All English tenses in 20 minutes | Present, Past, Future | Simple, Continuous, Perfect

hi in this lesson you will review all of the English tenses 16 of them this is a quick revision and I'd recommend you watch the complete video to get the big picture of the tenses and how they all fit together if you want to look in each at each tense more detail then check out the links below so let's get started so let's start by looking at the present simple tense this is used firstly for routines and habits so for instance you could say I play tennis every Friday this is a routine something you do every Friday so you use the present simple tense just remember with the present simple the one difference is with he she and it and you say plays so don't forget the S the present simple is also used for permanent situations so for instance you could say I live in Oxford this is a permanent situation and not one that is likely to change anytime soon so you use the present simple finally the present symbol is used for facts so water boils at a hundred degrees centigrade this is a fact so we use the present simple so the present simple is used for routines and habits permanent situations and facts okay so moving on to the present continuous the present continuous is used for something than is happening now so for instance I'm having my dinner it's happening now the form is the subject plus an R is and the in form of the verb the present continuous is also used for temporary situations so you could say I'm staying with a friend for two weeks this is telling your listener that the situation is not permanent it's just for two weeks it's a temporary situation so you use the present continuous okay so now let's look at the past simple this is used for finished action in the past and usually there's some kind of time reference included so for instance you could say I lived in London for five years and this means that it's now finished you're no longer living in London so with regular verbs we simply add Edie to make it the past simple as in this case live is a regular verb so the past simple is lived and for irregular verbs there's a list on my website and you can check out the link down below to get that there are lots are the regular verbs and you just need to learn them the past simple is also used for past actions that occur in chronological order so if you say here I got up had a shower and then left for work these are all past actions in chronological order in the order in which they happened so you use the past simple so now let's look at the past continuous tense this is used for something that happened before and after a particular time in the past so for instance you could say I was eating dinner at 7 o'clock last night and from the timeline here you can see you were eating dinner before 7 p.m. and after 7 p.m. so here we use the past continuous the form is either the past tense of to be so either was or were and the Ink form of the verb the past continuous is also used for parallel actions in the past so for instance in this case I was reading while she was making dinner here you've got two actions going on at the same time as you can see from the timeline the reading is happening at the same time as she was making dinner so here we use the past continuous the past continuous is also used for interrupted actions in the past so here the example is I was having a shower when the phone rang so here you can see from the timeline again I was having a shower over a period of time and it's interrupted by the phone ringing so it's an interrupted action so here we use the past continuous for the continuing action having the shower and the past simple for the phone ringing it's also used to show something continued over at some time so for instance you could say everyone was singing or for something that happened again and again so here I was practicing every day three times a day now let's move on to use to used to is used for repeated actions or situations which are no longer true so here the example is I used to smoke in other words you no longer smoke it's in the past let's now look at the present perfect simple the present perfect is used for actions or situations happening until now usually not finished for instance I've started reading his latest book this implies that you've started reading the book at some unspecified time in the past and you're still reading it now and you haven't finished reading it and you will continue reading it in the future if we look at the timeline you can see the cross represents starting reading the book but the impact is on the present it's on now and into the future as well the fall is have or has plus the past participle again these need to be learnt and can be found on a link down below the present perfect is also used for life experience is as this is unfinished time your life is not over so you couldn't say I haven't traveled much and this is in your life up until now but maybe in the future you will travel more so for life experiences use the present perfect so the present perfect is also used when a past action has a present result so in this case we've got I've done the shopping this means you did the shopping in the past the recent past and it's completed action but the result is that you now have food so it has an impact or result in the present the present perfect is also used with just ever already yet and since so one example that's a very common question is have you ever so in this case how have you ever seen a panda it could be have you ever eaten snails have you ever it's an expression and you can say I have or I have never seen a panda and all these words are used with the present perfect now moving on to the present perfect continuous this tense is used to show an action in progress so in this example we we have got I've been painting the kitchen this is why you can see and covered in paint here we use the present perfect continuous when we want to focus on the activity that is unfinished and the focus here is on the action of painting so the action is unfinished finished and you say it in the present perfect continuous if you'd said I've painted the kitchen you're using the present perfect simple it would mean that you'd finished painting the kitchen whereas here we're saying that we still have more to paint so it's the present perfect continuous the form is the subject plus have or has been plus the verb in the in form the present perfect yes also talks about how long something has been happening so here I've been cooking all morning the focus is on the unfinished activity of cooking that has taken all morning it's also used to show something is temporary so you could say I usually work in finance but I've been working on this project for three weeks so here we're implying that it's a temporary situation that your project is only for three weeks and then you'll probably go back to finance okay so moving on to the past perfect simple this is you to talk about an action or situation which happened before another action in the past so John rang Mary's doorbell at 8:15 but Mary had already left which action came first Mary left then John rang the doorbell so here we can see on the timeline that Mary left and then John rang the doorbell so we used the past perfect to talk about an action here Mary leaving which happened before another action in the past here John ringing the doorbell here is another example when mrs. Brown opened the washing machine she realized she had washed the cat Oh No so looking at the timeline which action came first she washed the cat and then she opened the door so we used the past perfect for had washed as it comes before the opening of the door so let's move on to the past perfect continuous so we use the past perfect continuous to talk about a longer event which took place before another action in the past so here we have I had been living in Oxford for two years so that's over a period of time before I bought a flat so this is a continuous tense and therefore happens over a period of time before another event at the past so I had been living for two years on the timeline we can see you were living in Oxford you had been living in Oxford before you bought the flat the form here is the subject plus had been plus the ink form of the verb okay now we're going to turn to the future tense in English in English there are four different ways to talk about the future so it's often unlike your own language and that's why it's good to know when to use which the first future we are going to look at is the will future and this is used for making decisions at the time of speaking so when you spontaneously make a decision for instance I think I'll make curry for dinner tonight you haven't planned this you just spontaneously decide it so notice in spoken English the will is very often contracted to aisle heel wheel etc the farmers will blast the bare infinitive that is the verb without to the well future is also used for predictions based on your opinion and so is usually used with phrases like I think or something similar so here we've got an example I think you'll take the job it seems to be just what he's looking for this is a prediction based on your opinion the well future is also used for facts in the future so for instance Alice will be 5 next month this is a fact so we use we'll finally the will future is also used for threats and promises so I'll send you the information tomorrow this is a promise so we use the will future another way to talk about the future in English is with going to and this is used for decisions made before speaking so plans or intentions so I'm going to visit Scotland this year I just need to work out when this is your plan or intention something you decided before you speak so you use going to perform is going to plus the bare infinitive the going to future is also used for predictions based on some kind of evidence so look at those black trousers I think it's going to rain this is a prediction because you can see the black clouds so you have some evidence so you use going to the third future we're going to look at is the future with the present continuous this is sometimes called the diary future as it's used for arrangements appointments things that we could write in our diary and can only be changed by informing others so someone else is involved so for instance I'm meeting Jackie next Tuesday here we have I am or she's been contracted to I'm meeting Jackie next Tuesday you have arranged this with Jackie it's in the diary and if you wanted to change it you would have to contact jetting Jackie so that's the diary future the final way to talk about the future in English is with the present simple tense and this is used for schedules and timetables set often by companies or organizations so maybe transport companies or schools for instance the plane leaves at 7:00 a.m. this is a schedule so we use the present simple now looking at the future perfect simple this is used when something will be finished by a particular time in the future so for instance I will have finished the work by next Friday if we look at the timeline you can see next Friday is in the future and you will finish the work before that time the cross is sometime before next Friday next Friday is the latest time when you will finish the work the fall is will have plus the past participle often the future simple is used with either by or in and this means not later than the time so here's another example of the future perfect simple this time using in so I'll have finished in an hour and then you can use the computer looking at a timeline now it's one o'clock and in an hour it's two o'clock here you're saying at two o'clock latest you will have finished this is the latest time that your finish you might finish before - and this is possible - so now looking at the future progressive this is used for something that will be in progress at around a time in the future so this time tomorrow will be sitting on the beach I can't wait so here on the timeline you can see that we will be sitting on the beach in the future here we are imagining a time in the future well we'll be doing something over a period of time remember it's the continuous form so it's over a period of time the form is will be plussing the in form of the verb the future continuous can also be used to talk about something we assume is happening at the moment in the present so don't phone grandpa he'll be sleeping here we use the future continuous for something we assume is happening now so finally we're going to look at the future perfect continuous we use this tense when we're thinking of ourselves at a time in the future we're looking back from that time to a duration of an activity so the activity will have begun sometime in either the past present or in the future and is expected to continue into the future so here the example we have is in September I have been working at my company for three years we are thinking ahead to September a future time and it's in September we're looking back to the G over the duration and you say I will have been working in the camp for three years so on the timeline you started in the past it could be the present or the future and you're looking back at the duration of your work so remember a continuous tense looks over a period of time the form is will have been plus the ink form of the verb so that's it for today you've just revised all the English tenses check out more videos here and a playlist of all those tenses in more detail don't forget to subscribe to my channel by clicking the link down below remember to like and share this video with people learning English friends and colleagues then thank you for it and I'll see you very soon so bye for now thanks for watching

Channel: Oxford English Now

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Keywords: english tenses, english verbs, all tenses, english verb forms, tense revision, learn english tenses, all tenses in english grammar with examples, Learn English, English grammar, present simple, past simple, future tense, present perfect, past perfect, present continuous, past continuous, future simple, present perfect continuous, going to future, will vs going to, future perfect, future perfect continuous, past perfect continuous

Id: _4WvhaauLj8

Length: 18min 40sec (1120 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 20 2018