Welcome back. In this first subsection of grammar, we're going to be talking about tenses. So the first question that you may have, when looking at a writing task one question is, which tense should I use? So let's talk about that. Basically, if the year in the graph is before the present here, so right now I'm recording this video in the year 2018. So if I see any date on my infographic, that is before the year 2018, for example, something like the year 1990, then I'm going to use the past tense.

On the other hand, if the year in the infographic is after the present year, for example, something like 2050 then you have to use the future tense when writing your essay. And finally, if there's nowhere that is mentioned, then you have to Use the present simple tense. In general, when you write a sentence, it should be in the same tense. Okay? This means that you should not change the tense of the sentence midway through the sentence. However, there are some exceptions to this.

There are certain rules for when to change the tense of a sentence midway. Usually, you only change the tense of a sentence if the timing of an action requires it. Okay? If the timing of a certain action that is happening in a sentence requires that you change the tense then you should change the tense. Otherwise, you should write the entire sentence in the same tense. So let's explore this concept in a bit more detail.

First, we'll talk about when not to change the tense. In general, you should not change the tense of a sentence if there is no time change. For the action. So let's look at an example of that. So here we have an incorrect sentence. The sentence reads, during the lecture, Jane stood up and drops her phone.

What I want you to notice here is that the word stood is in past tense, whereas the word drops is in present tense. Why is this incorrect? Because in the sentence, we don't have any time change for the action. You see, the action of Jane standing up and dropping her phone happened at the same time. So because these actions happened at the same time, we have to use the same tense. So the correct version of this sentence would read during the lecture, Jane stood up and dropped her phone.

Okay. Both actions are happening at the same time, therefore We use the same tense. In this case, both words are in past tense. On the other hand, you could also write during the lecture, Jane stands up and drops her phone. This is also correct, because both words are happening in the same tense. In this case, they're both in present tense.

Now let's talk about when to actually change the tense. Firstly, you should only change the tense when there is a need to do so. So when is there a need to change the tense? Usually, it's the timing of the actions within a sentence that decide whether we need to change the tense or not. So let's look at an example of that. Here we have a correct version of a sentence.

The sentences when Jane comes here, we will go to the movies. Notice that we have two different tenses in this sentence. Here we have a presentation tense. And here we have a future simple tense. Why is this correct? Because the timing of the actions is different.

You see, we have two different actions here. So here's our first action. Jane comes here. This action hasn't yet happened, it will happen in the future. When Jane comes here, we will go to the movies. This is the second action, I want you to notice that the second action will happen after the first action.

So since we have two different actions happening at different timings, we need to change the tense midway through the sentence. Let's look at another example. Here we have a sentence Sam reached for the apple after he had already eaten two oranges. So I want you to notice that we have two different verbs here in two different tenses. The first one is reached which is in past simple tense, and our say contents here is the past perfect tense. I also want you to pay attention to the word after.

Because this Word tells us that there are two actions that are happening. One action happened after another action. So here we have our first action, which is what happened in the past. The first action is that Sam had already eaten two oranges. This is our first action. And here's our second action.

Sam reached for the apple. This is our second action, which also happened in the past. And it happened after the first action. Okay, so do you see how the timing of the actions is different in both of these examples? So whenever you have a situation like this, where you have to discuss two different events or actions that are happening at different timings, then you're required to change the tense Have a sentence. Now let's take a look at some infographics that you're going to see on the writing task one question.

And let's determine which tense we should use in each of these examples. So the first example that we have here is a comparative graph. I want you to notice that we don't have any dates here. All we have are two pie charts with some data. In this case, since we don't have any dates that are mentioned, we have to write our essay in present tense. Here's another example.

In this case, we have a bar graph. And you will notice that we have a range of dates starting from the year 1995, all the way up to 2002. Now I'm recording this video in the year 2018. So 2002 is a year which has already passed. In fact, all the years that are mentioned in this graph have already passed. Therefore, you have to use the past tense when writing this essay.

Here we have another example. In this case, we have a range of dates starting from the year 2020, all the way up to 2035. Since all of these dates are in the future, in this case, when you're writing your essay, you have to use the future tense. Now, here's our final example. In this line graph, we have a wide range of dates. Now, once again, I'm recording this in the year 2018.

So all the dates that are before the year 2018 are in the past. The year 2018 is of course, the present, and all the dates after the year 2018 are the future. So when you're writing an essay on this graph, if you're discussing data that comes before the year 2018, you have to talk about it in past tense. When you're talking about data from the 2018 you have to talk about it in present tense. And if you're talking about any data after the year 2018, then you have to talk about it in the future tense. So this is an example of a question where we have mixed tenses and which tends to use really depends on which data type you're talking about.

Now I'm going to refresh your memory on the different tenses. As you may already know by now, we have three main tenses, the present tense, the past tense and the future tense. We'll start off with the present tenses. So first, we have our present simple tense. We usually use present simple tense to show repetition, habit, or generalization. So here we have our timeline.

Here's the past. Here's the present right now. And here's the future. If you were to look at the simple present tense visually, what you would find is that the action happens again and again at every point throughout the timeline. This is because present simple tense is used to show actions that happen again and again due to repetition, habit or generalization. So an example of this is I eat rice every day.

So I ate rice last month, I ate rice last week, I ate rice yesterday, I ate rice today, or I will eat rice today. I will eat rice Tomorrow, I will eat rice next month, and so on. You get the idea. Here we have the structure of the present simple tense subject plus the base verb plus the object. Now let's move on to the next tense, which is our present continuous tense We use the present continuous tense to show an action that is happening right now. Okay, so here's our timeline.

And here's right now. And it's happening in the moment. It's happening in the moment. For example, I am eating rice right now. Or I'm recording this video for you right now. The structure of the present continuous tense is subject plus is or are plus the continuous form of the verb plus the object.

Next, we have the present perfect tense. We use the present perfect tense, when we want to show that an action has happened once or many times before now. So if we look at the timeline, we'll see that an action has happened in the past and that it is somehow related to the present. This auction that has helped happened in the past has happened in reference to right now. One more thing about the present perfect tense is that the timing of this action is not important. We don't really care when this action took place.

We know that it happened in the past, but we don't care about when exactly did it happen. For example, I have eaten all of the rice. In this sentence, you know that I've eaten all of the rise, and that this is an action which has already happened in the past, but you don't know when exactly I ate the rice. So that's how we use the present perfect tense. And here's the structure for writing this tense. We have the subject, plus have or has, plus the past participle of the verb, plus object.

The last present tense is the present perfect continuous tense. We use this tense to show that an action started in the past and has continued until now. So if we look at our timeline here, we can see that an action started in the past. Okay, this is where it started. Here's right now. And it has continued all the way from the past, up until this moment right now, and it's still happening.

So here we have an example. I have been eating rice for two hours. Okay, so I started eating rice two hours ago. I was eating rice one hour ago. I was eating rice 30 minutes ago, and I'm still eating rice right now. All right, now let's talk about the past tenses.

We're going to start with the past simple tense. So this tense is used to show that some action was completed at some specific time in the past. So here we have our timeline. And here's the past We can see that an action took place at some specific time in the past. So for example, I ate rice yesterday. So here's yesterday, and this is when I ate rice.

To construct this tense, you have to use this structure over here. Next, we have the past continuous tense. And we use this tense to show that an action was ongoing for some time in the past. So in our timeline, here's the past, and here's an action. And this action continued for some time in the past. I want you to notice that sometimes this action may be interrupted.

This means that it's possible that in some cases, there may be another action that happens right here and interrupt this first action. For example, I was eating rice when you arrive So here's the first action, I was eating rice. And I was eating rice for some time until another action happened. In this case, the other action is that you arrived. So just keep in mind that in some past Continuous tenses, we may have a second action, whereas in other past tenses, we may not. So depending on your sentence, the first action in the past continuous tense may or may not be interrupted.

Okay, so here's the structure to this tense. Now let's talk about the next tense, which is the past perfect tense. We use this tense to show that something happened before another action in the past. So here's the past, and we have two past actions. Both of these actions took place in the past. Note that one past action took place before another past action.

So here's our sample, I had eaten all of the rice when you arrived. So here's the first action. The first action is that I had eaten all of the rice. And then we have the second action you arrived. So in the past perfect tense, we describe two past events in reference to one another. And to construct this tense, you have to use the structure provided here.

Next, we have the past perfect continuous tense. Now we use this tense to show that some events started in the past. And this action continued for some time until another action happened in the past. So let's look at our timeline. Here. We have the first action.

The first action started in the past. It continued for some time until another action happened. So here's our example. I had been eating rice for two hours when you arrived So this is when I started eating rice. And I was eating rice for two hours. And then you arrived.

Here's the structure to this tense. Finally, we have the future tenses. Let's start with a future simple tense. We use this tense to show that an action will happen in the future. So here's our timeline. And we expect that some action will take place at some point in the future.

For example, I will eat rice tomorrow. So this is tomorrow. And this is when I will eat rice. Here's the structure to this tense. Next, we have the future continuous tense. And we use this tense to show that some action will continue for some time in the future.

So here's our timeline. And here's the future. Some action is going to start in the future and it's going to continue For some time, I want you to notice that this action may or may not be interrupted. So basically, in some cases, this first action is going to be interrupted by another action. For example, I will be eating rice when you arrive. So here's the first action, I will start eating rice in the future.

I will continue eating rice for some time until you arrive. Okay, so here's the second action that may interrupt the first action. In this case, the second action is that you arrive. So whether this first action will get interrupted or not, just depends on what sentence you have. Here we have the structure to this tense. Next we have the future perfect tense.

And we use this tense to show that some action in the future will happen before Another action in the future. So here's our timeline. And here's the future, we have two different actions that are happening in the future. And note that one future action happens before the other future action. So for example, I will have eaten the pizza by the time you arrive. So the first action is that I will have eaten the pizza in the future by the time you arrive, this is the second future action.

To construct this tense, you have to use this structure here. Now let's talk about our final tense, which is the future perfect continuous tense. We use this tense to show that some future action will continue for some time until another future action happens. So here in our timeline, we have an action which will start in the future This action is going to continue for some time until another action happens in the future. For example, I will have been eating pizza for two hours when you arrive. So here's the first action, I will start eating pizza in the future.

I will continue eating pizza for two hours until another action happens, which is when you arrive. This is the second future action. So we use this tense to show that some future action will be finished by a certain time in the future. In this case, this future action will be finished after two hours, which is when you arrive. Now this tense is very uncommon, okay, so you're probably not going to use it in your writing, but I just wanted to mention it anyways, just for the sake of completion and for your knowledge to continue This tense, you have to use this structure over here. So that concludes this video on tenses.

I'll see you in the next grammar section, in which we're going to talk about articles and agreement.