Learn ALL 16 TENSES Easily in under 30 Minutes - Present, Past, Future, Conditional

hello lovely students and welcome back to english with lucy i have an amazing video for you today if i do say so myself i'm going to teach you all of the english tenses so many of you have been requesting a tenses video i say go big or go home that's a great saying it means either put in all your effort or do nothing at all go big or go home i'd personally rather put in all of my effort so today in under 30 minutes we will go through all 16 tenses including the conditionals you will walk away from this lesson with a much better understanding of english grammar now before we get started i've also got something really important to mention especially if you're extremely serious about taking your english grammar and your knowledge of english tenses to the next level we are running a 30-day tenses challenge in 30 days you will master the english tenses the present the past and the future i will teach you them with detailed grammar explanation videos mind maps for every tense 25 to 30 exercises for each tense reviews of the tense a final exam it's an amazing challenge it will bring you amazing results but it's a small investment only 15 minutes per day you could also group it up and do 30 minutes every other day the tenses are the building blocks of english you can't progress if you don't know them so why not go for it do it in 30 days aside from the course content and you have lifetime access to that you also have 45 days access to our course community there you can interact with my teachers request feedback ask questions clarify your doubts and you can interact with the other course students when you complete the challenge you get a digital certificate of completion to prove your attendance of the english course all of the information is down in the link below we are running a special price it will not continue for long there is a deadline click on there see if it's right for you and then you can enroll there's a deadline for enrolment you must enroll by midnight on the 31st of july we start the lessons on the 1st of august you will receive your first lesson then i can't wait to welcome you into the tenses challenge right let's get started with the video okay so today we're learning all 16 tenses in english and i'm going to give you loads of examples so that you can learn them and use them yourself firstly i think it's best to have an overview and then we can go more in depth into each group i know that going over 16 tenses all in one lesson may seem like a lot and it is this is a big lesson but they do share a lot of characteristics so seeing them all together can make them easier to learn and remember let's go through them first we have the present simple i eat chocolate the present continuous i am eating chocolate the present perfect i have eaten chocolate the present perfect continuous i have been eating chocolate then we move on to the past simple i ate chocolate the past continuous i was eating chocolate the past perfect i had eaten chocolate whenever i say had i can't help but go oh i had eaten and the past perfect continuous i had been eating chocolate oh i just can't not do that now moving on to the future we have the future simple i will have a toothache after all this chocolate just kidding i will eat chocolate the future continuous i will be eating chocolate the future perfect i will have eaten chocolate and the future perfect continuous i will have been eating chocolate last group we have is conditionals the conditional simple i would eat chocolate the conditional continuous i would be eating chocolate the conditional perfect i would have eaten chocolate and finally the conditional perfect continuous i would have been eating chocolate can you see how many similarities there are between all of these tenses now let's look a little more closely starting with the present tenses the first tense that you learn in english is usually the present simple and that's for good reason it's actually the tense that native speakers use in around 50 of their written and spoken communication we do use the other present tenses quite often too so they are all really really important the present simple i work on tuesdays this is used to talk about general statements habits and facts the present continuous i am working now this is used to talk about actions that are happening right now the present perfect i have worked at a pub we use this to talk about past events or past actions that have present consequences and the present perfect continuous i have been working for three hours today this is used to talk about an action that started in the past and continues to the present okay the structure of the present simple like its name it is fairly simple we have the subject plus the base form of a verb except from in the third person singular and this always catches my students out when they're relatively new to learning english in the third person singular we add an s so for i you we and they it's i work we eat they play you do but for he she in it it is she works he cleans it smells another exception is be the verb to be to be has its own forms in the present simple i am you are he she it is we are they are as i said before we use the present simple to talk about general statements facts and habits we also use it to talk about scheduled events like plane and train times here are some examples i am a woman my name is lucy this is a general statement or fact mary meets her friends on friday evenings that's a habit the train to london leaves at 8 p. m that's a scheduled event in the future our dog eats the cat's food and that's habit a habit we're trying to conquer at the moment we don't know why he started doing it but he has since moved house i hope all of that's clear there are lots more examples in the pdf and there is a quiz for every tense so please do download that the link is down below in the description box right let's move on to the present continuous we use the present continuous to talk about things that are happening at the moment of speaking but be careful in general there is an exception we can't use state verbs words like hate love want for example there is an exception there and i will mention it it's to do with slang the structure of the present continuous is subject plus b plus verb ing it rhymes subject plus b plus verb ing you can use that here are some examples i am teaching english they are baking cookies we can also use this tense to talk about things that we think are temporary compare these two sentences james lives in manchester james is living in manchester in the first sentence i use the present simple because i think that his state is more or less permanent but in the second sentence i use the present continuous because i think his situation might be temporary he's living in manchester now but i don't know what might happen in a few weeks or months perhaps he's studying there or he's working there for a short time now you will hear native speakers use state verbs in the present continuous in this form or to show this meaning i am loving my christmas jumper right now love is a state verb i'm not meant to use it but it means right now a trend that i'm enjoying is my christmas jumper which i must say i think it's like i think this is a very nice christmas jumper i actually had another option today it was between this one uh which i wore last year but i got this one on a secondhand website very happy with myself anyway back to the tents you'll also hear people say ah no i'm hating that song right now it means it's a a temporary state some reason right now i don't enjoy that song temporarily i'm hating it so when you hear teachers say never use a state verb in the present continuous take that with a pinch of salt we also use the present continuous to talk about arrangements this means that we are planning to do something in the future and it involves another person or business let me show you an example i am having my hair cut on tuesday sarah is meeting her parents tomorrow they are plans but they depend on someone else let's take a look at some examples kate is studying business temporary situation happening now we are meeting our friend next friday in edinburgh arrangement involving someone else we are driving home we are doing this right now in the moment it is snowing for example it did actually snow the other day it was magical but enough about my weather let's move on to the present perfect the structure of the present perfect is subject plus has or have plus the past participle there are three main ways that we use the present perfect in english the first is to talk about things that started in the past and continue to the present it's very important to remember that they are unfinished actions when we talk about these events or states we often mention how long they've been going on for or when they started for example i have lived in the uk all my life or she has been at university since 2020 william and i have been married for two months oh three months oh it's our three month anniversary nearly how exciting the second way that we use the present perfect is to talk about our experiences up to the present when we do this we don't talk about exactly when something happened we are just generally telling somebody about our life experiences for example she has been to canada three times we have met the queen i have read all of the harry potter books finally we also use the present perfect to talk about past events and actions that have consequences in the present for example i have eaten breakfast so i'm not hungry or mike has lost his keys so he's going to be late for work let's move on to the last of the presents the present perfect continuous i've just realized i look like a present and i'm talking about the present tenses maybe i should have just made a video about the present tenses dressed as present now we use the present perfect continuous to talk about something that started in the past and continues to the present and that might sound very similar to the present perfect but there are a few key differences one big difference is the structure we use the structure subject plus has have plus been plus verb ing i have been eating chocolate as we discussed before now with the present perfect continuous we often use it to talk about things that we have been doing uninterrupted that haven't finished we use this tense to emphasize how long something has been happening for example i've been watching that tv show for weeks i'm emphasizing how long i have been watching the tv show or ellen has been replying to emails for two hours already we use it to talk about things that have been done recently or lately for example look it's been snowing or i've been practicing my football skills a lot recently that's such a lie remember we generally don't use the present perfect continuous to talk about states you wouldn't say i have been belonging to a band for a long time you would say i have belonged to a band for a long time some more examples they've been trying to call you all day or she hasn't been feeling well lately okay we made it through the present tenses let's move on to the past tenses we'll have a quick overview and then we'll go into more detail we have the past simple i worked abroad last summer that talks about past finished actions we have the past continuous i was working at 2pm yesterday that describes a continuing action at some point in the past we have the past perfect i had worked there for two years before i got my promotion that's used to describe past actions that happened before another past action or time and we have the past perfect continuous i had been working there for two years before i finally got my promotion very similar to the previous one but we'll go into more detail we use the past perfect continuous to talk about past actions that continued to a past point in time let's start with the past simple this one is nice and easy it's the second most common tense that english speakers use we use it to talk about events that happened before the present moment these must be finished events or actions and we often say when they happened although that's not obligatory the structure is the subject plus regular verb ed however lots and lots of verbs are irregular and i do actually have a video on some of the most common irregular verbs that could be really useful so i will leave that link down in the description box an example i went to bed at 10 p. m last night or dennis ate a box of chocolates for breakfast live your life dennis that sounds like my kind of breakfast another example my husband bought me flowers last week ah not true though not true maybe next week okay let's move on to the past continuous the structure of this tense is subject plus was or were plus verb ing we can use this tense to talk about actions or states one way in which we use the past continuous is to say what was happening at a specific moment in the past for example tom was cooking dinner at 7 p.

m yesterday we can also use it to give background information about something for example will was speaking to me whilst i was trying to record a video or it was snowing when i went outside we also use it to say that an ongoing action was interrupted by another action in this case it's usually paired with another clause in the past simple we were eating dinner when he arrived we were eating dinner over this long period of time and he arrived right then or they were chatting about their holiday when ben called them let's move on to the past perfect the past perfect tense is used to talk about events that happened before another event or up to a certain time in the past again it is often used with the past simple the structure is as follows subject plus had plus past participle and if you don't do that when you say had you're not my student let's take a look at some examples when i arrived at the bus stop the bus had already left already happened or you had traveled to 10 countries before your second birthday or she had worked at the company for five years before it closed or we had already eaten dinner so we weren't hungry when dinner was served finally let's discuss the past perfect continuous the structure is subject plus had been plus verb ing now the past perfect and the past perfect continuous what a mouthful are often used interchangeably by native english speakers there's no difference in overall meaning take a look at these two sentences there's no real difference in overall meaning i had worked there for five years when the company closed or i had been working there for five years when the company closed no real difference we can say either however you should use the continuous form in these two situations if you are talking about an action in the past that continued up to a certain time and continued after it or if you're talking about a repeated action that happened in the past up to a certain point let's take a look at some examples they had been walking for hours before they decided that they were lost or the orchestra had been practicing for months before the concert happened in the words of bon jovi i think we're living on a prayer because we are officially halfway there it's time to move on if you're still here you're doing really well really really well let's have a quick overview of the future tenses we use them to talk about events after the present moment we have the future simple i will work in the summer this is used to talk about events or actions that we believe will happen in the future we're nearly certain we have the future continuous i will be working at two o'clock tomorrow we use this for actions at a specific moment in the future we have the future perfect i will have worked there for two years on sunday we use this to talk about an event or an action that is planned or expected to happen before a certain time in the future and we have the future perfect continuous i will have been working there for two years on sunday very similar to the last we'll talk about that we use this to talk about an action that will continue up to a certain point in the future let's take a closer look now the future simple the easiest way to talk about the future the structure is subject plus will plus base form of the verb we can use it to talk about things that we think will happen in the future i think it'll rain tomorrow i'm sure you'll love this book we can also use it to make offers or promises i'll help you carry those boxes richard will call you tomorrow and finally we can use it to talk about facts in the future it will be our first wedding anniversary next year or our house will be 300 years old soon let's move on to the future continuous the structure is subject plus will be plus verb ing this tense is used to talk about actions that will be in progress at a certain point in time these actions will start and end in the future but we don't know when i will be eating dinner at 8pm tomorrow i don't know when i'll finish it also indicates that an action will be carried out over a period of time not simply in an instant i'll be playing tennis tomorrow that will be a considerable amount of time maybe 30 minutes to an hour not just a second we also have the future perfect we use the future perfect to talk about actions or states that will be completed before a certain point of time in the future we often use time clauses with the future perfect like buy or when i'm older i'll show you lots of examples but first the structure subject plus will have plus past participle some examples i will have retired by the time i'm 65 we're using buy there to show that final point or you will have finished the popcorn before the film starts or come over at 9pm my parents will have left by then finally we have the future perfect continuous this tense describes actions that will be continuing at a certain point in the future when you use this tense you're thinking about the duration of that action up to a certain point in time the structure is subject plus will have been plus verb ing she will have been living in cardiff for three months in august or when i retire next month i will have been working here for three years like with most other continuous tenses we don't usually use state verbs it should be i will have had my cat for five years this christmas rather than i will have been having my cat for five years this christmas you also can't use the future perfect continuous to talk about finished actions you just have to use the future perfect instead finally the last four tenses are the conditional tenses and i do actually have a full video on these tenses which i will leave in the description box but i'd like to go over them briefly today we use these tenses to talk about hypothetical situations or an event that depends on another event or state these conditional tenses often form part of conditional sentences but they don't always have to let's have a brief overview we have the conditional simple i would work abroad if i could we use this to talk about hypothetical actions in the present we have the conditional continuous i would be working abroad now if i wasn't stuck here we use this to talk about hypothetical continuous actions in the present we have the conditional perfect i would have worked abroad last year but i didn't get my visa we use this to talk about hypothetical actions in the past and we have the conditional perfect continuous i would have been working here for longer if i had got my visa earlier we use this to talk about hypothetical actions that started in the past and continued it's formed with the subject plus wood plus the base form of the verb i would travel in first class she would walk to work now these sentences don't really have a lot of meaning on their own so they're usually coupled with another idea i would travel in first class if i won the lottery or she would walk to work if she lived closer would can be replaced with could should or might but this does change the meaning i am currently considering creating another video on modal verbs there's one from years ago but i feel it needs updating if you'd like a lesson on modal verbs let me know in the comment section down below if i see enough of you then i'll know it's worth making some examples he could get a dog if he wanted you should see a doctor i might go to the beach tomorrow let's take a look at the conditional continuous when we use the conditional continuous we put the focus on the duration of a hypothetical action this means that we use this tense to talk about a longer action when we want to emphasize or we want people to focus on how long an action would take the structure is subject plus would be plus verb ing it expresses an unfinished or continuing hypothetical action an action which is the probable result of an unreal condition it's easier if i just show you examples here because it can sound a little grammary grammary is is not a word don't use that but actually i think that's quite good if we hear a grammatical explanation that we don't like i think we should call it grammary i think it's quite fun nope that's way too grammary for me [Laughter] i would be writing emails if i was at work but i'm not at work so i'm not writing emails he would be walking his dog right now if he hadn't broken his ankle but he has broken his ankle so he's not you can use could should and might in these sentences but again it changes the meaning you should be unpacking the shopping i just bought or i could be sitting on a beach in jamaica right now now let's take a quick look at the conditional perfect when we want to change the past we use the conditional perfect tense of course we can't really change the past so this is hypothetical we talk about what we would have done the structure is subject plus would have plus past participle i would have told john not to come i would have bought that house but i couldn't afford it at the time she would have cooked a bigger meal but she didn't know you were coming again you can replace it with could should or might i could have bought that house but i didn't you should have told me we could have gone if we'd known about it they might have said but i can't remember finally the last tense that brings us to 1016 it is the conditional perfect continuous we use it to talk about the hypothetical results of an action that started in the past we use the continuous tense to focus on the duration as i said before we look at conditional grammar in way more detail in my conditionals video which i have linked in the description box but just as a brief overview the structure is subject plus would have been plus verb ing i would have been wearing my red dress if i had washed it he would have been working in dubai if he hadn't taken the job in london again you can use it with could should and might you should have been feeling better yesterday she could have been living in japan if she had taken that language course at university right that is it for today's lesson i can't believe we've covered the 16 tenses that's amazing don't forget to connect with me on all of my social media i've got my instagram i've got my facebook i've got my website englishwithlucy. co.