There are 12 basic tenses in English. We have the present tenses, the past tenses, and the future
tenses. In today's lesson we are going to focus on the continuous tenses. Present continuous, past
continuous, and future continuous. By comparing the continuous tenses, and just the continuous
tenses, we can compare them. And you can see how similar they are which makes them easier to learn.
If you haven't watched my first video on the simple tenses, I suggest you do that first
before continuing with this one. And keep your eyes peeled for my upcoming videos on the other tenses.
If you subscribe to my channel, turn on those notifications, you won't miss a single one.
My name is Arnel, let's start. Continuous tenses. First we'll look at the grammatical structures, and
then we can get more specific. Present continuous, past continuous, future continuous. Present
continuous. Subject: Am/are/is plus verb ing. Remember to choose am/are/is depending on your subject.
Example: I am talking to you. Negative, I am not talking to you.
Question, are you talking to me, or am I talking to you?
Past continuous. Subject: Was or were plus verb ing.
Again you need to choose was or were, depending on your subject.
I was talking to you. Negative, I was not talking to you. Question, were you talking to me?
Future continuous. Subject: Will be plus verb ing. The good news is we use will be for all subjects.
I will be talking to you. Negative, I will not be talking to you. Question, will you be talking to me?
During this lesson I will keep all of the grammatical structures highlighted for you.
Okay, so we have the grammatical structures. How do we use these tenses? We need a timeline.
Present continuous. Past continuous. Future continuous. We use the continuous tenses
for an action happening during a specific period. Present, let's choose now. Now I am talking to you.
Past continuous. Let's choose 2 p.m. yesterday.
Yesterday at 2 p.m. I was, I was talking to you. Future continuous. Let's choose 2 p.m. again, tomorrow.
Tomorrow at 2 p.m. I will be talking to you. Can you see how similar the tenses are? We just need to
change the period. The present, the past, or the future. Are these actions permanent or temporary?
Permanent means long term or forever. Temporary means short term. So do you think these actions
are permanent or temporary? These are temporary. Continuous tenses express a temporary action
or situation. They are not permanent or repeated actions like the simple tenses.
Do we need a specific time with these tenses?
With the present continuous it's clear we're speaking about the present, but for the past
continuous and future continuous you do want to have a specific time. Either in the same sentence
or somewhere in the context of the conversation, or texts. Here, yesterday at 2 pm. Here, tomorrow at 2 pm.
Let's do another set of examples. Now. Now it's getting dark. Getting dark means becoming dark.
Yeah it's getting dark, it's getting dark, now this is happening, hey you can't see me...
Yesterday at 7 pm it was getting dark. In one hour (future). in one hour it will be getting dark.
Permanent or temporary? Temporary. It doesn't get dark forever.
Let's do one more example. In class we are working on addition and subtraction.
Imagine I'm in elementary school teacher. Am I doing this right now? No, but we can also
use a present continuous to speak about the general present, perhaps not this
exact moment. Period: Last month. Last month we were working on addition and subtraction.
Period: Next month. Next month we will be working on addition and subtraction. Your turn, here's your
homework. Answer these questions and try to think of really personal examples: What are you doing now?
Well, now you are watching this lesson, but try to think of a different
example. For example, now I am standing in my office. This is not permanent, it's temporary.
I really want to sit down soon. Past: What were you doing at 3 p.m. yesterday?
I was picking my kids up from school.
What will you be doing three hours from now? I will be making dinner probably...
So we know continuous tenses are temporary. But you want to ask yourself why are you using a
continuous tense, and what is important about the period? For example, let's look
at a few of my examples from earlier. I am talking to you. Why would I need to say this?
Maybe I'm talking to someone and they're looking at their phone, I can say: I'm talking
to you, can you please stop looking at your phone? My action now is important.
Did you go jogging after work? No, I didn't leave the office until 7 p.m. and it was getting dark.
I don't feel comfortable jogging that late in the evening. Now it makes sense why someone would use
this tense. The Continuous tenses can be the main action, but many times they are the background
action. There is another main action that happens at the same time or the main action interrupts
that background action. We usually see this with the past continuous and the future continuous.
What happened? I was holding a cup of coffee on the couch when my son bumped into me, so I spilled
my coffee. We had that background action. That's not really the main action that's just giving us a bit
of background. The main action is my son bumped into me. I really want to show you the power of
the past simple and past continuous combination. Let's take a look at a few little clips. In this
interview a famous British actress, Emily Blunt, is talking about one of her movies called Quiet
Place. But actually we were having a Super Bowl party and the trailer for Quiet Place
came on, which is terrifying. Yes. And Hazel sort of wandered in... We were having a Super Bowl party,
and the trailer for Quiet Place came on which is terrifying. Here we see the background action,
we're having a Super Bowl party. And the main action, the trailer for Quiet Place came on.
And this is terrifying, looks like the present continuous, but no, terrifying here is an adjective.
In the next part Emily is talking about the first time she met her future husband. I was
in a restaurant, he was in the restaurant. I was sitting with a mutual friend. This is all
romantic... Here we can see the two past simple states. And the past continuous is telling us
what was happening in the background. Is sitting with a friend import information? No. It's just a
background so we know what was happening. One more example. With you no he just um he was actually
sitting with our friend Justin Thoreau. Okay. And then uh he abandoned Justin and came over to
come and talk to us, he did not eat he just... Again, background. Was sitting with a friend. Main actions.
With the future continuous it's the same thing. I hope I don't see John at the event.
Don't worry, you will be working in different teams. Main action, I hope I don't see John. What's that
background? You will be working in different teams. Don't message me after six, I'll be having dinner
with my boss. The main action is don't message me. Why? What's going on? What will be going on?
I'll be having dinner with my boss. But what if I say I'm hungry, I'm wanting some breakfast.
The students were knowing all of the answers. I know Kira will be loving the party.
Want? Know? Love? These are stative verbs. Stative verbs, what are stative verbs?
Stative verbs describe states. These can be our feelings, our thoughts, and our emotions.
They are the opposite of dynamic verbs. Dynamic verbs like eat, play, run, work. Let's
take a look at a list of stative verbs. You can see you want, know, and love here.
Again, just like the present simple, stative verbs describes states which don't change often.
These are not used in continuous tenses. So here, nope, these sentences are not correct. We need
to use the simple tenses, here. This is so important to remember in this lesson, and I will continuously
remind you of this. Yes, some verbs can be stative and dynamic, but there aren't very many of those.
Let me show you a mini clip. This is a clip of a young lady and a vampire dancing.
At one point the vampire says this: They're loving it. Okay, the vampire is using the present
continuous because the action is happening now. This is not correct grammar because love
is a stative verb. However, sometimes in very casual English you might hear stative verbs being used in
a continuous tense. But for English exams you don't want to do that. Are we done with the continuous
tenses? Not quite. Let's focus on the present continuous because that one's pretty special.
Tomorrow we are flying to Rome. I'm meeting Jake and Ellen for dinner tonight.
What are you doing this weekend? We can use the present continuous for a future
plan. Yes, a future plan. It's very natural. Common mistake: Tomorrow we will fly to Rome.
I will meet Jake and Ellen for dinner tonight. What will you do this weekend?
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. In this lesson you said we could use, will, for a single future
action. Yeah I said that. So why is tomorrow we will fly to Rome wrong? It's a single future action. Am I
talking about a future habit? No. Am I talking about a future state? Nope. Am I making a prediction? Nope.
Am I making a promise? Maybe. Right, we don't use the future simple will for
a future plan. The present continuous is the better and more natural choice.
But what about be going to? We can also use be going to for a future plan.
Okay, we need to look at present continuous and be going to for future plans.
I am going to meet Jake and Ellen for dinner tonight. Present continuous, I'm meeting Jake
and Ellen for dinner tonight. What's the difference? Native speakers use both of
these forms interchangeably all the time, and they are both correct. But let's get really
picky, let's get super specific. Be going to plus verb one, is often used with a future intention.
Present continuous is more definite. What do I mean by that? I have three days off next week,
I'm gonna stay at home and watch movies all day. This is my intention. Whether I do this or not,
I don't know. Teacher: I'm excited about tomorrow, I'm taking my students to a museum.
Here, the present continuous is more definite. I have my lesson planned, and I know the museum I'm going
to. You might hear someone use will for a future plan, but it's generally not the accepted form.
Let's compare, finally we can start comparing tenses.
I work in Tucson. I am working in Tucson. Tucson is a city in Arizona.
I worked in Tucson. I was working in Tucson. I will work in Tucson. I will be working in Tucson.
Which column expresses a permanent action?
The simple tenses. Present simple, past simple, and future simple. These are permanent. I work in
Tucson. This is my life, this is where I live, this is where my office is. I am working in Tucson. Maybe
I normally work in Mesa, a different city, but for two weeks I'm working in Tucson. This is temporary.
It's the same thing for the other tenses. I worked in Tucson, that was my life, my office was there.
I couldn't go to the office party because I was working in Tucson, that week. A temporary feeling.
I will work in Tucson, this will be my new future life. I will be working in Tucson, temporary.
I can't go to the Mesa party because I will be working in Tucson.
My main office is in Mesa but here, temporarily, I'll be working in Tucson.
Mini review. The Continuous tenses express a temporary action during a specific period. I
am studying now. I was studying this morning. I will be studying tonight.
The continuous tenses can be the main action, but many times with the past continuous and future
continuous, they express the background action. These background actions are either interrupted
by a main action, or the main action happens at the same time. We were talking about Phil
when he walked into the office. You can meet me after work, I'll be waiting in Starbucks.
The present continuous can also be used for a future plan. Many times this is a personal plan,
we're not speaking about a prediction or a promise or a future habit or state.
Next week I'm visiting my grandmother. I can also use be going to, plus bass verb. Next week
I'm going to visit my grandmother. These are often used interchangeably, but if we want
to be super picky, be going to often expresses an intention, the present continuous is more definite.
Okay continuous tenses, done! Don't forget to check out part three in the series, perfect
tenses. Thank you so much for watching this lesson, I can't wait to see you next time. Bye!!! [Music]