Mastering English Present Tenses: Simple, Continuous, Perfect

English6 Mar 20263.34 KB

Mastering English Present Tenses

The simple present is used to describe habits, unchanging situations, general truths, and fixed arrangements.

For habits: He drinks tea at breakfast. They watch television regularly.
For repeated actions or events: We catch the bus every morning. It rains every afternoon in the hot season.
For general truths: Water freezes at zero degrees. The Earth revolves around the Sun.
For instructions or directions: Open the packet and pour the contents into hot water. You take the No. 6 bus to Watney and then the No. 10 to Bedford.
For fixed arrangements: His mother arrives tomorrow. Our holiday starts on the 26th of March.
With future constructions: She'll see you before she leaves. We'll give it to her when she arrives.

The present continuous is used to express the idea that something is happening now, at this very moment.

The present perfect is used to indicate a link between the present and the past.

Actions started in the past and continuing in the present: They haven't lived here for years. She has worked in the bank for five years.
When the time period referred to has not finished: I have worked hard this week. It has rained a lot this year.
Actions repeated in an unspecified period between the past and now: They have seen that film six times. It has happened several times already.
Actions completed in the very recent past (+just): Have you just finished work? I have just eaten.
When the precise time of the action is not important or not known: Someone has eaten my soup! Have you seen 'Gone with the Wind'?

The present perfect continuous is used to refer to an unspecified time between 'before now' and 'now'.

Actions that started in the past and continue in the present: She has been waiting for you all day (= and she's still waiting now). I've been working on this report since eight o'clock this morning (= and I still haven't finished it). They have been travelling since last October (= and they're not home yet).
Actions that have just finished, but we are interested in the results: She has been cooking since last night (= and the food on the table looks delicious). It's been raining (= and the streets are still wet). Someone's been eating my chips (= half of them have gone).

The continuous past expresses the duration of an action and does not indicate whether it is finished.

The simple past refers to a punctual action that began and ended in the past.