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This is a download from BBC Learning English.
To find out more, visit our website.
Welcome to 6 Minute Grammar with me, Neil.
And me, Catherine, hello.
In this programme, we're looking at six different English tenses.
And our first tense is the present simple.
So, Neil, a question, where do you live?
I live in London. And the present simple, I live, tells us that this is a fact or a permanent situation.
London is home. Good. And as well as facts, we use a present simple for regular activities too, with phrases like every day or on Saturdays.
For example, we bring you 6 Minute Grammar on Tuesdays.
Indeed. And words like, usually, sometimes, always, and often, go with the present simple.
Here's Harry with an example.
6 Minute Grammar usually finishes with a quiz.
That's true. It does. And our second tense is the present continuous.
Yes. And one of the uses of the present continuous tense is to talk about activities happening now.
Here's Harry with an example.
You're listening to 6 Minute Grammar right now.
That's an activity happening now.
But here's a different example.
I'm from near Bristol, but I'm living in London at the moment.
The present continuous I'm living tells us that this is a temporary situation.
London isn't Harry's permanent home.
With this use of the present continuous, look out for time expressions like, at the moment, this year, these days.
And a sentence like, I'm studying Russian this month, doesn't mean I'm studying it right this minute.
It means I'm doing it off and on around this time.
So far so good. But near.
If we use the present continuous tense for things happening now, why do we say things like, I understand and that coffee smells good.
That's happening now, but we used the present simple.
Ah, good question. And the answer is, some verbs don't take a continuous form.
They're often verbs of thinking or feeling like understand or smell or no believe.
Remember here. Sound. Want.
Need. We keep them in the simple tense.
Six minute grunt. From BBCLearningEnglish.com.
And we're talking about tensors.
Now for tensors three and four, that's the past simple and the present perfect.
And our examples are from a postcard that our colleague Finn centres and he's on holiday in India, the lucky man.
So Harry, can you read it for us please?
Hello from Goa. Have you ever been here?
We arrived two days ago.
It's been really hot since then.
I've already done some sunbathing, but we haven't seen much yet.
Lucky Finn. So let's look at the tensors.
The sentence we arrived two days ago is past simple.
Yes, use the past simple when something clearly finished in the past.
It often goes with phrases like two days ago.
Yesterday and last month.
But with the present perfect, we don't usually say when things happened.
We just want to know whether something's happened or not.
So Finn's sentences. I've already done some sunbathing and we haven't seen much yet.
Our good examples of this.
Exactly, and the words already, yet and just, often go with the present perfect.
Examples, please, Harry.
Have you ever been here?
It's been really hot since then.
With the present perfect, we're interested in past experiences more than past times or dates.
So we use ever and never.
Have you ever been to Goa, Catherine?
No, I've never been to Goa, Neil.
I'd like to, but I never have.
And if we need to talk about when things happened, we can use the words for and since with the present perfect.
So Finn's been in Goa for two days and it's been really hot since he arrived.
Now for our next tense. And here's Harry with more of Finn's postcard.
We're going to visit the market tomorrow and we're coming home next Wednesday.
We use going to with an infinitive verb for things you plan or expect to happen.
Finn has a plan to visit the market tomorrow.
Yes, and Finn also says, we're coming home next Wednesday.
And that's tense six. The present continuous for future arrangements.
Yes, it's like going to, but it's a definite arrangement.
He's probably got his plane tickets.
Right, so that's our six tenses.
And now it's quiz time. Question one, which is correct?
Is it A, I'm needing some new shoes, or B, I need some new shoes.
It's B, I need some new shoes.
Question two, which is correct.
A, did you see Luke since Saturday, or B, have you seen Luke since Saturday?
And it's B, have you seen Luke since Saturday, and the last one, which is correct?
Is it A, it's going to rain tomorrow, or B, it's raining tomorrow?
It's A, it's going to rain tomorrow.
Well done if you got those right.
Then that brings us to the end of the programme.
There's more about this on our website at bbclearningenglish.com.
Join us again for more six-minute grammar.
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Do do do do do do do do do. We all know what that music means.
It's time for the Olympics in Paris.
I'm Matt Rogers and I'm Bowen Yeung.
And we're doing an Olympics podcast?
Uh, yeah. We're hosting the two guys, five rings podcast.
Watch every moment of the 2024 Paris Olympics beginning July 26th on NBC and Peacock.
And for the first time, you can stream the 2024 Paris Games on the I Heart Radio app.
And listen to two guys, five rings on the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.
