SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE

* Describes what generally happens (but not necessarily

right now). “The Paper usually arrives at 7:00 a.m”

*Simple Present is used to talk about situations that are not

connected to time (scientific facts, physical laws)
Water freezes at 0º C and boils at 100º C.”

* Often used in summaries such as book or movies

1. The Present Progressive describes what
is happening right now or in the extended
present time. The simple present tense
describes what generally happens (but not
necessarily right now)

• Traffic is moving slowly today

• Traffic moves slowly every holiday
2. Non-action verbs (stative verbs) usually
describes states or situations but not actions. Non-
action verbs are not usually used in the Present
Progressive even when they describe a situation
that exists at the moment of speaking.

• I want to leave now

• NOT I’m wanting to leave now
3. Non-action verbs do the following:
• Express emotions (hate, like, love, want)
• Describe perception and the senses (hear,
see, smell, taste, feel, notice)
• Describe mental states (know, remember,
believe, suppose, think-believe, understand)
• Show possession (have, own, possess,
belong)
• Describe appearance (seem, be, appear,
sound, look-seem)
4. Be careful! Some verbs can have both a
non-action and an action meaning

• The soup tastes good. Try some

• She’s tasting the soup to see if it needs
more salt.
* We may use Present Progressive with extended
present time (nowadays, this month, these days,
this year), even if its happening at the moment of
speaking
•Progressive tense is often used to show that
action is temporary. (She is studying tax
accounting)

* We can also use the present progressive to talk

about the future (We are going to travel)
 •THE PRESENT PERFECT
•The Present perfect and Present perfect progressive are used to talk about
things that started in the past, continue up to the present, and may continue
to the present
•Present Perfect is used to talk about things that happened at an
unspecified time in the past
•We often use them with for (a length of time) or since (a point of time)
•Remember! Non-action verbs are not usually used in the progressive
•Be careful! We don’t usually use the present perfect progressive to talk
about how many times someone has done something or how many things
someone has done. (She’s typed two e-mails this morning NOT She’s been
typing)
 •PAST TENSE
•The PastTense is used to talk about things that happened at a specific time
in the past (yesterday, last month, last year, etc.)
•Use Past Perfect to show that something happened before a specific time
in the past. Ex: By 1988 Oprah Winfrey had become famous.

•Past Perfect Progressive talks about an action that was in progress before
a specific time in the past.) The progressive emphasizes the process, not
the end result. (It was 1990. Oprah had been doing her talk show for four
years).

•When the time relationship between two past events is clear (as with
before, after, and as soon as), it is common to use the simple past tense.
Ex. After Oprah appeared in the Color Purple, she got apart in another
movie.

•We often use the past perfect and past progressive with by (certain time)
ex: By 1966 Oprah had decided on a career
•By the time I got home, he had been sleeping for an hour.

•Remember! We often use the past perfect progressive to draw conclusion

based on evidence.