hi I'm Brian wilds and in this video I'm going to explain how to use all 12 tenses in English let's get started as you might be aware English has four present tenses and you're probably familiar with the present simple as in I study we use this tense when talking about facts habits and schedules that is my phone fact he studies every day habit on weekends we play soccer schedule the present simple is by far the most common verb tense in English so you'll get plenty of practice with this over time the present continuous I am studying we use the present continuous to describe actions that are happening right now as in you are watching this video right now I am speaking on camera an airplane is flying through the sky with this tense the action is happening as we speak the present perfect I have studied we use the present perfect when talking about how an action from the past describes the subject now as in I have studied English for 3 years in this sentence have studied English is a past action but we're using it to describe who I am now it's my experience and we often use the present perfect to talk about someone's experience or lack of experience she has eaten breakfast already he has lived there all his life they have never been to Mexico we're using past experience to describe who the subject is now and that's why this is a present tense and finally the present perfect continuous I have been studying we use the present perfect continuous to talk about an action that started in the past and continues nonstop into the present I have been studying Spanish for8 years in other words I started studying 8 years ago I never stopped and I'm still learning now I have been studying we often use this tense to emphasize when an ongoing action first started he has been sleeping for 12 hours she has been working two jobs since February they have been traveling for 5 weeks okay ready to talk about the past let's do it and again we have four tenses first up is the past simple I studied this tense is very straightforward and very common we use it when talking about an action that started in the past and finished in the past for example she worked last night night in other words she started work last night and she finished work last night he ate eggs for breakfast he ate eggs then he's not eating them now I lived in Chicago when I was a child I liveed there then and I don't live there now why because an action in the past simple is always finished in the past great now we have the past continuous I was studying we use the past continuous to describe an action that continued over a period of time in the past I was studying but more specifically we almost always use this tense to give context or background for another action I was studying when the phone rang we were living in Canada when we got engaged he was running when he caught the ball the past perfect I had studied this tense is also used to provide context for another action in the past but the past perfect always comes beforehand Sarah had already left by the time he got home in other words Sarah left before he got home it could have been a minute before an hour before or a year before all we know is she had already left let's look at two more examples I had already booked the tickets when the concert sold out in other words I booked the tickets before the concert sold out we had eaten a big lunch so we weren't hungry when we got to the hotel in other words we ate a big lunch before we got to the hotel so we weren't hungry and finally the past perfect continuous I had been studying and again we almost always use this tense to give context but the past perfect continuous describes an action that continued over time and then stopped at the moment of another action I had been watching TV when the power went out I was watching I was watching I was watching power went out no more watching he had been eating pizza every day when he started the diet eating pizza eating pizza eating pizza started the diet we had been talking about about going to France for years and finally decided to go talking about going talking about going talking about going decided to go congratulations we've now covered all the past tenses of English excellent work we're on to the final stretch the future and again we've got four tenses let's begin with the future simple I will study we use the future simple to talk about actions that we believe will happen in the future I will call you tomorrow we'll bring cupcakes to the party he'll be there by 6:00 p.m. and yes most of the time English speakers shorten the word will to as in I'll study you'll study he'll study etc etc and there's another form of the future simple that you might already be familiar with going to or gonna as in I'm going to call you tomorrow we're going to bring cupcakes to the park he's going to be there by 6:00 p.m. the will and going to forms have the same meaning but going to or GNA is more casual the future continuous I will be studying we use the future continuous to talk about an action that we believe will continue over a period of time in the future for example we will be eating dinner from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. I'll be running errands all afternoon and again we can also use going to instead of will they're going to be traveling all summer the babies going to be sleeping when you arrive the future perfect I will have studied we use the future perfect to talk about actions that will be finished by a certain time in the future for example she will have moved to a new apartment before the end of the year in other words here's the end of the year and she'll move to a new apartment sometime before that could be a day before a week before a month before anytime let's look at two more examples he will have finished his homework by the time dinner is ready so dinner is ready and he finished his homework some time before that they will have come home by the spring so spring comes and they came home sometime before that the action will be finished before a given time in the future and finally the future perfect continuous I will have been studying so this time we're talking about a continuous action that will be completed at a given time in the future he will have been driving for 6 hours straight when he arrives now honestly English speakers rarely use this tense but when we do it's to emphasize the duration of an action how long long it will take we will have been living in Los Angeles for a decade this December she will have been working at the company for 40 years when she retires and that's it we've covered all 12 tenses of English congratulations if you have any questions or comments please let me know and as always thanks for watching