If you know these 100 tense rules, your English is incredible!

how many English tense rules do you know 10 20 50 if you know the 100 t0 rules in this video your English is incredible we're going to start with the basic rules go through them quickly and then look at the advanced English grammar rules for English tenses let's start with the present simple and the basic uses we can use the present simple for facts pandas live in China also for truths it is good to be kind and for descriptions that are true now I have gray hair the man in this picture might say also for

present habits are there things which you just find yourself doing again and again for example I always check my phone when I wake up for present routines use the present simple that's something that happens at the same time over and over again for example I brush my teeth every morning and for timet use the present simple if you're looking at this timetable and you want to describe it you could say a bus departs every 8 minutes on Saturdays but now let's look at the advanced uses of the present simple you can use the present simple

to describe future time in subordinate clauses look at the example give me a call when you leave this is what the man in the picture is probably saying to The woman there are two Clauses here give me a call is the first clause and when you leave is the second Clause when you leave is describing a situation in the future now we don't use other words to indicate the future here such as will or going to it's just a subordinate clause where we have the subordinator when followed by you leave present simple so this can

be used to indicate future time also instructions without an imperative for example here you're telling someone how to perhaps make some bread or a cake you could say this first you add milk then you mix in some flour you're making it slightly less direct the imperative is more of a demand rather than simply sharing with someone so you could prefer to use the present simple here you could also use the present simple to make correspondence more formal instead of saying I am writing to you make it even more formal by using the simple form we

write to advise you of our new range of cars the present simple is also used in permanent situations the River Nile flows into the medit radian C it's always happened it's always going to happen it's permanent use the present simple and with State verbs we use the present simple for instance in this video here you can see uh castle if someone is looking from the position where the video is taken they might say I see a castle in the distance now let's move on to the present continuous starting again with the basic uses a basic

use of the present continuous is to indicate present activities look at this baby what is this baby doing right now the baby is sleeping this is not something that just happens in a moment this has probably happened for many hours before and will continue afterwards it's an activity in progress the baby is sleeping for activities close to the present time we will use the present continuous as well people are getting excited about the band's reunion now that might not mean right now it could be around now before and after but the general situation is around

now so use the present continuous the present continuous is used for repeated actions this girl plays the piano over and over and over again so use the present continuous to emphasize that it's a repeated action she is practicing the tune until she gets it right one activity then then the same activity then the same activity over and over again for future Arrangements we might use the present continuous they are meeting outside the cafe at 700 p.m. it was planned before and now we're describing this Arrangement by using the present continuous but there are Advanced uses

of the present continuous too temporary situations can use the present continuous I am staying at a hotel at the moment but next week I'll move into an apartment so to emphasize the fact that staying at a hotel is temporary use the present continuous also for changes in general the amount of traffic on the roads is constantly increasing so to indicate A change is happening in something particularly with words such as increase or decrease use the present continuous the present continuous can be used for an activity that is usually imp progress at a particular time this

lady is walking her dog and she says this I'm usually walking the dog when the rest of my family wake up let's UNP pick this her family wakes up at a particular time every day and she is doing the same activity every day at exactly the same time that her family wake up so it's kind of like a routine but the routine is for an activity to be in progress at a particular time if we are talking about behavior that people have in the present we will often use the continuous form with the verb to

be I am being you are being you're being you're being too loud keep quiet means the present behavior is too loud so use the present continuous to describe it in that way now let's look at differences between the present simple and the present continuous and when you would choose between the two firstly physical feelings either can be used in most situations I feel unwell I'm feeling unwell are both possible in this situation the historical present is when we describe a story that happened in the past but use present tenses to make the listener or reader

feel closer to it but which tenses would we use well if we're giving background information we're likely to use the present continuous here's what happened it's raining hard people are running to get undercover so this is not the actual story this is just what's happening in the background around it and the present continuous can be used if we using the historical present but if we're using uh simple forms we're trying to make progress in the story so I run into a shop the shopkeeper asks me why I'm here I tell him one after the other

after the other so if we're trying to make progress in time in the story the present simple would be preferred if we're using the historical present what about using here or there with present situations usually we'd use the simple here here is the key to the house there comes the bus not there is coming the bus but just there comes the bus and if you're showing annoyance of bad habits you could use either form she's always leaving the lights on present continuous he constantly snores in bed present simple have you received an invitation to an

event such as a wedding often we'll use this form are to or is to the verb to be in the simple form followed by to and this is useful for official announcements we are to get married next year the R2 Form B followed by two makes it more official if you want to show emphasis on something then you can use the simple tenses with do I do enjoy watching TV here you need to stress the word do or in the continuous form stress am I am trying my best however you can stress any word you

want in a sentence to draw attention to it and you could find out more about any of these tenses on my course perfect English grammar there's a link in the description below if you're interested let's move on to the past simple and the past continuous then first of all the past simple and looking at the basic uses the past simple is predominantly used for finished actions I applied for the vacancy or for finished States I was nervous while I waited for the response it's a state it's how the person felt at that time and for

past facts the company I wanted to work for was the best in the world world it was true in the past we don't know if it's true now but because it was a fact in the past we use the past simple also past descriptions look at this well-dressed man he might say this I was well-dressed on the day of the interview the past simple describes how he looked at that time and if with past habits use the past simple again when I didn't have a job I always applied for new vacancies on Mondays it was

the same every Monday we can use the past simple we may also be able to use used to or would for some situations when we describe past habits but the past simple is also commonly used let's look at the past continuous basic uses before we go on to Advanced uses the past continuous is used for finished activities in this picture I was driving to the interview verb to be then the ing form of the main verb if you have the longer of two past actions or if you're interrupting a long action use the past continuous

I was waiting for the interview to begin when the door opened or if you're giving background to a story use the past continuous people were talking in the room while I was waiting for the interview to begin it wasn't the main part of the story people talking in the room was just something happening around the story so use the past continuous to show that it's background information what about the differences between the past simple or continuous let's move on to the advanced uses where we choose between them if you're talking about a past idea that

is no longer true you will you normally use the simple form for example in the past some scientists believe that the world was flat but most scientists now believe it is round so usually the past simple is used here if you are trying to get the sense across that it was a a temporary or an activity for a particular reason you might choose the past continuous but the past simple is far more common here if you're trying to link past events together in the sequence the past simple is what you need in the experiment you

can see below they added water then they mixed it with salt and finally they boiled the solution past simple in a sequence if you're describing events happening at the same time in the past you could use the continuous form 500 years ago men were trading in marketplaces while women were bringing up children these things were happening at the same time men were trading in marketplaces women were bringing up children not one followed by the other but two events side by side happening together at the same time for situations that feel more permanent about the past

use the simple form I lived in Mumbai for the whole of my childhood it felt permanent to this person because it was the whole of their childhood so they used the past simple but if it's a temporary situation in the past it's common to use the continuous form I was staying in a hotel while I was looking for a permanent place to live this is similar to what happens in all tenses permanent goes with simple temporary goes with continuous if you have a past activity that was often repeated The Continuous form would be pref preferred

here and we particularly use this with high frequency adverbs such as always I was always playing in the park in the evenings when I was younger if you're being hypothetical even if you're talking about now or the future you can use past tenses to show you're being hypothetical that you're not being real you're just imagining things and for this we can use either the past simple or the past continuous depending on the sentence look at the picture do you think this could happen to you could you travel in this rocket it's very unlikely so we

would be hypothetical and use past tenses suppose you were traveling in a rocket to the moon how would you feel here past continuous because it's an activity we're imagining or if only I knew the answer to this difficult problem we're imagining it but we use the past simple distancing is a Technique we use to be more polite we create distance in time between uh us and the person listening to create more space in other words to make them feel they have more space to respond and they're not pressured by us distance in time can be

created by using past tenses instead of present tenses we can use either the simple or the continuous but the continuous tends to be more common when we're using verbs for mental activities I was wondering if you could ask me your map but simple form is also possible I thought I might ask you is that okay and if we use that as the subject of a sentence in the past it normally goes with the simple form I pass my PhD that seemed impossible a few years ago now let's look at the rules for the present perfect

the basic uses of the present perfect include this recently completed activities for example I have just finished a lesson on past tenses it was completed recently also for recently completed States I have seed the information I need to complete the next task so scen here is a state verb from to C often used as a state verb uh but perhaps the most important reason why we use the present perfect is this one speaking about the past from the context of the present people often get confused with the present perfect they think it's a past tense

but a clu is in the word present we stay in the present moment when we use the present perfect and we talk about past situations but from the Viewpoint of now we're looking back to them from now keeping in present time so when I say I have watched hundreds of videos on YouTube when did I watch them in the past but what's the time period well it's up to now and including now it's the situation I am in now this is all of my experience of watching YouTube videos that I've collected and I possess now

in my memory everything from the past up to the present present and that captures the essence of what the present perfect is now let's look at whether you use the simple form or the continuous form and this is where it gets more advanced firstly when we focus on an activity we usually use the continuous form I have been writing an email let's look at the next one before we compare them together if we focus on completion of an event we use the simple form I have written an email and now I am going to send

it we're talking about the same activity but we're focusing on different things if I say I have been writing I'm interested in the process of writing if I say I have written an email I'm interested in in the fact that an activity took place and the activity is complete in itself if we focus on something being permanent we normally use the simple form for example I have owned this toy since I was a child but if we focus on something being temporary we use the continuous form I have been wearing this hat because the sun

is too hot but I will take it off this evening once again we see how the simple goes with the permanent the temporary goes with the continuous forms sometimes we have special phrases that have particular tens that go with them this is the with an ordinal is one of them this is the first time I have tried chocolate ice cream if we have this is the followed by a number and then a word like time or instance then follow it with the simple form I have tried if we're maintaining present time whilst introducing past events

either could be used have a look at the example here here's someone helping an injured woman now perhaps the ambulance has arrived and what does he tell the people in the ambulance what if I done so far I've helped the injured woman simple and I've been doing my best to help the injured woman continuous now the ambulance is here see the present context how long an activity has taken until now is commonly with the continuous form I've been trying to get your attention for ages for ages means from a time in the past until now

another area where confusion happens is when you're choosing between the past simple and the present perfect let's look at that now the present perfect is common with already just or yet look at the example sentences here I have already been told about the meeting I have just been to the meeting I haven't tried the suggestions yet so is that the rule or not well there's more to the story here and if you've learn American versions of English you may be familiar with what comes next because in some varieties of English the past simple is common

with these words I already knew about it I just went there I didn't try that yet so sometimes the use of the present perfect or the past simple depends upon where in the world you are my version of English is British English and that's like the top half of this page but American English sometimes is like the bottom half commonly news reports start with the present perfect to give general information but switch to the Past simple for more specific information look at this a criminal has been arrested in the Town Center he stole several bags

of sausages from a shop so to start general the present perfect fits because we're talking very generally about an event and we're not being specific about the time an event happened in the past at any time in the past having introduced the information to the reader or listener we then go in for the specific details and because when we're being more specific we're focusing on particular activities that happen at a particular time then moving into the past simple is quite common okay now on to the Past Perfect the past perfect tends to be more advanced

it's harder for people to learn let's look at some of the ways we use it and then compare it to uh simple and continuous forms um the general use of the past perfect is to make it clear which event happened first and what events are not in order for instance I was wearing a plaster because I had fallen over and cut myself earlier in the day if you repeating events before a point in the past you'll also use the past perfect he got top marks in the exam what happened before he had been studying every

day for the previous month so let's think about this a bit more um first of all the time of the story is he got top marks in the exam why because of something that happened before he had been studying but the frequency was every day it was a repeated activity that happened over and over again before this point in the past let's go back to the first example again why did we use I had fallen over well because I fell over before I I wore the plaster the time of the story is wearing the plaster

but then we go backwards in time and to show we've gone backwards in time use the past perfect if I said because I fell over it sounds as if it happens afterwards which isn't correct because the past simple takes events forward but the past perfect takes events back if you're being hypothetical about the past you can also use the past perfect if I had run faster I would have arrived on time so by saying if I had run I'm thinking about a past event but I'm imagining what a situation could have been like if it

things had been different events immediately before another in the past would also typically use the past perfect they had just finished preparing for the party when the first guest arrived so what's special about this it's some something that happened immediately before another notice the events are in the correct order here but by using the past perfect we emphasize the fact that it came before another and just before it's something that we often do even with events in the right order reporting speech in the past will take the past perfect in many situations what do we

mean by reporting speech well well we tell we hear something and then we tell some someone else and if it was something in the past then we'll use the past perfect when we report it when they asked me about the preparations I told them I had been preparing all day not I prepared all day sometimes we can use the past simple when we report but commonly we'll use the past perfect when we report something that's already in the past if there are intentions or wishes that did not happen the past perfect is often used to

show this it's kind of another hypothetical situation I had planned to make a cake but I run out of time did it happen no so it's hypothetical now when would we use the simple form or the continuous form there are many reasons why but here's a summary of the key ones activities up to a point in the past could go with either depending on the situation or which verb you're using is it a state or active verb look at the workers here perhaps their Factory has closed down you could say this the last workers left

the factory last year they had been working there for the previous 20 years but you could equally have said they had worked there for 20 years let let's go back to a theme we've looked at before in this video temporary situations and we can use the past perfect continuous for temporary situations up to a point in the past the crowd had been waiting to see the king then he arrived with States up to a point in the past usually simple as we mentioned a few moments ago the surprise party happened yesterday most of the guests

had known about it for a number of months so no is a state verb so use the simple but sometimes we have to decide whether we're using the past perfect or the past simple here's a way to decide if the events are in time order we'll usually use the past simple look at the lady here we opened the door got out of the car and walked into the mall that's what she's about to do so that's the normal way that we use the past simple when events are in time order I've shown you some exceptions

to that in the uh previous points where you can use the past perfect and events are still in order but generally when events are in time order we use the past simple but when events are not in time order we use the past perfect we walked into the ball we had already got out of the car so the second event happened before the first so we use the past perfect to show that the second event came first and we're not using the normal sequence of events that we would with the past simple if you're using

the past perfect followed by a clause with a subordinator then you normally don't need to use the past perfect again particularly with reason clauses I had left my phone at home because my mother needed it not because my mother had needed it if we say because my mother had needed it we we're suggesting that she needed it before I'd left my phone at home which isn't the case the two things happened at the same time so we don't use the past perfect twice here but if it's followed by a coordinator and a clause then we

will I had left my phone at home but I had brought my laptop so here and or but or or we can use the past perfect again in the second Clause now this does not mean that we ignore rules to do with omissions were to do with lists sometimes when we have a list we can cut out the grammar if the grammar is repeated in a sequence look at the example below I had cooked and cleaned all morning so here the use of and takes cleaned and applies had to the cleaned as well as had

to the cooked it's what we can do in lists if there's symmetry in the list we can cut out extra grammatical words in the second or third part of the list let's move on to looking at future time first of all with will there are many basic uses of will when you have expectations for the future you can use will they will be here at 6:00 p.m. they always arrive then with certainty about the future we often use will nothing will stop the rain from falling there's a certainty in your voice also for promises and

offers I will buy you an ice cream if you do your homework it's a promise when you give consent to people then we can use will it's saying you're allowed to do something after this point they will let you into the country with a passport is a very common way of giving consent and using will for the future plans made in the moment we often use will or the short form which is apostrophe LL to describe this look at the man here he's on the phone why because someone has asked him what's the solution and

he replies I'll call my friend she'll know so when we say I'll call my friend he's deciding what to do in the moment I'll is short for I will so when we make plans in that moment and we describe plans as we're going through the thought process use will if you make a prediction but you don't have the physical evidence you're much more likely to use will will here's someone's thinking about rain but they don't have evidence they just say this I think it will rain later it can't stay sunny forever they're predicting it but

they don't really have evidence so will makes more sense here let's look at the advanced uses of will now orders use will if it's an order for the present or the future you will obey me this man is think thinking it's an order and will emphasizes the order threats also go with Will let's expand this sentence you will obey me or there will be consequences so will suggests the threat coming afterwards but will is also used to refuse these orders and threats they will not or they won't obey you unless you offer them something in

return the future is also made with going to here are some basic uses of going to when plans are already made and you're simply restating a plan you've already made now use going to why are you picking up the phone this time I'm going to call my friend but in this case the person didn't decide on the spot they decided before and if you do have physical evidence for a future prediction use going to instead of will it's going to rain dark clouds are coming towards us I have evidence I have more certainty so going

to shows that extra certainty going to usually makes the future more concrete more set in stone and fixed future Arrangements also can use going to we're going to Dallas at the weekend the trip has been planned for weeks now sometimes you have to choose between going to or the present continuous can we use both for future Arrangements without a change in meaning well often yes but here are some things to be aware of firstly let's go back to restating previous decisions we'd usually use going to here and not the present continuous what are your plans

for the future I've already thought about what to do I'm going to start a new course so here we're restating a previous decision with fixed Arrangements we usually use the present continuous what are your plans for next week I'm starting a new course on Monday do you see the difference between the two with a fixed arrange M I'm starting a new course on Monday I am stating my plans but with the one before restating previous decisions I'm restating something that I thought about and that's led to particular action it's not so much an arrangement it's

a statement of a decision so that's often how you distinguish between the two decisions go with the uh going to and arrangements with the present continuous now there can be some overlap going to can also be used for fixed Arrangements because they are fixed decisions as well when we go to state verbs use going to as well don't use the present continuous what are you doing later we're going to hear a speech not we're hearing a speech that wouldn't fit because the present continuous doesn't normally go with State verbs unless there are other special rules

there are other ways of expressing the future too such as the future perfect and these would all be considered Advanced uses first of all completion of something by a known future time normally we'd use the simple form here and we would say this by the end of the year I'll have taken my eye outs examination so here we're anticipating taking the I out's exam and it's in a time period between now and another stated time period in this case by the end of the year it could happen at any time between those points in time

now and the end of the year I'll have taken if you're referring to an activity that's ongoing up to a point in the future particularly when you use for or since or words like that that Express a duration of time it's common to use the future perfect continuous for example by the end of the year I'll have been studying English for 10 years I wonder what you would say in if you put your own experience in that place anticipating what is true without physical evidence will have finished I want to return to Dubai they will

have finished Building the tallest skyscraper in the world by now so here this is one way in which we can use the future perfect it could potentially be simple or continuous here depending on the context but that's one reason why we use it anticipating what is true without physical evidence here you're just imagining it you've not seen it for yourself you're just imagining that this will be true if you're anticipating what someone knows you can also use the future perfect and in both of these cases the example about Dubai and the next example we're actually

talking about present time not future time at all here we're using the future perfect for present time let's look at the example to do with the picture below you can see two cars crashing together I'm sure you will have seen the news about the crash on the motorway it was reported on every channel yesterday so here we're referring to knowledge that someone has in the present and more than that knowledge about something in the present that's based on something that happened in the past a little bit like the present perfect but we use will have

seen to anticipate what we think someone knows we'll have to is a similar structure but works slightly differently we'll have to refers to something necessary after the present time look at the example the museum is closed today we will have to come again tomorrow so it is necessary for us to come again tomorrow something necessary after the present time let's move on to the Future continuous now the future continuous is made up of will the verb to be then the main verb with Ing and we use this for predicting future activities perhaps you know that

you're going to be like this person in the picture tomorrow so you need to tell other people I can't see you tomorrow I will be working all day I'm predicting a future activity and so I use the future continuous form will be working also for predicting future responses he'll be complaining about that I'm sure so here I'm anticipating what the person thinks about working all day tomorrow and I think he will be complaining about that not just once but on and on and on and on an activity that's ongoing but it's a response also guessing

activities happening now why are they working late they'll be making plans for tomorrow I imagine I don't know it's happening but I'm guessing that this is what is happening now somewhere else where I'm not and the future continuous will be helpful for that in this case again it's to do with present usage okay we're nearly at the end but we have a little bit left to do yet next it's future in the past first of all we can use would followed by infinitive for an event happening after the time in a story here's a man

who's got a clock in his bed why is that well let's look at the story and then let's think about what it means people were celebrating that night but they would stay in bed for a long time the next morning so the time of the story is the first part people were celebrating that night when we use wood here we're taking the position of time in that story and Imagining the future after the point in time of that story predicting the future from a point in time in the past in storytelling it's kind of like

giving a preview to someone when you're telling a story you're previewing the next part so people were celebrating that night but they would stay in bed that is what is coming next in the story we can also use was going to for plans after the time in the story for instance we ironed our suits because we were going to visit a special event later that day it was a plan that was in the future at that particular point at the moment when we ironed our suits but what's going to is often used in another way

as well and this is for past plans that did not actually happen look at this poor lady she has a problem what is it we were going to drive to the sea but our car broke down we can also use the past continuous for future arrange for future in the past this is when we have Arrangements after a time in the story similar to how we use the present continuous for Arrangements after now the past continuous is for Arrangements after a pass point for instance they couldn't get to sleep that night because they were meeting

the king the following morning and they were nervous so the arrangement is meeting and it was going to happen after the point of the story basically when they were trying to get to sleep and finally conditionals conditionals use tenses in different ways for different purposes here are the basic uses which generally include the first conditional the main reason for using the first conditional is to uh say a condition if a condition is met there will be a present or future consequence for instance if I earn enough money I'll buy a new car so the present

simple is in the first part the condition if I earn and will is in the second part the present or future consequence I'll buy a new car but we can sometimes use will in both Clauses where one condition requires another condition if you will work for me I'll help you get a new car basically you do this I'll do that two conditions at the same time where one condition depends upon another condition moving on to more Advan uses the second conditional is for unreal situations with an imagined outcome it's using the past simple but it's

actually to do with now or perhaps in the future if I owned a car I would drive wherever I want it do I own a car no it's unreal what would be the imagined outcome I would drive wherever I wanted the par simple for an unreal situation to do with the present we as we've mentioned before we turn the present into the past to make things unreal about the present the third conditional uses the past perfect again this is for an unreal situation but this time not an unreal present situation but an unreal past situation

if I had warned the driver that another car was in the middle of the road there wouldn't have been an accident a lastly the zero conditional here we use the present tense in both Clauses where we're simply presenting a general cause and effect rule when you heat water to 100° Centigrade it boils it's a general rule do this and that will always happen [Music]