— VOA Learning English — Everyday Grammar Source: Voice of America Learning English (https://learningenglish.voanews.com/) Licence: Public domain (work of the U.S. federal government, 17 U.S.C. §105) Audio is served by the publisher; Budi does not host or modify it.
0:00For VOA Learning English this is Everyday Grammar. Today we are going to give you a basic overview of the verb tense system in English. Verb tenses tell us how an action relates to the flow of time. There are three main verb tenses in English present, past and future. The present, passed and future tenses are divided into four aspects. The simple, progressive, There are 12 major verb tenses that English learners should know. English has only two ways of forming a tense from the verb alone, the past and the present. For example, we drove and we drive. To form other verb tense you have to add a form of HAVE, BE or WILL in front of the verb. These are called helping or auxiliary verbs. Verb tenses can be difficult to learn in a foreign language.
1:19Different cultures think different ways about time. Chinese, for example, has no grammatical verb tenses. Other languages, like Indonesian, express time only through adverbs. There are no changes to the verb form. English verb tenses give many details about time and action, such as Is the action finished? How long did the action happen? Was the action repeated? Did the action happened at a known or unknown time? Is the actual a habit? Is the actually planned or spontaneous? It is difficult to think about time distinctions that do not exist in your own language. So, it can take many years for English learners to master verb tenses. Let's get started. We are going to give examples of all 12 verb tences using the verb drive.
2:27We'll start with the simple tenses These are probably the first tenses you learned in English. Simple tenses usually refer to a single action. In general, Simple tenses express facts and situations that existed in the past, exist in the present or will exist in future. Simple Present I drive home every day. Simple Past I drove home yesterday. Simple Future I will drive home later. Let's go on to the Progressive Tenses. We use progressive tenses to talk about unfinished events. Verb Tenses are also called Continuous Tenses. Past Progressive I was driving when you called. Present Progressive I am driving now. Future Progressive I will be driving when your call. Now let's look at the Perfect Tenses
3:39Perfect Tense causes the most confusion. To put it simply, they express the idea that one event happens before another event. There are many tricky exceptions with the perfect tenses, which we will discuss in a future episode. The adverbs never, yet and already are common in perfect tennses. Present Perfect I have driven that road. Past Perfect I had already driven that Road in the past. Future Perfect I will have driven 200 miles by tomorrow. Finally, let's look at the perfect progressive tenses. Generally, perfect progressive tenses express duration or how long. Perfect progressive tense usually include the adverbs for or since. Present perfect progressive I have been driving since this morning.
4:48Past perfect progressive I had been driving for three hours before I stopped to get gas. Future perfect progressive I will have been driving for five hours by the time I arrive. Don't worry if you don't understand everything yet. Here are some recommendations we have for learning verb tenses. First, think of adverbs as your friends. Adverbs of time offer valuable clues about the correct verb tense. Let's use the adverb ago. Ago is only used in the simple past English learners sometimes try to impress people by using complex verb tenses. You often have a choice of several verb tences. When you do, always choose the simplest one. It will be clear for your listener, and there is less chance of making a mistake.
6:11Native speakers don't think consciously about verb tenses. With enough practice, English learners can internalize the verb tense system too. Instead of worrying about deep time relationships, try using adverbs and your ear to choose the right verb tense. Often when someone asks a question, you can respond in the same verb tense. We'll ask a question in each verb tense, give an answer in the same tense, then listen to our answer. Ready? Did you get enough sleep last night? Yes, I slept well. Do you shower every day? Yes, I shower everyday. Are you going to study tonight? Yes, I'm going to study tonight. What were you doing when I called you last night? I was eating dinner when you called me last night.
7:25What are you doing right now? I am practicing verb tenses right now. What will you be doing at midnight on New Year's Eve? I will be celebrating the new year with my friends. Had you ever tried skiing before today? Yes, I had already done it several times before. Have you ever broken the law? No, I have never broken the Law. Will you have gotten married by the time you turn 30? No, I will not have gotten married by that time I turned 30. How long had you been smoking before you quit? I had been smoking for two years before I quit. How long have you been waiting for the bus? I have been waiting for the boss for twenty minutes. How long will you have been working before you retire? I will have been
8:40working for thirty years before i retire. This is just a basic introduction to Verb Tenses. In the following weeks, we will cover the more difficult verb tenses in more detail. I'm Jill Robbins. And I'm John Russell.
This transcript was generated automatically from the recording, so it will contain mistakes — especially around names and places.