Using JUST for Actions Recently Finished Basic English Grammar

hi everybody my name is Alisha in this

lesson I’m going to talk about how to
use the word just for actions that

finished very very recently I’m going to
talk about a couple of different

patterns where we see the word just used
to talk about recently finished actions

and I’m also going to talk about maybe
one question that you might have about

tenses with the word just so for this
lesson I’m going to use a timeline from

past to future with a point in the
present also just a reminder to review

we use the word just as an emphasis word
for this lesson an emphasis word for an

activity that’s close to the present
something that happened close to the

present time in the past in this case
but we can also use it for future

actions you can check a different video
to see the word just used for future

actions so let’s take a look at today’s
points then okay the first pattern that

I want to talk about is marked in green
here it’s the subject of the sentence

plus the word just plus a past tense
verb a simple past tense verb in this

case and extra information according to
the verb that you use so this is a very

simple past tense statement but we want
to emphasize that it was something that

took place something that happened just
before or very very recently so very in

the very recent past in other words
let’s take a look at a couple of

examples then first example I just sent
you an email so here my subject I

followed by just and then my simple past
tense sent which is the past tense of

the verb send you and email so this is
something that happened very very

recently I just sent you an email we can
drop the word just here I sent you an

email however using the word just shows
how recently the action happened so this

is an emphasis word we can see it pretty
clearly here I think

let’s look at another example we just
saw that movie so saw is the past tense

form of C so we just saw that movie very
very recently we saw that movie that’s

what we want to communicate with this
sentence another example he just got

back from from France or he just came
back from France is good too so I’ve

used got here to get back from a place
as kind of a casual verb choice we can’t

say he just came back from France as
well so each of these we see a simple

past tense verb is used these are
completed actions then and they happen

very recently so something very very
close to the present but it happened in

the past so to kind of give a visual we
can imagine that these actions happen

very recently in the past in the second
pattern that I want to look at however

I’m going to change the sentence a
little bit let’s take a look so again we

have the subject here though I have the
verb to be in this case we’re going to

use the past tense of the verb then we
have just followed by the progressive or

the continuous tense of the verb this is
the ing form of the verb and again any

extra information according to the verb
that you’re using so let’s take a look

at when we might use this kind of
pattern here

first one I was past the tense according
to my subject was I was just and then

studying is my verb here I was just
studying so this is an action that was

happening you’ll notice the progressive
tense in the very recent past something

I was doing I was in the process of
doing in the very recent past let’s take

a look at another example here he was
just washing the dishes

he was just washing the dishes shows
this is an action that was happening but

in the past very recently just shows us
that this action was in progress so this

is something he in this case this person
was doing in the past it was a

continuing action in the past very
recently let’s look at one more example

then
someone was just smoking in here

so if for example you enter a room and
it’s very smoky you were not smoking

maybe you want to make a guess someone
was just so very recently smoking in

here in the process of smoking in this
case so each of these shows that

something was happening in the past very
recently and perhaps it was interrupted

or it ended at the present point in time
so for example this sentence I was just

studying maybe for example yours you’re
in the process of studying but your

phone rings you pick up the phone and
you answer it with oh hello I was just

studying so something I was very
recently continuing to do in this case -

he was just washing the dishes shows us
for example that someone was recently

very recently washing the dishes that
was the ongoing action but perhaps that

action was interrupted he was just
washing the dishes but now he’s outside

taking out the garbage for example so
these patterns we can use to show an

action that was continuing in the past
and recently finished or perhaps that

was just interrupted so maybe that
action is going to continue in the

future like for example I was just
studying I picked up the phone to talk

to my friend I’m going to continue
studying in the future but we can use

was here or were but a past tense form
of the verb be plus the continuous tense

to show an action continuing that was
continuing in the very recent past so

this can be quite useful for interrupted
activities as I said okay but there are

a couple of things I want to mention
here because while these are useful and

perhaps you can check the other video
about how to use just for future actions

there’s one kind of simple similar
pattern I suppose that might cause some

confusion or that might not be so clear
so I have a couple of example sentences

here in this lesson I’ve talked about
using the past tense form of the verb to

be
but I’m using the the progressive form

here or in the first pattern I
introduced I’m not using the be verb in

this case but I’m using a simple past
tense verb if however you see a sentence

like one of these like for example I was
just about to send you an email or he

was just about to make dinner it might
cause some confusion because here we

have past tense I was or he was in this
case but this point just about to

suggest a future action so it seems like
it doesn’t match really there’s a past

tense point and maybe a future tense
point together here this is a pattern

that’s used for actions we were planning
to do we had a plan something we wanted

to do in the near future however the
action was interrupted so for example

this is a sentence you can use at work
or maybe at school maybe you have a plan

to email your professor or to email a
colleague however before you have time

or before you have a chance to email
your colleague your colleague comes to

you or your colleague calls you for
example so you can say I was just about

to so something you plan to do in the
very recent future however you did not

do so the plan was interrupted or you
did not have a chance or there’s some

reason that you did not take the action
you’re describing here so in this

example he was just about to make dinner
but perhaps an action interrupted it so

he was just about to make dinner when
his friend invited him out for pizza for

example so perhaps these are used for
interruptions we plan to do something

but that plan is interrupted for some
reason so we mix this past tense be verb

• this about - which I talked about more
  in the future tense example or the

future tense sample patterns in the
other video about this topic so please

check that out if you have some
questions about how to use just for

future actions so I hope that this video
was useful for you if you have any

question
or comments or if you would like to try

to make a sentence please feel free in
the comments section of the video if you

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resources too thanks very much for
watching this lesson and I will see you

again soon