I’m sure “you seen” it before, but that doesn’t make it right. This lesson will help you understand and correct three very common grammar mistakes that even many native English speakers make every day.
Hello there. I have read in a grammar book I purchased that subjunctive mood should be used in condition of uncertainty. Example. If she have the money, she will make it in the city.
I used to use has for the third person. I would like to clarify this, because there are some English novels which use has instead of have. :)
Why I must use “I have seen Star Wars 188 times so far!” and I can’t use “I saw Star Wars 188 times so far!”
What is the difference here?
As I know, It’s possible to say in American English. But it’s better to use Present Perfect, because you’ve seen Star Wars 188 times BEFORE the moment of speech.
cause if you notice ‘so far’ its not an acction that you have finished, so you can continue watching the movie more than 188 times if you want, but if you say I saw that start wards 188 times. its a fact you saw it, you can continue but you don’t let the other person know that. I don’t know if you understand it’s hard to explain it :( but just because it has ‘so far’ you know its ‘I’ve seen’. hope this help D:
Because ‘I’ve seen’ is the present perfect simple form (not past simple) and as you can see, this action is not finished in the past.. you are still alive and you are able to watch Star Wars more times… Thus, you have to use ‘have seen’ because the action is still happening in a certain way..
these explanations are kind of difficult. Just memorize: when something has happened in the past and you want to say that this is ALREADY happened (you have this EXPERIENCE) until now – than use this PP form.
So, in your example it means that you not just saw it 188 times but you’ve seen it ALREADY 188 times in your life.
In formal conversation I’d use
-Johnny, we’ve got a problem.
or
-Johnny, we have a problem.
I would prefer use ‘have’ instead of ‘have got’ because ‘have’ means an ‘experience’ (ex.: Houston, We have a problem). On the other hand, ‘have got’ indicates ‘posses’ or something you have (ex.: I’ve got a headache)
I can notice you are a very good teacher, but you speak so fast… it’s really hard for me to understand your lessons :( I know I must improve this point. Thank you anyway.
I am going to have a professional language exam on Friday in advanced level.I am eager to know how much you helped me in the past few months…I really love these videos, I have learnt by many ways, but I think this website is one of the best what people actually could created.You and Ronnie are amazing teachers.I have no doubt about it.I recommended you for my all friends and now they have been watching it since I told them to.:)I admire your work, and you inspired me for matriculating to a University where I can become a professional E.teacher.Hope one day I will be as good and succesfull teacher as you are right now..FINGER CROSS GUYS PLS:)
Hi James! Thanks for the lesson!) Could you make lesson about when we must use ” like “, ” how “, ” as “, please? I thought about that and it doesn’t leave me anymore =)
Hi!James….. in this sentence
My brother Jack,who lives in Holland, is a teacher.
Why you can’t use (that) instead of who.
thanks
actually you could use ‘that’ but he is a person and ‘that’ sounds quite informal to refer to person. It’s more polite use ‘who’ in this case. Use ‘that’ to talk about things
i think we do not use ” that” here because of reason: firstly, the clause adds more information for subject, we can delete it but does not affect to content of the whole sentence. and one rule here is whenever you see one clause is put between comma, do not use ” that”.
Thanks Heitor the sentence I wrote is relative clause with extra information.That is why uoy can’t use (that) neither for people nor for animals and things. the question is the cause for this situation.
thanks again.
Thank you so much, it was really useful. I was interested in it.
Please, can you make a lesson about English in the news about those vocabularies that are used in the news. I am looking forward to hearing from you soon. Kind regards
I love it so much; omg,i wish it came to me or i found it 20 years ago. i would understand, read and write a whole lot better than now. however, it’s never too late, i still can gain a lot benefit from it for my daily life. Dear all Teachers, please accept my truly appreciation and gratitude, again thanks a million and more. love you all my heroes.
Hi James. Thanks for this interesting lesson, you are helping a lot to improve my English skills. This simple lesson showed me how much I need to study more to be fluent in English.
OK, but natives use a contraction.
I’ve seen it …
and you can hear : I seen it …
because a consonant V is not loud enough.
Teachers want us to speak: I have
because even natives have a problem, they can not hear the consonant V too.
Hi James, why do you speak so quickly when you explain something for BEGINNERS? I can understand that if you speak to INTERMEDIATE or ADVANCED people. But BEGINNERS are just beginners and do not understand so much.
hi teacher James! I’ve been watching your video on youtube many time. I understand them all fully. Today I have 01 question not related to your topic. Can you help me? I hope ^^ I watch a movie. they said to each other ” and the meek shall inherit the earth” I dont understand
Hi Chocon6,
The meek shall inherit the earth means the weaklings will inherit the earth, however that is not the case:
The MIGHTY will inherit the earth!
I think that will help.
Plz teach us some real street English for listening purpose. We don’t understand what native speakers say just because of informal English. All we learn from books and dictionary and from school is formal English. We have zillions of grammar books and dictionaries in our country but we have nothing on street or colloquial English. We even clearly understand IPA(international phonetics alphabet). The more it is informal the more it is our problem. Informal pronunciation and informal styles of speaking are our main problems. Plz, we want to learn English naturally the way some of us learn Hindi naturally from TV shows, Movies and Songs. We don’t learn grammar of Hindi language for listening purpose. Note that Hindi is our second language for some people in Bangladesh.
learning a language naturally is the ultimate clue,not learning formally. Once again plz, the more you guys try to teach us formally the more we get problem. Our English is like a sky-scrapper with no good foundation!! I believe you have understood our problems.
Dear James,
I am very happy to be an engvid student especially your’s.I always watch your amazing lessons.I am a student in class 12th and i have some problem in writing letters mainly the body part so can we have a lesson on this-HOW TO WRITE THE BODY OF THE LETTER DEPENDING ON THE TYPE OF LETTER WHETHER FORMAL or INFORMAL.
Dear James,
I am very happy to be an engvid student especially your’s.I always watch your amazing lessons.I am a student in class 12th and i have some problem in writing letters mainly the body part so can we have a lesson on this-HOW TO WRITE THE BODY OF THE LETTER DEPENDING ON THE TYPE OF LETTER WHETHER FORMAL or INFORMAL.
Wow, I’ve got 90%!!! Thank you so much for this amazing lessons. Frankly speaking, I’ve learnt much more from your videos, than from my school lessons!!!
Hello James, my names is Alan and I’m From Brazil. Thank you so much for that lesson, I finally learned the “Past Participle”, because you explained very good. By the way, thank you for everything.Thank you again. I’m here every day learning more and more.
I think you must teach only ADVANCED students. Are you sure that this is an intermediate class? You speak very fast and I don’t like your way of teaching because you are a snob.
Are you serius? If I WERE you I just wouldn’t watch his video anymore. It’s simple.
Thanks, it was really good. And thanks a lot because of the free video we can watch, which mach my expectations. I mean I really want to improve my english. So thx
hello James
i saw your 1st lession, its really good, but i can’t understand, because i am punjabi, i am new in canada. i am totally zero in english. i check my english lavel, my lavel is 2. help me pls. i got 3 out of 10. tell me but i can do to improve my english.
i saw engvid day before yesterday and from now on wards i decided it to watch regularly. and this my first comment hoping there will b no mistake in it.
i haven’t listened this song before but in my viewpoint I guess native speakers don’t actually use almost of grammar as you know they dun care to use it in most of their talking But as James said i assure you it’s the right to say if i were you
. I ______ it last week. It ______ that good.
seen, ain’t
seen, wasn’t
saw, ain’t
saw, isn’t
have seen, ain’t
have seen, isn’t
in this question if i use have seen,isn’t.
Then why it is wrong can anybody tell me plsssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss.I am very keen to know answer of this
As I know. It’s because that sentence uses the time signal “last week” and it’s mean that happen in the past, so you must use the past tense not the present perfect tense. CMIIW :)
10. I _______ Star Wars 188 times so far!
saw
seen
have seen
“Have seen” is correct
But i don’t understand why is correct *^*
why i shouldn’t say” saw” with the sentence?
Thank you ^^
MR. James I have a questions; What are these mean, Lista’s, its, it’s
Also can you please teach us how to use the transitions word in writing or speaking :) thank you
Learn English for free with 517 video lessons by experienced native-speaker teachers. New classes are added three times a week, covering grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, TOEFL, and more. Join over ten million ESL students worldwide who are improving their English every day with engVid.
thank you so Much dear brother
may allah bless you
i got 80% and i am happy.
yeah, me too, but I´m not happy at all
Hello there. I have read in a grammar book I purchased that subjunctive mood should be used in condition of uncertainty. Example. If she have the money, she will make it in the city.
I used to use has for the third person. I would like to clarify this, because there are some English novels which use has instead of have. :)
Why I must use “I have seen Star Wars 188 times so far!” and I can’t use “I saw Star Wars 188 times so far!”
What is the difference here?
As I know, It’s possible to say in American English. But it’s better to use Present Perfect, because you’ve seen Star Wars 188 times BEFORE the moment of speech.
Because SO FAR shows you probably will see this movie more times. SAW indicates that you dont want to see it anynmore
cause if you notice ‘so far’ its not an acction that you have finished, so you can continue watching the movie more than 188 times if you want, but if you say I saw that start wards 188 times. its a fact you saw it, you can continue but you don’t let the other person know that. I don’t know if you understand it’s hard to explain it :( but just because it has ‘so far’ you know its ‘I’ve seen’. hope this help D:
Because ‘I’ve seen’ is the present perfect simple form (not past simple) and as you can see, this action is not finished in the past.. you are still alive and you are able to watch Star Wars more times… Thus, you have to use ‘have seen’ because the action is still happening in a certain way..
these explanations are kind of difficult. Just memorize: when something has happened in the past and you want to say that this is ALREADY happened (you have this EXPERIENCE) until now – than use this PP form.
So, in your example it means that you not just saw it 188 times but you’ve seen it ALREADY 188 times in your life.
great bro >>>
good work ….
thank you so much..
James, your explanations are very clear, you speak fast but I understand.
Hi James,
Thanks You.
i wanted to see that movie..or.. i wanted to saw that movie. which one is correct ?
Infinitive: I wanted to see.
bravo
I understood almost complete lesson, I have improve my English for good.Thank you Mr. James.
O man thank you !!!
it was pretty useful, thanks teacher youre one of the best.
I am improving my english. We love you james. You are simply awesome.
thank you, Mr James for the lesson you made. no more stupid mistakes.
Thank u mr james for help us to learn more
But i have some problem when i want to save some vocablry
And when i can use it
Your student :p khaled
How about this one?
-Hey Johnny! We got a problem?
In formal conversation I’d use
-Johnny, we’ve got a problem.
or
-Johnny, we have a problem.
I would prefer use ‘have’ instead of ‘have got’ because ‘have’ means an ‘experience’ (ex.: Houston, We have a problem). On the other hand, ‘have got’ indicates ‘posses’ or something you have (ex.: I’ve got a headache)
In BE I’d say I have got. In AmE it’d be I have. Both of them are correct.
I have a headache. I’ve got a headache. I have a sister. I’ve got a sister.
thanks, ciao
Thanks a lot, James!
Useful as ever!
THANKS JAMES,IT WILL BE BETTER IF YOU SPEAK SLOWLY, YOU SPEAK FAST SOMEHOW.
Most of Rap & R’n'B lyrics have all type of that mistakes but It doesn’t make songs worse.
10 out of ten, not bad for a thicko like me, lol
love you Mr. James for your interesting lessons
I love your interesting lessons Mr. james <3
wait a minute, justin bieber is a moron? “if i was your girlfriend”?
I can notice you are a very good teacher, but you speak so fast… it’s really hard for me to understand your lessons :( I know I must improve this point. Thank you anyway.
Hi, James. Your lessons are great. Thanks a lot! By the way I got perfect your quiz. Yeah!
Thanks a lot )))
YEH I SUCCEDED .
Hi James,
I am improving my english. You are simply awesome. I like you a lot!
Thanks You very much!
Thank You Sir
I am going to have a professional language exam on Friday in advanced level.I am eager to know how much you helped me in the past few months…I really love these videos, I have learnt by many ways, but I think this website is one of the best what people actually could created.You and Ronnie are amazing teachers.I have no doubt about it.I recommended you for my all friends and now they have been watching it since I told them to.:)I admire your work, and you inspired me for matriculating to a University where I can become a professional E.teacher.Hope one day I will be as good and succesfull teacher as you are right now..FINGER CROSS GUYS PLS:)
thank you Mr.James it’s very useful lecture .
thank you
you speak so fast .please write more clear on board
Hi James! Thanks for the lesson!) Could you make lesson about when we must use ” like “, ” how “, ” as “, please? I thought about that and it doesn’t leave me anymore =)
Thanks James
Hi!James….. in this sentence
My brother Jack,who lives in Holland, is a teacher.
Why you can’t use (that) instead of who.
thanks
actually you could use ‘that’ but he is a person and ‘that’ sounds quite informal to refer to person. It’s more polite use ‘who’ in this case. Use ‘that’ to talk about things
i think we do not use ” that” here because of reason: firstly, the clause adds more information for subject, we can delete it but does not affect to content of the whole sentence. and one rule here is whenever you see one clause is put between comma, do not use ” that”.
THANK YOU , I catch all the leccion I will learn more
Thanks Heitor the sentence I wrote is relative clause with extra information.That is why uoy can’t use (that) neither for people nor for animals and things. the question is the cause for this situation.
thanks again.
thank you so much,you are the best :)
what’s the meaning of “so far”? I don’t that expression.
it means: up until now.
Since some time ago until the present moment.
So far, so good!
I blew the eight question, I’m miserable :(
Thank you so much, it was really useful. I was interested in it.
Please, can you make a lesson about English in the news about those vocabularies that are used in the news. I am looking forward to hearing from you soon. Kind regards
I love it so much; omg,i wish it came to me or i found it 20 years ago. i would understand, read and write a whole lot better than now. however, it’s never too late, i still can gain a lot benefit from it for my daily life. Dear all Teachers, please accept my truly appreciation and gratitude, again thanks a million and more. love you all my heroes.
I wanna know something, we shouldn´t use “ain´t” and “seen it” because these are incorrect or what?
thank you but l like watching ema’s lessons’
Thank you Teacher.
Hi teacher. I’ve got 9 correct out of 10. I made a mistake in the first question. why “I have seen you before” was correct?
10 correct out of 10 – Thomas from Poland thx
Hi Teacher.I love the way you explain and in a good way you are really funny!
Thank you for help to improve my english!
Thanks for the lesson
Thanks a lot Mr. James . I’ve got 8 correct any way waiting for more lessons from you . once thanks a lot .
Hi James. Thanks for this interesting lesson, you are helping a lot to improve my English skills. This simple lesson showed me how much I need to study more to be fluent in English.
Hello,Teacher Jame This is a great lesson
thank you very much.
OK, but natives use a contraction.
I’ve seen it …
and you can hear : I seen it …
because a consonant V is not loud enough.
Teachers want us to speak: I have
because even natives have a problem, they can not hear the consonant V too.
thank you so much
Igot 10 of 10 Iam so happy
Hi James, why do you speak so quickly when you explain something for BEGINNERS? I can understand that if you speak to INTERMEDIATE or ADVANCED people. But BEGINNERS are just beginners and do not understand so much.
hi teacher James! I’ve been watching your video on youtube many time. I understand them all fully. Today I have 01 question not related to your topic. Can you help me? I hope ^^ I watch a movie. they said to each other ” and the meek shall inherit the earth” I dont understand
Hi Chocon6,
The meek shall inherit the earth means the weaklings will inherit the earth, however that is not the case:
The MIGHTY will inherit the earth!
I think that will help.
Thanks Amarsohal! Actually, the conversation was in a church. So I think they mean “The Meek” are those who is holy, blessed….
Hi please el nivel 1
you are awesome..I am thankful…
Excellent web page. It`s going to be very useful for my English class ;)
Thank you. Your explanation comparing good and bad were great to learn. Your class is great!!
7maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaas
Plz teach us some real street English for listening purpose. We don’t understand what native speakers say just because of informal English. All we learn from books and dictionary and from school is formal English. We have zillions of grammar books and dictionaries in our country but we have nothing on street or colloquial English. We even clearly understand IPA(international phonetics alphabet). The more it is informal the more it is our problem. Informal pronunciation and informal styles of speaking are our main problems. Plz, we want to learn English naturally the way some of us learn Hindi naturally from TV shows, Movies and Songs. We don’t learn grammar of Hindi language for listening purpose. Note that Hindi is our second language for some people in Bangladesh.
learning a language naturally is the ultimate clue,not learning formally. Once again plz, the more you guys try to teach us formally the more we get problem. Our English is like a sky-scrapper with no good foundation!! I believe you have understood our problems.
Hello Mr James ! I got 100%. I am so happy. Thank you for the lesson.
Hello, Thank you for quiz
hi Mr james thanks very much >>..
Dear James,
I am very happy to be an engvid student especially your’s.I always watch your amazing lessons.I am a student in class 12th and i have some problem in writing letters mainly the body part so can we have a lesson on this-HOW TO WRITE THE BODY OF THE LETTER DEPENDING ON THE TYPE OF LETTER WHETHER FORMAL or INFORMAL.
He is a grate English teacher and his way is amazing…
Thank you so much..this lesson really help to understand the street english…and speak a better english…thanks again
Very good. Thanks James
I ain’t gonna teach “stupid mistakes” to my esl students! Promise! haha. Love you James. I’m actually sharing this link with them :)
It’s a little difficult with me.I got 50 percent.
9/10 :(( I’m regret that I didnt read one qst carefully and I missed it T___T
It was just amazing, ur the best dude
I got 10 out of 10
I’m so happy
Dear James,
I am very happy to be an engvid student especially your’s.I always watch your amazing lessons.I am a student in class 12th and i have some problem in writing letters mainly the body part so can we have a lesson on this-HOW TO WRITE THE BODY OF THE LETTER DEPENDING ON THE TYPE OF LETTER WHETHER FORMAL or INFORMAL.
Thank you Mr.James, to making clear how to use P.P!
You are awesome Mr. James. You could turn a moron into a genius. ^^ you’re a great teacher!
very nice and i think is to late
and i think is good
very beatiful like me
Wow, I’ve got 90%!!! Thank you so much for this amazing lessons. Frankly speaking, I’ve learnt much more from your videos, than from my school lessons!!!
I saw this site today. I will try to get more video to improve my English.
Thank you, Mr. James. Very goog!
Hello James, my names is Alan and I’m From Brazil. Thank you so much for that lesson, I finally learned the “Past Participle”, because you explained very good. By the way, thank you for everything.Thank you again. I’m here every day learning more and more.
Hello James ! I’ve enjoyed this fine lesson.
Another topic maybe: than instead of that, and vice versa? (Or has this already been dealt with?)
thank you
Thanks Mr. James
this was my first lesson on engvid and i learn a lot.
I think you must teach only ADVANCED students. Are you sure that this is an intermediate class? You speak very fast and I don’t like your way of teaching because you are a snob.
Are you serius? If I WERE you I just wouldn’t watch his video anymore. It’s simple.
Thank you for the teaching. I realize your English videos are very instructive at all.
Usefull lesson! Thanks a lot
Hey! thank you very much your lesson was so amazing i enjoyed it !!
moreover i really like your method
you made us feel funny
Thanks for being a great teacher.
I inspired your wonderful english lessons . I hope that tomorrow
My speaking english better than now.
Thanks a lot.
James, you are one of my favorite Teacher of EngVid.
Thank you for being so helpful.
Thanks, it was really good. And thanks a lot because of the free video we can watch, which mach my expectations. I mean I really want to improve my english. So thx
hello James
i saw your 1st lession, its really good, but i can’t understand, because i am punjabi, i am new in canada. i am totally zero in english. i check my english lavel, my lavel is 2. help me pls. i got 3 out of 10. tell me but i can do to improve my english.
James,
You are a great teacher! Thank you so much for help me to improve my English! Every day I learn more and more with you.
James,
You are a great teacher! Thank you so much for help me to improve my English! Everyday I learn more and more with you.
Thank you guys from EngVid….
Thank you!
I have 100 %
I’m from Russia. I leran English by myself.
Your lessons are helping.
Спасибо!
Thanks James! Thank you EngVid team.
i saw engvid day before yesterday and from now on wards i decided it to watch regularly. and this my first comment hoping there will b no mistake in it.
thanks James, I got 10 correct out of 10 in the quiz!! I´m so happy for this :)
Thank so much . I got 9 0f 10. I am very happy.
Thank you…
Hi James, thanks you
Hmmm, I’m a bit confused now , what about this
* If I was your boyfriend, I’d never let you go * Justin Biber’s song ( Boyfriend) LOL .??
i dont listen to that kid but i took a look to that song and you were right , i am confused too
i haven’t listened this song before but in my viewpoint I guess native speakers don’t actually use almost of grammar as you know they dun care to use it in most of their talking But as James said i assure you it’s the right to say if i were you
Thanks
90. thanks.
nice brother , i just have a little problem with ain’t
Useful and fun at the same time! I like engVid videos!
. I ______ it last week. It ______ that good.
seen, ain’t
seen, wasn’t
saw, ain’t
saw, isn’t
have seen, ain’t
have seen, isn’t
in this question if i use have seen,isn’t.
Then why it is wrong can anybody tell me plsssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss.I am very keen to know answer of this
As I know. It’s because that sentence uses the time signal “last week” and it’s mean that happen in the past, so you must use the past tense not the present perfect tense. CMIIW :)
Thanks
Hi James ,thanks a lot for helping us in improving english.
God bless you.
thank you!!!!!!
Great lessons James, thank you.
Hi James, thank you for the lesson. It has been very interesting…
Thanks))) It was great lesson
Thanks James,
For this lesson:)
Thanks
cool!! this is fantastic. a better way to practice the grammar.
strong !
u talk too fast, bat i understand
Thanks, James! You are so funny
thank you so much for the lesson
Hi James. Not that I’m from the south or Detroit, but I heard that The Green Hornet ain’t that good.
Hi James. I was joking when I said ain”t.
Hahahaha LOL(laugh out loud)
10. I _______ Star Wars 188 times so far!
saw
seen
have seen
“Have seen” is correct
But i don’t understand why is correct *^*
why i shouldn’t say” saw” with the sentence?
Thank you ^^
… Why it’s** correct ?
sorry -.-”
Got 100%. Piece of cake!
I did 70% need pratic a little more. James you’re incredible. Just loving your class. Thanks
Thank You very much!!!
Mr. James could you explain this sentence,please?
- James ain’t the only teacher on Engvid.
Why is it incorrect? What does ain’t mean?
thanks.
ok. *
80 % THNX
Hey !! Good job
But I’m still confused , ‘Coz I don’t know if ( have seen) and ( saw ) have the same meaning .
can you tell me wha
what is the different between them ?
LOL you are so funny and I like the way you teach English :)
MR. James I have a questions; What are these mean, Lista’s, its, it’s
Also can you please teach us how to use the transitions word in writing or speaking :) thank you
I saw him do it
saw is past tense right
but how come they didn’t use did word instead they use do
explain please