Do you want to make a big improvement in your
English? One of the best ways to do that is by mastering English tenses. This means understanding
the difference between saying "I work" or "I am working", "I have worked", or "I had worked", and
so on. Tenses tell us when something happened, and whenever you communicate in English, you're
using an English tense. The only question is, are you using the right tense?
In this series, you will learn all of the English tenses. These are full, complete
classes for anyone who wants to speak, write, or understand English more easily and clearly. With
each tense, we will go step by step from beginning to end. We'll also go through the program from
beginner level to the advanced level of tenses. And we'll do lots of practice along the way.
In addition, I will show you a special way to understand these tenses, so you can really start
to use them more easily and quickly. Remember, tenses give structure to the language. If your
structure is weak, your English will be weak. But if your structure is strong,
your English will be strong.
So, join me in this program to master the
English tenses so that you can communicate fluently and confidently in English.
Hi, I'm Rebecca, and welcome to this series on English tenses. In this program, you will learn
how to use each of the English tenses, step by step, so that you can communicate more powerfully
and correctly and confidently in English.
Now, when we say English tenses, what does that
mean? Tenses are simply the way we talk about time in any language. So, for example, when we want to
say when something happened, we're using tenses. If we're talking about the past, the present, or
the future, we need to use tenses. And in English, there are twelve tenses. Don't let that frighten
you. I'm going to explain it to you in a way that makes it much easier for you to understand and
start to use each of these tenses. And that's how you will progress in your English. Okay?
So, first, I've divided the tenses into six basic tenses and six advanced tenses. And I'm going to
show you exactly the kind of patterns that exist throughout this tense system, so that as you
go forward, many parts of it will become easier and easier. Okay? Alright. That's first of all.
Now, in terms of what are these lessons actually like? In terms of the content - these are not
short lessons. These are full, complete classes on each tense. Alright? Just as if - if you
were in a language school in North America or England or Australia. That's the kind of
class it'll be. A solid class on each tense.
So, in these classes, I will explain, for each
tense, when to use it and how to use it. We will do lots of practice so that you really feel
comfortable using that tense correctly in terms of the grammar, in terms of when to use it. And also,
we'll look at some common mistakes that students often make so that you don't make those mistakes.
I've also created some bonus lessons where we compare different tenses. Because sometimes the
confusion is not within the tense but between tenses. So, I've got some comparison lessons that
will help you understand the differences. Okay?
Next - so, how could you do this course?
Here are my suggestions. First, make a plan, alright? Make a schedule for yourself.
When are you going to watch them? And then, like any school, show up for class. Really, it's
not just about wishing that you get better, or hoping that you get better in English. It's about
making a decision and then taking the actions. So, you've already made the decision, because
you're watching this, and that's amazing. Now, make the plan so you can take the action steps you
need to reach your goal. Okay? That's first.
Next - watch the lesson. Alright? Take
your time with it. Don't rush through it, even if some part seems easy, watch it
anyway. Let your brain get really comfortable and completely knowledgeable in that area,
okay? And while you're watching, participate. What does that mean? Be an active learner.
Make notes. Go get a special notebook, a special binder, just for this course, this
program, alright? Take notes as you go along. Participate and repeat after me when I'm - when
we're doing the pronunciation sections. Answer me when I'm asking questions, work on the exercises
with me so that you are fully engaged and learning fully throughout that time, alright?
Next - review. Whenever you have time or during the week or something like that, between your
classes, review what you've learned. Go back - if there's any particular part you're not sure
about, go back over it and just learn it again. Review it so that you'll feel really sure as you
go forward into the other tenses. And it will make everything so much easier for you, okay?
I know that this program will work for you. Just stay with it and show up and keep going
through it, step by step, and I know that it will lead you to a higher level of English. How
do I know that? Let me take just a few seconds to tell you a little bit about myself. My
name's Rebecca Ezekiel. I've been teaching English for more than 30 years, and I've worked
with thousands of students from all over the world to help them improve their English for
academic purposes, business purposes, and all kinds of other reasons. Alright?
I've also created lots of training programs for corporations and governments and schools and
colleges. So, I assure you, you're in good hands. I understand you. I understand your challenges,
but also your hopes and dreams in improving your English to really expand your life.
So, let's go on this journey together and, most important, let's get started!
In this video, I'm going to give you an overview of all of the English tenses. And I'm
going to show you a special way to understand them so that you can learn them more easily. So, this
video is part of the www.engvid.com series on English verb tenses.
But what are tenses anyway? Tenses are just the way we refer to time in a
language. We could be talking about the past or the present or the future. In English, there
are twelve different tenses, and they can be explained in many different ways, but I'm going
to show you a simple way that I think will make it much easier for you to learn, understand,
and start using them. So, let's have a look.
So, on the board, I've written the twelve tenses.
In red are the names of the tenses, and in black is an example each time of that tense. Alright?
But right now, you don't have to worry about that. This is just to give you the big picture,
alright? But don't worry if you don't know the names of these tenses or the examples. It
doesn't matter at all. Once we begin the program, you will be learning one tense at a time
and you'll learn everything you need to know when you get to that tense. Alright?
So, what do we need to see here, though, that is helpful to us? So, even though there are twelve
tenses, I've divided them in a particular way. The first six are what I call the basic tenses.
Because usually, these are the ones you learn first when you start learning English. The
second part, the second six tenses are more advanced tenses. Usually, you start learning those
a little bit later. That's the first part.
Now, let's look at it this way. On this side,
we see simple tenses. On this side, we see continuous tenses, which are sometimes called
progressive tenses. But all those names, simple, continuous, doesn't matter right now. Because
when you get to that tense, you'll understand it. What is important, though, is that many of
the patterns and rules that you'll learn here will help you throughout this part of the tenses.
And many of the rules and patterns about grammar, pronunciation, and spelling that you learn right
here with this continuous tense will help you all the way through to the most advanced tense.
What does that mean for you? It means that, as you go forward in this program, from the
beginner tenses and the more basic tenses to the more advanced tenses. It's not -
everything is not going to get harder. Many of the points will actually become easier,
because you will already have learned them up here in the basic tenses, or here, because many of
these, as you can see - actually all of them have some sort of continuous aspect, which you will
understand completely when you get there. Okay?
So, that's the most important points that I think
you should take away right now from this. All you need to do at this point now is to begin the
program with the first tense, which is the present simple tense. So I wish you all the best.
Hi, I'm Rebecca. Welcome to this series on English tenses. In this class, we will look at the
present simple tense. I'll show you exactly when to use it, how to use it, and also what mistakes
to be careful of when you're using this tense. We'll also go through lots of practice exercises
together, so you'll learn exactly how to use this tense correctly and confidently.
Are you ready? Let's get started.
This series is about English tenses. But what
are tenses anyway? Tenses are simply the way we talk about time in English. What do we mean by
time? We mean the past, the present, the future, right? These are all different times and we have
different tenses to express or talk about those times. So, in this lesson, we're going to
look at the two basic ways that you - we can speak about the present in English and they are:
the present simple and the present continuous, or present progressive as it's also called.
Now, although we are focusing on the present simple, I want to give you a little
overview so you understand the basic differences between these two simple tenses,
alright? So, let me give you an example. In present simple, we would say "I work". And in
present continuous, we would say "I am working". So, what's the difference? What's the
difference between these two sentences? What's the difference, is there a difference?
I don't know, what do you think? Well, I do know. And there is a difference. Perhaps, in
your language, there isn't any difference because in many languages, there is no difference between
the way that these two ideas are expressed, but in English, there is a difference in
the idea and the way that we say it.
So, let me explain what that difference is. When
we say "I am working", which is that other tense, present continuous, which we can learn later, that
is talking about something that is happening now, or something temporary. What do I mean by now?
For example, I am teaching. You are listening, right? All these things are happening right now.
So, when we are saying that, when I'm saying that, I'm using present continuous. But when
I say "I work", that is in general. For example, I may not be working at this
moment, but I work somewhere. I have a job. So, when we talk about something that's true
in general, that's present simple. Also, present simple is for something that's more or
less permanent. For example, if you have a job, of course, no job or thing in life is necessarily
permanent. What does permanent mean, that it lasts all the time, but let's say you're not
changing jobs every day. So, more or less, this is the job you'll always have. This is
your permanent job. So then, for those kind of activities, we use present simple and we say
"I work at the bank". "I work in the store" etc. But, "I am working" would just be right now, or it
could also be for something temporary. "Temporary" means only for a short period of time. This is
for always, this is for a short period of time. This is true in general, and this one
is true for something happening now. So, those are some basic differences
between these two tenses.
Now, let's focus on the tense that we're
working on today, which is present simple. So, how does it sound? How does it actually work? It's
like this - so these are the different subjects, and this is the verb and the way we use it.
So just repeat it after me: I work. You work. We work. They work. He works. She works. And:
It works. "It" meaning the air conditioner, or the computer. "It" is for something which
is not a person but it's for a thing.
And we saw some differences there.
Don't worry about those changes now. We're going to learn all about
that in a later part of this lesson, okay? So that's what it sounds like. This
is a basic description of these two differences which you can keep in mind as we now move
forward with the present simple tense.
Now, let's look at when we use the
present simple tense, okay? So, we have five different situations in which we can use
this tense. Let's go through them one by one.
First of all, we can use the present simple tense to talk about things which are permanent. Which
are more or less always true, okay? For example: "We live in New York". So, let's suppose that
this is where you live, right? Not just for a short time, but for a long time, and more or less,
it's a permanent situation. It's always true for you. It doesn't mean it's completely true always,
but most of the time, this is where you live. So, that's what we consider permanent.
So, we could say "We live in New York", "He works at a bank", so when we say, "He works
at a bank", it means that's his permanent regular job, okay? It's not a temporary job, it's not
a job that he has just for a little while, that's where he works most of the time, okay?
So, we use this for permanent situations. Think about yourself, okay? Whenever
you're trying to learn a tense, one of the great things you can do is to
think of an example that applies to your life, or to people that you know. What is permanent
for you? So, you could say a sentence right now, such as "I live in _______", whichever city
you live in. Or, if you're working somewhere, and then you could say "I work
__________", okay? So, you, by making these sentences are already using the
present simple tense. It's that simple. Okay.
So, let's look at another situation in
which you can use the present simple tense. For routines. So, what's a routine? A routine is
something you do regularly, okay? For example, "I wake up at 6:00 every day.", okay? "I go
to sleep at 11:00". So, wake, go, these verbs are in the present simple tense because they're
talking about a regular activity, a routine. We can also use this tense to talk about facts.
For example: "The sun rises in the east". It's just a fact, it's something that's a
scientific truth. It's not something that I decided or you decided, it's just true. We could
also say "The sun sets in the west", okay?
Next, we can use this tense
to talk about schedules, because think about it, what is a schedule? A
schedule tells us when something is going to happen, and that's kind of connected to this
point, right? A regularly scheduled event. So, for example, we could say
"Our class starts at 9:00." Why are we using present simple? Because
our class always starts at 9:00, alright? It's kind of permanent, it's kind of a routine,
it's a schedule. Or, the flight leaves at noon. Not just this time, but the flight
always leaves at noon. It has a schedule and therefore we're using the present
simple tense with the words "starts" and "leaves". Okay, got that?
Now, let's look at one other situation. There are some words in English, and they're
called adverbs of frequency, to describe how often something is happening. And these words are shown
down here, but let's look at this sentence first. "She always takes the bus". So, always is a
word that tells us how often something happens, and all of these words down here are just like
that. So, if always is like 100% of the time, we have other words. We have the word "never",
which is 0%, it never happens. It doesn't happen at all. So, we could say he or she never takes
the bus. We could also say, let's say, 50% of the time, okay, she takes the bus. So,
we could say "She sometimes takes the bus". Or, once in a while, okay,
"She rarely takes the bus". Or, "She often takes the bus". So, when you see
one of these words, which are called adverbs of frequency, that also tells you that you should
be using the present simple tense, along with these other situations. So, if you want to learn
it really well, as I said, apply it to yourself. Say something about your routine. Say something
about what you always do, or what you never do, and that way, you are already
using the present simple tense.
Now, let's look at how to
form the present simple tense. So, I've divided the board into three sections.
For positive sentences, negative sentences, and for questions. And we'll go through
each one step by step, okay? So, for these subjects, I, You, We, and They,
we just say "work". For example, "I work". You can say it after me, that way, you will
remember the grammar, you'll also get the pronunciation, and it'll help you to learn and
remember. So, repeat after me: I work, you work, we work, they work. Good. Now, look
what happens here. When it comes to he, she, and it, we need to add an "s", okay? That's
all. We need to add an "s" for he, she, and it, not because it's plural, it's not
plural, but from a grammar point of view, in the present simple, we need to add an
"s" here. So, say it after me: He works, she works, and it works. Okay? Very good. So,
that's for a positive or affirmative sentence.
Now, let's look at a negative sentence. So, what
we would say is "I don't work" if we're shortening it, or we would say "I do not work". So, what
happened here? How did we make it negative? First, we have to add this word "do", and
down here, we have to add the word "does". So, this is a helping verb that we have to use
in this negative form, alright? So just learn it the way it is and then you'll understand it
and you'll get used to it. So, we say "I do not work". The "do not", when we shorten it, becomes
"don't", and how does that happen? We take out the "o" here and then we squeeze these words together,
we join them together, and it becomes "don't". So, first, let's say it with the contraction, with the
short form, because that's how we usually speak. It is correct to say, "I do not work", but usually
we'll say "I don't work", alright? But the most important thing to remember is here we say, "I do
not work" but here it becomes "He does not work", and "does not" when we shorten it,
when we contract it, becomes "doesn't". So, what happened here? We cancelled the "o" and
again, we joined these two words "does" and "not" and it became "doesn't", and you can always know
how to spell this contraction or this short form because of where we put the apostrophe. We put
the apostrophe, this little comma that's in the in the air, in the place where we take out a
letter. So, we put it here instead of the "o" and we put it here instead of the "o". So, let's
go through these. I don't work, You don't work, We don't work, They don't work. Now, let's go
to he, she, and it. Remember, he, she, and it is always going to be a little bit different.
Let's hear it and say it: He doesn't work, She doesn't work, It doesn't work. Let's say the
phone, the computer, it doesn't work, okay?
Now, let's go to the questions. So, what
happens in the questions? In the question, we also have to use that helping verb: "do".
"Do" here, and "does" down here, and we have to change the order, so instead of saying "I do",
we say "Do I?", alright? So, repeat it after me: Do I work? I don't know, I don't remember.
Do you work? Do we work? Do they work? Down here, you would say, with he, she,
and it: Does he work? Does she work? Does it work? Alright? Now usually, of course,
you're not just going to say "Do you work?" You might say something more than that. Do you work
on Fridays? Do you work Monday to Friday? Do you work at the bank? Alright? So usually
there's something more, but I've just put the basic form here so that you understand
the structure of how to use this tense.
Now, another important point is that
sometimes, when we ask questions, we don't just start with "do" or "does", but we
need to add a question word, right? So, maybe you want to say "where". What are the question
words, first of all: who, what, when, where, why, how, how much, how many, how often, okay?
These are all what are called question words, but if you have one of these question words,
all you have to do, it's really easy, the only thing you have to do is to put that question
word right before this structure. So, "Where do you work?", right? When do you work?
Why do you work? How much do you work? How often do you work? But we're keeping the same
structure and we still need to have that helping verb "do". The same down here: Where does he work?
When does she work? Okay? So, keep that structure and even if you have a question word, don't
worry, just put it at the beginning. So, here we have some examples: Where do
you live? What do you do? Okay?
But the most important thing to remember is
this part, okay? He works. She works. It works. This is the only place in the entire board
where we're adding an "s" to the verb itself. Everywhere else, we're just using the base form
of the verb, right? So, let's say our verb is "to work". So, here it's "work". I work, I don't
work, Do you work? He works, here it's different, but after that, it goes back to the base form
of the verb, right? He doesn't work. Does he work? So even though with he, she, and it
in the positive sentence we add the "s", but here in the negative, no, go back to the
base form and in the question, go back to the base form of the word "work", but you do need
to remember that in that positive sentence, add the "s", okay? So, that's the structure
of the present simple tense. It's really pretty straightforward, you just need
to practice it and you will get it.
Now, let's look at some of the spelling changes
we need to make in the present simple tense. We only need to make those changes, as I mentioned
earlier, when we're using he, she, or it, because, for example, we say "I work" but "He works",
right? So what was the spelling change we needed there? We had to add an "s". And most of the
time, with most verbs, all you need to do is add that "s". For example, dance becomes dances. You
can say it after me as well, okay? Cook - cooks. Sleep - sleeps. Alright? So there, all we did,
we just added the "s" for the he, she, or it.
Next, if the verb ends with
an s, or an sh, or a ch, or an x, then we need to add "es". And we can
almost hear it, okay? Just listen. For example, kiss - kisses. You see that we're hearing "kisses"
"es" a little bit - it's a little bit longer, so that tells us we need to add an "es".
The next one, wash becomes washes. Teach - teaches. Fix - fixes. Okay? So, that's another
change. Another one is verbs ending in a consonant and y. What do I mean by that? If we look at this
verb: study, it ends with a y, right? And just before the y, we have a consonant. What's
a consonant? Anything that's not a vowel is a consonant. So, what's a vowel? A vowel in
English is a, e, i, o, or u. Everything else: b, d, g, x, etc., these are all consonants. So,
d is a consonant. Or here, in the word try, we have a y and before that, we have a consonant,
right? So, what happens in those cases? We have to drop that last y and we have to add "ies".
You've probably seen this lots of times, okay, but this is actually what's happening. So,
study becomes studies. Try becomes tries, okay? You'll get it, you'll see. Fry - fries,
right? Like French fries, okay? Alright.
So, then, last of all, there are some other
verbs. They're usually irregular verbs, okay? These are the most common patterns, but
there are a few verbs where the ending might be different in one way or another, okay? Sometimes
the verb really changes and you have to pay attention to that. You may be familiar with many
of these already, but here are a few examples. Go becomes like "I go", "He
goes". "I do", "She does". "I have", "It has". So you see that in
some cases, the verb changed completely, okay? So these are the most common patterns for
spelling changes in the present simple tense.
Now, let's look at how to give short answers
in English. See, in real conversation, when someone asks you a question, we don't
usually repeat the whole question in our answer. We just give what's called like a short
answer. Let me give you an example. If someone says, "Do they need help?", then you
can just say, in short, either "Yes, they do" or "No, they don't". So, we do not have
to say "Yes, they need help", right? You don't have to repeat that whole question.
You just give what's called the short answer. And how do you know how to shorten it?
It's really easy. So, if the question starts with "Do", like this, right? Then your
answer will include some form of "do" or "don't", depending on if it's a positive sentence or a
negative one. So, we see here "Do they need help?" "Yes they do.", right? Or "No, they don't."
Alright? So, the "do", the way the question starts is the way you will be able to answer it,
alright. It's really pretty simple, it really is. The important thing to remember is that
in the affirmative or positive answer, we cannot shorten it, okay? There is no way
to shorten that correctly. So here, we have to say "Yes, they do", but here we can use the
short form, or that contraction that we learned, and you can say "No, they don't". Alright?
Let's look at another example. This time, I think you'll be able to apply the principle yourself.
So, the question is "Does he speak French?". So, how did it start? With "does". So, what
are our options? "Yes, he does.", right? Or "No, he doesn't." Okay? Again, the "does" is
used in the short answer. "Yes, he does." "No, he doesn't." Got it? Alright. So, based on that,
you can see that you could answer any question that someone's asking you in present simple
by just listening carefully to the question, but you do have to pay attention also to the
subject here. So for example, in this last one, "Do you like this song?", somebody asks you,
"Do you like this song?". So your answer - they're asking you, so you can't say "Yes,
you", you have you say "Yes, I". "Yes, I do", the "do" comes into play again, or "No, I don't."
So again, you do see the same principle applied all the way. And again, remember, in the
positive form, you cannot shorten it, but in the negative form you can and you should
shorten it because that's how we normally speak, and these short answers are used a lot in normal
conversation, so it would be a good idea for you to learn them and it's really pretty fast and
I think you might have already learned them. So, do you understand? You could say "Yes, I do!"
I hope that's what you said, okay? Alright.
Now, let's look at some common mistakes that
students often make when they start using the present simple tense, and this way you'll know
what to be careful of so that you don't make these kind of mistakes, alright? Let's look. So
usually the mistakes are of four different kinds. Sometimes, the mistake is in the tense itself. So
remember we mentioned at the beginning that there can be present simple and present continuous, and
that present simple is for something permanent and present continuous is for something
temporary. So sometimes, learners get mixed up between these two tenses. So, let's say in this
example that this person lives in Tokyo, right? It's not just for a little while, it's where that
person lives. So, if that person said "I am living in Tokyo", that would be wrong. If that's where
the person stays permanently, he or she should say "I live in Tokyo". They could say "I am living
in Tokyo" only if it's something temporary, alright? So, that is one mistake that's
sometimes made with the present simple, that confusion between it and present continuous.
Now, let's look at another kind of mistake. That's when a mistake is made with the verb form.
You'll find it because now you're good at this, okay? Ready, let's read. These are all
mistakes, okay, so these are all wrong, we're going to correct them together. The
sentence right now says "We likes to travel." So, the verb is wrong. What should it be? "We like to travel". Say it after me: We
like to travel. Good. Here's a mistake, the same thing in the verb form, but in a
negative sentence: "They doesn't eat vegetables." That's wrong, you know that. What should it be?
"They don't eat vegetables". Say it after me: "They don't eat vegetables". Good.
And here's a mistake in the question: "Does you talk to him often?" That's wrong.
We can't say that. We need to say what? "Do you". Say it after me: "Do you talk to him
often?" Good. Alright? So those are verb form kind of mistakes. Another mistake that's possible is in
spelling. We looked at the many kinds of spelling, right, and you need to make the changes. So
here, the person wrote "She trys to save money", but the spelling of the verb is incorrect, because
here it's a y and before that it's a consonant, remember? So what should it be? "Tries".
They had to drop that "y" and add "ies". So, you'll pick up those spelling changes, okay?
Just pay attention when you're reading and so on and it'll come to you unnaturally.
Next, sometimes an entire word is missing. So, let's look at this one. This is a
question: "What time you finish work?". It almost sounds right, but it's not. It's
wrong. Grammatically in English, that's wrong. Can you understand it? Yes, you can understand it,
but it's still wrong. So, how do we correct it? Did you find the mistake? So we should
say "What time do you finish work?". So, what was missing was that helping
word, okay, that helping verb, remember, we do have to add that even if you have
a question word here like "what time", alright? "What time do you finish work?". So,
these are the four main kinds of mistakes that you have to be careful of. In tense, using the wrong
tense, using the wrong verb form, making any kind of spelling mistakes, or leaving out an essential
verb or helping verb. Alright? That's it!
You've been learning a lot, so now it's
time to practice. Let's get started.
Number 1: I take, but he ________.
What would you say in present simple? I take, he takes, right? You have to
add that "s" there, right? Very good.
Now, let's work it the other way.
Number 2: She does, We _______. Do you know it? We do. Very good.
Number 3: You enjoy. She ______. Yes, I can hear you.
She enjoys. Very good. Alright
Now, let's make some phrases negative, alright,
so we're going from positive to negative.
Number 4: They study. They
________________. Use the contraction. They don't study. Right? "Don't" being short
for what? Do not. Right, you've got it.
Number 5: The next one. He sings. Make
it negative. He ________________. Yes, He doesn't sing. "Doesn't" is short
for what? Does not. Very good.
Now, let's make some questions. So, let's read the sentence first.
Number 6: She wants to buy a new phone.
How would we ask the question? What's the
helping verb you have to use, helping word? Do, or does, giving you a clue there. Here, it's
"She", so we have to say, "Does she want to buy a new phone?" Okay, so remember, we come back to the
base form of the verb and we have to use "do" or "does", but because it's she, we're saying "does".
"Does she want to buy a new phone?" Okay? Good.
Let's do the last one.
Number 7: They sell books online. Ask a question about that. Again,
what are you going to start with? "Do" this time, right. "Do they sell books
online?", right? Okay? Why "do"? Because now we're talking about they. And why "does" here?
Because we were talking about "she", alright.
So, if you got those right, that's great! If you
got any wrong, maybe you can go back later and check those parts, but we're going to practice
some more, we're going to learn a little bit more, and you'll get it for sure by the
end of this, okay. Stick with me.
To review: you know the present simple tense when
you know when you use it, which we talked about, and how to use it. And how do you know that you
know how to use it? When you can do these things: you can make a positive sentence, a negative
sentence, and a question. For example, you should be able to say easily "They live in
Amsterdam." or "They don't live in Amsterdam." or "Do they live in Amsterdam?". You should be able
to switch easily and comfortably and quickly and correctly between these three sentences, okay?
So, remember, this is the present simple tense, but this is an entire series that we have of
English tenses, so from the present simple, you can go to the next class which is on the
present continuous tense, and that way you can take your English forward step by step, alright?
And if you'd like a little more practice on this tense, the present simple tense, go to
www.engvid.com , alright? Thank you very much for watching, I know you're a serious student,
and I know you're going to make good progress.
Hi, I'm Rebecca, and welcome to this class on the
present continuous tense, which is also called the present progressive tense. Now, this class is part
of the engVid series on English verb tenses. So, the present continuous tense is a basic tense.
It's usually one of the first tenses that you start to learn when you start studying English.
However, it doesn't exist in every language, and it might not exist in your language. So, it's
possible to make mistakes very easily and it's a basic tense, so we really don't want to make
those kind of mistakes. So, just stay with me. We're going to go through it step by step. I'll
show you exactly how to use it, we'll do lots of practice together, and you will understand and be
able to use it. So, are you ready? Let's start.
So, there are two basic tenses, first, to start
to talk about the present. They are the present simple and the present continuous, okay? We know
it has two names, I'm just going to use one name. So, what's the difference? Let's look at some
examples in each of these tenses. So, in the present simple, I would say "I work". In the
present continuous, I would say "I am working". So, what is the difference between these two? "I
am working" talks about something that's happening right now. For example, I am teaching.
You are watching. You are listening. Or, it can also talk about something temporary,
like you're watching this lesson this moment, but also for a short time. Short is a general
idea, okay? So, it could be something that's happening now, or something temporary.
However, we use "I work" in present simple to talk about things that are true in general.
I work in this company, but I'm working now. Or, I work in this company, but I'm not working
now. I'm having lunch. See the difference, okay? We also use present simple to talk about things
that are more permanent, like your job, right? You don't change your job usually every day. It's more
or less permanent; where you work, where you live. This is more permanent and general, present
simple, and this is more temporary and now. So, that's the basic overview and the basic
idea. And, how do we actually form this tense? We form it by using the subject
like I, you, we, they, he, she, it, plus the verb "to be", plus the verb,
plus -ing. Let's look at an example: "I am working". So, we have the
subject and the verb "to be" and each form of the verb "to be". I am working, You
are working, We are working, They are working, He is working, She is working, It's working,
okay? Like the computer, the air conditioner, whatever, okay? So, that's the
basic overview of this tense.
Now, let's look at when we use the present
continuous tense. So, as we saw earlier, we can definitely use it to talk about something
that's happening right now. For example, "The baby is sleeping", don't make noise, okay?
Or for example, "Oh, it's raining outside", alright? So those are examples of something
happening right now. We can also use this tense to talk about something that's happening around now.
For example, "He is writing a book". So, he might not be writing it this minute, but he's writing
it around now. We don't know how long it'll take, but it's happening around this time. So,
we can use it in that context. For example, we could also say "He's working on a project".
Maybe the project is going to take one week and maybe it'll take one year, or ten years, we don't
know, but it's happening around now, okay?
Next, we can also use it to talk about
something temporary. Not something that happens all the time, but something temporary. For
example, that book, right? We don't know, maybe it's going to take him three years to write
the book, but in his mind, it's not something that's going to last forever. It's something
temporary, okay? So, this is more about how you look at what is happening. Or, this example,
something temporary, "We are staying at hotel". We live in our home, that's permanent,
but right now, while we're in this city, while we're travelling, we are staying at a
hotel. That's something temporary. Okay?
Next, we can also use it to talk about a
trend. A trend is something that's changing, okay? Something that's developing. For example,
"The prices of homes are increasing". Let's say the prices were here, and now the prices are
going up, so we can say the prices are increasing. Some sort of changes that are happening. And we
can also talk about a trend in terms of something that's popular. Often, we talk about things -
fashion trends, for example, right? People are wearing a certain color. People are wearing bright
colors this summer, or people are wearing certain kinds of shoes. So, we can talk about trends
using this present continuous tense, alright?
So, those are the basic ways in which we use
this tense, but I just want to let you know that there are also two slightly more advanced
ways in which we can use this tense. So, let's look at what they are. The first one is
to talk about some kind of repeated action, but it's usually something negative. So,
we're using it to kind of - when we want to complain about something. For example,
if you say, "They're always making noise", that's a negative remark, right? So, we can
use "always" in this context with the present continuous tense. Usually, we use words like
always, never, sometimes, frequently, and so on, to talk about present simple. Something that's
true in general. For example, "They always help us", or just to talk about facts. But when
you're talking about something negative, then very often we can use this present continuous
tense, but that's a slightly more advanced way to use it, so don't worry about it too much, but
you might hear people using it that way.
And, another point, I know that I said this
is called the present continuous, and it talks about the present, not the past, not the future,
the present, however, sometimes we can actually use it to talk about the future, but only in
a special way. So, let's look at what that is. If I say, "She's flying to Mexico next week.",
now, if I didn't say "next week", if I only said, "She's flying to Mexico", what does it mean? It's
happening right now. So, when I want to use this tense to talk about the future, I have to say
something like this. I have to say next week, tomorrow, next summer, next year, I have to give
it some kind of time in the future and then you can use present continuous for the future in a
slightly more advanced way, okay? So, those are the basic ways in which we use this tense.
Now, let's look at when not to use the present continuous tense. So, first of all, everything
here, all these examples, these are all wrong, okay? And we're going to understand why. So,
we cannot use the present continuous tense to talk about any permanent actions or activities.
For example, for most people, where they live, where they work, these are more or less
permanent. They don't change every day. They're not temporary, right? So, if I live in Canada
all the time, then it would be wrong to say, "I am living in Canada". That would only
be okay if it was something temporary. Similarly, if I work at ABC company, and that's
my permanent job, it would be wrong to say, "I am working at ABC Company". I would
need to say, "I work at ABC Company". That would be a difference tense, the present
simple tense. And similarly here, if I live in Canada, I need to say "I live in Canada" and not
"I am living", because that would be temporary. So, that's the most common kind of mistake that
people make, so be really careful of that.
Similarly, we have stative verbs. This is another
area that you have to be really careful about. Why? Because in English, there are two kinds of
verbs: action verbs and what are called stative verbs. So, action verbs are your normal verbs
that you know most of the time like work, run, play, jump, okay? And stative verbs describe
a state, or a condition. It could be a mental state. It could be an emotional state, okay? And
with this tense, we cannot use stative verbs, and in fact, in any continuous tense in English,
you cannot use stative verbs. Let me give you some examples of stative verbs. For example, it would
be wrong to say, "I am understanding English". No. You cannot say that, because "understand" is a
stative verb, to do with your mind, so it's wrong to say that, okay? This is all wrong, okay. It
would be wrong to say, "We are liking this show". Liking is wrong because "like" is a
stative verb. So, we would need to say, "We like this show". "I understand English", okay?
Similarly, here, when you talk about verbs that refer to what you own, what you possess, what you
have, we cannot use those verbs in the stative form with this tense. So, it would be wrong
to say, "They are having a car". You would need to say, "They have a car". Similarly,
again, there's a long list of stative verbs, but the verb "need" and the verb "want" are very
common verbs which are usually stative verbs and therefore you can't use them in this tense. So,
it would be wrong to say, "Are you needing help?". You would need to say, "Do you need help?", okay?
So, whether you have learned the present simple or not, don't worry right now, just understand
that with the present continuous, you cannot use stative verbs, so everything here is wrong.
Now, let's look at how we form the present continuous tense. Let's
start by looking at a sample sentence. "I am working". So, we saw that there are
three parts: I, which is the subject, am, in this case, which is a form of the verb
"to be", then we have the verb "work", right, and then we have "-ing", alright? So,
in order to use this tense correctly, you need to know two things: you need to be
sure that you know the verb "to be" perfectly, and then you need to know how to add the verb +
ing and any changes you need to make in spelling. So, what I've done is I've divided this lesson.
First; into just looking into the verb "to be" to make sure that you're using it correctly,
because if you have mistakes in the verb "to be", this central part, then you will make mistakes
in this tense. But if you've got it right, then you'll be absolutely fine. So, let's just
take a minute to review the verb "to be", alright? And then we'll move on to the next part.
So, in a positive sentence, it would be I am. You are. We are. They are. He is. She is. It is. Now, when we say the verb "to be", the verb "to
be" is one of the most common verbs, but it is used in two ways. One is by itself. For example, I
can say "I am a teacher.", or we can also use the verb "to be" as a helping verb, as it's being used
in this tense. Then, I could say "I am teaching". Now, the verb "to be" became a helping verb, but
one way or the other, whether I'm using the verb "to be" by itself or I'm using it in this context,
then I still need to know exactly how to use the verb "to be". So now, let's look at the negative.
I am not. You are not. We are not. They are not. What do you notice? We're just adding "not",
right? Let's do it a little bit more. He is not. She is not. It is not. Okay? Right
now, don't worry about this last part. We're going to add that soon, okay? Let's just get
this part right, the verb "to be", alright?
Next, let's look at when we have the verb
"to be" in a question or in our tense. So, what do we do? Instead of saying "I am",
we say "Am I?". If you had the verb after that, you'd say, "Am I working?" and so on, but we'll
look at that in a minute. Right now, just master this part. It's a critical part of understanding
and using this tense correctly. Are you? Are we? Are they? Right? The same at the bottom
here: Is he? Is she? Is it? Alright? So, make sure that you can use the verb "to be" so that you
can use the present continuous tense correctly.
Now, let's look at how we form the full
present continuous tense. You already know the verb "to be", now we'll say a positive
sentence, a negative sentence, and a question. So you can repeat after me, it will be very
good practice to also hear the correct form. I am working. You are working. We are
working. They are working. He is working. She is working. It is working. Okay, got
that? Good. For the negative, it's very easy, you just add "not" before the verb, plus the -ing,
so "not working", right? You are not working. He is not working. They are not working. Like
that, okay? It's very simple, just take this and add "not working". Now, for the question, we
have to reverse the order. So, instead of saying "I am", we say "Am I?", right? Just like with the
verb "to be", same thing, that's why I told you the verb "to be" is so important, it's part of
this tense. So, repeat after me, the questions: Am I working today? Are you working?
Are we working? Are they working? Is he working? Is she working? Is it working? So,
that's your basic question form. Now remember, you can always add a question word
before that. For example, you could say "When are you working?". Where are you working?
How long are you working? But what's important - what's important if you do that is to keep
this same order. Keep your question order. Don't turn it back into a sentence. Just add the
question word, like when, or how long, or why, or something like that, and keep this structure.
When are you working? Where are you working? Why are you working? And so on, okay? And that's
how you form the present continuous tense.
Now, let's look at how we use contractions in
the present continuous tense. So, in English, sometimes, instead of saying, for example,
"I am learning", we shorten it or contract it and say, "I'm learning". So, why do we do
that? Usually, it's faster, it's easier, and we use it a lot in informal conversation
and also in informal writing. We do not usually use contractions like these in formal business
writing or in academic writing, but we use them a lot on an everyday basis. So, let's see how
to spell them and how to pronounce them.
So, I am becomes I'm. What happened here?
We took away the A and put an apostrophe where we took away the letter and we joined
those two words. I'm. You are becomes you're. We are becomes we're. They are becomes
they're. He is becomes he's. She is -- she's. And it is -- it's. Okay? Alright, so
let's say a sentence, a really short sentence, with these contractions, so you can learn how
to say them easily and naturally. I'm learning. You're learning. We're learning.
They're learning. He's learning. She's learning. It's learning. Okay? Good.
Now, we can do the same thing when it's negative. So, instead of saying "I am not",
we can shorten it in one way only, we can say "I'm not". So basically, we just took the "I'm"
and added "not", alright? So, we just got rid of this and then we joined these two, okay?
Sorry, we didn't join them, but we used them, one after the other, okay? I'm not. So, let's say
a sentence: I'm not watching. Are you watching TV? No, you can put it off, I'm not watching,
okay? Next: You are not becomes what? There are two possibilities here. First, let's just add
"not". So, "you are not" can become you're not, we're not, they're not. Or, "You are not"
can be contracted in a different way. Here, we're just going to take away the O here
and put an apostrophe and combine these two. What we did here is we took this one and we
got rid of this letter and combined this one. So, let's look at it for a second. "You are
not here" became "You're not". We contracted these two words. "You are not here", we got
rid of the o and we joined these two words: are not. So, the other possibility is "You
aren't". Say it after me: You aren't watching. We aren't watching. They aren't watching.
Okay? Very good. The same here - "He is not" can become "He's not",
right? We got rid of this one. She's not, It's not. Or, we can get rid of the
o here and join this and we can say "He isn't", She isn't watching. It isn't watching. So that's
how we spell and pronounce the contractions.
Now, let's look at some spelling changes we need
to make to the verb when we're using the present continuous tense. So, with all of the verbs, you
need to add "-ing". And to most of the verbs, that's all you need to do. You just need to add
"ing". For example, eat becomes eating. Walk - walking, right? All we did was add that "ing",
but with some verbs you need to make a few small other changes. For verbs ending in E, we need
to drop the E and then add "ing". For example, use becomes using, so we dropped or cancelled
this E and added ing. Take becomes taking. Again, we dropped or cancelled the e, alright? Good.
For verbs ending in "ie", we need to drop the ie and add y and then add the ing. For example, lie,
right, l-i-e, cancel ie, add y, then ing. Lying. Tie becomes tying, okay? That's it!
Now, for some verbs, ending in a C-V-C pattern, we have to double the last letter. What does
that C-V-C? C stands for consonant, V for vowel, and C again for consonant. A vowel in English is
A,E,I,O or U and a consonant is any other letter. So, what you do is look at the verb, alright, you
look at the verb from the end, it will be easier, and if it follows that pattern, right, C, a p is
a consonant, an a is a vowel, and then the l is a consonant, so if it follows that pattern,
C-V-C, then double that last letter. Now, there are some special circumstances, it doesn't
always apply, but it often applies. There are patterns in English spelling and sometimes there
are exceptions. So, in this case, clap becomes clapping. Sit becomes sitting. Okay? And those are
the major spelling changes you need to make.
Now, let's look at how to give short
answers in the present continuous tense. So, in English, if someone asks you a question
and your basic answer is "Yes" or "No", we don't usually just say "Yes" or "No". We usually say a
little bit more than that. But, at the same time, we don't have to repeat everything they asked
us in the question in our answer. So, what we do is something like this. If someone says, "Is he
working late?" you could simply say "Yes, he is", or "No, he isn't." And how do you know what to
say here? You just take it from here, right? So, is he? Yes, he is. Or, no, he isn't. Alright,
so, what's important to notice is that in the positive answer, you cannot use any contraction.
You cannot shorten it and say "Yes, he's". No, that's wrong. But in the negative, you can
definitely use the contraction. You can say "No, he is not", it's not wrong, but usually we'll
just use the contraction. The same thing here: "Are they going to the meeting?" So, we could say
what? Yes, they are, or no, they aren't, okay? So, you're basically taking your answer
clues from the question itself. And again, no contraction possible in the positive answer.
Here's another one. "Are you studying?" So here, it's going to be a little bit different.
Why? Because they're asking, "Are you" and they're - you have to answer with "I", right? So
here, you cannot use it, but you will simply say "Yes I am" or "No, I'm not". Got it? You can't
take it from there, but you can still just give a short answer. You don't have to say "Yes, I am
studying", "No, I am not studying", just say "Yes, I am", "No, I'm not". In fact, it's a good thing
to just know this phrase, alright? Yes, I am. No, I'm not. So, for example, if I ask you "Are
you learning the present continuous tense?" "Yes, I am." "Are you making progress in your
English?" "Yes, I am". "Are you feeling happy?" I hope you're saying "Yes, I am."
Now, let's practice what you've been learning. So, we have some positive sentences we're going
to work with, some negative ones, and some questions. So, first, we'll take a sentence
which is in present simple and we're going to change it to present continuous, okay?
Number 1 -- "I go" becomes what? "I am going." Or "I'm going." Alright? You can also
contract it or shorten it. "We wait". Let's use the contracted form and turn it into the present
continuous form. "We wait" becomes what? "We're waiting", right? We're waiting.
We are waiting. We're waiting. Good. "They play" - again, let's use the
contraction just so you can practice the spelling, also where to put that apostrophe and so
on and pay attention to it. "They play." becomes "They're playing.", okay? Very nice. Alright.
Now, we have a sentence that's already in present continuous. What we want to
do is to change it to the negative form in present continuous. "She's calling." How
can we make that negative? There are two ways. She's calling - make it negative - She's not
calling, this is one way, and the other way - She isn't calling, right? Those were the two ways that
we learned. She's not calling. She isn't calling. Alright? Very good. "We're cooking". Make it
negative. First, the easy way, you can always just use the easy way too, if you're unsure -
We're not cooking. I call this one the easy way, because you just need to add "not" and it's 100%
right. It's not like that one is better than this one, no, everything is equally correct. We're not
cooking, or what's the other way though? We aren't cooking. Okay? So again, pay
attention to the spelling there. Next, number 6 - "I'm reading". Make
it negative. What will it become? I'm not reading, and in this case, that's the only
form that we can make it negative. Alright.
Now, the questions. So, right now, it's
just a sentence. Let's see how we can make it into a question. "They are buying a new
car." Make it a question, it's really easy. Got it? Yes, just move these around. Are they
buying a new car? And of course, the first word will be capitalized, and the second word will not.
"She is doing her homework." Make it a question, what is it? The same thing. Is she doing her
homework? Good. And if you're writing it, again, it would be capital for the first
letter and then not capital after that. "We are leaving at 8:00." Make
it a question - same thing. Are we leaving at 8:00? And of course, at the
end of each of these, we would have a question mark if you're writing it down. So, how did you
do? Hope everything is going well, and I'm sure it is. Let's look at a little bit more.
Now, let's look at some common mistakes that are made with the present continuous
tense, and you can help me correct them. The first kind of mistake - sometimes
the verb "to be" is missing. For example, "My brother watching the news". So, what did
that student need to say? What did that person want to say? What's missing? The verb
"to be"? So, we have to say "My brother is watching the news", okay? Remember,
we have the subject, the verb "to be", and then the verb + ing. Sometimes, the same
thing can happen but in a negative sentence. For example, this person wrote "John
not helping". How can we correct that? "John" - the easy way to correct it is to
say "John is not helping" or you can always contract it and say "John's not helping". Okay?
Or we can say "John isn't helping". Alright.
Sometimes, the verb "to be" is missing in
a question. Instead of saying "She going?", what's wrong there? What should
we be saying? We should be saying "Is she going?". Is she going, right? Again,
we needed that verb "to be". We can't have this tense without the verb "to be", right? That's
why we looked at it so many times, so make sure that you don't forget it. Next, sometimes
the verb "to be" is there, but it's incorrect. There's an incorrect form of it being used.
For example, this person wrote "Bob and Maria is driving home". That's not right. They have
the verb "to be" but it's not in the right form because "Bob and Maria" is like "they",
right, so it should be "Bob and Maria are driving home", okay? And here,
this person wrote "He ain't studying." Now, "ain't" is actually slang. You might hear it
a lot in songs or in music or in movies, okay, but in academic English, in correct grammar, it's
not acceptable, so if you're doing an exam or if you're writing a paper for university or if
you're trying to impress a client, it's probably not such a good idea to use it. Instead of that,
you should use the correct version which is what? "He isn't studying", okay? That doesn't mean you
can never use slang, you can certainly use slang with your friends or casually whenever you
want to, but just be aware - what is slang, and what is not slang.
Next, sometimes the verb, the main verb, not the verb "to be", but the verb
in the sentence is used incorrectly. For example, this person wrote "She is do her
homework". How can we fix that? "She is doing her homework". And this one wrote "The
game is start now". It should be "The game is starting now", okay? There we go, good. See,
I'm sure you can find these now yourself, right? And that's the way. Now you've learned, you
know the rules, you're able to apply the words, whether you're reading something or whether
you're looking at something or whether you're writing it yourself or whether you're
speaking, it will come out right.
Next, sometimes mistakes are made in spelling. For
example, there are several mistakes here. "She's lieing" but this should be what? Not lie, lying.
This was one of those verbs also, "She's siting", but it's consonant, vowel, consonant, so we need
to double the last letter, sitting, and here, "writeing", ends with an E, the verb "write", so
we need to get rid of that E, okay? So be careful of those spelling changes that we talked about.
Also, here's a spelling mistake. This person wrote "Were going to the mall." That's what they
wanted to say, but what's missing here? The apostrophe, good. So, that goes right
here, okay? Instead of "We are" it became "We're". "We're going to the mall". Okay?
Next, sometimes people forget, and they use a stative verb anyway in this tense and they might
say something like "I am needing some water.", but can we say that? No. In correct English, you
cannot say that, because "need" is one of those stated verbs. So, you'd need to change that and
just say "I need some water". The same here, "I'm wanting to visit Hawaii". No, "want" is
another stated verb, so we just say, "I want to visit Hawaii", okay? And last of all, remember
what I told you, what we talked about earlier, that we don't and should not be using this
tense to talk about permanent situations. So, for example, somebody asked this
person "What does your company do?" and he said, "We are manufacturing cars."
But that's not right, because it's not something they do just temporarily, it
takes a lot of work and organization to do this work, so it should be not "We are
manufacturing cars.", but just "We manufacture cars.", okay? So, in that case, using the present
continuous tense would be incorrect. You just needed there - the other present simple tense. So,
these are some of the common mistakes, and I think you see that once you know the rules, the rules
actually make it easier for you. They free you to speak and communicate more correctly.
So, we've covered a lot in this class. Let's review now, just one last time. You
know this tense when you can make, what? A positive sentence, a negative sentence, and a
question. For example: "David is making coffee." A positive. "David is not making coffee." A
negative sentence. "Is David making coffee?" A question, or to add question words to that, for
example, "When is David making coffee?" "Why is David making coffee?", and so on. Okay? So, what
can you do from here? To practice this tense, try to think of examples in your own life. Talk
to yourself as you're going through your day. What are you doing at that moment? I'm waking
up, I'm brushing my teeth, I'm taking a shower, I'm having breakfast, there are so many things
that you can say as you're walking around. You don't have to say them aloud, you can also say
them in your mind, okay, but try to use the tense that you've learned so well right now, okay?
Now, when you feel that you know this tense, then you can go on to the next lesson in this series,
because this is a series of the verb tenses. Next, after that, you can also practice a
little bit more, if you wish, by taking a quiz on www.engvid.com . Thanks very much for
watching, and all the best with your English.
In this lesson, you will learn the difference
between the present simple tense and the present continuous tense, which is also called the
present progressive tense. In other words, you'll learn the difference between
saying "I work" or "I am working". So, this lesson is part of a series created by engVid
to help you learn all of the English verb tenses. Now, I have created lessons on each of these
tenses separately, and maybe you have already watched them, and now you're watching this, which
is great, or you can watch this lesson and then you can go on and watch the other separate lessons
so that you can go into more detail if you wish. So, both of these tenses are basic tenses.
However, they don't exist in all languages, and maybe they don't exist in your language,
so pay a little more attention and as you do, you will understand easily the differences between
these tenses. So, shall we begin? Let's go!
So, the present simple tense
sounds like this: I work. The present continuous tense sounds like this: I
am working. So, what's the very basic difference? The basic difference is that "I am working"
talks about something that's happening right now, or something temporary that happens for
a short time. "I work", present simple, talks about something that's true in general, or
something more permanent, something that lasts for a long time. That's the very basic difference,
but we're going to be looking at all of the really specific differences between these two tenses. But
first, let's see, what does this tense even look like? What does it sound like? Let's see that.
So, with present simple, we basically take the subject + the verb.
In this case, our sample verb is "work". So, it would sound like this - you can say it after me
if you like. It's good to repeat things out loud, helps you to feel more comfortable and get used
to using it yourself. So, we would say: I work. You work. We work. They work. But here we have a
difference: He works. We have to add an "s" there. She works. It works, okay? Again, once
you've studied this tense in detail, you'll know all of these changes perfectly,
but I'm just giving you an overall view. When it becomes negative, it becomes "He does
not work.", or, if it becomes a question, it would say "Does he work?", alright? So,
that's the basis of the present simple.
Now, let's look at present continuous.
Now here, what happens? We have a subject: I, he, you, they, etc., + the verb "to be", we
need that helping verb here, + our basic verb, which in this case is "work", + "-ing", so it's
a little bit longer because we have that helping verb in the middle, plus we have "-ing" at the
end, okay? So, how does this sound? I am working. You are working. We are working. They are working.
He is working. She is working. And, it is working, alright? So, that's the basic positive form of it.
The negative form would be just to add a "not". "You are not working". He is not working. And if
we shorten that, it becomes "He isn't working". And if we make it into a
question, change the order, we would say "Is he working?" Are you working?
Are they working? And so on, okay? So, that's the basic structure of the two tenses, and
next we will be looking at when to use them.
So, we use these two tenses in different
ways. Let's understand now what they are. So, in the present simple, we would say, for
example, "I live in this building". This is my permanent residence. This is where I live
all the time. So, we use present simple: "I live". In present continuous, we
might say "I am staying at a hotel." This is something temporary. It's not all the
time, it's only for some time. So, here, we have "I am staying", which is present continuous,
here we have "I live", which is present simple. Permanent, temporary. Next, we could say "He
plays the guitar." This is true in general. It means he knows how to play the
guitar. He plays. Present simple. Here, we could say "He is playing the
guitar." That means he's doing that right now. He is playing now. As soon as we say, "He is
playing", even if we don't use the word "now", this tense already means that it's happening
right now, okay? So, he plays in general, but he is playing the guitar
means it's happening right now. Another example, "We watch the news at 9:00pm."
"We watch", okay? This is to talk about a routine, every day we watch the news at 9:00pm.
Alright? So that's to describe a routine, something that happens regularly. Or, we could say
here "We are watching the news." "We are watching" means what? In this case again, it's happening
right now, okay? We're watching the news, call us later, we're just watching the news, happening
now. But, every day, we watch the news at 9:00, okay? So that's a routine, that's
again something that's happening now. See the difference? Let's look at another one.
"The sun sets in the west." "The sun sets", okay? The sun rises in the morning, the sun
sets in the evening. This is just a fact, okay? So, we use present simple to talk
about facts. But, here, we could say "Look, how beautiful, the sun is setting! The sky
is all orange and pink and lovely colors". So, this means the sun "is setting" means it's
happening right now, alright? So here, it was a fact, the sun sets in the west, it's just a fact,
and here, it's happening now. So, these are the first few differences between these two tenses.
Now, here are some more differences. In present simple, we would say "The price rises every
year." This is something that happens in general. In present continuous, we might say "The
price is rising this year." This is a trend, this is the general direction in which things
are changing, so here, the price "is rising" this year, but the price "rises every
year", okay? This is present simple. Next, suppose we want to talk about a habit.
We might say "She always takes the bus." She always takes - but here, we might say
"She is always complaining about the bus." So, when you're talking about a negative
habit, then we can use present continuous, but if you're just talking about a regular
habit, then you would use present simple. Alright? Next, we could say, in present
simple, "The flight leaves at 7:00pm." Now, why do we use present simple for that?
Because it's a regularly scheduled event, right? The flight leaves at 7:00pm, that's
the schedule. It always leaves at 7:00pm. But in present continuous, we might say "The
flight is leaving." The flight is leaving means what? The flight is leaving right now,
okay? And we know that because we have "is leaving". Here, we had just "leaves". Okay. And
now here's something where both of these tenses can actually be used for the same purpose, but
in different ways, with different language. So, we could say, for example, even though this
is the present simple, and even though this is the present continuous, until now we have been
talking about present uses, but let's look at this example, this is different. "The flight leaves at
7:00pm tomorrow." What, Rebecca, really? Leaves, present simple, and tomorrow? Yes, we could
say that, and we do say that sometimes. Why? Because it's kind of connected with this one
because it's a regularly scheduled event, right? Then we could use it to talk about tomorrow, okay?
And sometimes we do. So, we could say "The flight leaves at 7:00pm tomorrow." and it's kind of
connected to this idea of the schedule, alright? But similarly, you could also say "The flight is
leaving at 7:00pm tomorrow." Again, you're saying, "Rebecca, really, this is present continuous,
why are we using it to talk about the future?" Because we can! It has a special use where
we can say - use present continuous to talk about something in the future but you have to say
something like tomorrow, next week, next Monday, next year. You have to give the time, because
if you say, "The flight is leaving at 7:00pm.", what does it mean? It's leaving right now. But
- or, a little bit in the future - but if we say the flight is leaving at 7:00pm tomorrow, then
we know for certain it's in the future and yes, we can also use present continuous along with
a few other ways to talk about the future.
There's one other really important difference
between the present simple tense and the present continuous tense, and that has to do with the
kind of verbs we can use with each tense. So, one way to divide verbs in English is to see
whether it's an action verb or whether it's a stative verb. An action verb is something that
has action. For example, run or jump, or sing and dance, read and write. These are all action
verbs. And action verbs, we can use in the present simple tense and we can also use them in the
present continuous tense. For example, I could say "She runs", as in, she runs every day, or "She
is running", like she's running right now, but stative verbs are different. Stative
verbs describe a state or condition. It could be a mental state, it could be an
emotional state, it could talk about possession, it could talk about certain senses, and there is a
list of stative verbs which you need to learn when you're studying English grammar, because most of
the time, we cannot use the stative verbs in the continuous tenses. But, with the present simple,
you can use all the verbs. You can use the action verbs and you can use stative verbs, no problem,
alright? So, for example, we can definitely say "He knows them." or "We like them.", knowing
being something mental, and like being something emotional, alright? So, with present simple, use
any verb you like. With present continuous, be careful, definitely you can use the action words,
but if you are not sure about the stative verbs, avoid them. As a general rule,
be careful of using any stative verbs with the present continuous tense.
