WEBVTT FILE

1
00:00:00.300 --> 00:00:06.840
There are 12 basic tenses in 
English. We have the present tenses,  

2
00:00:07.800 --> 00:00:14.640
the past tenses, and the future tenses. 
I'm sure you've seen all of these before.  

3
00:00:15.840 --> 00:00:19.980
In today's lesson we are going 
to focus on the simple tenses.  

4
00:00:20.880 --> 00:00:30.060
Present simple, past simple, and future simple. By 
focusing on the simple tenses, and just the simple  

5
00:00:30.060 --> 00:00:37.140
tenses, we can compare them. And you can see how 
similar they are which makes them easier to learn.  

6
00:00:37.740 --> 00:00:43.860
Keep your eyes peeled for my upcoming videos 
on the other tenses. And if you subscribe to my  

7
00:00:43.860 --> 00:00:51.180
channel and turn on those notifications, you won't 
miss a lesson. Anyway, my name's Arnel, let's start.  

8
00:00:51.900 --> 00:01:00.240
First let's start with the grammatical structures. 
Present simple, past simple, future simple.  

9
00:01:01.560 --> 00:01:07.680
Present simple. Subject plus the 
bare infinitive, the base verb.  

10
00:01:08.819 --> 00:01:22.319
Remember the bear infinitive is verb number one. 
For example: Eat, ate, eaten. Eat is verb number one. remember for he,  

11
00:01:22.319 --> 00:01:32.159
she, or it. You need to add s, or es to your verb. 
If I choose a different verb, watch. Again for that  

12
00:01:32.160 --> 00:01:42.060
third person you need to add s or es. In this case 
he, she, or it watches. Keep that in mind.

13
00:01:43.920 --> 00:01:54.060
I wake up at 6am every day. The negative? I 
do not, I do not wake up at 6am every morning.  

14
00:01:55.680 --> 00:02:00.120
Question: Do you, do you wake 
up at 6 00 a.m. every morning?

15
00:02:02.820 --> 00:02:10.740
Past simple. Subject plus the past simple 
verb. The past simple verb is verb number two.  

16
00:02:12.240 --> 00:02:22.080
Again, eat, ate, eaten. Verb number two, ate. And 
you can see it's the same for all subjects.  

17
00:02:22.740 --> 00:02:24.300
That makes a past simple easy.

18
00:02:26.760 --> 00:02:35.460
I woke up at six am every morning. Negative, 
I did not wake up at 6 a.m. every day.  

19
00:02:36.720 --> 00:02:41.040
Question: Did you, did you wake up at 6am every day?

20
00:02:43.740 --> 00:02:53.279
Future. Subject, will plus base verb. We already 
looked at the base verb. The good news is we use  

21
00:02:53.280 --> 00:03:03.780
will plus base verb with all subjects, that makes 
things easy. I will wake up at 6am every morning.

22
00:03:05.880 --> 00:03:15.780
I will not wake up at 6am every morning. Will you, 
will you wake up at 6am every morning? And it's  

23
00:03:15.780 --> 00:03:22.620
really important to remember, be is an exception. Be 
is the most common verb in English, so let's take a  

24
00:03:22.620 --> 00:03:38.100
look at a mini reminder. Be in the present. I am, you 
are. He, she, it is. We are, they are. Be in the past. I  

25
00:03:38.100 --> 00:03:49.740
was, you were. He, she, it was. We were, they were. And 
in the future it's the same. I will be, you will be,  

26
00:03:50.760 --> 00:03:58.920
etc... So the grammatical structures for the simple 
tenses are pretty simple. And of course, in this  

27
00:03:58.920 --> 00:04:06.300
lesson I will keep all the structures highlighted 
for you. Let's look at these tenses on a timeline.  

28
00:04:07.860 --> 00:04:18.180
We use the simple tenses for habits, repeated actions, 
and for things that are always true, like facts.  

29
00:04:19.440 --> 00:04:29.400
Do habits change often? No. Do repeated actions 
change often? Not really. Do facts change often?  

30
00:04:29.940 --> 00:04:37.979
No. A fact is a fact. Look at my timelines. The 
actions are the same, but they are either in the  

31
00:04:37.980 --> 00:04:47.099
present, the past, or the future. Now in the present, 
I wake up at 6am every day. This is normal for me.  

32
00:04:48.600 --> 00:04:58.680
I woke up at 6am every day, it was normal for 
me. Future, I will wake up at 6am every day.  

33
00:05:00.060 --> 00:05:08.040
Do we need to give a specific time with the 
simple tenses? With the present simple it's  

34
00:05:08.040 --> 00:05:13.620
already clear we mean now, in the present. Do 
we need a specific time with the past simple?  

35
00:05:14.880 --> 00:05:22.500
In the context of the conversation or text, yes. 
So to make this example complete I will give  

36
00:05:22.500 --> 00:05:30.839
you a specific time. When I was in high school I 
woke up at 6am every day. For the future simple,  

37
00:05:30.839 --> 00:05:38.639
yes, we also need a specific time. It can be in the 
same sentence, or somewhere in the conversation, or  

38
00:05:38.640 --> 00:05:46.500
text. It needs to be clear somewhere. Starting the 
15th of January I will wake up at 6am every day.  

39
00:05:47.640 --> 00:05:55.679
Let's do another example. Students do their 
homework online, they don't use pen and paper,  

40
00:05:55.680 --> 00:06:03.600
they do their homework online. Here's clear we're 
talking about now, the present period. Students did  

41
00:06:03.600 --> 00:06:10.920
their homework online. This would mean now they 
don't. Students will do their homework online.

42
00:06:13.020 --> 00:06:19.140
Again for the past simple and the future simple, 
let's give a specific time, we need a bit more  

43
00:06:19.140 --> 00:06:28.560
detail. Students did their homework online. When? 
During the pandemic. But now, they don't need to.  

44
00:06:29.580 --> 00:06:33.599
Students will do their 
homework online beginning May.

45
00:06:34.800 --> 00:06:41.400
Okay. We've looked at repeated actions 
like waking up or doing homework.  

46
00:06:42.120 --> 00:06:46.440
But these tenses can also 
be used to describe States.  

47
00:06:47.640 --> 00:06:58.200
What is a state? A state is a situation, or an 
opinion, or a Feeling. Do states change often?  

48
00:06:58.860 --> 00:07:07.440
No. Present simple, I have long hair. Is this a 
repeated action? No, it's a state. I have long hair.

49
00:07:09.720 --> 00:07:20.160
I had long hair until I turned 18. Past state, and 
I'm giving you a specific time, until I turned 18.  

50
00:07:20.160 --> 00:07:29.279
I had long hair and now I have short hair... for 
example. Future simple, in a few years I will  

51
00:07:29.280 --> 00:07:37.319
have long hair. Imagine now I have short hair, in 
a few years I will have long hair. That will be  

52
00:07:37.320 --> 00:07:47.820
my future state. Here's another state. Doug is our 
team leader. Last year Doug was our team leader.  

53
00:07:48.480 --> 00:07:55.860
Specific time, last year. Next week 
Doug will be our new team leader.  

54
00:07:56.580 --> 00:08:04.260
Your turn, here's your homework. Try to think 
of personal examples. Repeated actions, present  

55
00:08:04.260 --> 00:08:10.319
simple. What is something you do every 
day, every month, every week, or every year?

56
00:08:13.560 --> 00:08:19.140
I cook every day. That's not a really exciting 
example but it's true, I cook every day.  

57
00:08:20.100 --> 00:08:27.420
Past simple, what is something you did or didn't 
do, every day, every month, every year in the past?

58
00:08:29.580 --> 00:08:38.400
When I was a kid I never ate the crust 
on toast. I hated crust. Yeah now, now I eat crust...  

59
00:08:38.400 --> 00:08:45.060
Future simple. What is something you will do, 
what do you think will become one of your habits?  

60
00:08:46.980 --> 00:08:58.860
In the future I will, next year, I will floss more. 
Okay, these are repeated actions/habits. Let's look  

61
00:08:58.860 --> 00:09:05.700
at states. Again, think of your own personal 
examples. Present simple, what is something  

62
00:09:05.700 --> 00:09:15.840
you enjoy? I enjoy pop music. Past state. What is 
something you had when you were a little kid?  

63
00:09:16.559 --> 00:09:23.159
When I was a little kid, specific time, 
I had a Yorkie. A Yorkie is a short  

64
00:09:23.160 --> 00:09:29.280
name for a Yorkshire Terrier, they're cute 
little dogs aren't they? So I had a Yorkie.  

65
00:09:30.600 --> 00:09:36.720
Future state, what will Earth 
be like in one thousand years?

66
00:09:38.760 --> 00:09:48.000
Earth will be different. So, use these questions 
here to practice. If you want, even give me a few  

67
00:09:48.000 --> 00:09:53.220
examples down below, I would love to see your 
examples. Are we done with the simple tenses?  

68
00:09:54.660 --> 00:10:02.760
Not yet! It's clear we use all three of 
these tenses again for repeated actions,  

69
00:10:02.760 --> 00:10:10.200
habits, and states. But the past simple 
and the future simple can also be used  

70
00:10:10.200 --> 00:10:15.180
for single actions. Not repeated actions, not states.

71
00:10:17.460 --> 00:10:27.780
I made an omelette for breakfast. One action. The 
chef will prepare something nice for us. Single  

72
00:10:27.780 --> 00:10:37.740
action. I bought a new phone yesterday. Single 
action. I will buy a new phone after my birthday.  

73
00:10:38.760 --> 00:10:46.020
Do we always know what will happen in 
the future? No. So we often use the future  

74
00:10:46.020 --> 00:10:56.880
simple for those single actions, for promises, or 
predictions. Common mistake: I buy a new phone today.  

75
00:10:58.440 --> 00:11:08.760
Can we use the present simple for a single action? 
No, not in this case. But, there's always a but,  

76
00:11:10.080 --> 00:11:19.740
this is special. We can use the present simple 
for a scheduled future event. Yes, future.  

77
00:11:20.760 --> 00:11:26.460
Our train leaves at nine. The movie starts in 30 minutes.

78
00:11:28.040 --> 00:11:32.760
I want to show you another 
example, let's look at a little clip.  

79
00:11:34.020 --> 00:11:38.760
Here we have two strangers on a 
train and we see a nice mix of tenses.  

80
00:11:40.080 --> 00:11:46.500
So where are you headed? Well, back to Paris. Um, 
my classes start next week. Oh, you're still in  

81
00:11:46.500 --> 00:11:50.340
school? Where do you go? Okay, where are 
you headed means where are you going.

82
00:11:52.559 --> 00:11:56.639
And here we see the present simple 
used for a scheduled future event.

83
00:11:58.860 --> 00:12:06.000
We've looked at three scheduled future events. 
Are these events something you have control over?  

84
00:12:07.200 --> 00:12:13.140
We can't control when our train leaves, we 
can't control when the movie starts, and  

85
00:12:13.140 --> 00:12:20.220
we can't control when our classes start. 
So that present simple can be used for a  

86
00:12:20.220 --> 00:12:26.220
single future action, but it's something that's 
scheduled, it's not something we can control.  

87
00:12:27.780 --> 00:12:37.620
Simple tenses review. We can use the simple tenses 
for habits, repeated actions, and states. I live in  

88
00:12:37.620 --> 00:12:45.600
an apartment, I lived in an apartment, I will live 
in an apartment. With the past simple and the  

89
00:12:45.600 --> 00:12:51.600
future simple you do want to include a specific 
time, somewhere in the conversation or context.  

90
00:12:52.559 --> 00:13:00.419
The past simple and the future simple can also 
be used for a single action. I arrived on time for  

91
00:13:00.420 --> 00:13:08.580
the meeting. I will arrive on time for the meeting. 
But because we don't always know what's going to  

92
00:13:08.580 --> 00:13:16.980
happen in the future, that future simple is often 
used for predictions and promises. And finally the  

93
00:13:16.980 --> 00:13:23.340
present simple can be used for a future scheduled 
event, like my bus leaves in 10 minutes, bye!  

94
00:13:24.540 --> 00:13:31.080
Simple tenses, done. You can watch my next 
video in the series continuous tenses,  

95
00:13:32.220 --> 00:13:37.440
here. Thank you so much for watching this lesson 
and I can't wait to see you next time. Bye!!