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Hi, I’m Liam.
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Welcome to Oxford Online English!
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In this lesson, you can learn about using
the present simple and present continuous
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verb forms.
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You’ll see many different ways to use these
verb tenses, from basic meanings to more advanced
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uses.
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A question for you: do you want to watch this
video with subtitles?
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You can – it’s easy!
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Turn them on now by clicking the ‘CC’
icon in the bottom right.
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Or, on your phone, use the settings icon at
the top of the video player.
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Here’s how this lesson works.
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There are five levels.
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Each level is more difficult than the previous
one.
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Level one is beginner.
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Levels two to four are intermediate.
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Level five is high intermediate to advanced.
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If you’re not a beginner, start at level
two!
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At each level, you can see what you need to
focus on if you have difficulties.
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Ready?
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Let’s start!
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You’ll see five sentences which use the
present simple or present continuous.
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You need to complete each sentence with one
word.
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The verb you need to use is given at the end
of the sentence.
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Here are your sentences.
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Pause the video and think about your answers.
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Ready?
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Let’s look.
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What do you need to know here?
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You need to know how to form the present simple
and present continuous.
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For example, you need to know rules like:
add ‘s’ to the verb in the present simple
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after ‘he’, ‘she’ or ‘it’.
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You need to know that you make the present
continuous with the verb ‘be’ plus an
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-ing verb.
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You should also know how to make negatives
and questions with these two tenses.
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Easy?
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Maybe, but even advanced English learners
sometimes make mistakes with these points.
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Practise them carefully so you don’t form
bad habits!
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In this section, you need to choose the correct
form in each sentence.
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Look at your questions.
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Pause the video and find your answers.
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Did you do it?
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Let’s check.
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Here, you need to think about the meaning
of these two verb forms.
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Use the present simple for habits or things
you do regularly, like in sentence one.
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Use the present continuous for things which
are happening right now, like in sentence
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two.
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You also use the present continuous for things
which are unfinished, like in sentence three.
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For facts and things which are generally true,
use the present simple, like in sentence four.
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If you’re describing a photo or a picture,
and want to say what’s happening, use the
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present continuous, like in sentence five.
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If you understand these ideas, you’ll be
able to use the present simple and the present
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continuous in many everyday sentences.
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However, there are many more things you need
to know to use these verb forms well.
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Here, we have a different challenge for you.
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Some of these sentences are correct; some
are incorrect.
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Your job is to find the correct sentences,
and correct the mistakes in the others.
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Pause the video and do it now.
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What do you think?
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How many correct sentences do you think there
are?
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Could you correct the mistakes in the others?
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Let’s look together.
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Sentences two and five are correct; the others
all have mistakes.
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Now, you can see the mistakes, and the corrections.
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Can you explain the problems with sentences
one, three and four?
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Why are they wrong?
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Verbs of sensing, like ‘smell’, ‘see’
or ‘hear’ are not generally used in the
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present continuous.
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In sentence one, even though you’re talking
about something which is just true now, you
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use the present simple because you’re using
a verb of sensing – ‘smell’.
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Sentence two is correct.
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Use the present continuous to talk about arrangements
in the future.
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This is common for talking about social plans.
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You can also use the present simple to talk
about the future, like in sentence three.
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Do you know why you use the present simple
here?
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Use the present simple to talk about future
events which follow a timetable.
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This includes things like trains, planes,
meetings, appointments and lessons.
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Verbs of thinking or speaking, like ‘promise’,
aren’t generally used in the present continuous.
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Can you think of other verbs like this?
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There are many, but ‘know’, ‘realise’,
‘remember’, ‘admit’ and ‘state’
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are almost always used in the present simple,
even if you’re talking about something which
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is happening now.
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In general, you can divide verbs into two
types: *action* verbs and *state* verbs.
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Action verbs, like ‘run’, ‘do’ or
‘cook’, can be either simple or continuous.
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State verbs, like ‘be’, ‘know’ or
‘love’, cannot normally be used in the
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present continuous.
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There are exceptions to this, but it’s a
useful general rule to remember.
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Finally, in sentence five, can you explain
why you need to use the present continuous?
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Use the present continuous to describe changing
situations, or to talk about trends.
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This is useful if you need to talk about statistics;
for example ‘sales are falling by an average
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of 2% annually.’
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There’s a lot of information in this video.
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Remember that you can always review a section
if you need to!
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Or, take a break and come back later.
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Now, let’s move on to level four.
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Level four is a little different again.
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Look at your sentences.
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This time, you have two jobs.
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First, are both forms possible?
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In some sentences, you can use either the
present simple or the continuous.
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In at least one sentence, you can’t use
both.
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Where can you – or can’t you – use both
forms?
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Secondly, where you *can* use both forms,
is there a difference in meaning?
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If so, can you explain it?
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Pause the video and think about these questions
now.
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Take your time!
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Ready?
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Let’s check.
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In sentence one, both forms are possible.
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Using the present simple suggests that this
is a permanent situation.
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She works there because this is her long-term
job, and she’ll probably continue to work
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there.
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Using the present continuous suggests that
this is something temporary.
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She’s working there for a short time, and
she’ll probably be working somewhere else
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soon.
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In sentence two, both forms are also possible.
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Using the present continuous expresses that
you find this habit annoying or strange.
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You can do this with adverbs like ‘always’
or ‘constantly’.
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The adverb is necessary!
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You can *only* use the present continuous
to talk about a habit if you use an adverb,
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like ‘always’.
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Using the present simple here is neutral.
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It doesn’t add any extra meaning.
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It just expresses that he has this habit.
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In sentence three, using the continuous expresses
that you’re just starting to understand
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this idea.
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In level three, you saw that verbs of thinking,
like ‘realise’, aren’t generally used
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in the present continuous.
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That’s true, but there’s an important
exception.
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Use the present continuous to express feelings
which you are just starting to be aware of.
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When a feeling is coming to you, and you’re
still processing your thoughts, you can use
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the present continuous to talk about it.
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Here, it means that you’ve just started
to understand that he’s been lying to you,
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or you’ve recently found out that he’s
dishonest.
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You’re still processing those thoughts.
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Using the present simple suggests that this
is not a new feeling.
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It suggests that you understood that you were
wrong to trust him some time ago.
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Sentence four is similar to sentence one.
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Both forms are possible; using the present
simple suggests that this is a more permanent
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situation, while using the present continuous
suggests something more temporary.
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For example, if they’ve only just started
playing tennis, and they’re both really
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lazy and you’re sure they’ll give up soon,
then you’d probably use the continuous here.
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But, if they’ve been playing tennis on Fridays
for years, and you know they’re both really
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enthusiastic about it and are likely to continue
for a long time, then you’d use the present
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simple.
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Sentence five is different.
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Why?
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Because there isn’t a difference in meaning.
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There’s another point: while it’s possible
to say ‘My English gets better year after
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year,’ using the continuous sounds better.
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You’re talking about a changing situation
– like you saw in level three – and it’s
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more common to use the continuous in this
case.
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Up to now, you’ve seen many different ways
to use the present simple and continuous.
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Are you ready for the hardest challenge?
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Here are your sentences.
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Your task is simple: put the verbs into either
the present simple or the present continuous.
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You know what to do!
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Pause the video and find your answers.
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Ready?
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Let’s see how you did.
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Did you get them all right?
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If so, great job!
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If not, don’t worry.
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These sentences test some more difficult and
specialised uses of the present simple and
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continuous.
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In sentence one, do you know why you use the
present simple?
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A question: what is this sentence?
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Who’s saying it?
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This sentence sounds like live commentary
on a football match.
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When commenting on live events, it’s common
to use the present simple, even for things
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which are happening right now, when you would
usually expect to hear the continuous.
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In sentence two, did you think it might be
correct to use the continuous?
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The first part of the sentence – ‘he never
listens’ – sounds like an annoying habit.
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You saw in level four that you can use the
continuous to talk about strange or annoying
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habits.
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But, you can’t use it here.
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Why not?
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It’s because you can only use the present
continuous in this way with specific adverbs
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– ‘always’ is the most common – and
you can’t do this with ‘never’.
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In sentence three, you can use present tenses
to tell a story, especially in informal conversation.
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In most cases, you’d use past tenses to
tell a story, but you can also move the past
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tenses into the present: past continuous becomes
present continuous, past simple becomes present
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simple, and so on.
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This can make your story sound more vivid,
as if it’s taking place now.
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For sentence four, where do you think this
sentence comes from?
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Notice the capital letters, and the fact that
it doesn’t have a full stop at the end.
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It’s a newspaper headline.
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Headlines are written in a specific style,
and often use the present simple to talk about
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events in the recent past.
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What about sentence five?
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Can you explain what’s going on here?
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The key here is that ‘see’ has different
meanings.
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The first ‘see’ means ‘understand’.
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This is a state verb, so it can’t be continuous.
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The second ‘see’ means ‘meet’ or ‘have
a relationship with’.
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It’s an action verb, so it can be continuous.
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There are other verbs like this, where there
are multiple meanings, some of which are actions,
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and some of which are states.
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Other common verbs like this are ‘have’,
‘think’, ‘expect’ or ‘look’.
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How did you do on this lesson?
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Which points did you find most difficult or
confusing?
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Let us know how you did in the comments, and
what was most difficult for you!
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Thanks for watching!
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See you next time!17906
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