Present Tenses

1. Present Simple

Form

+	verb / verb + (e)s	He buys a new game.
–	do / does not + verb	I don’t play Wii.
?	Do / Does … + verb?	Do you play games?

 

When to use

• to talk about regular habits or repeated actions:
• I get up early every day.
• I buy a new game every week. (not me)
• Words that describe how often or when are often used (e.g. always, generally, normally, usually, often, sometimes, rarely, never, every …).
• to talk about permanent situations:
• My father own the company.
• If we want to say how long something has continued, we use present perfect instead.
• to talk about facts or generally accepted truth.
• I am a boy.
• The following words are often used: generally, mainly, normally, usually, traditionally.
• to give instructions or directions:
• First, you unpack the box. Then …
• to tell stories and talk about films, books, and plays:
• In the film, the man falls in love with his son. ( – -“ )

2. Present Continuous

Form

+	am/is/are + verb + -ing	You are reading my blog.
–	am/is/are not + verb + -ing	I’m not talking but typing.
?	Am/Is/Are … + verb + -ing?	Are they learning?

 

When to Use

• to talk about temporary situations:
• I’m studying really hard for my IELTS.
• Following words are often used: at the moment, currently, now, this week/month/year
• to talk about actions happening at the moment of speaking:
• I’m typing the blog.
• to talk about trends or changing situations:
• The price of RAM is rising dramatically.
• to talk about things that happen more often than expected, often to show envy or to criticize with words like always, constantly, continually, forever:
• My mum’s always saying I don’t exercise enough! (complaint)
• He’s always buying new hardware! (envy)

3. State verbs

The present continuous is not normally used with state verbs!!
These verbs describe thoughts, feelings, senses, possession and description.

Example:

• thoughts: agree, assume, believe, disagree, forget, hope, know, regret, remember, suppose, think, understand
• feelings: adore, despite, dislike, enjoy, feel, hate, like, love, mind, prefer, want
• senses: feel, hear, see, smell, taste
• to talk about something happening now we use can;
• I can smell bla bla bla. (NOT I’m smelling …)
• possessions: have, own, belong
• descriptions: appear, contain, look, look like, mean, resemble, seem, smell, sound, taste, weigh.

!Some state verbs can be used in the continuous form when the meaning is temporary.
She’s having a great time. (is having = is experiencing, not possession)
What are you thinking about? (now)

Source: Diana Hopkins, and Pauline Cullen. Grammar for IELTS, Cambridge : University Press, 2007.