How to Tell a Story in English Explaining the Very Recent Past
we’re on great ty everybody welcome back
to our weekly live stream my name is
Alisha and today we are going to talk
about the very recent past the very
recent past so today’s lesson is going
to be very grammar focused I’m going to
review the simple past tense first to
begin then we’re going to talk about
using just a lot I’m going to explain
using just just about to and just with
progressive tense verbs so I’m also
going to explain this sort of diagram
I created this timeline so I hope that
you can find kind of some more specific
ways to explain your recent actions your
recent behaviors I’m also going to talk
quickly about making questions
especially simple past tense questions
and questions with just so we’ve just
started so we’re going to give a couple
minutes to our learners to join the live
stream we’ll begin the lesson in about
two minutes
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it hi everybody I see you on YouTube
Mohammed and Rhea and another Muhammad
and Henry K Rafael Danielson Daria
Nicolas Raimundo someone whose name in
Thai I can’t read sorry or non Wan hi
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yah and Saul and snappy I’m sorry I
don’t know hi everybody welcome welcome
we’re going to start soon quickly one I
guess one announcement point for today I
was so excited to see to see this video
on the channel so I wanted to mention it
this this was I tweeted about this but
we had a channel sort of challenge a
viewer participation challenge for the
first time ever where you guys everybody
out there you could send us a video or
an audio recording of yourself using
English and introducing yourself and
some of you guys thank you so much you
sent in videos and I saw that this week
and I was so moved that was really
really cool to see you and to hear from
you so if you sent that in thank you so
so much there’s going to be another
chance to do that soon so please you can
find this video on the channel now so
check that out if you’re interested and
you want to send us a video so thank you
so so much to the people who
participated in that that was awesome
that was really really cool okay so with
that said there’s other stuff to check
out on the channel too but we’re about
three minutes into the lesson so I think
I want to begin yes okay so as I said
before today we’re talking about the
very recent past no the very recent past
means I’m going to review a simple past
tense I’m going to talk about the word
just a lot today too so we’re going to
focus a lot on grammar paste and share
okay so let’s get started I’m going to
start today with simple past tense
points just to review so simple past
I’ve kind of put this on a diagram here
a reminder about the simple past tense
is that we use the simple past tense for
fart I’m crazy here in there oh so we
use simple past tense for an action that
started and finished in the past so on
this timeline on this timeline I have
past so past is down here I’ll move to
this side sorry past is down here then
there’s simple past this is kind of my
simple past point here is present so
present means now where we are at this
point in time this direction is the
future so a simple past statement is
something that started and finished in
the past so you can imagine maybe this
is the start point of my action the blue
dot is like the finish point of the
action this is what we use simple past
tense
communicate so it’s a complete the
action is finished it’s done so when we
make simple past tense statements we
have two patterns that we follow that’s
two patterns that we follow it depends
on the type of verb that you use though
so if you’re using a regular verb you’ll
use the verb plus an IDI ending
basically so for example I walked she
left
he worked these are all examples of
regular verbs in the simple past tense
so again we use just a plain verb form
and we add edy to the end to make a
simple past tense statement so for
example I wrote on the board is an
example of an irregular verb that’s the
second part here so an irregular
irregular means not regular this prefix
ear ear means not so that’s a little boy
ear regular not regular verbs so that
means that there’s no rule for these
verbs to make the simple past tense so
you have to memorize the past tense
forms of these verbs for example we ate
or they slept or I just said I wrote so
that’s a recent action that happens so
this is how we make simple past tense
so if you want to talk about your
actions very simply you can use simple
past tense to do that when you make
questions with simple past tense you’ll
change the structure of your sentence
you’ll change the way you make the
sentence a little bit I have two kind of
basic question patterns here the first
one is a I have a wh question by wh I
mean who what where when why how so
these information questions yeah so this
kind of question this is a very basic
question like what did you do for
example or like where did you go
so we’re asking for information from the
listener who did you meet you’ll notice
when you make a question though you
don’t need to change the verb if you’re
making a past tense question so here it
says present verb this means present
tense form of your verb don’t use the
simple past form of the verb yes it’s a
past tense question but the verb does
not change so what did you do
where did you eat and you can change
this part so I’m using you a lot that’s
a very common pattern where did you go
who did you see but you can change this
like what did he say
or where did she go for example so this
is a very simple question pattern that
you can use for simple past tense okay
another one that you can use is this did
this one starts with did for example did
he eat dinner already for example so
these kinds of questions are yes/no
questions the answer to this is like a
yes simple yes or a No so like I said
did he eat dinner or like did she see
that report for example so again when
you’re making the question we use the
present tense form of the verb we don’t
use the past tense form of the verb okay
so this is the quick review to the basic
simple past tense that I want to talk
about so again an important thing to
remember is that this is something that
just happened in the past like it’s it’s
like the most basic way to explain that
something is finished it happened so
this is often accompanied meaning we use
it together with something like
yesterday or last week or this morning
so there’s like a specific time that we
know about okay so with that I want to
in the next part of the lesson talk a
bit about some more specific words and
some more specific grammar points that
you can use to explain more specific
actions but for now let’s take a quick
break because that was a lot of talking
about grammar so a quick break I chose a
few things I want to share with you guys
during the break we have free stuff as
always but I was thinking about what
might be useful for you in talking about
your past actions so I know many of you
like to travel I know many of you like
eating as well not so many of you like
shopping but I chose a couple of things
I thought would be helpful to go along
with today’s lesson that I will show
over here hello so I chose these PDFs
that I thought might be nice to practice
these grammar points with um this is the
this is the hotel cheat sheet so I know
many of you travel or you study in other
countries so this is vocabulary and
questions you can use at your hotel but
you can change some of these to past
tense
like if you are talking it’s a little
blurry sorry if you’re talking to
someone in your organization you can
change these questions - past tense
questions so for example on this sheet
I’m sorry on this sheet it says like I’d
like to check in so we can use that same
expression check in and make it past
tense like I just checked in at my hotel
when you’re sharing with someone else so
I think these are some nice examples of
vocabulary and expressions that you can
use with today’s grammar point to
explain something you’ve completed very
recently so I’ll show you a couple more
later but I thought these might be good
to use with today’s information so check
these out these are free there’s others
too you can find these from the link
below the video on YouTube and above the
video on Facebook please check the
description for the video not at the
chat box
okay I’ll show you a couple of other
things later but for now let’s continue
to the next the next part of today’s
lesson if you’re just joining today’s
lesson
is about the very recent past this is
kind of a key the very recent past
so I started by explaining simple past
tense if you missed that no problem you
can watch this video later I want to go
on to talking about just and just about
to now so these two points right here
I’ve also placed these on this timeline
so I want to start with this part this
just plus your simple past tense verb so
we use just in a simple past tense verb
to talk about a very recent action
that’s that’s like it’s finished so for
example I just explained simple past
tense if you are watching you saw that I
just explained simple past tense this is
a very recent action it’s finished it’s
done I just explained here’s my past
tense verb that explained becomes
explained in simple past tense I just
explained simple past tense very recent
in your case you just saw a free PDF for
example so I showed you the PDF that was
a very recent action I can say you just
saw a free PDF here I’m using just plus
my simple past tense verb so what’s the
difference why is this important if I
remove just here it doesn’t have the
same feeling of something that’s very
recent yes these sentences are okay like
for example I explained simple past
tense or you saw a free PDF there’s no
communication problem there that’s a
great sentence but we don’t have the
feeling of something that happened
really recently there so to give that
like in a visual representation to see
that visually we can imagine if this
star is the present so this start is our
point now when we use simple past tense
it’s just something that happened before
like yesterday this morning this week
when we use just as I just did with a
simple past tense verb we understand it
happened very recently
so if it’s star is now this is something
that occurred it happened so I used a
check mark here
this means it’s finished it’s done very
recently so you can use just to give
that feeling so it communicates a lot
actually in a very very short period of
time so I just explained this to you
okay nice you guys are sending some good
sentences I just watched your live video
ah though that’s a good point a mere
soit is motive on YouTube sorry when you
when you use this when you use this
grammar point an important thing is that
the action is finished the action is
finished so right now if you’re watching
live we can’t use I just watched your
live video because it’s continuing now
right now you are watching progressive
tense so we can’t use it for something
that has not finished because this video
is continuing right now yeah so we have
to use it for an action that’s done it’s
finished it’s complete so I just saw a
PDF is great or I just liked the video
for example so these are things that are
finished you need to choose an action
that is done it’s complete so any other
ones I just ate a banana
thanks for sharing Raphael that’s good I
just got home great example on Facebook
I just finished my breakfast don’t
forget simple past tense past tense verb
there I just finished my breakfast uh I
just got up from my bed nice okay you
just expressed your satisfaction I did
indeed okay I just finished my homework
nice Marcelo great I just examined my
patient Oh interesting good okay I just
noticed excellent you guys got it you
guys have got it great good good good I
just started watching this live lesson
nice one who is that miss doll yeah I
just started watching this live lesson
perfect you guys have got it nice nice I
just joined your class so remember you
guys have the right idea don’t forget to
make your verb simple past tense I
talked about it here if it’s a regular
verb at
d if it’s an irregular verb you need to
remember the simple past tense form nice
one
okay so you guys have that really nicely
let’s move on to the second point for
this part then the second point very
similar sounding but there’s a key
difference here so I have here was or
were plus just about two plus a present
tense verb so here I use simple past for
this point we’re going to talk about
present the present tense verb here so
just about to do something means this
was a planned action this was a planned
action we intended to do that thing but
it did not happen this is something that
did not happen this one it did happen
this one did not happen so for example
she was just about to call you
she was just about to call to to call
you but it did not happen
so to imagine this visually I showed you
this this check mark here for just plus
a simple past tense verb this is for
something that did happen with this
grammar point just about to with your
present tense verb this is something
that did not happen in the very recent
past you had a plan to do it but you did
not maybe there was a problem you were
interrupted but you want to communicate
that you had a plan this is very useful
for like phone calls and emails and
things like that like I was just about
to email you I was just about to call
you
he was just about to leave we were just
about to eat dinner for example just
about to but it did not happen this is a
key difference here so any thoughts this
one’s a little bit more difficult
something you had a plan to do but did
not do so like I was just about to
what to drink some water or something
like that my coworker interrupted me
nice one I was just about to call a
friend of mine for dinner great that
sounds good I was just about to fall
down that’s a little bit weird because
if you fall down it’s probably an
accident yeah so I was just about to do
a planned action I was just about to do
something Marco on Facebook she was just
about to call you
good yeah that’s perfect that’s perfect
he was just about he was about to go to
the market but was interrupted by rain
okay nice idea I was just about to call
my boss yeah good I was just about to
eat some apples okay nice one I was just
about to go to the gym nice I was just
about to text you perfect yeah great
sentences you guys I was just about to
go to bed nice nice she was just about
to punish her son oh my gosh such drama
in the YouTube chat I was just about to
take a bath just about ah I was at one
point a couple of you in the chat don’t
forget this right here sorry I didn’t
talk a lot about this this was or worth
it so if your subject is I I was just
about to use was if your subject is like
Wii or you use worth you were just about
to go to bed you were just about to eat
dinner weren’t you so make sure this
part agrees with your subject I was he
was she was you were we were they were
another point to think about nice that
sounds great
I was just about to hang out with my
friends nicely done really great these
are nice I was just about to drink a
beer whoo that sounds good a little
early for us perhaps okay I was just
about to do my homework when I saw that
the video started streaming whoo this
can be sort of like homework right it’s
like studying surely okay um you were
just about to show your new cheat sheets
perhaps perhaps maybe you don’t know my
plan okay
I’m just teasing I was just about to go
to sleep but this lesson started great
great nice one it’s really nice job okay
sounds good I think you have it so don’t
forget yeah again don’t forget this
this verb point I was or you were don’t
forget you’re was or were you’re linking
verb there yeah okay great that sounds
good
so let’s take one more break and then
we’ll go to the last point for today’s
lesson so again I wanted to focus on
some things that I thought were useful
to use with this grammar point I talked
a little bit about like hotel related
vocabulary that you can use but I
thought another one that would be really
good with this grammar is just travel
related vocabulary so there are kind of
like some I’ll show you some big
sightseeing spots this is just an
example like for example if you want to
talk about sightseeing spots these are
some ones in the US you can talk about
those with just like if you’re visiting
the US and you want to describe going to
like Times Square in New York you can
say I just went to Times Square for
example or I just went to Disneyland for
example so you can pair this grammar
with like with locations and with verbs
that you know to kind of communicate a
little more specifically so travel is
another nice one I was thinking um food
is also a good one I’ll just I won’t
show it on that one but food is another
good one like I just ate this really
good lunch for example so these are a
couple of good ones to use with today’s
grammar but there are a lot of these so
please check the link in the description
below the video on YouTube and above the
video on Facebook to get this stuff for
free so please check this out it’s an
English class 101.com
okay fantastic Wow
look at all these people watching that’s
fantastic hi everybody so make sure to
hit the like button too so
learners can find the video we really
appreciate it yeah okay awesome
awesome so with that let’s continue to
the final grammar point for today we’ve
talked about the simple past tense and
making some questions with simple past
tense we also talked about just with a
simple past tense verb and just about -
with the present tense verb if you
missed it don’t worry this video is
being recorded you can check it later I
want to finish today with this point
this last point is using a different
form of the verb so we’re using just
again and as we talked about in the last
point I’m going to use was and word here
was just plus a progressive verb so
progressive a reminder progressive is
the I n G something something ing form
of the verb or maybe you know the
continuous form of the verb so when we
use this we’re talking about continuing
actions in the very recent past so an
example we were just watching that movie
we were just watching that movie or for
example I was just explaining a PDF or I
was just explaining just about - for
example so I can talk about an action
that was continuing in the very recent
past so again to kind of give a visual
of this again if this is our point
present the present is now our
conversation now if I want to talk about
something that was continuing in the
past so here these two are like single
actions they started or they finished
they’re done but when we use this
grammar point just plus the progressive
verb we’re talking about something that
was like continuing it was happening
over a period of time so this is one
that we can use to talk about like the
very recent past like a moment ago I
just talking about simple past tense but
depending on the conversation you might
hear people use it to talk about
something that happened yesterday but
it’s maybe if you haven’t seen that
person for a while it might seem like a
very recent event so some it doesn’t
always mean just a moment ago but you
can kind of understand from the
conversation that it’s just in general
about a very recent time period so let’s
think of some more examples so my
examples again where we were just
watching that movie so we were just
watching that movie could mean last
night it’s a very recent time period
within the context of the conversation
so we were just watching that movie I
was just talking about a PDF you were
just watching TV we were just eating
breakfast for example so very recent
activities okay
we were just calling you Sayid
okay that could be that could be it like
if you were trying to call someone and
you wanted to explain that cool that
could work that could work nice okay um
can I use verb to be plus about without
just I was ah like I was I was watching
a movie yes I think that’s your question
Josh Josh on YouTube can you use verb to
be with without just yes you can but the
feeling of something very recent will
disappear so if you want to communicate
something very recently happened just
it’s very useful for them so the
sentence is grammatically correct yes
nice ones I was just watching your video
also though just just keep in mind just
keep in mind this is for something again
that is finished it’s like it’s done so
again you’re watching the video now so
it’s not a complete it’s not finish
yeah so if for example if you’re
watching this video and someone
interrupts you like a family member
comes into the room you can explain oh I
was just watching a video because for
that moment you stop watching this video
and you talked to the family member so
we use this again it’s an action that
stopped so you’ll notice I’m not
continuing this past the present this is
something that finishes it can be a
pause yeah but you’ve finished that
thing so I was just watching that so
Josh your question I was about to go to
bed yes yes you can use that that’s
grammatically correct I was just talking
with G nice awesome
I was just talking about your online
English class really yeah okay I was
just studying an English text nice one
not ton each a nice one I was just
thinking about you perfect good I was
just cleaning my room nice ones okay I
was just I was just going to sleep and
then I heard your notification fantastic
fantastic thank you for joining us great
nice example sentences everyone I was
just eating my dinner great fantastic I
was reading a book okay um I was just
going to sleep fantastic okay lots of
great example sentences I think you’ve
got it so I think I make this to make
the differences between these four
points pretty clear so I hope that this
helps you but yes to answer that
question that I saw you don’t have to
use just in these cases if you remove
just you remove like that feeling of
something very recent happening so the
sentence is still grammatically correct
okay but that’s all that I have for
today I’m not going to talk too much
today I was just cooking my breakfast
great examples everybody thank you okay
so if you have any other questions
please send them in the chat and I will
check them later and I’ll try to answer
them in a video or in some form at some
in some case okay um so I’ll finish up
there for today’s topic about just in
the very recent past thank you so much
for all the great sentences and for your
questions that was awesome really
awesome we will be back as always at the
same time next week next week October
17th Wednesday October 17th 10 p.m.
Eastern Standard Time that is New York
City time if you don’t know your local
time you can google it or as many of you
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announcement when we begin so please
join us next week we are going to talk
about how to talk about food so I’ve
talked about this in live streams a
couple of times before but I’m gonna I’m
gonna review a little bit and then talk
a little bit more about some new points
too so please join us to practice
talking about food and food-related
expressions next Wednesday Wednesday
evening perhaps or Thursday morning
depending on where you are in the world
but I’ll finish there for today so thank
you again for liking the video and for
sharing the video for sending all of
your awesome those are really awesome
example sentences don’t forget as I said
there is free stuff for you to check out
in the description below the video on
YouTube and above the video on Facebook
so there’s this some vocabulary points
you can practice with today’s grammar so
definitely check this out this is all in
English class 101.com
will finish there for today so thank you
so so much enjoy the rest of your day
enjoy the rest of your night to enjoy
your weekend and I will see you again
next week
bye bye
you