ALL English verb tenses in 12 minutes

12,336 views ・ 2021-05-03

Business English with Christina


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

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- Let's try something ambitious,
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an overview of all 12 English verb tenses
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in less than 15 minutes.
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Can we do it?
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Hi, I'm your English coach, Christina,
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and welcome to Speak English with Christina.
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The best place to become confident speaking business English
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step-by-step.
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Alright, let's jump right in
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and have some crazy verb tense fun
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because this is something that students always ask for.
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It's a quick introduction of each tense,
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when to use it and some concrete examples.
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Alright, step one.
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In English, there are basically three times,
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let's call them, present, past and future.
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Now I started with the present
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because it's the one that we use the most,
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so it's a good place to start, I think.
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Second step.
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Now each of these times has four forms.
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Fortunately, there is some logic to this.
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All of the times have the same forms.
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There's the simple,
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the continuous or progressive,
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it's the same thing,
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the perfect simple,
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and the perfect continuous,
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and we'll look at each tense
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for the present, the past and the future
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so that you can see the similarities in how they work.
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So let's start with the simple tenses.
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So the present simple,
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we use this for regular, repeated actions.
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For example, I start work at 8:00 a.m.
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pretty much every day.
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We also use the present simple for facts
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or things that are always true
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like English is important for many careers.
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It's just a fact.
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The past simple, we use that for actions that started
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and finished at specific times in the past.
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For example, yesterday, I had a German lesson.
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It started and it finished in the past
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or you studied English in school.
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It's finished, it started and it ended in the past.
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For the future simple,
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we use this for spontaneous or unplanned actions,
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of course, in the future.
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For example, your friend suggests a good series on Netflix.
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You can say, "Ah, thanks, I'll look for it on Netflix."
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That's kind of spontaneous.
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You weren't planning to do that,
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but you just decided, Ah, yeah,
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I'll, I will, look for it in the future.
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We also use the future simple for facts or events
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that will happen, again, in the future.
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For example, our next Conversation Club session
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will be on Wednesday at 8:00 p.m.
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That's all the simple tenses.
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Now the continuous or the progressive tenses.
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Present continuous.
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This is for actions happening like right now
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like you're learning English.
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It's what you're doing at this very moment.
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We also use it for actions happening
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during a period of time.
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That includes the present moment.
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So for example, I'm learning German.
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Now not right now in this moment
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because I'm teaching you English,
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but at the current period, I'm learning German.
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And we also use the present continuous
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for one time or irregular actions in the future.
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So for example,
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tomorrow, I'm meeting with my German teacher.
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It's not every Saturday, but it's tomorrow.
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Yeah, because tomorrow, because today is Friday
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when I'm filming this.
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So tomorrow, Saturday, I'm meeting with my German teacher,
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but it's not a regular thing.
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Now, past continuous.
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We use this for actions that continued
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during a period of time in the past.
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For example, last week, period of time,
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last week I was thinking about ideas
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for some new videos,
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and with the past continuous,
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we often put other actions in the past simple tense inside
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that period of time in the past.
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For example, last week, I was thinking about
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some new ideas for a video
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when someone suggested, past simple,
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suggested a video on tenses,
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and so, I decided, past simple, I decided to do it.
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Future continuous.
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This is for an action that you think will be in progress
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or won't be in progress in the future.
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For example, next Thursday, I will be traveling to Berlin
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in my dreams because no one is traveling right now,
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but let's imagine.
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Next Thursday, it's a period of time in the future,
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I will be traveling to Berlin
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or I won't be learning Japanese anytime soon
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because I prefer to learn one language at a time.
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So again, it's a period of time,
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there's my cat, by the way,
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it's a period of time in the future,
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I won't be learning Japanese anytime soon.
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And the perfect simple tense, everyone's favorite or not.
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The present perfect is simple.
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You love this tense, I know you do.
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The present perfect simple is for general past experience.
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I know, it's a present perfect simple tense
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but it talks about the past.
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English.
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We'll see why it's called the present
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because there is a relationship to the present moment.
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It's for general past experience
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or lack of past experience up until the present moment.
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So for example, since I was a kid, past, past moment,
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I've always had a cat.
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That's my most recent cat.
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So since I was a kid, I've always had a cat,
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but I've never had a dog.
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So that's all that experience in the past
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up until the present moment.
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We also use that present perfect simple tense
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for an action that was completed recently
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before the present moment.
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So it's like we're giving some news.
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I could tell you I have just adopted a cat.
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It's quite recent.
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I've only had her for two weeks.
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Now the past perfect simple,
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this is an action that was completed before another action,
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you can't see my hand 'cause of the plant.
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It was completed before another action
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that is also in the past.
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So the past perfect simple, it's like it's more in the past.
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For example, before I got my cat,
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I had researched places to adopt cats,
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so I adopted the cat two weeks ago,
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but maybe three weeks ago, more in the past,
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I had researched places to adopt cats.
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And the future perfect simple.
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This is for an action that happens
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before another more future action.
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So it's in relation to another past action.
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So you can see the perfect simple tenses
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are always in relation to other actions.
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So future perfect simple.
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By this time next month,
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she will have had all of her vaccinations.
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So this time next month, it's in the future,
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but by this time next month
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she will have had all of her vaccinations.
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By this time next month, in the future,
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we'll have had, it's a little bit before this future moment,
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and the perfect continuous tenses.
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So present perfect continuous.
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This one is generally easier.
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It's just an action that started in the past
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and it continues into the present moment.
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For example, I have been living in France for 16 years now.
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It started 16 years ago, continues up until today,
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and in theory, will continue into the future.
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Past perfect continuous.
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This is an action that started in the past,
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continued into some other moment in the past,
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but it is finished now, but it was progressing.
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It was continuing in the past.
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So for example, in the U.S.,
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I had been studying French for a few years
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when I decided I wanted to live in France.
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So it's I have been studying
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when I decided,
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all of that is in the past,
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and the future perfect continuous.
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This is an action that started in the past
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and will be continuing until another moment in the future.
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So for example, on September 4th, 2021,
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I will have been living in France for exactly 16 years.
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So it started in the past, it continues,
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and at a moment in the future,
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I will have been living in France for 16 years.
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And now your next step with this lesson,
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I recommend that you go back and screenshot the tables
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that present these tenses
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so that you have a complete guide for all 12 tenses,
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and on the next slide,
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I'll just put up a table that will have all of the tenses
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and one example for each
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so you have a nice, clear overview of all of these
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and I recommend that you screenshot this table.
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(camera clicking)
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Alright, now, I know that this was a lot of information.
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It's a pretty long video,
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but this is, it's just an introduction.
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It's a basic overview so that you can understand
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like what's happening with the tenses in English.
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Now I can't go into all of the nuances and complexities
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and exceptions of 12 verb tenses in one video,
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but it gives you a good solid foundation
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to start learning more about each tense
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so that you can become confident using all of them.
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Now the next step with me is to subscribe to my channel
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so that you get all of the future lessons
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and you continue becoming confident,
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and I definitely recommend that you watch this lesson.
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It's on three past tenses for storytelling.
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We'll go a little more into detail of those past tenses
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and you learn how to tell great stories in English.
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Alright, click on the screen and I'll see you there.
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