You Only Need 5 Tenses to Speak English Confidently (Not 12!)

Añadido: 2026-06-03

[00:00:00][music] >> Hey English learners, welcome back to Speak English with Jay and May. Your cozy little place to build your English confidence. I'm May.

[00:00:19]>> Hello May and hello everyone. I'm Jay.

[00:00:22]How are you today, May?

[00:00:24]>> I'm doing great, Jay. Actually, I'm a little excited today because our topic is something I wish someone had told me years ago.

[00:00:32]>> Oh, yeah? What is it?

[00:00:34]>> Okay, so English has like what? 12 tenses? Maybe more.

[00:00:39]>> 12? I think I counted like 16 once in a grammar book. I almost cried.

[00:00:46]>> [laughter] >> Right? And you know what's funny? Native speakers, people who grew up speaking English their whole lives, most of them only use five tenses in daily conversation.

[00:00:59]>> Wait, only five?

[00:01:00]>> Only five. And today, we're going to tell you exactly which five they are and how to use them naturally.

[00:01:08]>> Okay, I need this. I seriously need this because every time I open a grammar book, I see things like future perfect continuous and I just close the book.

[00:01:19]>> [laughter] >> Future perfect continuous. You know, I had a student once who studied that tense for two weeks. Two whole weeks.

[00:01:29]And then, she went to a coffee shop in New York and the barista said, "What do you want?" And she completely froze.

[00:01:36]>> No way.

[00:01:37]>> Yes, because she was so busy studying complicated tenses, she forgot the simple ones. She didn't know how to say, "I want a coffee, please."

[00:01:48]>> That is painful. That is so relatable.

[00:01:51]>> So, today, no pain. Only the five tenses that will actually get you through real conversations, job interviews, travel, friendships, everything.

[00:02:02]>> I love it. Let's go. What's the first one?

[00:02:05]>> Okay. Number one, and this is the most important one, simple present. Things you do regularly, facts, habits, routines.

[00:02:14]>> Like, I drink coffee every morning.

[00:02:17]>> Exactly. Or, she works at a hospital.

[00:02:20]Or, water boils at 100°. Simple, clean, powerful.

[00:02:26]>> You mean like this is the tense I use when I talk about my life?

[00:02:31]>> Yes. Think about it. When someone asks, "What do you do?" or "Where do you live?" you answer in simple present.

[00:02:38]It's the tense of your identity.

[00:02:40]>> Oh, wow. I never thought of it that way.

[00:02:43]The tense of your identity. That's cool.

[00:02:46]>> And here's a little mistake I hear all the time. People say, "I am study English." But the correct form is I study English. No am needed there.

[00:02:57]>> Oh, yeah. I think I've made that mistake before.

[00:03:01]More than once.

[00:03:02]>> It's super common. Don't worry. The rule is simple. For habits and facts, just use the base verb. I eat, she eats, they eat.

[00:03:13]>> Got it. So, simple present is tense number one. What's number two?

[00:03:18]>> Number two, present continuous. This is what's happening right now or around this time in your life.

[00:03:26]>> Okay. Like, I am learning English right now.

[00:03:30]>> Perfect example. Or, she is sleeping.

[00:03:34]Or, they are building a new school in my neighborhood. It's action that is in progress.

[00:03:40]>> Wait. So, what's the difference? Like, when do I use simple present and when do I use present continuous?

[00:03:48]>> Great question. Okay. Imagine your friend calls you and says, "What do you do?" versus "What are you doing?"

[00:03:56]>> Oh, "What do you do?" means my job. And "What are you doing right now?" this second.

[00:04:04]>> Exactly. I teach English. That's my job, simple present. I am teaching a class right now. That's happening at this moment, present continuous.

[00:04:16]>> That is such a clear way to explain it.

[00:04:18]I feel like I finally get that.

[00:04:20]>> And here's the interesting part. Present continuous also works for future plans, like I am meeting my friend tomorrow.

[00:04:28]>> Wait, that's future, but you use am meeting?

[00:04:33]>> Yes. When the plan is already arranged, already decided, native speakers use present continuous. I'm flying to Tokyo next week. We're having dinner tonight.

[00:04:45]>> Wow. So, one tense does two jobs.

[00:04:49]>> Two jobs, very efficient.

[00:04:51]>> [laughter] >> Okay. Okay. So, we have simple present and present continuous. What's tense number three?

[00:04:59]>> Number three, simple past. And this one, Jay, this one is the storyteller's best friend.

[00:05:06]>> The storyteller's best friend. I like that.

[00:05:10]>> Anytime you're telling something that already happened, yesterday, last week, when you were a child, simple past is your tense.

[00:05:18]>> Like, I went to the market yesterday.

[00:05:21]>> Yes. She called me last night. We had a great time at the party. Done, finished in the past.

[00:05:30]>> But, this is where irregular verbs make me crazy. Like, go becomes went, come becomes came. Why can't it just be goed?

[00:05:41]>> [laughter] >> Oh, I feel you. You know, I used to tell my students irregular verbs are like old family members. They have their own rules and you just have to learn their names.

[00:05:53]>> [laughter] >> That's actually a really funny way to think about it.

[00:05:56]>> But honestly, the most common irregular verbs, go, come, eat, see, buy, make, and take, if you learn just those, you can tell like 90% of your stories.

[00:06:09]>> That's so reassuring. So, I don't need to memorize all irregular verbs.

[00:06:15]>> Not all at once. Start with the most common ones and add more slowly.

[00:06:20]Language learning is a journey, not a race.

[00:06:23]>> Okay, I love that. Tense number three, simple past. What's four?

[00:06:29]>> Okay, number four, and this one changes everything for sounding more natural, present perfect.

[00:06:37]>> Ooh, okay. I know this one is tricky.

[00:06:40]Have plus something.

[00:06:43]>> Yes. Have or has plus the past participle. Like, I have visited Paris.

[00:06:51]She has eaten sushi before. We have watched that movie.

[00:06:57]>> You mean like it happened before, but I don't say exactly when?

[00:07:02]>> That's the key. When the exact time doesn't matter or when the experience is connected to now, you use present perfect. It's like a bridge between the past and the present.

[00:07:16]>> A bridge? Okay, that's a great way to see it.

[00:07:19]>> So, think about this. If someone asks, "Have you ever tried Korean food?" They don't care if it was last Tuesday or 5 years ago. They just want to know your experience.

[00:07:32]>> Ah, so I say, "Yes, I have tried it."

[00:07:36]Not, "Yes, I tried it last year."

[00:07:39]>> Exactly. Unless you want to say when, then you switch to simple past. I tried it last year when I visited Seoul.

[00:07:49]>> Wait, here's the interesting part. So, I use present perfect to talk about the experience, and then simple past when I add the time detail?

[00:07:59]>> You just explained it perfectly. I'm so proud right now.

[00:08:04]>> [laughter] >> I'm proud of myself, too.

[00:08:07]>> And present perfect is also great for recent news. The president has announced a new policy. Scientists have discovered something amazing. It happened recently, and it's still relevant.

[00:08:21]>> Oh, that's why news articles always sound like that. The company has released a new product. I always wondered why they write it that way.

[00:08:31]>> Now you know. Present perfect makes it feel fresh and connected to today.

[00:08:36]>> This is so good. Okay, number five. Last one.

[00:08:41]>> Number five, simple future with will.

[00:08:44]This is your go-to for predictions, decisions made in the moment, and promises.

[00:08:51]>> Like, I will call you later?

[00:08:53]>> Exactly. Or it will rain tomorrow. Don't worry, I will help you. Clean, simple, direct.

[00:09:02]>> So, this is different from present continuous future, right? Like, I'm meeting my friend tomorrow. That was already planned. But, I will is more spontaneous?

[00:09:14]>> Oh, wow. Yeah, you're getting it. I'm meeting my friend tomorrow, that was planned in advance. I will meet you there, decided right now in this moment.

[00:09:26]>> Can you give me a quick example of both so I can really feel the difference?

[00:09:30]>> Sure. Imagine your phone rings and your friend says, "Can you help me move boxes this weekend?" You think for 1 second and say, "Sure, I will help you." That's a spontaneous decision, so you use will.

[00:09:47]>> And if I already knew about it before the call?

[00:09:50]>> Then, you'd say, "Yes, I'm helping you this weekend." Because it was already arranged.

[00:09:57]>> This is where things change for me. I used will for everything before. I didn't know there were two ways to talk about the future.

[00:10:05]>> Most learners do that. And honestly, using will for everything is not a disaster. People will still understand you. But once you know both, you sound so much more natural.

[00:10:18]>> Okay, so let's do a quick review. Can you run through all five super fast?

[00:10:23]>> Absolutely. Number one, simple present.

[00:10:27]I drink coffee every day. Number two, present continuous. I am drinking coffee right now. Number three, simple past. I drank coffee this morning. Number four, present perfect. I have never drunk black coffee before. Number five, simple future. I will drink coffee after this podcast.

[00:10:52]>> I love that you used coffee for all five.

[00:10:56]>> I was thirsty. What can I say?

[00:10:58]>> Okay, listeners, I want you to imagine something. Imagine you're at a party and someone asks, "Oh, so you speak English?" What do you say?

[00:11:07]>> And now, with these five tenses, you can say, "Yes, I study English every day.

[00:11:14]Right now, I am working on my grammar. I started 2 years ago. I have made a lot of progress, and one day, I will speak English like a native."

[00:11:25]>> Amazing. Five tenses, one powerful answer.

[00:11:30]>> That's the goal. Not to impress people with complicated grammar, just to communicate clearly and confidently.

[00:11:37]>> You know what I think is the biggest takeaway here? It's that you don't need all the tenses to speak well. You just need to master the right ones.

[00:11:46]>> Exactly. And these five cover probably 95% of real conversations. Work, travel, friendships, stories, plans, all of it.

[00:11:57]>> To be honest, I feel a little embarrassed that I spent so much time worrying about tenses I never even use.

[00:12:04]>> Don't be embarrassed. That's the trap of traditional grammar books. They want to be complete, but speaking, speaking wants to be useful.

[00:12:13]>> Complete versus useful. I'm writing that down.

[00:12:17]>> Good. Okay, let's do our vocabulary moment.

[00:12:21]>> Yes, I love this part.

[00:12:23]>> All right, five phrases we used today that are super useful in real life.

[00:12:28]Ready?

[00:12:29]>> Ready.

[00:12:30]>> Phrase number one, go-to. I said simple future with will is your go-to. Go-to means your first choice, the thing you always use or rely on.

[00:12:42]>> Like pizza is my go-to food when I'm tired. Easy, comfortable choice.

[00:12:48]>> Perfect. Phrase two, in progress. I said present continuous means action in progress. It means something is happening and not finished yet.

[00:12:59]>> Like the construction is in progress.

[00:13:01]The building isn't done yet.

[00:13:03]>> Great example. Phrase three, a bridge between. I said present perfect is a bridge between the past and the present.

[00:13:11]A bridge connects two things.

[00:13:14]>> You mean like it links two ideas together. Like that experience was a bridge between my old life and my new one.

[00:13:21]>> Beautiful sentence. I love that. Phrase four, spontaneous.

[00:13:27]A spontaneous decision is one you make quickly without planning.

[00:13:32]>> Like, we made a spontaneous trip to the beach. No planning, just grabbed our bags and went.

[00:13:38]>> That sounds like a great day. And phrase five, go through. Actually, I used go through earlier. What tense do I go through? To go through something means to experience it or to move through a process.

[00:13:53]>> Like, I went through a lot of mistakes before my English improved. That's so real.

[00:13:58]>> Very real and very normal. Every learner goes through that.

[00:14:03]>> Okay, I feel like this episode was a game changer, like genuinely.

[00:14:08]>> I hope so. And you know what I want to say to everyone listening right now?

[00:14:12]Don't be afraid of making mistakes with tenses. The goal isn't perfect grammar.

[00:14:18]The goal is connection.

[00:14:20]>> Connection. That's beautiful because language is really about connecting with people, right?

[00:14:26]>> Exactly. When you speak, people are listening to you, your story, your ideas, your personality, not your tenses.

[00:14:35]>> Okay, I have one final question for our listeners before [music] we close. And this is a fun one.

[00:14:41]>> Ooh, let's hear it.

[00:14:43]>> Using any of the five tenses we talked about today, [music] can you write one sentence about yourself? Like, I study English because or I have always wanted to or I will never stop.

[00:14:57]>> Oh, I love this. Drop your sentence in the comments. We want to read every single [music] one.

[00:15:03]>> And honestly, even if it has a mistake, share it. That's how you learn. We are all here to grow together.

[00:15:11]>> And hey, if this episode helped you today, do us a little favor. Hit that subscribe button. We make a new episode every single day and we don't want you to miss any of them.

[00:15:21]>> Every day. That's right. We're here for you every single day on your English journey.

[00:15:27]>> Because [music] building confidence takes practice, and we want to be part of that practice.

[00:15:32]>> All right, everyone. Thank you so much for spending this time with us today.

[00:15:36]You're amazing for showing up.

[00:15:38]>> You really are. Keep going, keep speaking, [music] and remember, every sentence you say in English is a win.

[00:15:46]>> See you tomorrow.

[00:15:47]>> See you tomorrow, English learners. Take care.

[00:15:51]>> [music] [music]