- Let's try something ambitious,
an overview of all 12 English verb tenses
in less than 15 minutes.
Can we do it?
Hi, I'm your English coach, Christina,
and welcome to Speak English with Christina.
The best place to become confident speaking business English
step-by-step.
Alright, let's jump right in
and have some crazy verb tense fun
because this is something that students always ask for.
It's a quick introduction of each tense,
when to use it and some concrete examples.
Alright, step one.
In English, there are basically three times,
let's call them, present, past and future.
Now I started with the present
because it's the one that we use the most,
so it's a good place to start, I think.
Second step.
Now each of these times has four forms.
Fortunately, there is some logic to this.
All of the times have the same forms.
There's the simple,
the continuous or progressive,
it's the same thing,
the perfect simple,
and the perfect continuous,
and we'll look at each tense
for the present, the past and the future
so that you can see the similarities in how they work.
So let's start with the simple tenses.
So the present simple,
we use this for regular, repeated actions.
For example, I start work at 8:00 a.m.
pretty much every day.
We also use the present simple for facts
or things that are always true
like English is important for many careers.
It's just a fact.
The past simple, we use that for actions that started
and finished at specific times in the past.
For example, yesterday, I had a German lesson.
It started and it finished in the past
or you studied English in school.
It's finished, it started and it ended in the past.
For the future simple,
we use this for spontaneous or unplanned actions,
of course, in the future.
For example, your friend suggests a good series on Netflix.
You can say, "Ah, thanks, I'll look for it on Netflix."
That's kind of spontaneous.
You weren't planning to do that,
but you just decided, Ah, yeah,
I'll, I will, look for it in the future.
We also use the future simple for facts or events
that will happen, again, in the future.
For example, our next Conversation Club session
will be on Wednesday at 8:00 p.m.
That's all the simple tenses.
Now the continuous or the progressive tenses.
Present continuous.
This is for actions happening like right now
like you're learning English.
It's what you're doing at this very moment.
We also use it for actions happening
during a period of time.
That includes the present moment.
So for example, I'm learning German.
Now not right now in this moment
because I'm teaching you English,
but at the current period, I'm learning German.
And we also use the present continuous
for one time or irregular actions in the future.
So for example,
tomorrow, I'm meeting with my German teacher.
It's not every Saturday, but it's tomorrow.
Yeah, because tomorrow, because today is Friday
when I'm filming this.
So tomorrow, Saturday, I'm meeting with my German teacher,
but it's not a regular thing.
Now, past continuous.
We use this for actions that continued
during a period of time in the past.
For example, last week, period of time,
last week I was thinking about ideas
for some new videos,
and with the past continuous,
we often put other actions in the past simple tense inside
that period of time in the past.
For example, last week, I was thinking about
some new ideas for a video
when someone suggested, past simple,
suggested a video on tenses,
and so, I decided, past simple, I decided to do it.
Future continuous.
This is for an action that you think will be in progress
or won't be in progress in the future.
For example, next Thursday, I will be traveling to Berlin
in my dreams because no one is traveling right now,
but let's imagine.
Next Thursday, it's a period of time in the future,
I will be traveling to Berlin
or I won't be learning Japanese anytime soon
because I prefer to learn one language at a time.
So again, it's a period of time,
there's my cat, by the way,
it's a period of time in the future,
I won't be learning Japanese anytime soon.
And the perfect simple tense, everyone's favorite or not.
The present perfect is simple.
You love this tense, I know you do.
The present perfect simple is for general past experience.
I know, it's a present perfect simple tense
but it talks about the past.
English.
We'll see why it's called the present
because there is a relationship to the present moment.
It's for general past experience
or lack of past experience up until the present moment.
So for example, since I was a kid, past, past moment,
I've always had a cat.
That's my most recent cat.
So since I was a kid, I've always had a cat,
but I've never had a dog.
So that's all that experience in the past
up until the present moment.
We also use that present perfect simple tense
for an action that was completed recently
before the present moment.
So it's like we're giving some news.
I could tell you I have just adopted a cat.
It's quite recent.
I've only had her for two weeks.
Now the past perfect simple,
this is an action that was completed before another action,
you can't see my hand 'cause of the plant.
It was completed before another action
that is also in the past.
So the past perfect simple, it's like it's more in the past.
For example, before I got my cat,
I had researched places to adopt cats,
so I adopted the cat two weeks ago,
but maybe three weeks ago, more in the past,
I had researched places to adopt cats.
And the future perfect simple.
This is for an action that happens
before another more future action.
So it's in relation to another past action.
So you can see the perfect simple tenses
are always in relation to other actions.
So future perfect simple.
By this time next month,
she will have had all of her vaccinations.
So this time next month, it's in the future,
but by this time next month
she will have had all of her vaccinations.
By this time next month, in the future,
we'll have had, it's a little bit before this future moment,
and the perfect continuous tenses.
So present perfect continuous.
This one is generally easier.
It's just an action that started in the past
and it continues into the present moment.
For example, I have been living in France for 16 years now.
It started 16 years ago, continues up until today,
and in theory, will continue into the future.
Past perfect continuous.
This is an action that started in the past,
continued into some other moment in the past,
but it is finished now, but it was progressing.
It was continuing in the past.
So for example, in the U.S.,
I had been studying French for a few years
when I decided I wanted to live in France.
So it's I have been studying
when I decided,
all of that is in the past,
and the future perfect continuous.
This is an action that started in the past
and will be continuing until another moment in the future.
So for example, on September 4th, 2021,
I will have been living in France for exactly 16 years.
So it started in the past, it continues,
and at a moment in the future,
I will have been living in France for 16 years.
And now your next step with this lesson,
I recommend that you go back and screenshot the tables
that present these tenses
so that you have a complete guide for all 12 tenses,
and on the next slide,
I'll just put up a table that will have all of the tenses
and one example for each
so you have a nice, clear overview of all of these
and I recommend that you screenshot this table.
(camera clicking)
Alright, now, I know that this was a lot of information.
It's a pretty long video,
but this is, it's just an introduction.
It's a basic overview so that you can understand
like what's happening with the tenses in English.
Now I can't go into all of the nuances and complexities
and exceptions of 12 verb tenses in one video,
but it gives you a good solid foundation
to start learning more about each tense
so that you can become confident using all of them.
Now the next step with me is to subscribe to my channel
so that you get all of the future lessons
and you continue becoming confident,
and I definitely recommend that you watch this lesson.
It's on three past tenses for storytelling.
We'll go a little more into detail of those past tenses
and you learn how to tell great stories in English.
Alright, click on the screen and I'll see you there.