Level Four
Lesson 42
time expressions
When talking about the present, the past, or the future, it helps to use certain time expressions. Time expressions are words and phrases that help a listener or reader know when something happens.
- What are you doing this morning. (later, in the future)
- What did you do yesterday? (in the past)
- How are things going nowadays? (in the present)
- That happened years ago. (in the past)
- What are your plans for next week? (in the future)
Time expressions usually go at the beginning of a sentence or at the end of sentence.
- As we speak, thousands and thousands of airplanes are flying around the globe.
- People are traveling through the air as we speak.
- In the past, people traveled by horse or on foot.
- Traveling was not as easy to do in the past.
- Right now, our planet is feeling the effects of climate change.
- In the past, human being never considered the damage that could be done by burning fossil fuels.
- Fossil fuels come from carbon-based life forms (animals, plants, and insects) that were alive millions and millions of years ago.
42a. present time expressions 
Here are some common words and phrases that communicate a present situation.
at the moment
at this time
as we speak
currently
now
nowadays
right now
these days
today
42a. Examples
- Coffee shops are very popular places to hangout nowadays.
- These days wind turbines are a common sight throughout the world.
42b. past time expressions
The word “ago” is often used for the past. You can also use word such as “last,” “recently,” and “lately.”
a day ago
two days ago
an hour ago
a week ago
a month ago
a year ago
a little while ago
a long time ago
a while ago
in the past
last ______ (day of the week, month, year)
recently
since _____
yesterday
the day before yesterday
way, way back in (year)
42b. Video
They arrived an hour ago.
42c. future time expressions
eventually
in an hour, in # hours
in the future
in the near future
later
later today
later this week, month, year
next week, month, year
soon
this afternoon
tomorrow
42c. Video
eventually
42d. situational time expressions
Understanding the meaning of the time expression depends on the situation in which the person is talking. One example is the use of “this” and then the unit of time.
this afternoon
this month
this morning
this week
this year
next week, month, year
in the morning, afternoon, evening
gradually
over time
- What are you going to do this morning? (future)
- What did you do this morning? (past)
- Over time, they have learned to adapt to new conditions and will continue to adapt. (in the past, now, and in the future)
42d. Examples
- I had a dental appointment this morning. (in the past)
- I have a dental appointment later this morning. (in the future)
- This year is going to be great! (in the future)
- This year has been very successful. (in the past and now)
42e. idioms and expressions
There are many different idioms and expressions that are popular in spoken English.
at one time = a time in the past
eons ago = a long time ago
in those days = a long time ago
back in the day = a long time ago
for the time being = temporarily for now
so far = up until now
- Eons ago, dinosaurs roamed the planet. (the distant past)
- This will have to do for the time being. (now)
- That was a popular hairstyle back in the day. (in the past, but not too long ago.)
42e. Examples
Back in the day, I owned a VW bus and used it for traveling.