Learn All English Verb Tenses (Easiest Method)

Summary

In this educational video, Brian Wilds explains the usage of all 12 English tenses, covering the present, past, and future in simple, continuous, perfect, and perfect continuous forms. He provides examples to clarify each tense's application, making complex grammar concepts accessible. The video also features a personal anecdote about discovering heritage through DNA tests, adding a relatable touch to the content.

Takeaways

• 😀 English has 12 tenses, divided into four present, four past, and four future tenses.
• 📚 The present simple is the most common tense, used for facts, habits, and schedules.
• 🎥 Present continuous is used for actions happening right now, like watching a video or speaking on camera.
• 🕰️ Present perfect is for actions from the past that describe the subject now, such as experiences or states.
• 🔄 Present perfect continuous describes ongoing actions that started in the past and continue to the present.
• 🧬 The speaker shared a personal story about discovering his heritage through DNA tests, revealing surprising results.
• 📚 Past simple is used for actions that started and finished in the past.
• 🏃‍♂️ Past continuous provides context or background for another action in the past.
• 🔄 Past perfect is used to provide context for an action that happened before another in the past.
• 🏠 Future simple is for actions expected to occur in the future, with 'will' often shortened to 'll or 's going to.
• 🕒 Future continuous is for actions that will continue over a period in the future.
• 🗓️ Future perfect is for actions that will be completed by a certain time in the future.
• 🚗 Future perfect continuous emphasizes the duration of an action that will be completed in the future.

Q & A

What are the four present tenses in English according to the video?

The four present tenses in English are the present simple, present continuous, present perfect, and present perfect continuous.

Why is the present simple tense the most common in English?

The present simple tense is the most common because it is used when talking about facts, habits, and schedules, which are everyday occurrences and statements.

How is the present continuous tense used in the video?

The present continuous tense is used to describe actions that are happening right now, such as 'you are watching this video right now' or 'I am speaking on camera'.

What does the present perfect tense describe in the video?

The present perfect tense is used to talk about an action from the past that describes the subject now, such as someone's experience or lack of experience.

Can you give an example of the present perfect continuous tense from the video?

An example from the video is 'I have been studying Spanish for 8 years,' which emphasizes the duration of an ongoing action that started in the past and continues to the present.

What is the purpose of the past simple tense in the video?

The past simple tense is used when talking about an action that started and finished in the past, such as 'she worked last night' or 'I lived in Chicago when I was a child'.

How does the past continuous tense provide context in the video?

The past continuous tense is used to give context or background for another action, like 'I was studying when the phone rang' or 'he was running when he caught the ball'.

What does the past perfect tense signify in the video?

The past perfect tense is used to provide context for another action in the past that happened before another past action, such as 'Sarah had already left by the time he got home'.

What is the future simple tense used for in the video?

The future simple tense is used to talk about actions that are believed to happen in the future, like 'we'll call you tomorrow' or 'he'll be there by 6:00 p.m.'

How does the future continuous tense differ from the future simple tense?

The future continuous tense is used to talk about an action that will continue over a period of time in the future, such as 'we will be eating dinner from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m.', whereas the future simple tense talks about actions that will happen at a specific point in the future.

What is the purpose of the future perfect tense in the video?

The future perfect tense is used to talk about actions that will be finished by a certain time in the future, such as 'she will have moved to a new apartment before the end of the year'.

Why is the future perfect continuous tense rarely used according to the video?

The future perfect continuous tense is rarely used but when it is, it emphasizes the duration of an action, such as 'he will have been driving for 6 hours straight when he arrives'.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Introduction to English Tenses

Brian Wilds introduces the video's purpose, which is to explain all 12 English tenses. He starts with the present tenses, explaining the present simple for facts, habits, and schedules; the present continuous for actions happening now; the present perfect for past actions affecting the present; and the present perfect continuous for ongoing actions from the past to the present. He also shares a personal anecdote about discovering his heritage through DNA tests, revealing surprising results and connecting with relatives worldwide.

05:00

📚 Detailed Explanation of Past Tenses

The script continues with an in-depth look at the past tenses. The past simple is used for actions that started and finished in the past. The past continuous provides context or background for another past action. The past perfect is used to give context to an action that occurred before another past action. Lastly, the past perfect continuous describes an ongoing action in the past that stopped at a specific moment. Each tense is exemplified with clear examples to illustrate their usage.

10:03

🚀 Future Tenses and Duration of Actions

The final part of the script covers the future tenses. The future simple is for actions expected to happen, with variations like 'will' and 'going to'. The future continuous is for actions that will be ongoing over a period. The future perfect is for actions that will be completed by a certain time. The future perfect continuous, rarely used, emphasizes the duration of an action up to a point in the future. The script concludes with a summary of all tenses covered and an invitation for questions or comments.

Keywords

💡Present Tenses

Present tenses in English are used to describe actions or states that occur in the present time. In the video, Brian Wilds explains four present tenses: present simple, present continuous, present perfect, and present perfect continuous. These tenses are essential for understanding how English speakers describe current habits, ongoing actions, past experiences, and continuous actions that started in the past and continue to the present.

💡Present Simple

The present simple tense is used to express habitual actions, general truths, and scheduled events. In the script, it is exemplified with phrases like 'I study' to denote a habitual action and 'We play soccer on weekends' to indicate a scheduled event. It is the most common verb tense in English, which makes it a fundamental aspect of the video's educational content.

💡Present Continuous

The present continuous tense is used to describe actions that are currently in progress. In the video, it is illustrated with sentences like 'I am studying' and 'An airplane is flying through the sky,' where the action is happening at the moment of speaking. This tense helps viewers understand how to express ongoing activities in English.

💡Present Perfect

The present perfect tense is used to talk about actions or states that have occurred at an unspecified time before now and may still be ongoing, or to describe past experiences that have relevance to the present. In the script, it is used in sentences like 'I have studied English for 3 years,' which connects past study to the current level of English proficiency.

💡Present Perfect Continuous

The present perfect continuous tense is used to describe an action that began in the past and has continued up until now. In the video, Brian uses 'I have been studying Spanish for 8 years' to emphasize the duration of the action and its ongoing nature. This tense is crucial for understanding how to express long-term or recently started continuous actions.

💡Past Tenses

Past tenses are used to describe actions or states that occurred in the past. The video covers four past tenses: past simple, past continuous, past perfect, and past perfect continuous. These tenses are essential for conveying past events and their contexts, which is a key part of the video's educational message.

💡Past Simple

The past simple tense is used to describe completed actions or states in the past. In the script, it is exemplified with 'I studied' or 'She worked last night,' indicating actions that started and finished in the past. Understanding this tense is fundamental to narrating past events in English.

💡Past Continuous

The past continuous tense is used to describe an ongoing action in the past that provides context or background for another past action. For instance, 'I was studying when the phone rang' sets the scene for an interruption. This tense helps to create a more nuanced narrative of past events.

💡Past Perfect

The past perfect tense is used to show that one past action was completed before another past action. In the video, 'Sarah had already left by the time he got home' illustrates this, indicating that Sarah's departure occurred before the subject's arrival. This tense is crucial for establishing the sequence of past events.

💡Past Perfect Continuous

The past perfect continuous tense describes an action that was ongoing up until a certain point in the past when another action occurred. For example, 'I had been watching TV when the power went out' shows that the action of watching TV was interrupted by the power outage. This tense is important for understanding the duration of past actions.

💡Future Tenses

Future tenses are used to express actions or states that will occur later. The video explains four future tenses: future simple, future continuous, future perfect, and future perfect continuous. These tenses are key to the video's theme of teaching English verb tenses and are essential for discussing plans, predictions, and expectations about the future.

💡Future Simple

The future simple tense is used to predict or plan future actions. In the script, phrases like 'I will study' or 'We'll call you tomorrow' are used to express actions that are expected to happen. This tense is fundamental for making predictions and plans in English.

💡Future Continuous

The future continuous tense is used to describe actions that will be ongoing at a certain time in the future. For example, 'We will be eating dinner from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m.' indicates an action that will continue over a period of time. This tense helps to express future activities that have a duration.

💡Future Perfect

The future perfect tense is used to talk about actions that will be completed by a certain time in the future. 'She will have moved to a new apartment before the end of the year' shows an action that will be finished before a specific future point in time. This tense is important for discussing future deadlines and completions.

💡Future Perfect Continuous

The future perfect continuous tense is used to describe a continuous action that will be completed at a certain time in the future. It is exemplified in the script with 'He will have been driving for 6 hours straight when he arrives,' emphasizing the duration of the action. This tense is less common but important for expressing the length of future actions.

Highlights

Introduction to the 12 English tenses by Brian Wilds.

Explanation of the four present tenses: simple, continuous, perfect, and perfect continuous.

Present simple used for facts, habits, and schedules.

Present continuous for actions happening right now.

Present perfect for actions from the past affecting the present.

Present perfect continuous for ongoing actions from the past to the present.

Personal anecdote about DNA heritage test results.

DNA test revealed surprising ethnic backgrounds.

Promotion for My Heritage DNA kits with a discount code.

Introduction to the four past tenses: simple, continuous, perfect, and perfect continuous.

Past simple for actions that started and finished in the past.

Past continuous for actions over a period in the past, often providing context.

Past perfect for actions that occurred before another past action.

Past perfect continuous for ongoing actions that stopped at a past moment.

Introduction to the four future tenses: simple, continuous, perfect, and perfect continuous.

Future simple for actions expected to happen.

Future continuous for actions expected to continue over time.

Future perfect for actions expected to be completed by a certain future time.

Future perfect continuous for continuous actions completed by a future time, emphasizing duration.

Completion of the explanation of all 12 English tenses.

Invitation for questions or comments from the audience.

Transcripts

hi I'm Brian wilds and in this video I'm

going to explain how to use all 12

tenses in English let's get started as

you might be aware English has four

present tenses and you're probably

familiar with the present simple as in I

study we use this tense when talking

about facts habits and schedules that is

my phone fact he studies every day habit

on weekends we play soccer schedule the

present simple is by far the most common

verb tense in English so you'll get

plenty of practice with this over time

the present continuous I am studying we

use the present continuous to describe

actions that are happening right now as

in you are watching this video right now

I am speaking on camera an airplane is

flying through the sky with this tense

the action is happening as we speak the

present perfect I have studied we use

the present perfect when talking about

how an action from the past describes

the subject now as in I have studied

English for 3 years in this sentence

have studied English is a past action

but we're using it to describe who I am

now it's my experience and we often use

the present perfect to talk about

someone's experience or lack of

experience she has eaten breakfast

already he has lived there all his life

they have never been to Mexico we're

using past experience to describe who

the subject is now and that's why this

is a present tense and finally the

present perfect continuous I have been

studying we use the present perfect

continuous to talk about an action that

started in the past and continues

nonstop into the present I have been

studying Spanish for8 years in other

words I started studying 8 years ago I

never stopped and I'm still learning now

I have been studying we often use this

tense to emphasize when an ongoing

action first started he has been

sleeping for 12 hours she has been

working two jobs since February they

have been traveling for 5 weeks okay

great work we finished all the present

tenses of English now before we move on

to the past I want to share something

fun with you guys my wife and I recently

took DNA tests to learn more about our

heritage and the results were pretty

surprising so we got our my Heritage DNA

kits in the mail today and we're going

to open them up and do the test and find

out where we're from where our families

are from Cheers Cheers all right here we

go

ready okay mix it and that's it and we

will see you guys in four to six weeks

with the

results here we

go 54% English 30.4% Irish goddess in

wels 7% Scandinavian whoa

okay 6.3% Mesoamerican and andian and

there's more cool it's almost Egyptian

1.7% Greek and South Italian maybe I had

some relatives who like went across in a

boat meser mesomeric see better

that I'm still kind of surprised I

really did not expect Mesoamerican

andian or Greek and South Italian we

also used my Heritage to find hundreds

of DNA matches and relatives from around

the world who we never even knew existed

here we go what do you think you're

going to get French French yeah Adrian

is a babe

very SC

Scandinavian Iberian you

also Irish Scottish and Welsh that's all

you got that's it it's kind of it's very

concentrated Adrien found new relatives

in Denmark Canada and France and we

might even try to meet some of them on

our next big family trip and my Heritage

is currently running a promotion if you

click the link in the description box

and use the coupon code WS you'll get

free shipping on your order and now back

to the

video okay ready to talk about the past

let's let do it and again we have four

tenses first up is the past simple I

studied this tense is very

straightforward and very common we use

it when talking about an action that

started in the past and finished in the

past for example she worked last night

in other words she started work last

night and she finished work last night

he ate eggs for breakfast he ate eggs

then he's not eating them now

I lived in Chicago when I was a child I

live there then and I don't live there

now why because an action in the past

simple is always finished in the past

great now we have the past continuous I

was studying we use the past continuous

to describe an action that continued

over a period of time in the past I was

studying but more specifically we almost

always use this t to give context or

background for another action I was

studying when the phone rang we were

living in Canada when we got engaged he

was running when he caught the ball the

past perfect I had studied this tense is

also used to provide context for another

action in the past but the past perfect

always comes beforehand Sarah had had

already left by the time he got home in

other words Sarah left before he got

home it could have been a minute before

an hour before or a year before all we

know is she had already left let's look

at two more examples I had already

booked the tickets when the concert sold

out in other words I booked the tickets

before the concert sold out we had eaten

a big lunch so we weren't hungry when we

got to the hotel in other words we ate a

big lunch before we got to the hotel so

we weren't hungry and finally the past

perfect continuous I had been studying

and again we almost always use this

tense to give context but the past

perfect continuous describes in action

that continued over time and then

stopped at the moment of another action

I had been watching TV

when the power went out I was watching I

was watching I was watching power went

out no more watching he had been eating

pizza every day when he started the diet

eating pizza eating pizza eating pizza

started the diet we had been talking

about going to France for years and

finally decided to go talking about

going talking about going talking about

going decided to go congratulations

we've now covered all the past tenses of

in English excellent work we're on to

the final stretch the future and again

we've got four tenses let's begin with

the future simple I will study we use

the future simple to talk about actions

that we believe will happen in the

future I we'll call you tomorrow we'll

bring cupcakes to the party he'll be

there by 6:00 p.m. and yes most of the

time English speakers shorten the word

will to as in I'll study you will study

he'll study etc etc and there's another

form of the future simple that you might

already be familiar with going to or

gonna as in I'm going to call you

tomorrow we're gonna bring cupcakes to

the park he's going to be there by 6:00

p.m. the will and going to forms have

the same meaning but going to or going

to is more casual the future continuous

I will be studying we use the future

continuous to talk about an action that

we believe will continue over a period

of time in the future for example we

will be eating dinner from 6:00 to 7:00

p.m. I'll be running errands all

afternoon and again we can also use

going to instead of will they're going

to be traveling all summer the baby

going to be sleeping when you arrive the

future perfect

I will have studied we use the future

perfect to talk about actions that will

be finished by a certain time in the

future for example she will have moved

to a new apartment before the end of the

year in other words here's the end of

the year and she'll move to a new

apartment sometime before that could be

a day before a week before a month

before anytime let's look at two more

examples he will have finished his

homework by the time dinner is ready so

dinner is ready and he finished his

homework sometime before that they will

have come home by the spring so spring

comes and they came home sometime before

that the action will be finished before

a given time in the future and finally

the future perfect continuous I will

have been studying so this time we're

talking about a continuous action that

will be completed at a given time in the

future he will have been driving for 6

hours straight when he arrives now

honestly English speakers rarely use

this tense but when we do it's to

emphasize the duration of an action how

long it will take we will have been

living in Los Angeles for a decade this

December she will have been working at

the company for 40 years when she she

retires and that's it we've covered all

12 tenses of English congratulations if

you have any questions or comments

please let me know and as always thanks

for watching