the action is not complete yet it's   still happening he is still looking for a  job number two water is boiling at 100°C   this is incorrect and the reason for  this is because it's a fact so water   boils at 100° C and number three the last  one she is walking her dog every every day this one is not correct because it's a  routine every day we need to use the present   simple she walks her dog every day now let's move  on to some past tenses and ways that you can talk   about past actions take a look at this sentence  I went to a party last week this is an example   of the past simple we use the past simple to talk  about actions which started and finished in the   past as we know that the party happened last  week it's definitely finished the party is not   continuing now it finished last week so we know  to use the past simple to create the past simple   tense in English with regular verbs all you need  to do is add Eed D to the end of the verb so the   verb work becomes worked want becomes wanted and  so on if the verb ends with a Y you change the   Y into an i and then add Eed for example study  becomes studied there are three possible ways   to pronounce the Ed endings in English and if  you'd like a full lesson to know when and how   to pronounce those Ed endings then check out my  video on that I will leave it linked Down Below   in the description I have also included a little  summary in the downloadable PDF lesson notes so   you can practice your pronunciation there  as well keep in mind that there are lots of   irregular verbs in English which don't follow  this Ed ending rule for example write doesn't   become writed it becomes wrote C is not seed  it's saw go is not goed it's went and run is   not runed or runed which I hear a lot it's ran  so keep an eye out for irregular verbs in English   because there are many when you want to use the  negative form all you need to do is add did not   after the subject so yesterday I went to the  park in the negative form it becomes yesterday   I did not go to the park it's a really really  common mistake for Learners to say yesterday I   did not went you don't need to conjugate that  main verb all you need to do is say did and   that's it so yesterday I did not go to the park  let's now practice the past simple with some   exercises let's read what Laura is saying here  as you'll see it's all in the present tense but   listen carefully because I'm going to ask you some  questions after we finished reading I usually get   up at 7:00 and have a big breakfast I walk to  work which takes me about half an hour I start   work at 8:45 I never have lunch I finish work at  5:00 I'm always tired when I get home I usually   cook a meal in the evening I don't usually go out  I go to bed at about 11:00 and I always sleep well   now let's mention we're talking about Laura's day  but in the past number one what time did Laura get   up Laura got up at 7:00 got is the past simple  of get it is irregular number two did Laura eat lunch no Laura did not eat lunch or she  didn't eat lunch remember we don't say   did not ate we don't need to put the main  verb into the past as well because did is   already telling us that it happened in the  past number three what time did Laura go to bed Laura went to bed at 11:00 went is the  past tense of go go is an irregular verb in   English now let's look at the past continuous  the structure for the past continuous is really   similar to the present continuous so if you  remember the present continuous is the subject   then the verb to be which is our auxiliary verb  our helping verb and then the ing form of the   verb the main verb for example I am doing all we  need to do for the past continuous is just change   the verb to be into the past so I was doing I  am doing I was doing that's very simple to do   so remember that the verb to be is irregular so I  am doing you are doing he she it is doing becomes   I was doing you were doing he she it was doing  here's another example for you this time last   year he was living in London here we use the past  continuous he was living in London because the   action happened for a long period of time in  the past here's another example at 9:00 a.m.   I started playing tennis at 1100 a.m. I finished  playing tennis at 10:00 a.m. I was playing tennis   here I'm using the past continuous with I was  playing tennis because I was in the middle of   doing a longer action in the past you can also  use the past simple and the past continuous   together to talk about how a longer action  was interrupted by another action for example   I was taking a shower when you called me so  I was in the middle of doing a longer action   when you interrupted that action now let's  practice with some activities take a look   at this task here I'd like you to fill in  the gaps pause the video if you need more time I saw Sarah in town yesterday but she didn't  see me she was looking in the other direction   so with the first sentence I saw Sarah it happened  in the past it was an action that finished in the   past but she didn't see me again this is one  action that happened in the past and finished   in the past but we use she was looking in the  other direction because this action happened for   a longer period of time she was doing the action  of looking in the other direction when I saw   her so she didn't see me those two little  actions happened while she was looking in   the other direction next we have the present  perfect in English we use the present perfect to   talk about experiences that happened in the past  with no specific time given to them to create this   tense you have the subject for example I and then  you have the auxiliary verb have this only con   Ates with he she it like our other verbs and  it becomes he she it has then you use What's   called the past participle of the verb the past  participle is usually formed by adding Ed to the   end of the verb so a verb like walk becomes  walked just like we looked at with the past   simple so in the present perfect this becomes I  have walked I have walked you can also contract   the subject and the auxiliary verb have and just  say I've walked again you can do that with all   the different subjects so you have walked becomes  you've walked she he it has walked so bear in mind   that that has changes there has walked so she's  walked he's walked it's walked we'd walked and   they'd walked walked a lot of irregular verbs  in English tend to have e n at the end of the   past participle so write becomes wrote in the past  simple but written in the past participle the same   with take took and taken or eat ate and eaten so  let's take a look at an example of when we use the   present perfect to talk about experiences take  a look at this example I have been to Japan do   you know when I went to Japan no we don't know  when I went to Japan all that matters here is   the experience it's the action that's all that's  important with the present perfect you can also   use the present perfect to talk about actions  which started in the past but they continue to   happen in the present or there is a connection  to the present for example I have lost my keys   this means that I lost my keys in the past and  they are still lost now because with the present   perfect there is a connection to the present if  you say I lost my keys with the present simple   it's not clear whether you found your keys  or not they could still be lost or maybe you   found them but with the present perfect when  you say I have lost my keys it implies that   the keys are still lost to make the negative form  of the present perfect just add not after have or   has so I have not lost my keys she has not lost  her keys let's now practice with some exercises   using the words in the brackets I'd like you to  fill the gaps for example we have he a horse he   has ridden a horse ridden is the past participle  of ride ride Rod ridden it's irregular now I'd   like you to try with these three sentences  here using the verb in the brackets I'd like   you to fill the Gap with the present perfect  pause the video if you feel you need more time number one irregular verb eaten she has  not eaten all the bread or she hasn't eaten   all the bread number two I have met her before  or I've met her before number three he has not   finished his homework or he hasn't finished his  homework now let's move on to the present perfect   continuous we use the present perfect continuous  to talk about an action which started in the past   and it continues to happen up to the present  time this is formed in a very similar way to   the present perfect tense the only difference is  just adding a little bit extra so we start with   the subject and then have or has like we looked at  before I have or you have he she it has remember   the third person always changes then you add been  so I've been you've been he she it has been Etc   then you add the ing form of the verb remember  we looked at this with the continuous verbs like   I am doing here we can say I have been doing  I have been doing you have been doing he she   it has been doing and remember you only need  to conjugate the auxiliary verb have so I have   have you have he she it has has is the only  one you need to think about conjugating here   so here's an example a real example I have  been recording this video for over 3 hours   it's true so I've been recording this video for  over 3 hours so I'm using the present perfect   tense here because I'm talking about an action  which started in the past and it's continuing   to happen in the present you can also use it for  actions which have only recently stopped but there   is a connection somehow to the present I'll give  you some examples example number one I have been   living in Spain for 2 years the action started 2  years ago and it continues to happen now in the   present with the second example I'd like you to  imagine that you're looking outside your window   you you see that the sky is now clear but before  it was raining and it only stopped raining about 5   minutes ago you can say it has been raining now  this time we're talking about an action which   started in the past and only recently finished so  with the present perfect continuous you can use   it to talk about actions which started in the past  and only recently finished now let's practice with   some examples I'm going to read some sentences  to give you context but I'd like you to fill the   gaps pause if you need more time number one it is  snowing it started snowing 3 hours ago it for 3 hours it has been snowing for 3 hours  number two I am learning Spanish   I started learning Spanish  10 years ago I Spanish for 10 years I have been learning Spanish for 10 years  number three I started cleaning my office this   morning I finished just before I started  recording this video I my office all morning I have been cleaning my office all morning now  let's look at the past perfect we use the past   perfect when we want to say that one action  happened before another action for example   Sarah had finished her homework before she  ate dinner she had finished her homework   first and then the second action was she ate  dinner here's another example I had eaten   before you arrived so I had eaten was the first  action then after that you arrived as you can   see the structure of the past perfect is really  similar to the present perfect remember with the   present perfect we used I have eaten but with the  past perfect you just put have into the past I had   eaten you had eaten she he it had eaten to sound  more natural you can contract and you can say I'd   done you'd done we'd done she'd done he'd done  Etc to make it negative you just add not after   had so I had cleaned becomes I had not cleaned or  to sound more natural you can squish those words   together and contract them and say I hadn't  cleaned now let's practice with some example   sentences as always you can pause to give yourself  extra time number one the performance before we arrived the performance had started before we  arrived number two he the door before he went to bed he had locked the door before he went to bed  number three I my suitcase before I left for the airport I had packed my suitcase before I left  for the airport now let's move on to the next   tense I'm going to read an example sentence  pay attention yesterday I got home from work   extremely tired I had been working hard all  day this is the past perfect continuous you   use the past perfect continuous to emphasize  the duration of an action so if you think of   past perfect as just being one complete action  past perfect continuous is a longer action and   you're emphasizing that that action happened for  a long time and it happened before another action   happened so in our example sentence I had been  working all day I'm emphasizing the fact I had   been working for a long time all day and then I  got home so that second inter interaction that   second action is I got home here's another example  I had been painting the house before you arrived   I had been painting for a long time and then you  arrived so by using the past perfect continuous   I'm emphasizing the duration of the action to  create the structure for the past perfect Contin   it's very easy because nothing really changes you  don't need to conjugate anything you just start   with the subject then had been and then the ing  form of the verb for example I had been waiting   in a full sentence I had been waiting for half an  hour when the boss finally arrived so I had been   waiting for half an hour when the boss finally  arrived you can also use use the past perfect   continuous to talk about cause and effect for  example she was out of breath because she had   been running remember to sound more natural you  can contract the subject and had together so you   can say I'd been doing you'd been doing she'd  been doing he'd been doing it had been doing   we'd been doing and so on and to make it negative  you just add not in between had and been so I had   not been doing she had not been doing you had  not been doing or you can contract and you can   say hadn't so you contract had and not this time I  hadn't been doing you hadn't been doing she hadn't   been doing Etc now it's time to practice your  grammar with some more exercises remember pause   the video if you need more time number one we V  dear games all afternoon before our mom told us to stop we had been playing or we'd  been playing notice as well that   when I say this very quickly I don't say  had been playing I say had been had been   playing so keep that in mind for your  pronunciation and it will also help   you with your listening skills number two  Phil was very tired when he got home he all day he had been working all day or  he'd been working all day number   three the bus was extremely late  everyone for the bus for over an hour everyone had been waiting for the bus   for over an hour number four Maria  failed her exam she very hard all summer she hadn't been studying very hard  all summer now it's time to talk about the   future when you decide in the present moment to do  something in the future you use will conjugating   will is very easy because it doesn't change  so we say I will do so you add the verb after   you will do she will do he will do it will  do we will do they will do it's very easy   you don't need to change anything to sound  more natural you can contract the subject   and will I'll do you'll do she'll do Etc now  let's imagine this for a moment you walk into   a room and you see that the window is open  someone has left the window open so you say   oh I'll close the window I'll close the window  you use will in this case because you're setting   the intention now you can also use will when you  want to offer to do something for example that box   looks heavy I'll help you you can also use will  when you agree to do something for example I'll   give you this book the next time I see you and  finally you can use will to make promises for   example I'll send you the document later to make  will into the negative you just add not after it   so I will not send you the document if you want to  sound more natural then you just contract will and   not together and create won't so I won't send you  the document later you can also use won't when you   want to say that someone or something refuses to  do something so it sounds very very strong like   a strong refusal for example the pen won't work  or imagine you can't close the window you can say   the window won't close it's like it's refusing to  close let's say when we talk about plans for the   future we tend to use will when we make the plan  in that moment while we're speaking for example   imagine you ask me now Emma what are you going to  do this weekend and I have no plans I could say oo   I don't know I think I'll go to the park I think  I'll go because I just decided now I made the plan   now while I'm talking to you you can also use will  for General future intentions and plans so it's   not concrete it's just one day it will happen for  example one day I'll travel to India I don't know   when I don't have a plan I have no idea idea when  I will go but I will go one day here's another   example I'll see you another time do I know when  I will see you no but I will I intend to I plan to   one day in the future see you sometime so you see  that with will we don't really have any concrete   intentions it's not necessarily a 100% plan next  we're going to look at going to going to is for   future plans that you have already decided to do  so you intend to do these plans because you've   already decided to do them in the past for example  imagine that today is Monday and I decide I want   to buy a new phone I then make the plan to go to  the shop on Saturday to buy the new phone then   on Thursday you see me and you say Emma do you  have any plans for Saturday and I say yes I do   on Saturday I'm going to buy a new phone so I  use I'm going to buy because I made the plan   on Monday I set the intention the plan on Monday  the structure for going to is very simple just use   the subject for example I and then the present  form of to be so I am then the phrase going to   and then the verb so I am going to visit you are  going to visit she's going to visit we are going   to visit they are going to visit to sound more  natural you can contract the subject and to be   so I'm going to visit you're going to visit  she's going to visit he's going to visit Etc   here are some more examples I'm going to have a  coffee with my friend tomorrow you can also use   going to with future actions or predictions which  are very very obvious for example careful you're   going to walk into that wall you're going to get  sick if you only eat junk food now take a look at   these sentences and complete the gaps remember  you can pause the video if you need more time   number one his car stopped working last week so he  another one tomorrow so he is going to buy another   one tomorrow or he's going to buy another one  tomorrow number two I'm too tired so I football tonight so I'm not going to play football  tonight or so I am not going to play   football tonight number three he bought a  new table but he doesn't know where he it yet where he is going to put it yet or where he's  going to put it yet finally our last two tenses   that we're going to look at in this unit are  actually two tenses you have already learned   in this video before you learned how to use  the present continuous to talk about actions   that are happening right now for example  I am recording a video and you also learn   about how to use the present simple to talk about  things which are a routine or a general fact for   example I record videos every week take a look  at these examples using the present continuous   but we're talking about the future I'm not  working tomorrow I'm meeting my friend this   evening here we're using the present continuous  but why because these are concrete plans which   I've already decided to do in the future notice  how using the present continuous and going to   are very similar because you use both of them  to talk about actions you already decided to   do but the key difference here is that when  you know a plan or an action will 100% happen   in the future you use the present continuous the  present continuous sounds stronger it sounds like   100% the action is going to happen when you use  is going to it basically indicates to the other   person ah okay that person set the intention in  the past the plan has already been made but it   doesn't sound as concrete as present continuous  the present continuous sounds very concrete like   100% that plan is going to happen for example  I can't help you tomorrow I'm visiting my   grandparents it sounds like 100% I'm visiting my  grandparents no matter what that plan is not going   to change now let's look at the present simple  and using it for the future take a look at these   examples tomorrow my plane leaves at 700 a.m.  classes start next week at 9:00 a.m. so notice   with these that when we use the present simple to  talk about future actions it's for things which   follow a schedule so anything that follows a  timetable or a schedule of some kind you can   use the present simple for example Transportation  like train times flights Etc you can use it for   Cinema times for TV times things like that like  TV programs all of these follow a schedule or   you could use it for courses like the classes  start at 9:00 a.m. they follow a timetable I'd   like you to look at these sentences and decide  whether we should use the present simple or the   present continuous in the gaps remember you can  pause the video if you need more time number one Susan is not visiting us tomorrow  or Susan isn't visiting us tomorrow   so this is a concrete plan she's  not visiting us tomorrow number two the meeting starts at 10:00 tomorrow  morning the meeting starts because it's   a sh scheduled thing it's a scheduled event number three I'm afraid I can't help you tomorrow I  am visiting my grandparents or I'm visiting   my grandparents we use the present continuous  because this is a concrete 100% plan number four the train leaves at 6:00 p.m. the train  leaves because this this train follows a timetable   it follows a schedule so we use the present simple  and that is the end of today's English grammar   lesson on all the tenses from levels A1 to B2 to  talk about the past present and future correctly   in English if you want to practice today's  tenses and learn even more tenses to help you   speak English more accurately and confidently then  remember that you can get 25% off the interactive   book version of Cambridge's English grammar  in use just remember to use the code GIUSAVE25   GIUSAVE25 the link to get your copy of the  interactive ebook is in the description of   this video just remember to use your code to  get 25% off at the checkout remember to also   download the free pdf version of today's lesson  notes with all of today's exercises answers and   some pronunciation tips scatter throughout  so you can practice and improve your English   pronunciation as well the link to download your  free pdf is in the description of this video if   you have made it all the way to this part of  the video then thank you so much for watching   and comment down below with your favourite  animal my favourite animal I think I think my   favourite animals are dogs and my best friend  is here right now you can't see her but Freya   is here here she's been here the whole time I've  recorded this video I've been recording for about   5 hours poor thing I should go take her for a walk  right now remember to give this video a like if   you've enjoyed it and you've learned something  new and remember to subscribe if you'd like   more videos to help you improve your English  pronunciation thank you for watching bye-bye