Hello everyone! I’m Faith, and this is The Vita English Podcast.
Welcome to The Vita English Podcast. You’re listening to Language Stories. Language Stories is a series where listeners learn specific English skills through simple personal stories. In each episode, I'll focus on a different part of language as I tell my story. This podcast is for people who have a basic understanding of English but want to improve their fluency. In the last 12 episodes of Language stories, we have learned all about the 12 major English verb tenses. Today, I’m going to finish up the series on the verb tenses by reading a journal entry where I use all 12 of the tenses that we have studied.
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This winter day is coming to an end. I’m sitting on my bed, drinking a cup of tea, and thinking over the day.
Today was a good day. The kids and I usually wake up around 8:00am, but today they slept in, so I had the morning to myself.
I quietly went downstairs, and while I was making coffee, my phone buzzed. It was my best friend. She wanted to see if I had time for a call. We have been trying to talk on the phone at least once a week. About a year ago, we decided that we wanted to keep in more regular contact with each other. We had noticed that over the years our get-togethers and phone chats had become less and less frequent. We had been trying to think of ways to keep in better contact, when we decided that a simple weekly phone call was the best and easiest way to go. So, we committed to having a phone call once a week, and we have done a good job of honoring that commitment! It’s crazy to think that this September coming, we will have known each other for 15 years, and this January coming we will have been doing these weekly calls for a year. I’m so glad we’re keeping in contact this way. A good friend is such a precious gift.
Anyway, shortly after I got off the phone, the kids woke up. We had breakfast,and then we got dressed, we put on our outdoor clothes, and we headed out for a walk. I rarely go outside during the winter, but today was mild, so I really wanted to get out and get some fresh air. I am trying to go for a walk whenever the temperature is above 0, and today it was plus 2. It was actually so nice to get outdoors– it didn’t even seem like winter. It is hard to believe that it’s December, and there is still no snow on the ground. It will be Christmas in less than a week, and it doesn’t look like we’ll be having a White Christmas this year. That’s okay though, as much as I love White Christmases, I also love this not-so-cold weather.
Well my tea is gone and my eyes are heavy. So that’s all for now. Goodnight!
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In the journal entry I just read, I used all 12 of the major verb tenses. Let’s look at all the different examples in the order that I used them in the story.
- Present Progressive: This winter day is coming to an end.
- Simple Past: Today was a good day.
- Simple Present: The kids and I usually wake up around 8:00am.
- Past Progressive: While I was making coffee, my phone buzzed.
- Present Perfect Progressive: We have been trying to talk on the phone at least once a week.
- Past Perfect: We had noticed that over the years our get-togethers and phone chats had become less and less frequent
- Past Perfect Progressive: We had been trying to think of ways to keep in better contact, when we decided that a simple weekly phone chat was the best and easiest way to go
- Present Perfect: We have done a good job of honoring that commitment!
- Future Perfect: It’s crazy to think that this September coming,we will have known each other for 15 years.
- Future Perfect Progressive: This January Coming We will have been doing these weekly chats for a year.
- Future Simple: It will be Christmas in less than a week.
- Future Progressive: It doesn’t look like we’ll be having a White Christmas this year.
There you have it– a journal entry that uses all of the 12 major verb tenses. If you’d like to follow along with the transcript, check out my youtube channel. You can find the transcript pinned in the comments section. And, if you want extra English practice - I have a challenge for you. Try to write our own journal entry and use as many of the tenses as you can. Leave your entry in the comments section, and I’ll read it and then give you some feedback! You can find the link to my youtube channel on my website: www.vitaenglish.ca
If you have any questions, comments, or ideas for future episodes, OR if you’d like information on taking 1:1 online English language classes visit my website www.vitaenglish.ca that’s www.vitaenglish.ca or email me at info@vitaenglish.ca
That’s all for now.
See you next time!
