The 5 MOST USED VERB TENSES in Everyday Conversations

There are 12 verb tenses in English.

But did you know that only 5 verb  tenses make up over 96% of speech?

So not all verb tenses are created equally?

And you absolutely need to  feel confident with these  

five verb tenses, which is what you'll do today.

Welcome back to JForrest English.

Of course, I'm Jennifer.

Now let's get started.

Let's review the five verb tenses that make  up over 96% of a native speaker's speech.

The five verb tenses are the present  simple, which makes up 57.51% of speech,  

the past simple which makes up  19.7%, the future simple at 8.5%,  

the present perfect at 6%, and the present  continuous at 5.1% of a native speakers speech.

And the total of all 5 verb  tenses is 96.81% of speech.

So let's make sure that you feel very  confident using all 5 verb tenses.

And don't worry, because I summarize  everything in a free lesson PDF,  

so you can look in the description  for the link to download the PDF.

And at the end of this lesson,  

there's going to be a quiz to make sure  you really understand these verb tenses.

So let's start with the present  simple and pay close attention.

Because I correct mistakes from my advanced  students in the finely fluent Academy.

They make mistakes with the present simple almost  every time they submit their practice exercises.

So pay close attention.

Let's review the structure for  this subjects I, you, we, and they.

You add the base verb.

Now for the subjects ** *** it,  you add the base verb plus S or ES.

And this is one of the most common mistakes that  

my advanced students make for getting  to add that S, so don't forget that.

As for ** *** it subjects.

The present simple is used to describe  routines, habits in your daily life.

For example, I eat breakfast every day at 6:00 AM.

It's also used to describe  general facts and truths.

For example, the sun rises in  the east and sets in the West.

And notice I added those s s  because the sun is it ** *** it.

You need those s s It's also used for  feelings, emotions and states of beings.

We are very excited for the concert tonight.

Now here's one that most of my  students don't use correctly,  

and the present simple is also used for timetable  events, even if that event is in the future.

For example, the train leaves at 5:00 AM tomorrow.

It's very common to use an adverb of  frequency with the present simple,  

which is 1 easy way that you can identify it.

The most common adverbs of frequency are every  day or always for seven times a week, often,  

usually, or frequently for about four to six times  a week, sometimes for three to four times a week,  

rarely or seldom for one to two times a  week, and never for zero times a week.

So let's practice this just for fun.

Share something silly that you never  do or always do in the comments below.

For example, I never brush  my teeth while I'm driving,  

so share something silly in the  comments just to have a little fun.

Now let's move on to the past simple.

To form the past simple, you  have your subject and then you  

have your base verb plus Ed or  an irregular past simple verb.

And there are many irregular verbs,  so you simply need to memorize them.

The past simple is used for an action that started  and finished at a specific time in the past.

For example, I went to the store yesterday.

She took a shower at 8:00  AM, but now it is 11:00 AM.

So 8:00 AM is in the past.

They ordered pizza for dinner  and now it's 10:00 at night.

So dinner is in the past.

We sang all night, but I'm talking about  

maybe yesterday or the night  before, so it's in the past.

Let's review some past simple keywords so you  

can easily identify when you  need to use this verb tense.

Yesterday, last week, month or year in 2020,  

at 3:30 PM four hours ago on Monday on July  15th when I graduated or during the meeting  

and remember all of those keywords, the  actions started and finished in the past.

Now let's talk about the future.

Simple.

Another verb tense I see a lot of mistakes with.

The structure is very easy.

You have your struct subject will and base verb.

It's the same for all  subjects, which makes it easy.

This verb tense is used to make predictions,  but when it's based on your opinion, not facts.

Argentina will win the World Cup.

This is just my opinion.

I don't know this as a fact.

Someone else could say I think  France will win the World Cup.

Notice here I added.

I think it's very common to use an  opinion word with the future simple.

This verb tense is used for  spontaneous actions or decisions,  

which means they were not planned in advance.

For example, let's say you see a woman  struggling with her grocery bags,  

and she has many grocery bags.

You can say I'll help you with those bags.

You didn't plan this in advance,  It was a spontaneous action.

It's also used with promises,  commitments, offers, or refusals.

If you say I'll send you the report at 5:00  PM, you're making a promise or a commitment.

It's like saying I promise I'll  send you the report at 5:00 PM,  

so the other person will expect  it if you use the future.

Simple.

Now let's talk about the present perfect, a  verb tense that confuses a lot of students.

But absolutely you must know how to use it.

The structure is I, you, we, they  plus have plus the past participle,  

and you simply need to memorize  all the past participles.

Now for the subjects ** *** is,  

you need to use has as your auxiliary  verb and the past participle now.

Did you know that the present perfect is  also used with the completed past action,  

but one that has a result or  consequence in the present?

For example, I have eaten that  is a completed past action.

Now it's common to use  already, but it's not required.

I have already eaten, so what's  the result in the present?

So now I'm not hungry.

It's also used for life experience  when it's an unfinished timeline.

For example, she's been to Panama twice now  because she is alive, she can go to Panama again.

So it's an unfinished time reference.

Or you could say I haven't seen that movie yet.

Yet is a keyword for the present perfect,  and we use it in negative sentences.

And by saying yet, you're letting the  person know that is still possible for  

you to watch that movie in the future,  so it's an unfinished time reference now.

The present perfect is also used for an action  that started in the past and continues until now,  

but only with three common  verbs, live, work and study.

For example, they've lived  in that house for 20 years,  

they still live there now,  and it started in the past.

It started 20 years ago.

Very important point.

You can't use a specific time  reference with the present perfect.

You must use the past simple.

This is a very common mistake  that I see my students make.

So you can't say I've tried  sushi last week because last  

week is a specific past time reference.

So you would have to say I tried sushi last week.

Or you could get rid of last  week and say I've tried sushi.

Let's move on to our last verb  tense, the present continuous.

This structure is I am plus verb in your ING form.

Your gerund verb you we they  are plus verb in ING or ** ***.

It is plus verb in ING.

So don't forget you have to conjugate  the verb to be according to the subject.

The present continuous is used for an action  that is currently taking place right now.

Now.

So I could say my students  are because the subject is  

they My students are watching my video right now.

Right?

You're watching this video right now.

You can also use the Present Continuous  with the future if it's a planned action,  

a planned action in the future.

For example, he's attending  the conference next month.

It's in the future, but it's planned.

He's attending the conference next month or  she's performing at the World Cup in 2026.

So even though it's way in the future,  

you can still use the present  continuous if it's a planned event.

An important note that you should know  because I know it might confuse students.

Native speakers use the present  continuous with always to stress  

the continuation of something negative.

She is always coming to work late.

So instead of saying she always comes to work  late because always is a keyword for the present  

simple, native speakers frequently  put this in the present continuous.

I don't recommend that you do  that because it really depends  

on the context if it sounds correct or incorrect.

But grammatically, it's always correct  to use the present simple with always,  

so that's what I recommend that you do.

I'm just sharing this so you don't get confused  

when you hear a native speaker say  she is always coming to work late.

Now you know the five verb tenses  that make up 96% of your speech.

So Are you ready for your quiz?

To make sure you really know how to  use them, here are the questions.

Hit, pause and take as much time as you need.

And when you're ready to continue, hit play.

Here are the answers.

Hit, pause, review the answers.

And when you're ready to continue, hit play.

So how'd you do with that quiz?

Make sure you review this  lesson and again and again,  

because these five verb tenses make up 96% of  your speech, so you absolutely need to know them.

Do you want me to make more lessons  where we dive deep into verb tenses?

If you do, then put more tenses,  more tenses in the comments below.

And of course, make sure you like this  video, share it with your friends,  

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