Present tense

Level: intermediate

There are two tenses in English: past and present.

The present tense is used to talk about the present and to talk about the future.

There are four present tense forms:

Present simple	I work
Present continuous	I am working
Present perfect	I have worked
Present perfect continuous	I have been working

We can use all these forms:

to talk about the present:

London is the capital of Britain.
He works at McDonald’s.
He is working at McDonald's.
He has worked there for three months now.
He has been working there for three months now.

to talk about the future:

The next train leaves this evening at 17.00.
I'll phone you when I get home.
He is meeting Peter in town this afternoon.
I'll come home as soon as I have finished work.
You will be tired out after you have been working all night.

Present tense 1: MultipleChoice_MTYyMzQ=
Present tense 2: GapFillTyping_MTYyMzU=

Level: advanced

We can use present forms to talk about the past:

when we are telling a story:

Well, it's a lovely day and I'm just walking down the street when I see this funny guy walking towards me. Obviously he's been drinking, because he's moving from side to side …

when we are summarising something we have read, heard or seen:

I love Ian Rankin's novels. He writes about this detective called Rebus. Rebus lives in Edinburgh and he's a brilliant detective, but he's always getting into trouble. In one book, he gets suspended and they tell him to stop working on this case. But he takes no notice …

Present tense 3: MultipleChoice_MTYyMzY=
Present tense 4: GapFillTyping_MTYyMzk=

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Sir, In the sentence, "She works in London." what does the word "works" denote ? I am confused. Does it denote, "present state" or "present habit" or "temporary present" or "temporary habit" ?

Hello MohitUkey

What that really means depends on the context (which is ungiven here), but if you had to choose one, I'd say present habit.

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

He has worked there for three months now. He has been working there for three months now. hi Sir, I am confused about both of the above sentences. please clear it to me what the difference in these sentences for situation.

Hello Imran 26

There is no real difference in meaning between this two sentences, just a difference of focus or emphasis. I'd recommend you read our Present perfect simple and continuous page, and you might also find it useful to look at the Present perfect page in our grammar reference.

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Which is correct and why “We should go soon. Our last bus will leave at midnight” and “We should go soon. Our last bus leaves at midnight”

Hello karthik_ande

The second one is the better one for most situations, for example, when we know the bus is scheduled to leave at that time. You can read more about the different forms we use to talk about the future on our Talking about the future page.

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello Sir I would like to know the difference between these two sentences. Please let me know. He has worked there for three months now. He has been working there for three months now. Thank you. Regards Lal

Hello Lal It really depends on the situation, but, for example, the second one could imply that it is a temporary situation, or is an important change in some way. Please see the following pages for more on this: https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/english-grammar/present-perfect https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/english-grammar/continuous-aspect All the best Kirk The LearnEnglish Team

I shall have a broken glass. Can you please tell me which tense is this sentence? I need it..

Hello Rejaul islam 'shall' is often called a future form, but it's not really used to speak about the future in standard British English. Instead, it's mostly used to make offers or suggestions. For example, I can offer to bring you a glass by saying 'Shall I bring you a glass?' You can read more about how 'shall' is used on https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/modals-and-modality/shall . All the best Kirk The LearnEnglish Team

I have a doubt, in frog joke paragraph. Present simple tense is used to every time when librarian gives book to frog. But for the third time, present perfect is used. `So, after she's given the chicken some more books` I wanna know why?

Hello chhaya, Both the present simple and the present perfect are grammatically correct here. The present perfect emphasises that the action took place before another action (note the use of the word 'after' to show this). Here is a similar example: > After I give him the money, you can arrest him. > After I have given him the money, you can arrest him. Both sentences are correct, but the second emphasises that the first action (giving) comes before the second (arresting). ~ Peter The LearnEnglish Team

Which of the following best fits? Don't worry,English grammar is not...... to understand. a.so difficult b.too difficult c.difficult enough d.very difficult Sir would you please explain ?

Hello AminulIslam. The answers all mean something different, so it's difficult to say because I don't know what the speaker intends. But if I had to choose one answer, I suppose I'd choose a, though it's not the only possible answer. All the best Kirk The LearnEnglish Team

Hello. I have been searching the answer, but I'm not 100% sure whether " go in the park" is correct. I know that 'go' is a verb of movement, so I should say 'go to the park' and also "play in the park" is correct. But what about 'go in the park'? Is it acceptable? Meaning - " inside the park" not at the edge of it? I really appreciate your help. Thank u

Hello Marua We often use the preposition 'into' to speak about entering an enclosed space, and that is what would be the most natural here: 'go into the park'. Once you are inside the park, then you could play in the park (or 'inside the park'), and before you arrive, you could go to the park. All the best Kirk The LearnEnglish Team

Hello Sir Please tell me which is correct. It is me. or It is I. Thank you. Regards Lal

Hello Lal There is disagreement about this: some people prefer 'me' and others insist that 'I' is better. I prefer to say 'me', but please note that plenty of other people prefer 'I'. All the best Kirk The LearnEnglish Team

My relative's book on engineering subject has been published . I received message from him : With god's grace, my new book has published on 1st Jan 2019. Is it correct to say ' my new book has published' ; I would say it should be in passive if we treat book as a subject , but his message is not in passive. What would you say, sir ?

Hello dipakrgandhi,

A passive form is needed:

'my new book has been published'.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

I read in news paper that "somone breaks record". I think it should be broke record. Please Answer.

Hello Xada,

Newspapers often use non-standard forms, especially in their headlines or summaries for reasons of space. The standard form would probably be present perfect here (someone has broken a/the record), but it's hard to be sure without seeing the context in which the sentence appears.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Sir, 'Invite' is also used as noun ? ' India invite Trumph made a statement ... ' Invitation is also a noun. When to use invite and when to use invitation ? Is ' invite ' used in informal usage ?

Hello dipakrgandhi,

'invite' is used as a noun by many native speakers in informal contexts to mean the same thing as 'invitation'. I suppose it's also possible to see it in news headlines, where there is not a lot of space. In general, I'd recommend using 'invitation' over 'invite' (as a noun).

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Are there any faults in this sentence "I live just outside town." or is it correct? I just thought it should be "...outside of town." and was wondering about it. Thanks!

Hi A. F.,

Both versions are correct, though I suppose the version with 'of' is more complete. The word 'of' is often left out here, especially in informal speaking or writing.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Dear Peter M Thanks for your prompt response and I clearly understood it now. Thanks

Hi Sir Can you please explain the sentence I came across in a letter - This letter is confirmation as to the authenticity of Mr Ravi's payslips. As confirmation is a noun it should take 'the' or the sentence should be ' this letter is confirming as to. Am I right? thanks

Hi seelan65,

There are several possiblities. It is fine to use 'confirmation' without an article here as it is an uncountable noun used in a non-specific way. You could also say the following:

This letter is to confirm the authenticity...

This letter provides confirmation of the authenticity...

We would not say '~~This letter is confirming as to...~~', I'm afraid.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

This is the headline in newspaper : No more Vijay Mallya or Nirav Modi-like fugitives! Bill that deter economic offenders to flee India gets President’s nod Should it not be deters rather than deter as bill is a singular noun. And in my above comment should there be comma before 'as' , and in this sentence should there be comma after ' And in my above comment.

Hello dipakrgandhi,

Yes, the verb should be 'deters' to agree with the singular subject.

We generally avoid commenting on examples from elsewhere like this. It's rather unfair on the original authors to comment without their having any opportunity to respond, and we also do not know the context in which the language is used.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

OK! Thank you!

Hello Sir When we are talking about something regarding time we use present perfect and past perfect mostly. But can we use past continuos,too. e.g. How long were they waiting for? They were waiting for an hour. Can't we say : How long had they been waiting for? They had been waiting for an hour. How long have they been waiting for? They have been waiting for an hour. But not 'how long are they waiting for?' They are waiting for an hour. I think those are wrong. I am I correct? What I want to ask you is: can we use other tenses when we talk about time or only perfect tenses with since or for Thak you. Regards Lal

Hi Lal,

'time' is a very broad concept; I think you must mean something more specific but I'm not sure what. In any case, all of the sentences you wrote could be correct in certain contexts.

The last one ('How long are the waiting for?') is probably the most unusual one, but if you were speaking about a future arrangement, for example, it would be correct. 'for' speaks of a 'length' of time, i.e. duration, and 'since' indicates a duration from a point of time in the past towards the present.

I hope this helps.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

hello,is it correct to say: "it is really matter"'? or "does it really matter"?and why?

Hi manuel24,

'Does it really matter?' is correct and is a question about how important something is, with the idea that the person asking the question doubts that whatever it is really matters. Here 'matter' is a verb in the present simple tense and so the auxiliary verb 'does' is used.

'It is really matter' is grammatically correct but means something completely different. In this case, 'matter' is a noun and the sentence is affirming that something ('it') is matter (as opposed to something pyschological perhaps? -- it's hard to know without the context).

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

hello,why is used do+have as the example "I do have a vegetarian favourite restaurant"?is there also the use of "do +be" in the affermative form?

Hello manuel24,

We can use 'do' (or 'does') to add emphasis to a sentence. For example:

I like that film.

You're joking, aren't you?

No, I do like it, honestly.

We do not use this construction with 'be', however.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

thank you peter!

Dear Sir Thank you for your answer for my last question: The road is wet. It has rained and it has been raining. Your answer: both are correct What I wanted to say was : it is not raining at the moment but the result is there.I am I correct? So in this context both are correct so we can use both tenses in some situations giving the same meaning but not always. I am I correct? For e.g. Can we say 'I have been chopping beans for dinner./ I have chopped beans for dinner. But I think the first is better because we are talking about the activity. I am I correct Sir? But Sir nobody will change ' I have cut my finger' to continues although it is grammatically correct because the context is very important like in the above examples. What I want to say is: some situations we can use both these tenses but not always. I am I correct? I understood this after going through your website but I want to tell you what my opinion is. Thank you. Regards Lal

Hi Lal,

Yes, that's right -- in some cases, both forms can be correct, but in others no. The examples you give show that you have a good understanding of this, though if you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

As for your example of cutting beans, which one is better really depends on how you see the situation. If you want to emphasise, for example, that you've done the beans and so now your brother should make the rice, the simple form (which focuses more on completion) would be better. But if the result of you chopping the beans is somehow the focus (for example, if your brother asks why you're wearing an apron), then the continuous form would be the best one.

This point of English grammar is one that can take some time to get, but it looks as if you're doing very well with it!

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Hello Sir Thank you for explaining present perfect and past tense. Please explain this too The ground is wet. It has rained. The ground is wet. It has been raining. Are both these correct or only one then which one. Thank you. Regards Lal

Hi Lal,

These are both correct. You can see more about the difference between these two forms on our Present perfect simple and continuous page.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

" These good deeds bring you merit, which in turn helps you go deep in meditation and elevate your consciousness." Should it not be ' help ' in place of ' helps ' as ' these deeds ' is plural

Hi dipak,

The subject of 'helps' is the idea of good deeds bringing merit -- in other words, not the good deeds themselves, but the concept that good deeds bring merit. This idea is grammatically singular, which is why 'helps' is singular.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Hi, I was a watching a movie, and I found this dialogue" I tell you that I always do as an action hero in the movie." Here though the speaker of this dialogue at that time speaking to someone but he used " I tell you.." instead of " I am telling you that..". Why did he use simple present instead of continuous though his telling was in progress? Could you explain this ?I don't understand.

Hi jitu_jaga,

That doesn't seem right to me. Perhaps it would in context, but out of context it does not, so I'm afraid I can't explain it to you.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Hi, In which tense should I summarise a story/news to my friend that I have read on Wall street journal, facebook or listen to TED Talks? I have the same question for writing. Thank You

Hello Japan Shah,

This rather depends on the talk's content and how you wish to relate it. You could choose to report it using reported speech (see here and here). Alternatively, you could use present forms (The talk tells us how we can...). There is no one way to do this.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hi! I always do or I am always doing ? Some teachers at my school.say that " I always do " is something planned while the other is not planned and some teachers say that " I am always doing " is somwthing which happens a lot and is negative and((annoys)) the speaker and some other say it can either be negative or positive. Who should I believe? What's the right usage?

Present tense

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