Present Simple and Present

Continuous
node 70

771 74.2153 /learnenglish/five Great

Poor

Okay

Good

Great

Awesome
Average: 3.7 (771 votes)

node/70 Rate fivestar_form_no

Sun, 06/22/2008 - 00:01 — Chris McCarthy

 Grammar

New Update: EC offers various English courses, including online English speaking courses

'I surf / I am surfing.'

What's the difference between the Present Simple / Present Continuous and how to use them.

We use the present simple tense when we want to talk about fixed habits or routines – things that
don’t change.

We use the present continuous to talk about actions which are happening at the present moment,
but will soon finish.
Compare these two statements:

 (present simple) I play tennis.

 (present continuous/ progressive) I am playing tennis.

(present simple) ‘I play tennis’ tells us that playing tennis is something the speaker always does.
It is part of a routine or habit. We can call this a permanent situation.

(present continuous/ progressive) ‘I am playing tennis’ tells us that the speaker is playing tennis
right now. Soon the game will be over. We call this a temporary situation.

With the present simple we say:

I play tennis
You play tennis
We play tennis
They play tennis
He/she/ it plays tennis.

With the present continuous we say:

I am playing tennis
You are playing tennis
We are playing tennis
He/she/it is playing tennis

Frequency Adverbs we use with the Present Simple

With the present simple we use these frequency adverbs:

(Notice that the adverb comes before the main verb in the sentence.)

Always: ‘I always read before I go to bed.’

Often: ‘Her sister often comes shopping with us.’

Frequently:‘Michael frequently visits his family.’

Sometimes:‘You sometimes go to the gym, don’t you?’

Occasionally:‘It occasionally rains in summer.’

Seldom:‘They seldom ask for help.’

Rarely: ‘He rarely goes out without his backpack.’

 Hardly ever:‘I hardly ever eat pizza.’

Never: ‘Japanese people never wear shoes inside.’

Time Expressions we use with the Present Continuous

With the present continuous we use these time expressions:

(Notice that the time expression can come at the start or at the end of the sentence.)

At the moment: ‘I’m watching TV, at the moment.’

These days: ‘Paul’s living in Cardiff, these days.’

Now: ‘What are you doing, now?’

Nowadays: ‘I think you are smoking too much, nowadays.’

Present Perfect vs. Past

Simple: Learn the Key
Differences and Never
Confuse the Two Again
How can I use the present tense to talk about the past in English? It doesn’t make any sense!

You’re right—it doesn’t make sense… at first!

That’s why you’re here, reading this post.

As a language learner, you may be quite confused about the difference between the present perfect and
the simple past tenses.

After all, they both refer to events that already happened and are now in the past.

Well, I’m here to tell you that when I first learned these English tenses, I had the same problem. I was
very confused and it was only later that I learned the differences between the two.
So in this post, I’m going to explain the differences between the present perfect and the simple past in a
very simple way. I hope by the time you finish reading it, the differences are clear in your head and you’ll
never be confused about the two again.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take
anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
Try FluentU for FREE!
The English Tenses: A Brief Introduction

Before I go into the details of the simple past and the present perfect, it’s important that you fully
understand the concept of tenses in English.

Well, what are tenses?

Tenses, as some of you may already know, are a way of measuring time. Tenses tell us whether a
particular action has already happened, is happening or will happen. Every sentence we speak or write in
English is in one of these tenses.

So how do we determine the tense being used when looking at a sentence?

The answer is simple.

The verbs we use tell us which tense is being used. If the verb form changes, the tense changes (and
vice versa).

In English, there are three main tenses: past, present and future.

Here’s a simple trick to remember which is which.

When we talk about any event or action (let’s say, eating a cookie), it can only happen in one of these
three times:

It happened yesterday or even earlier (Past): I talked to Mary yesterday.

It happened today or right now (Present): I am talking to Mary on the phone.

It will happen tomorrow or even later (Future): I will talk tho Mary at work tomorrow.

I personally found the model of using yesterday, today and tomorrow to memorize the three tenses of
past, present and future to be very useful. Plus, it’s a good way to start learning basic tenses if you’re a
beginner. (Of course, even if something happened a few minutes or hours ago, it’s also in the past—but
this is a good basic trick for remembering which tense is used for which “time”!).

Once you’re confident, we can look at them in greater detail and focus on the exceptions.

You might have noticed how the verb “to talk” changed depending on the tense of the sentence. Indeed, if
you’re going to master tenses, you need to know:
 How and when to change the verbs (such as ate, eat, eating and eaten)

 Which helping verbs to use (such as have, will, is and so on) in certain cases

Now, each of these three tenses can be further divided into four “sub” tenses. These are simple,
continuous, perfect and perfect continuous.

The best way to explain this is to rewrite the above example in each of the sub-tenses. For now, don’t
worry about why we have to use so many tenses. Instead, just focus on how the verb (“to read”) is
changing in each.

Or you could try writing them on your own and checking the answers below.

Past Tense:

Simple Past: I talked to Mary yesterday.

Past Continuous: I was talking to Mary when you came in.

Past Perfect: I had talked to Mary before eating dinner.

Past Perfect Continuous: I had been talking to Mary for two hours before we finally hung up.

Present Tense:

Simple Present: I talk to Mary at least once a day.

Present Continuous: I am talking to Mary right now.

Present Perfect: I have talked to Mary before.

Present Perfect Continuous: I have been talking to Mary for three hours now.

Future Tense:

Simple Future: I will talk to Mary tomorrow.

Future Continuous: I will be talking to Mary on the train ride tomorrow.

Future Perfect: I will have talked to Mary by next week.

Future Perfect Continuous: I will have been talking to Mary for two hours at 3:00.

Now that you’ve reviewed the basics of tenses, let’s move on to the difference between past simple and
present perfect. If you still aren’t feeling confident, consider brushing up on your knowledge of how to
use tenses before continuing.
Present Perfect vs. Past Simple: Learn the Key
Differences and Never Confuse the Two Again
The Past Simple
What Is It and When Do We Use It?

The past simple (also called the simple past), as the name suggests, is the tense we use to talk about any
action or event that has already happened.

Moreover, we use this tense when we know the exact or specific details of the time of the event (such as
yesterday, the previous winter, last year, five hours ago and so on). In other words, the event is already
over and finished.

Here are some examples:

I wrote a few lines of the story in my notebook last week.

He went on an exchange program two years ago.

She ate the entire pie yesterday.

I talked to Maria on the phone five minutes ago.

In each example, the action was finished within a certain time frame. In short, the simple past is used
when talk about events that already finished.

We may also use this tense when we want to focus on telling people about the action.

Here are two examples:

We danced a lot at the party.

I walked home from school.

In both cases, the focus is on telling of the action (“dancing a lot,” “walking home”) that took place in the
past and not on the results or consequences of the action. We’re just talking about an event in the past and
aren’t discussing the possible effects of it.

If you’re still confused, no worries. This point will become clearer once we get to present perfect.

To sum up, we use the simple past to refer to an event or an action that took place in “finished time” or
to simply focus on talking about the action itself.

Modals – permission and obligation

LearnEnglish Subscription: self-access courses for professionals

Do you know how to use modal verbs to talk about permission and obligation?

Look at these examples to see how can, can't, must, mustn't, have to and don’t have to are used.

You can put your shoes and coat over there.

You can't leave your bike there.
I must call the electrician and get that light fixed.
You mustn't worry about me. I'll be fine.
You have to have a licence to drive a car.
You don't have to have a licence to cycle on the roads.

Try this exercise to test your grammar.

Grammar test 1

Read the explanation to learn more.

Grammar explanation

We often use verbs with modal meanings to talk about permission and obligation.

Permission

can

We often use can to ask for and give permission.

Can I sit here?

You can use my car if you like.
Can I make a suggestion?

could

We also use could to ask for permission (but not to give it). Could is more formal and polite than
can.

Could I ask you something?

Could I interrupt?
Could I borrow your pen for a moment, please?

may

May is the most formal way to ask for and give permission.
May I see your passport, please?
Customers may request a refund within a period of 30 days.
These pages may be photocopied for classroom use.

Prohibition

We use can't and mustn't to show that something is prohibited – it is not allowed.

can't

We use can't to talk about something that is against the rules, particularly when we didn't make
the rules.

What does this sign say? Oh, we can't park here.

You can't take photos in the museum. They're really strict about it.
Sorry, we can't sell knives to under-18s.

must not/mustn't

We use must not to talk about what is not permitted. It is common on public signs and notices
informing people of rules and laws.

Visitors must not park in the staff car park.

Baggage must not be left unattended.
Guests must not make noise after 10 p.m.

We use mustn't particularly when the prohibition comes from the speaker.

(Parent to child) You mustn't say things like that to your sister.
(Teacher to student) You mustn't be late to class.
I mustn't let that happen again.

Obligation

We use have to and must to express obligation. There is a slight difference between the way we
use them.
have to

Have to shows us that the obligation comes from outside the speaker.

We have to wear a uniform when we're working in reception.

(Student to teacher) When do we have to hand in our homework?
Al has to work tomorrow so he can't come.

We sometimes call this 'external obligation'.

must

Must expresses a strong obligation or necessity. It often shows us that the obligation comes from
the speaker (or the authority that wrote the sentence).

I must phone my dad. It's his birthday today.

(Teacher to student) You must hand in your homework on Tuesday or you will lose ten per
cent of your mark.
(Sign on a plane) Seat belts must be worn by all passengers.

Note that we don't use must to express obligation in the past. We use have to instead.

I had to pay £85 to renew my passport last week.

No obligation

don't have to

We use don’t have to to show that there is no obligation. You can do something if you want to
but it's not compulsory.

You don't have to wear a tie in our office but some people like to dress more formally.
You don't have to go to the bank to do a transfer. You can do it online.
You don't have to come with me, honestly. I'll be fine!

Do this exercise to test your grammar again.