Lingua Marina: Understanding English Tenses

Introduction

• Video topic: Tenses in English
• Objectives: Differentiate between present perfect continuous and past perfect continuous.
• Teacher: Anastasia from LinguaTrip.
• Importance: Effective communication requires proper use of tenses.

Basic Concept of Tenses

• English has 3 basic tenses: Past, Present, and Future.
• 12 Tenses result from combining tenses with 4 aspects: Simple, Perfect, Continuous, Perfect Continuous.
  • Simple: Facts, generalizations, repeated actions.
  • Continuous: Ongoing actions.
  • Perfect: Relationship between two times.
  • Perfect Continuous: Duration or continuity.

Simple Aspect

• Present Simple:
  • Present facts and generalizations: "I live in LA."
  • Repeated actions: "I study English twice a week."
• Past Simple:
  • Past facts and generalizations: "I didn't live in LA when I was a kid."
  • Repeated actions in the past: "I studied English twice a week."
• Future Simple:
  • Future facts: "I will be an actor."
  • Volunteer actions/promises: "I'll help you carry your bags."

Continuous Aspect

• Present Continuous:
  • Current ongoing actions: "We are having a lesson now."
  • Near future arrangements: "I'm flying to LA tomorrow."
• Past Continuous:
  • Long past actions: "The birds were singing."
  • Interruption by another action: "I was taking a shower when I heard a noise."
• Future Continuous:
  • Long future actions: "I will be walking while Josh will be working."

Perfect Aspect

• Present Perfect:
  • Action affecting present: "I've been to London five times."
  • Actions continuing to present: "I've lived in LA for 7 years."
• Past Perfect:
  • Action before another past action: "She had cooked dinner by the time I got home."
• Future Perfect:
  • Action before another future action: "By tomorrow, they will have signed the contract."

Perfect Continuous Aspect

• Present Perfect Continuous:
  • Action started in past, ongoing: "I've been working here for 5 years."
• Past Perfect Continuous:
  • Action continuing up to a past event: "She had been cooking when I came home."
• Future Perfect Continuous:
  • Action continuing up to a future event: "By 11 pm, they will have been working for 10 hours."

Formation of Tenses

• Present Simple: Base verb (+ s/es for 3rd person).
• Present Continuous: am/is/are + verb + ing.
• Present Perfect: have/has + past participle.
• Present Perfect Continuous: have/has been + verb + ing.
• Past Simple: Verb + ed (or second form for irregulars).
• Past Continuous: was/were + verb + ing.
• Past Perfect: had + past participle.
• Past Perfect Continuous: had been + verb + ing.
• Future Simple: will + base verb.
• Future Continuous: will be + verb + ing.
• Future Perfect: will have + past participle.
• Future Perfect Continuous: will have been + verb + ing.

Conclusion

• Encouragement to practice each tense using sample sentences.
• Promotional content about a language course offering.
• Invitation to comment and provide feedback on the video format.