Improve Your English Grammar in ONLY 12 MINUTES! | Advanced English Grammar

How well do you know your verb tenses in English?

Well, let's find out, because today I am going  to test you, and this test is on verb tenses,  

and you're going to learn a lot and  improve your grammar along the way.

Welcome back to JForrest English.

Of course, I'm Jennifer.

Now let's get started.

So here's how this lesson will work.

I'll show you a question, and there'll be a blank,  

and you have to decide which option, which  verb tense, best completes the sentence.

Now I'll only show the question for a few seconds.

So hit pause, take as much time as  you need, and when you're ready,  

hit play and I'll share the correct answer  and I'll explain why that answer is correct.

My flight at 9:00 AM tomorrow, and the answer  is my flight leaves at 9:00 AM tomorrow.

Now both B&C are future verbs, and we need a  future verb because we have the keyword tomorrow.

So I know we're in the future, but we  use the present simple in the future  

on one specific occasion, and that's with  timetable events, with scheduled events.

So transportation runs on a schedule.

You get a ticket and it tells you the time.

We can consider that a scheduled event.

If you're going to a party, a  wedding, a meeting in the future,  

and there's a scheduled event, you can simply  say my meeting starts at 2:00 next Tuesday.

Question two she two books so far this year and  

the answer is she has written  two books so far this year.

Your keyword here is this year.

This year is still in progress.

If it were complete, I'd say last year.

She's written two books so far this year.

So which verb tense am I using?

The present perfect has written.

We use the present perfect for actions that  started in the past but are still in progress.

So the books she has written, those are complete.

Those two books are sitting on her shelf,  

but it's possible for her to write more  books because the year is still in progress.

The present perfect #3 Your eyes are red and  puffy, and the answer is Have you been crying?

Have you been crying?

The verb tense here is the  present perfect continuance.

We need a continuous verb in this context  because the focus is on the action.

The focus is not on the result.

The focus is on the action of crying.

I want to emphasize the action.

Crying.

Have you?

And cried the present perfect?

That sounds awkward because  there's no focus on the action.

Question.

For if I you, I'd quit, and  the answer is if I were you.

If I were you now, having I and were  side by side may sound unnatural to  

you because the past form of the verb to  be with the subject I was of course right.

I was tired.

I was angry.

You were tired.

You were angry.

She was tired.

They were tired.

But this isn't in the past.

Simple.

This is in the subjunctive and the conjugation  for the subjunctive verb is were for all subjects.

I, you, he, she, it

We, they were.

Now, why does this question need the subjunctive?

Because it's hypothetical.

I'm not you.

That's a hypothetical situation.

If I were you.

But I'm not you.

I'm me.

Right?

If I were younger.

If I were older.

If I were taller.

If I were shorter.

Those are all hypothetical situations  #5 Dave at the bank since 2009,  

and the answer is Dave has been  working at the bank since 2009.

Now we're using the present perfect continuous  

because the action started in  the past and continues until now.

When did Dave start working at the bank?

Dave started working at the bank in 2009.

Where does Dave work now?

Today at the bank, right.

So action has started in the  past and continues until now.

Question 6 Carmen has a hair appointment tomorrow.

Carmen her haircut tomorrow.

And the answer is Carmen is  getting her hair cut tomorrow.

Now, the first sentence is  just to provide context.

So you know there's a scheduled event.

And that's important because we use  the present continuous, not the future.

Simple.

We use the present continuous when we're  talking about a scheduled event in the future.

Let's say I have a plane ticket  to go to Australia in five years.

Even though it's five years, a long  time away, it's still a scheduled event.

So I would say I'm going present continuous.

I'm going to Australia in five years  because it's a scheduled event.

Question seven, Samuel to  Paris at least five times.

And the answer is Samuel has gone  to Paris at least five Times Now.

There's no indication of time in this example.

There's no past reference last year, last  month, and there's no future reference either.

So I know we're just talking about in general  and we use the present perfect has gone.

We use the present perfect to  talk about life experience,  

the things we have done or  haven't done in our life.

And the reason is because our life is  unfinished, our life is in progress.

It started in the past and it continues until now.

So while we're alive and still living, we use the  present perfect to talk about our life experience.

Question eight, I think Sarah,  

a promotion next year and the answer is I  think Sarah will get a promotion next year.

So my keyword here is next year,  so I know I'm in the future.

And notice the other keyword I think.

I think we use the future simple to  make predictions about the future.

I think Sarah, I don't know  this 100%, it's a prediction.

I think Sarah will get a  promotion next year #9 the client.

By the time I checked my messages, the client  had called By the time I checked my messages.

This is the past perfect.

The past perfect is used to  talk about a past action,  

a completed past action that takes  place before another past action.

So on our timeline, we have two past events.

The client called, I checked my messages.

Now we use the past perfect for the first past  action which is the older action and we use  

the past simple for the second past action  which is the newer action On our timeline.

The client had called by the  time I checked my messages.

And finally question 10.

I can't believe they their baby  by the time we get there and the  

answer is I can't believe they will have  had their baby by the time we get there.

Which vertence is this?

The future perfect.

We don't use the future perfect too often,  but it's still an important verb tense.

We use the future perfect to talk  about a completed action in the future.

So let's say right now it's summer 2022  and the baby is due in the fall 2022.

So right now in summer, it's  an future action, right?

But let's say I'm traveling to visit  this couple in the winter of 2022.

So I'm going to take my timeline from now and  I'm going to change the timeline to winter 2022,  

and by winter 2022, the baby will have been born.

So that action, although it's a future action now,  

when I change the timeline to winter 2022,  the action will actually be in the past.

So did you enjoy this grammar test?

Do you want me to make more tests just like this?

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