It’s the beginning of a new year!
The new year is a time for looking forward and setting goals for the year, and also for looking back and reflecting on the last year.
The Romans understood the value of the new year and even had a god that reflected these ideas. Here, let me introduce you to Janus (where we get the word “January”):
Janus has two heads — one looking back and one looking forward.
Today, I’d like to show you how to:
- tell a story in the past with colour and detail
- connect different ideas in the past together like an expert English speaker
- talk about future goals in a powerful, motivating way
- talk about goals in a way that makes them real and achievable
Telling a story in English
First, here’s Lakshmi, one week after New Year’s Eve. On the left, we can see the past, when the new year started.
What’s she doing? She’s talking to her chicken about what a fantastic time she had on New Year’s Eve.
To talk about what happened on the 31st of December, Lakshmi could simply list the things she did one by one:
“We booked a table at a restaurant on Thursday. My friends came to my house at 8 pm on the 31st. We had some food and talked. It started raining. We played cards. We left the house and we got wet. Then we went out to the restaurant.”
Now the chicken is bored. Why? What’s wrong with talking about the past like this?
It’s boring. What’s more, there are two sentences that seem out of place. Which ones?
Think about these questions:
- Why does she say, “We booked a table at a restaurant on Thursday”? Isn’t the story about New Year’s Eve, which was on Saturday?
- Why does she say, “It started raining”? Is it important?
OK. Let’s talk about the restaurant first.
As we can see, booking the restaurant table happened long before the story started. But it’s important to mention. We all know how difficult it is to get a restaurant table on New Year’s Eve.
But we don’t want to start the story with this information. How do we solve this?
We can use the past perfect.
What’s the past perfect? Click here
had + verb 3
e.g.
We had eaten dinner before we left the house.
When the film started, I realised I’d seen it before.
The past perfect is like having a magic lasso.
Because Lakshmi is telling the story of New Year’s Eve, she’s “trapped” in the time of the story. She can’t get out:
That’s a problem if she needs some information from outside the time of the story, right? But fortunately, she has the “past perfect lasso”:
She can then take the action from outside the story time and attach it to a part of her story.
“We went to the restaurant that we had booked on Thursday.”
or
“We went to a restaurant. We got a table because we’d booked it on Thursday.”
That’s what the past perfect is for. We don’t actually need to use it very often, but it’s very useful when we do need it.
OK. Now, what about the rain?
Why does she mention the rain? It’s not very important to the story, but it makes the story more interesting.
The only problem is that in the example above, because she’s using the past simple, she can only talk about the rain when it started. But at that part of the story, it’s not important. The rain is only important later, when they leave the house:
So she should talk about it then. That’s when she can use the past continuous.
What’s the past continuous? Click here
was/were + -ing
e.g.
I was watching a film when you called.
As you can see from the picture, the rain is a long action and it’s continuing when they leave the house. So Lakshmi can take this long action and attach it to part of her story.
“It was raining when we left the house and we got wet.”
She can also use the past continuous with another past continuous action happening at the same time:
“While it was raining, the dogs were going crazy.”
So we can use the past perfect to get extra information from outside the story time and the past continuous to make the story more interesting and atmospheric.
Just remember, that we (almost) always use these two tenses with a part of the main story (usually past simple). They have to be “attached” to something else in the story.
Here’s Lakshmi’s story in full:
“My friends came over at 8 pm on the 31st. We had some food and talked about 2016. When we left the house, it was raining and we got wet. Then we went out to the restaurant. We got a table because I’d booked on Thursday.”
Now the chicken is more interested. When you’re telling a story, remember to keep the chicken happy!
Making Goals “Real” in English
But Lakshmi is also talking to her chicken about the future — her goals and dreams for 2017.
I talked about the different future tenses in a previous post. And when we talk about 2017, we can use those tenses.
But there are two other ways we can talk about the future, especially when we’re setting goals.
So what does Lakshmi want from 2017?
- She has a good job, but she’d like to start her own business, and soon.
- She wants the business to start making money before the end of the year.
OK. So two clear goals:
One goal is a short, simple action: start a business. She wants to do it soon, so she sets a deadline.
Now, in this situation, what do you think will be more motivating for her? The goal (starting the business) or the deadline (March 1st)?
When do you work harder? When you’re thinking about the goal, or when you’re thinking about the deadline? I don’t know about you, but deadlines are more motivating for me than goals. Goals are abstract and don’t feel real until I’ve done them. But the deadline, a date that’s definitely going to come, feels more real.
So if she’s thinking about the goal more than the deadline, she might say:
“I’ll start the business before March 1st.”
This sentence isn’t very motivating. It’s as if she’s describing something out of her own control, as if the date is something interesting, but not important.
Now, if she’s using the deadline to push her into action, then she can use the future perfect.
What’s the future perfect? Click here
will + have + verb 3
e.g.
I will have finished these reports by lunchtime.
“By March 1st, I will have started the business.”
She’s imagining herself in the future, after she has reached her goal. It’s a simple change, but a powerful one.
But what about her second goal: start making money?
Sure, she can use the future perfect tense again. And it would work really well:
“By the end of the year, I will have started making money from my business.”
Great stuff! But there’s another way she can say this, a way that will really make her feel the process of making money.
If Lakshmi really wants to make that goal of making money feel as real as possible, she can use the future continuous.
What’s the future continuous? Click here
will + be + -ing
e.g.
Next month, I will be working abroad.
“At the end of the year, I’ll be making money from my business.”
As you can see, this is a long action, a process in the future. When we make our goals into a process, they become more real and give us stronger motivation to achieve them.
In a previous post, I talked about how “-ing” verbs feel more like a process, and how “to” verbs are pushing to the future. The future continuous creates this process feeling. (Notice that it contains an “-ing” verb.)
Another interesting thing about the future continuous Do you fly often? Do you ever listen to the pilot speaking at the beginning of the flight? Have you noticed that the pilot doesn’t say: We’ll fly at an altitude of 40,000 feet. Instead, he or she says: We’ll be flying at an altitude of 40,000 feet. Why? That’s because when we use the future continuous, there’s a feeling of control and safety. It feels as if everything is planned and organised. |
To sum up:
- We can use the past perfect to “lasso” extra information into our story.
- We can use the past continuous to add extra background information to our story (with long actions).
- We can use the future perfect to motivate ourselves when goal setting.
- We can use the future continuous to make hopes and goals more real and to motivate us.
So tell me: What did you do on New Year’s Eve? And what are your dreams and goals for 2017?
Write your story and goals in the comments. I want to hear them!
17 thoughts on “Make your stories more interesting and your goals more real in English”
Hi Gabriel. In New Year’s eve I stayed at home with my wife and some friends, we had dinner and we had fun. Then we watched TV to see how the New Year was being celebrated in different countries.
With regard to my expectations, I would say that by the end of 2017 I’ll have reached the English level I’m fighting for.
Hi Ferran.
Good work, especially the goal-setting. Though I’d suggest adding a bit of “atmosphere” to the story. An easy way to do that is with the weather or sounds. Was it snowing? Were people cheering outside (or honking car horns as they do in some cultures).
I hope you achieve your English goals. Keep working at it and you cannot fail!
Hello Gabriel.
This is my first time reading your posts, and let me say you that I found it pretty interesting and useful. I’m not get used to celebrate Christmas, but this time I did it. I spend the New Year’s Eve with some of my brothers – some of them are living in another city-, we were drinking some beers, dancing and talking about everything until midnight. I had a lot of fun and I didn’t expect it, I’m thinking seriusly do it this year again. About my goals for 2017? Well, I really want to advance in my English learning process and to get a good job.
Hi Alexis.
I’m really glad you found the blog useful and welcome to our community!
Your summary of your New Year’s was good. I would suggest that you use the past continuous for background information (how was the weather? What were other people doing?) instead of main events (like drinking beer, dancing and talking).
Regarding your future goals, what’s your deadline? Can you make the goals more real?
Otherwise good work!
Hi Gabriel,
On Christmas Eve I use to celebrate it with my friends, but this time I couldn’t because I have worked that day. My shift started at 11:00 pm. But I had dinner with my little family we watched a movie. We spent the day at home. My goal for 2017 is to look for a new job. I just graduate in October 2016 as Medical Biller, so hopefully I will find a job.
Hi Fatim,
I like your description. It’s very clear and descriptive. I would recommend trying to add some “colour” to it by using the past continuous for background information.
I’d also recommend setting some “deadlines” for your job goals. When will you have found a new job?
Not yet, but I start volunteering at the hospital to gain some experience and not forget what I have learned.
This a great post, thank you very much! On New Year’s Eve, we had a shabu-shabu hot pot dinner at home that my friends had organized a week ago. Even though it was raining cats and dogs, we had a good time.
My goals for 2017 are that at the end of September, I’ll have taken 3 of my Board Certification Exams and I’ll be applying for my fellowship…:)
Excellent use of ALL the tenses in this post. Good job!
At 8 pm on December 31st, with my family, we were close to arriving in at my father’s in law house. We had arranged to be all together to received the new year and everyone was carrying on food and red wines under a dark sky that had been waiting for rain in the last 6 hours. Finally, when we finished smashing our cups in the first minutes on 2017, the rain had being started but only for a few minutes to refresh the beautiful night.
By July 2017, I’ll have traveled to Canada because I’ll be improving my English skill.
I like it! Especially the cunning use of the past perfect!
I’d still recommend a bit of past continuous to liven up the story, but it’s not strictly necessary (we all have our own writing styles after all.)
Good work!
Gabriel, you has built a great blog and your page is in my browser’s favorites to read new articles or refresh the previous post.
Big hugs from Argentina.
Hi Nicolas,
That’s wonderful to hear. I hope our page helps you get AWESOME at English!
Hugs back!
While I have to agree that The Future Indefinite (the term ‘simple’ is misleading here, sorry) is lame for goals and simply feels like the spontaneous promise (despite the date), I must say that a dream without a planning is merely wishful thinking and never come true (“vows are spoken to be broken“, remember?). So I’d say: ‘I’m gonna start my own business by (the deadline)’, as an answer for: “Hit the road Jack and don’t you come back no more, (‘cuz u ain’t got no money)“. 🙂
The issue with The Future Perfect Tense is, that people scarcely use it. At least it’s very difficult (for me) to find that form in the subtitles. The rare case is when John Watson says: “She said one day they’re gonna show up at a murder scene and you’ll have provided the body“,
and it’s the pilot episode not broadcast one, alas alack.
Yes — just using “will,” at least sounds a little lame and doesn’t inspire too much confidence if we’re talking about goals.
You’re right about the future perfect — it’s rarely used in spoken English. But when it’s used it has quite a lot of impact.
Absolutely, and will have been abandoned when the time travel is discovered, I think. 😉
“You talk your way into that interrogation room again, and I will have you arrested for trespassing.” (Gregson to Holmes, E, s1e13) — to emphasise the process/action rather than who performs it, like: “Petrov had him killed last night” (House of Cards, s4e2).
Re: The Past Continuous Tense
Oh, it seems I’ve got mnemonic for this one, too. (The first couplet of the macabre song.)
Spoiler alert: it’s likewise in Lizzie Borden fashion:
Be My Friend by One-Eyed Doll.
And… No. I wish I didn’t have to learn this the hard way… 🙂
But Why? indeed! 🙂