Learn all the Tenses in English: Complete Course

Rebecca Ezekiel, an experienced English teacher, presents a comprehensive series on mastering English tenses, emphasizing their importance for effective communication. The series covers all twelve English tenses, from basic to advanced, with a focus on understanding and using them correctly. Rebecca highlights the differences between tenses, such as the present simple and present continuous, and addresses common mistakes learners make. The series includes full lessons, practice exercises, and comparisons to help learners grasp tense structures and improve their English fluency and confidence. Rebecca's extensive teaching background assures viewers of a guided, effective learning experience.

• Mastering English tenses is crucial for improving communication in English.
• Tenses indicate the timing of an action and are essential in constructing meaningful sentences.
• The series aims to teach all English tenses, from beginner to advanced levels, with comprehensive lessons and practice.

"Tenses tell us when something happened, and whenever you communicate in English, you're using an English tense."

• Understanding tenses is fundamental to effective communication in English.

• The series is divided into six basic tenses and six advanced tenses.
• Lessons are complete and detailed, similar to those in language schools.
• Emphasis on understanding patterns within the tense system to facilitate learning.

"These are full, complete classes for anyone who wants to speak, write, or understand English more easily and clearly."

• The series provides in-depth instruction on each tense, ensuring comprehensive learning.

• Make a schedule and actively participate in lessons.
• Take notes, engage with exercises, and review regularly to reinforce learning.
• Comparison lessons included to clarify differences between tenses.

"Make a plan, alright? Make a schedule for yourself. When are you going to watch them?"

• Planning and active participation are key to mastering the content.

• Rebecca Ezekiel, with over 30 years of teaching experience, leads the series.
• Experience with diverse students and creating training programs for various institutions.

"I've been teaching English for more than 30 years, and I've worked with thousands of students from all over the world."

• Rebecca's extensive experience ensures a well-structured and effective learning program.

• English has twelve tenses, categorized into basic and advanced forms.
• Tenses are a way to refer to time: past, present, and future.
• The series simplifies learning by showing patterns and rules applicable across tenses.

"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."

• Understanding tenses involves recognizing their role in expressing time in language.

• Present simple is used for general truths, routines, facts, schedules, and with adverbs of frequency.
• Differentiates between present simple ("I work") and present continuous ("I am working").

"Present simple is for something that's true in general, that's present simple."

• Present simple tense expresses actions that are habitual or generally true.

• Permanent situations: Describes long-term truths or states.
• Routines: Actions done regularly.
• Facts: Universally accepted truths.
• Schedules: Regularly timed events.
• Adverbs of frequency: Words indicating how often an action occurs.

"We live in New York", "The sun rises in the east."

• Present simple tense is versatile, used for various contexts that indicate regularity or permanence.

• Positive sentences: Use base verb for "I, You, We, They" and add "s" for "He, She, It."
• Negative sentences: Use "do not" or "does not" to form negatives.
• Questions: Involve inversion of subject and auxiliary verb.

"I work, you work, we work, they work. He works, she works, it works."

• The structure of present simple involves specific verb forms and auxiliary usage for negatives and questions.

• Contractions are used to shorten phrases in spoken English, making communication more efficient.
• "Do not" becomes "don't" by removing the "o" and joining the words with an apostrophe.
• "Does not" becomes "doesn't" by a similar process, indicating a change from "do" to "does" for third-person singular subjects (he, she, it).

"I do not work", but usually, we'll say "I don't work."

• This highlights the common usage of contractions in everyday speech for efficiency.

"He does not work", and "does not" when we shorten it, becomes "doesn't."

• Demonstrates the change in verb form when dealing with third-person singular subjects.

• Questions in the present simple tense require the use of helping verbs "do" or "does."
• The structure changes from "I do" to "Do I?" to form questions.
• Question words (who, what, when, where, why, how) precede this structure to form more complex questions.

"Do you work? Do we work? Do they work?"

• Illustrates the basic question structure in the present simple tense.

"Where do you work? When do you work? Why do you work?"

• Shows the integration of question words with the basic question structure.

• In positive sentences, add "s" to the verb for third-person singular subjects (he, she, it).
• In negative and question forms, revert to the base form of the verb.
• The structure remains straightforward with practice.

"He works. She works. It works."

• Emphasizes the addition of "s" in positive sentences for third-person singular subjects.

"He doesn't work. Does he work?"

• Highlights the return to the base form in negative and question forms.

• Most verbs simply add "s" for third-person singular (e.g., cook - cooks).
• Verbs ending in s, sh, ch, or x require "es" (e.g., wash - washes).
• Verbs ending in a consonant + y change "y" to "ies" (e.g., study - studies).

"Dance becomes dances. Cook - cooks."

• Shows the simple addition of "s" for most verbs.

"Kiss - kisses. Wash becomes washes."

• Demonstrates the "es" addition for specific verb endings.

"Study becomes studies. Try becomes tries."

• Explains the consonant + y spelling change to "ies."

• Some verbs change form entirely, such as "go" to "goes" and "do" to "does."
• These changes must be memorized as they do not follow regular patterns.

"Go becomes like 'I go', 'He goes'. 'I do', 'She does'."

• Highlights examples of irregular verb changes in the present simple tense.

• Short answers are used in conversation to avoid repeating the whole question.
• The short answer structure depends on the helping verb used in the question.
• Positive short answers cannot be contracted, but negative ones can.

"Do they need help? Yes, they do. No, they don't."

• Demonstrates the use of short answers with "do" and "don't" based on the question.

"Does he speak French? Yes, he does. No, he doesn't."

• Illustrates the use of "does" and "doesn't" in short answers for third-person singular subjects.

• Confusion between present simple and present continuous for permanent vs. temporary actions.
• Incorrect verb forms in sentences, questions, and negative constructions.
• Spelling errors and omission of necessary words like helping verbs.

"I am living in Tokyo" would be wrong. If that's where the person stays permanently, he or she should say 'I live in Tokyo.'"

• Explains the common error of mixing present simple and continuous for permanent actions.

"We likes to travel." should be "We like to travel."

• Corrects a common verb form mistake in present simple sentences.

"What time you finish work?" should be "What time do you finish work?"

• Highlights the omission of the necessary helping verb in questions.

• Practice forming positive, negative, and question sentences to master the present simple tense.
• Recognize when to use the present simple tense for habitual actions and facts.
• Understand the importance of practice to achieve fluency in tense usage.

"They live in Amsterdam. They don't live in Amsterdam. Do they live in Amsterdam?"

• Encourages practice by switching between positive, negative, and question forms.

"You should be able to switch easily and comfortably and quickly and correctly between these three sentences."

• Stresses the importance of being able to transition smoothly between different sentence forms in present simple tense.

• The present continuous tense is used to describe actions happening at the moment of speaking.
• It can also describe actions happening around the current time period.
• This tense is suitable for temporary actions or situations.
• It is used to describe trends or changes over time.

"The baby is sleeping", don't make noise, okay? Or for example, "Oh, it's raining outside."

• These examples illustrate the use of present continuous to describe actions occurring right now.

"He is writing a book."

• Indicates an action happening around the current time, even if not at the exact moment of speaking.

"We are staying at a hotel."

• Demonstrates the use of present continuous for temporary situations.

"The prices of homes are increasing."

• Describes a trend or change occurring over time.

• Present continuous can express repeated actions, often with a negative connotation.
• It can be used to indicate future plans or arrangements when a future time is mentioned.

"They're always making noise."

• Uses present continuous to emphasize a repeated, negative action.

"She's flying to Mexico next week."

• Illustrates how present continuous can indicate future events when a specific time is provided.

• The present continuous tense should not be used for permanent actions or states.
• Stative verbs, which describe a state rather than an action, should not be used in continuous tenses.

"I am living in Canada."

• Incorrect if the action is permanent; should use present simple instead.

"I am understanding English."

• Incorrect because "understand" is a stative verb; should use present simple.

• The present continuous tense is formed using the subject + the appropriate form of "to be" + verb + "-ing".
• Mastery of the verb "to be" is crucial for correct usage.

"I am working."

• Example of a positive sentence in present continuous.

"I am not."

• Demonstrates forming a negative in present continuous by adding "not."

"Am I working today?"

• Shows how to form a question by inverting the subject and "to be."

• Contractions are common in informal settings for ease and speed.
• Not typically used in formal writing.

"I am learning" becomes "I'm learning."

• Example of contracting "I am" to "I'm."

"You are not" can become "You're not" or "You aren't."

• Demonstrates two ways to contract negative sentences.

• Most verbs simply add "-ing," but some require spelling adjustments.
• Verbs ending in "e" drop the "e" before adding "-ing."
• Verbs ending in a consonant-vowel-consonant pattern often double the final consonant.

"Use becomes using."

• Example of dropping the "e" before adding "-ing."

"Clap becomes clapping."

• Demonstrates doubling the final consonant for certain verbs.

• Short answers in English often include more than just "Yes" or "No."
• Positive short answers do not use contractions, whereas negative answers can.

"Is he working late?" "Yes, he is" or "No, he isn't."

• Illustrates the structure of short answers in present continuous.

• The present continuous tense can be made negative by adding "not" after the auxiliary verb "to be."
• Two ways to form negatives: "She's not calling" or "She isn't calling."
• Both forms are equally correct and interchangeable.

"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?

• Demonstrates the two ways to form negative sentences in present continuous.

• To form questions, invert the subject and the auxiliary verb "to be."
• Example: "They are buying a new car" becomes "Are they buying a new car?"

"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?

• Illustrates the simple inversion method to form questions in present continuous.

• Missing the verb "to be" in sentences, e.g., "My brother watching the news" should be "My brother is watching the news."
• Incorrect form of "to be" in sentences, e.g., "Bob and Maria is driving home" should be "Bob and Maria are driving home."
• Use of slang like "ain't" in formal contexts is incorrect; use "isn't" instead.

"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?

• Highlights the necessity of including the auxiliary verb "to be" in present continuous sentences.

• Correct spelling is crucial, such as "lying" instead of "lieing" and "sitting" instead of "siting."
• Apostrophes in contractions must be correctly placed, e.g., "We're going to the mall" instead of "Were going to the mall."

"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.

• Emphasizes the importance of correct spelling and common pitfalls in present continuous.

• Stative verbs describe a state or condition and are generally not used in continuous tenses.
• Examples of stative verbs include "need," "want," and "know."

"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.

• Clarifies the incorrect use of stative verbs in present continuous and the need to use present simple instead.

• Present simple is used for general truths, permanent situations, and routines.
• Present continuous is used for actions happening right now or temporary situations.

"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."

• Outlines the fundamental differences in usage between present simple and present continuous.

• Present continuous can be used for future events with a specified time, e.g., "The flight is leaving at 7:00pm tomorrow."
• This usage requires a time expression to indicate future context.

"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!"

• Explains the flexibility of present continuous in expressing future scheduled events.

• Action verbs can be used in both present simple and present continuous.
• Stative verbs should be used with present simple; avoid using them in present continuous.

"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."

• Differentiates between action verbs and stative verbs, emphasizing their appropriate tense usage.