In this video we are going to review the most important tenses in English. exploring the different uses and forms for each one.
The most Important English Tense are;
Tenses can be very confusing difficult to learn. So lets review these and make sure we understand the different uses and forms each one.
Important English Tenses: Present Simple
to describe habits and routines
- general truths
- permanent situations.
The fist use of the Present Simple is to describe actions that are repeated regularly or happen as a routine. For example, “He plays tennis every Saturday.”
The second use of the Present Simple is to talk about general truths, things that are always true. For example, “The sun rises in the east.”
The third use of the Present Simple tense is to talk about permanent situations or states that do not change. For example, “I live in the city of Oxford.”
It’s important to remember that the Present Simple is not used to describe a single, specific action that just happened or is happening now. In these cases, we use the Present Continuous instead.
In these examples the structure is <subject> <Base form of verb>
This is unusual because all the tenses have an auxiliary verb but with simple tenses you don’t need to say it when the sentences are positive. If we change them to negative, we need the auxiliary verb which is ‘do’ and the word ‘not’;
- “He does not play tennis every Saturday.”
- The sun does not rise in the east.
- I do not live in the city of Oxford
We also need the auxiliary verb ‘do’ or ‘does’ if we make them questions.
- Does he play tennis every Saturday?
- Does the sun rise in the east?
- Do I live in the city of Oxford?
Present Continuous
The Present Continuous tense is used to describe;
- actions that are in progress now
- temporary actions or situations
- actions that are being arranged or planned.
The main use of the Present Continuous is used to describe actions that are happening right now. For example, “I am playing tennis.”
The second use of the Present Continuous to describe temporary actions or situations, things that are happening but won’t last forever. For example, “I am learning English this semester.”
Sometimes we can actually use the Present Continuous to describe actions that are being arranged or planned for the near future. For example, “We are walking to work tomorrow.”
The structure of the present continuous tense is more regular than with the Present simple. We always have the auxiliary verb, to be, and we use the ing form of the verb which is sometimes called the present participle.
- So, to express these sentences negatively, we just add not before the verb.
- He is not playing tennis.
- I am not learning English this semester.
- We are not walking to work tomorrow.
And to express these sentences as questions, we put the auxiliary verb first?
- Is he playing tennis?
- Am I learning English this semester?
- Are they walking to work tomorrow?
Past Simple
The past simple tense is used to describe;
- a completed action that took place at a specific time in the past.
- to describe a past event or series of events in a narrative.
- to talk about past habits or states.
For example;
- He played tennis yesterday.
- I learned English last semester.
- We walked to work last week.
With the Past simple in the positive form, we have the same irregularity as with the present simple, that we don’t need to use the auxiliary verb ‘do’. So we need to add “ed” to the main verb to tell us it is the past form. But to make them negative and into questions, we do need it.
But when we do this, we use the auxiliary verb in the past form, did, so the main verb stays in the base form. So, to make them negative it would be:
- He did not play tennis yesterday.
- I did not learn English last semester.
- We did not walk to work last week.
And to make them questions it would be:
- Did he play tennis yesterday?
- Did I learn English last semester?
- Did we walk to work last week?
Important English Tenses: Future Simple (Going to…)
The ‘Going to’ future tense is used to describe future plans and intentions. Its form consists of the verb “to be“, so “am, is or are” followed by the phrase “going to” and the base form of the main verb.
For example;
- He is going to play tennis tomorrow.
- I am going to learn English next semester.
- We are going to walk to work next week.
Now the verb “to be” is our auxiliary verb. So to make these examples negative we just need to add the word not before “going to”.
- He is not going to play tennis tomorrow.
- I am not going to learn English next semester.
- We are not going to walk to work next week.
To make them questions we just start with the auxiliary verb.
Is he going to play tennis tomorrow?
- Am I going to learn English next semester?
- Are we going to walk to work next week?
There are a lot more tenses and it can get very complicated. But you should master these four important english tenses first because they are the most common and useful.