Learn English Grammar Online - English Tenses 101

The basic tenses are where it all starts...

You have to crawl before you can walk, and you have to walk before you can run!

Mastering English starts easy...

And gets more difficult along the way.

My advice to you is to not go on to a new section until you have mastered the previous one.

Good luck to you, and enjoy the process!

-Ross

The Simple Present Tense describes things that are generally true.

Like facts. "I live in Los Angeles." "I like ice cream." "I want pancakes for breakfast!"

It's the first tense we learn as babies, and the easiest to understand.

Make no mistake - many non-native speakers still get this one wrong all the time!

Hopefully you won't any more.

Remember to follow along in your PDF for more information and examples.

EVERYTHING you need is in the PDF!

This tense is all about what's happenING now.

It's the "ing" thing!

Non-native speakers use this one ALL the time, but they often use it incorrectly.

The most important thing you can do at this stage is to REALLY understand the difference between "I work" and "I am working".

That's a critical foundation for the rest of your progress!

Aren't cheat sheets awesome?

Your PDF is one giant cheat sheet, but this video will help remind you of the concepts.

Ok, now we are making progress! (Did you notice that "ing"??)

You're well on your way to having a much better understanding of English grammar.

The future is looking bright, isn't it?

It's time for your first quiz, found in the PDF.

Try not to look at the answers -- see how many you can get right the first time!

Congratulations for making to the end of the first Module!

It may seem simple, but a lot of simple things done right can really add up!

Don't get discouraged, and stay positive.

We are building a strong foundation, to help you work your way up to the top!

I'm not going to lie...

The past tenses are where mid-level English speakers make the majority of their mistakes.

Many languages around the world don't have the same philosophy as English when it comes to past-tense grammar.

A lot of what "feels" wrong might actually be right, and what feels right might actually be wrong!

If there's one section that's worth the most focus, this is it!

You really shouldn't go forward until you have a strong mastery of this module.

The easiest form of the past.

This is where you learn about sentences like "I worked in Europe for 8 years."

Or "I studied English in college."

You are probably already familiar with this tense, but it's time to learn when and why we use it!

This is the big one!

If there's ONE tense that non-native speakers tend to get wrong more than any others, THIS IS IT!

You don't want to go your whole life making mistakes with this one, do you?

Well now's the chance to learn to speak like a pro!

Really, really, REALLY study the difference between the Present Perfect and the Simple Past Tense.

If you can get those two right in your mind, you will be world's better than so many other non-native speakers!

Here's a hint: If this is a "past" tense, why do we call it the PRESENT perfect??

Ah, finally another cheat sheet!

Now we can REALLY make progress.

Here's another handy way to learn the difference between the past tenses.

Is it starting to make sense to you?

Are things coming into focus?

Don't worry, keep at it!

Sometimes, a simple story about something we know well can really "unlock" our understanding.

Everybody in the world knows about Apple computers, so have a look at this story to see how we use the Simple Past and Present Perfect in context in our every day lives.

Native English speakers frequently use both the Simple Past and Present Perfect tenses when describing events and stories in the past.

Using them together is a vital part of speaking well.

In your PDF, there's a little quiz for you called "A Pencil Sharpener's CV."

Please remember to follow along with your PDF as you complete this course!

Try your best to get the quiz right, without looking at the answers.

Good luck!

As I've said before, make SURE you understand this section well before you go on.

Make SURE that everything up until now makes sense before you jump into the next section.

Spending extra time here will pay off down the road, so make sure you take the time to get this right.

It could be the most important thing for your English mastery down the road!

The future tenses are easy!

...well, compared to the past tenses, anyway!

Unlike the past tenses, the future tenses aren't about "right and wrong". They are more about choosing the right flavor to speak with authority.

If you want to sound more native, using these tenses well will certainly help you stand out from the crowd.

I will let you in on a little secret...

"Will" is always acceptable for talking about the future!

"I will try harder tomorrow."

"I will study more."

"I will send a thank you card."

Yep, these are all correct!

Will is the most basic, simplest future tense.

"Going to" (sometimes informally shortened as "gonna") is a staple of native English speakers.

Just like "will", "going to" is always a safe bet for a future tense.

"I'm going to tell them tomorrow." "We're going to fly to Rome next week." "They are going to see about the promotion."

These are all correct examples of this tense!

Here's another "ing", but this time in the future!

The only difference between using the Present Continous as a PRESENT tense and as a FUTURE tense is the inclusion of a future time.

So we would say: "I'm studying English right now."

But it would also be correct to say: "I'm flying to Rome tomorrow."

Notice that one says "right now", and the other says "tomorrow".

So yes, you can use the "ing" in the future, and here's how!

Yet another present tense in the future??

That's right!

Like the Present Continuous/Present Progressive tense, you can also use the Simple Present in certain situations in the future.

We mainly use it for printed schedules, like: "The bus leaves at 6pm tomorrow."

It's a bit tricky to get this one right, but the truth is, we native speakers don't use it very often!

So nothing to worry about!

Cheat sheet time!

As I mentioned before, these four future tenses are really more about "flavor", variety, and spice!

It's not so much about "right and wrong".

However, do you have a feeling for when you should use one over the others?

Are you starting to understand the logic behind why we make decisions as native English speakers?

If so, you might just be ready for another quiz...

Here's another quiz for you, located conveniently in your PDF.

This one might be a bit tricky, but don't worry - it's the first quiz where more than one answer can be right!

See if you are starting to understand why to use one and not the other.

Is your intuition starting to be more correct?

Are you getting a better picture of what this is all about?

That's it for the four basic future tenses.

It may not seem like it, but we've already covered a lot of ground.

You probably understand much more now than when you first began this course.

It really is the little things that make all the difference.

And I promise that you REALLY understand the basic tenses, you are in great shape!

WE'VE NOW COVERED ALL THE BASIC TENSES! 

Hooray!

At this point, if *anything* doesn't make sense to you, PLEASE go back and watch the videos of the earlier sections.

You absolutely NEED to know and feel comfortable with all of the tenses covered so far before going on, otherwise you probably won't understand what's coming next.

Think you've got it?

Think you're ready?

Then get ready for the most advanced grammar English has to offer in the next section!

Ladies and gentlemen...

This is where things get tricky.

This section might be confusing, but all the information you need is right here and in your PDF.

Don't worry if you don't understand at first, that's perfectly normal!

The important thing to remember, is that this course covers ALL the grammar fundamentals.

So if you can understand everything in this section, you will know all the most difficult grammar tenses there are in English.

So there's light at the end of the tunnel, and a strong reason to stay positive - If you can do this, you can do anything!

I said at the beginning of this course that you should be careful using the "ing" too much.

Before this course, you probably had no idea when the right time to use "ing" was, and when and why not to!

As you might imagine, there are many more advanced cases that still use "ing", so we'll get right into these more difficult scenarios now.

As you can imagine, there are "ings" in the past, the present, and the future tenses.

In the Present Continuous/Progressive, we say: "I am talking to them now."

In the Past Continuous, we say "I was talking to them yesterday when I heard the news."

As with all Progressive/Continuous tenses, we use the "ing" to talk about an activity.

So this is an activity taking place in the past.

For example: "I was running in the park yesterday."

Make sense?

Then go for it!

If we can imagine activities happening now...

And we can imagine activities happening in the past...

Can't we imagine them happening in the future, too?

What if someone wants to call you tomorrow, but you will be sailing on a boat and you won't have your phone?

Would it make sense to say "I can't talk tomorrow, I will be sailing?"

Of course it would!

Find out more here.

If you've understood everything up until now, brace yourself!

This is where things really get tricky!

Many non-native speakers have no clue what a sentence like "I have been working all day" means, but hopefully by now you already have some ideas about what it could mean.

The trick with these harder tenses is to break them down, one element at a time.

You will see that they aren't as scary as they seem at first!

Before we end Module 04, we'll go over one of the more difficult tenses up until now.

This is for sentences like: "I have been negotiating the deal for weeks." Or "We have been thinking of switching cell phone plans." Or "I have been studying so hard that my brain hurts!"

While this was very tricky before this course, I have faith that you are 100% ready to understand this now.

Let me know how it goes!

Can you believe how much we have covered in a short amount of time?

Until now, you probably thought you would NEVER understand this stuff...

But now you now you CAN understand it.

Just a few tricks and a few new concepts can make the difference between speaking well and making tons of mistakes.

Things are going to get a bit trickier now, but only slightly. If you understand this, you are ready for what's next!

These tenses are so difficult and so misunderstood that I felt they deserved their own section.

This truly is as hard as English grammar tenses get.

If you can understand this section, you really can understand anything!

This is where we cover complicated sentences like:

"I had worked in finance before I switched to teaching." 

Or "They had viewed the proposal before they emailed it to me."

Again, breaking it apart word by word is all it takes to master these difficult ideas.

See you on the other side!

If you've ever worked in a job for a long time, you know people are always talking about retirement!

Even though it might be 20-30 years away, people love thinking about retirement.

This story will help you understand how we talk about the future and the past at the same time.

"Can you believe in 20 years, I will have worked here for 40 years?"

Quiz time again!

This might very well be one of the hardest quizzes so far.

But stay calm, stay focused, and I think you'll do just fine!

Ok seriously...

If you made it this far in the course, I have to say I'm VERY proud of you for sticking around and trying to master this difficult subject.

I know it's hard, but I also know how important it is.

And I also know how easy it can be, if only we look at things differently!

Without great grammar, you are building a house with no foundation.

I sincerely hope this module has been enlightening!

No course would be complete without a little bonus material...

I hope you enjoy these freebies!

"Conditionals" are a word we use to describe sentences that ask "What if?"

"If this happens, then that happens."

The most famous example is: "If you win the lottery, what will you do?"

There are a few common mistakes that most non-native English speakers make when it comes to conditionals, and now you'll know how to avoid them!

Sometimes we use "if" to ask questions about a realistic, possible future.

This is where I cover:

"If I go to the store, will you come with me?"

"If we drive up the coast, will it be more beautiful?"

And so on!

Sometimes we ask "What if?", but it's not about the future.

Rather, it's about a hypothetical situation, or an imaginary situation.

"If you had a million dollars, what would you do?"

"If you got the promotion, would you take a vacation?"

These are things that may never happen, but it can be nice to talk about them!

Sometimes we ask "What if?" about the past.

Of course, as you know, we can't change the past!

But sometimes we wonder what might have happened if things were different.

"If I had won the olympics, I would be famous!"

"If I hadn't taken that shortcut, I wouldn't have gotten lost!"

We can't change the past, no. But we can talk about "What if things happened differently?"

FINALLY! I was beginning to think we'd never have another cheat sheet!

Quiz time!

Head over to your PDF to test your knowledge of the 3 types of conditionals we've covered.

Think you have what it takes?

This lesson didn't fit in any of the modules, so consider it a bonus - on top of a bonus!

This will help you understand the difference between "I love to work" (infinitive) and "I love working" (gerund).

The sheet is in your PDF - I hope you find it interesting!

I'd like to thank you, personally, for taking a chance on this course.

I originally created this course many years ago, but I never filmed it until now.

As an English teacher, I saw how grammar was the core at the heart of improvement.

It's the least sexy thing, but it's important if you want to grow.

I hope you have found this course educational and enlightening, and that you are now more equipped to learn English better than ever before.

The PDF is yours to keep, and you can revisit the course at any time if you want a refresher.

Once again, thank you for enrolling and take care!

-Ross