Show notes
How can teachers explain English tenses clearly without turning the lesson into a confusing grammar lecture?
Gav and Em use an unexpected ant invasion to explore practical and entertaining ways of presenting English grammar. Their examples show how memorable stories and situations can help learners understand when and why different tenses are used.
Beginning with ants carrying lettuce across Gav’s kitchen, they examine the present simple for facts, routines and schedules before comparing it with temporary actions in the present continuous. They then move through the past simple, past continuous, past perfect and past perfect continuous, showing how these forms help us sequence events and tell more interesting stories.
Why do we say “The ants have eaten the lettuce” but “The ants have been eating the lettuce”? Gav and Em unpack the difference between the present perfect and present perfect continuous, including completed and unfinished actions, present results, duration, for and since, and the words just, already and yet.
Drawing on their classroom experience, they also discuss state verbs, regular and irregular past forms, storytelling techniques and the challenge of explaining subtle differences in meaning without overwhelming learners.
The episode finishes with Rob from English with Rob introducing Tenses of Love, an original song in which each verse demonstrates a different English tense. It offers teachers and learners a creative way to notice and revise grammar through music.
Listen and read along with the transcription:
https://share.descript.com/view/oaLaaWaMiAD
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Chapters
00:00 Welcome to How to English
00:22 Why learners feel tense about tenses
01:19 Organic grammar teaching and correction
02:57 Gav’s ant infestation begins
04:35 Present simple facts, opinions and routines
06:31 Present simple for schedules
07:23 Present continuous and state verbs
08:57 Temporary and permanent situations
11:08 Present continuous for future arrangements
11:56 Past simple and finished actions
12:42 Regular and irregular past verbs
13:28 Past continuous and interrupted actions
15:31 Past perfect for earlier past events
17:07 Using past perfect in storytelling
18:25 Past perfect continuous
19:49 Introducing the present perfect
20:18 Past actions with present results
21:48 Using for and since
23:22 Just, already and yet
24:31 Present perfect continuous
25:34 Temporary and permanent situations
26:57 Present perfect simple or continuous?
27:42 Numbers and completed actions
28:08 Have eaten or have been eating?
29:44 A future episode about future tenses
30:25 Rob introduces Tenses of Love
32:01 Tenses of Love
Hashtags
EnglishTenses,TeachingEnglishGrammar,EnglishGrammar,TEFL,ESL,ELT,EnglishTeachers,LearnEnglish,GrammarTeaching,PresentSimple,PresentContinuous,PastSimple,PastContinuous,PresentPerfect,PresentPerfectContinuous,PastPerfect,PastPerfectContinuous,EnglishWithRob,GrammarActivities,TEFLPodcast
Questions answered
00:31 Why do learners feel tense about English tenses?
04:35 When do we use the present simple?
07:23 Can state verbs be used in continuous forms?
08:57 What is the difference between temporary and permanent situations?
13:28 How do the past simple and past continuous work together?
15:31 When should we use the past perfect?
19:49 How does the present perfect connect the past and present?
21:48 What is the difference between for and since?
23:22 How do we use just, already and yet?
25:34 What is the difference between the present perfect and present perfect continuous?
28:08 What is the difference between “have eaten” and “have been eating”?
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