The present tenses

eternity now

Concourse 2

If you haven't followed the introductory guide to English tenses yet, you may like to consider doing so now (new tab).

Talking about now

Present tenses in English (as in most languages) are actually reasonably straightforward. It is easier to understand the way English functions if you think of tenses being divided into two types – past and non-past.
The reason for this is that English, like many other languages, uses a variety of 'present' forms to talk about the future, because it lacks a dedicated tense form.
For more about how that is done, see the guide to four future forms, linked below in the list of related guides at the end.

Compare these examples and see if you can figure out what the difference in meaning is:
  1. Cows eat grass
  2. She always complains
  3. She's always complaining
  4. I usually stay at The Grand but this year I'm staying at The Imperial
  5. I type in my user name and then the password. See? Now we click on 'Proceed'
  6. I'm taking it apart again so you can see how it all fits together
  7. Johnson runs up to the crease and bowls to Smith who raps it away to the boundary for four more
Tense Use Other examples
1 Present simple
Cows eat grass		 The timeless present for statements which are always true. The sun rises in the east
After June in Europe the days get shorter
2 Present simple
She always complains		 A timeless use applied to a person for habit or habitual attitude . They never arrive on time
She always distrusts innovation
We take our holidays in France
3 Present progressive
She's always complaining		 A timeless use applied to a person indicating the speaker's irritation . (This use often comes with a frequency adverb such as always, frequently, constantly, continually etc.) He's constantly interfering
They are continually moaning
4 Present simple vs. present progressive
I usually stay at The Grand but this year I'm staying at The Imperial		 The first verb expresses habit .
The second verb indicates a departure from the habit for an action of limited duration happening now .		 He studies at Oxford but this term he's doing a course at Cambridge
She usually works in Finance but she's helping out in this department to cover sickness
5 Present simple
I type in my user name and then the password. See? Now we click on 'Proceed'		 Instantaneous use describing a sequence of actions .
(A single action is expressed with the present progressive.)		 I start with 2 measures of this, you see, and add one of this like so and finish it off with some crushed ice and there you have it
6 Present progressive
I'm taking it apart again so you can see how it all fits together		 Instantaneous use describing an action taking place right now.
(If no time is implied or marked in some way, we assume this form refers to the present.)		 He's watching television in the lounge
They're cutting the grass
7 Present simple
Johnson runs up to the crease and bowls to Smith who raps it away to the boundary for four more		 Instantaneous use mostly confined to sports commentator speech.
Also occurs in the performative use where the saying performs the act such as I call upon everyone here to . I promise, I name this ship etc.)		 Federer serves down the centre, the return comes too high and he easily puts it away in the corner
I implore you to stop

It is important to remember that many languages do not distinguish between progressive and instantaneous actions. In French, for example
J e lave la voiture
could be translated either as
I wash the car
or
I am washing the car .
The context will usually make things clear. In German, Greek and many other languages, the same thing applies.

Now, as a test, can you complete this table? Click on the table when you have filled in all the blank cells in your head.

present 2

Three important points

  1. If an event is timeless we always use the present simple unless we are expressing irritation
  2. If an event is of limited duration, we use the present progressive
  3. If an event is instantaneous we use either tense but the present progressive is more common

Forming the tenses

With these two tenses, form is not usually a serious problem. As with most tenses in English, it is the concept that takes some mastering.

Present Simple

Things to notice:

  1. Many languages change the ending (inflect) for all persons and number so, for example, in German, we see:
    ich spiele (I play)
    du spielst
    er / sie / es spielt
    wir spielen
    ihr speilt/ Sie speilen
    sie spielen
    The same applies to most European languages and some are even more complicated than German.
    English is unusual because ONLY the third person singular has any inflexion and it takes -s or -es to show number and person.
    Even above elementary level, the lack of an inflexion on the majority of forms results in learners forgetting to insert it when necessary.
  2. To form questions and negatives, many languages rely on changes to word order or simply on intonation or punctuation.
    English, however, makes use of the auxiliary verb do (called an operator) to form both questions and negatives with the simple present (and past, incidentally).
    In the third person singular, this becomes does, of course.
    At elementary level in particular, this is confusing and hard to remember so we get errors such as:
    *Go you?
    *Make you?
    etc.

Present progressive

Things to notice:

  1. Because of the peculiar nature of the verb be in English, the first and second person singular forms use am and is while all the others use are.
    This doesn't usually cause problems above very elementary levels but the use of aren't I? instead of the expected amn't I? can produce error. See the guide to question tags, linked below, for more.
  2. The verb be is acting as a primary auxiliary verb in forming this tense so the negative and interrogative forms do not use the operator do, relying on word order to signal questions and on the insertion of not for negatives. At elementary levels this can confuse and we may get errors such as
    *Do you are coming?
    *Does he is listening?
    It's not usually too serious or long-lasting.

Stative and dynamic uses of verbs

There is a guide to stative and dynamic uses on this site, linked below, and that will not all be repeated here.

For now, it is important that you understand that the stative (or state) use of a verb means that it is used to describe a state, not an action or event.
The dynamic use of a verb means that it is used to describe an action or event, not a state of affairs.

  1. verbs which are used to refer to a current state, are usually in the simple tense form
    For example:
    1. She believes in ghosts [this is her current state of mind]
    2. I feel a bit sick [my current state of health]
    3. I think that's the right train [my current belief]
    4. He understands me [a continuous state]
    1. We are waiting for the bus
    2. She is walking the dog
    3. She is taking an examination
    4. My father is doing the gardening

    Verbs that are frequently used statively mostly fall into these categories:

    Two things to be very careful with

    1. Many languages do not make this distinction at all so learners consistently make errors, even at quite high levels, such as:
      *I am believing her
      *I am enjoying tennis
      *It is smelling of tobacco in here
    2. The distinction refers to how we use the verbs, not the verbs themselves (so it makes little sense to talk about stative and dynamic verbs). Sometimes, the sense of the verb changes depending on how it's used.
      For example:
      I think he's coming later
      vs.
      Please be quiet, I'm thinking
      I am enjoying the music
      vs.
      I enjoy music
      You are hearing things!
      vs.
      I hear what you say.

    If we overstate the distinctions and tell learners, e.g., that we never use certain verbs in the progressive, you will misinform and confuse your learners.

    Other ways to talk about the present

    Do not run away with the idea that time and tense are the same thing. They often are, of course, and
    I think she's wonderful
    is both a present tense and refers to present time.
    However, most languages have other ways to talk about the present which do not necessarily appear to be present tenses. For example:

    It is also true the other way around: present tenses are often used in English to talk about times other than the present. For more, see the guide to four future forms, linked below.

    Related guides
    guide to English tenses for an introductory guide
    the tenses map for the clickable diagram of all English tenses
    the tenses index for links to all the guides in this area
    question tags for the guide to the area
    stative vs. dynamic verb use for a simple guide to this area
    Other tense forms
    four future forms for a general guide to talking and writing about the future in English
    present forms for the guide to talking and writing about the present
    four more future forms for consideration of a range of alternative future formulations
    past forms for consideration of a ways of talking and writing about the past
    past perfect for a guide to this area alone
    present perfect for a guide to a troublesome form
    tenses and aspects for the index to the whole area