Present Simple Tense

Present Simple Tense

To work I work

You work

he works

Uses: 1. The Generic Present = generic or universal truths

The earth moves around the sun

Uses : 1. The Generic Present = generic or universal truths; laws of

nature Water boils at 100 C.

Uses: The Generic Present = generic or universal truths; laws of nature

The Danube flows into the Black Sea

Uses: 1. The Generic Present = facts which are always true; permanent

situation or stateShe works in a bank

Uses: 1. The Generic Present = facts which are always true; permanent

situation or stateHe who laughs last laughs best

Uses: 1. The Generic Present = generic or universal truths

Uses: 2. Habitual present

always

generally

usually

oftenrarely

sometimes

never

every day/ week/ month

on Sunday

Children always look for loveGenerally, I don’t drink coffee in the evening

I usually walk to school

I often read my Bible

I never get up late in the morning

She goes to England every yearNo Particular Event or State

No Particular Moment of Time


often

sometimes

rarely

twice a week

usuallynever


often

sometimes

rarely

twice a weekusually

never


This child always helps his parents to shovel the snow in front of their house


This girl never says no when asked to do the dishes


He washes the dishes every day

Uses: 3. The Instantaneous Present = Particular Event!!!

Simultaneous with the moment of Speaking

NO DURATION in mind

Radio or TV commentaries, sports

Description of demonstrations, experiments

Stage d

irecti

ons

Exclamati

ons:

Here, T

here…

.



There goes the last bus!

There it goes!Here

comes

the bus!



Banel Nicolita passes the ball to Chivu who heads straigh into the goal!



The actions will happen each and every time the same!

He coughs loudly several times, sits down on the chair, frowns, sneezes

He sits down on the floor, stretches his arms and sighs



Now I put the cake mixture into this bowl and add a drop of vanilla essence

Uses: 4. State Verbs

Be/ Have

He is very intelligent He has/ owns/ possess a nice house

Vbs of thinking

think

unde

rsta

nd

believe

Vbs of feelings and emotions

lovehatewant

Involuntary perception

Feel, hear, se

e

Verbs of thinking

think

I think Pres

ent

Simple

is not d

ifficu

lt

I think the museum is open to visitors

understandDo you understand

Present Simple now?

They understand my

problem now

believe

I believe in God

I believe he is the man you are looking forI do not believe it.

Guess, im

agine, know,

remember, supposeRealize, remember,

doubt, forget

Verbs of thinking

I think I’ll impress John if I study hard

Anyway, I understand

the lesson better now

I expect the teacher will give me a high mark

I doubt I can read the whole pile of books, though

Verbs of feelings and emotions

hate

loathe detest

wantpr

efer

wish

lovelike

adoredesire

I dislike his behaviour

I want to go to LondonDo you like English?

Verbs of feelings and emotions

I adore these moments of peace

Wow, I love this coffee brand,

it is a wonderful startfor my long work day!

I hate the way the waitress looks at me… she must think that there is no tip

I want to talk to my boss, I can see him at that

table over there, but...

Verbs of involuntary perception

hear

Listen! Do you hear a noise?

I am listening, but I can’t hear a thing, I do not hear, really….

see

I see

a ca

r com

ing

toward

s us

Look: You look well

smell

The house still smells of that cabbage stewI am smelling the flower and I can

say that it smells good

Feel, notice

I feel (like) an absolute fool

Taste: The soup tastes

bad


This coffee smells terrible

Ooops, it tastes awful, too

but I can’t say a word

I feel like an absolute fool.

I hope this coffee commercial is a success and the public

can’t read my mind

Uses: 5. The Present Simple for Future

Planned future action

Part of an already fixed programme

Calendar,

journey,

timeta

bleCome, go,lea

ve retu

rn;

begin, finish

, start,

end, m

eet.

Obligatory adverbial of Obligatory adverbial of time for the correct time for the correct interpretation of the interpretation of the

temporal valuetemporal value


The train leaves Craiova at 6:30 and arrives in Bucharest at 8:30

Our spring holiday begins on April 26th.

Certainty


What time does the film begin?

One day three we visit Buckingham Palace; - description of travel arrangements

The examination begins at 8.30 tomorrow morning.

Certainty


time

The sooner you finish the better it will beconditio

n

The idea of futurity is The idea of futurity is clearly denoted in the main clearly denoted in the main

clause --> Future Timeclause --> Future Time

I’ll give you the book as soon as I finish

Unless y

ou leave

now, you will

miss th

e train We will be late if you

don’t hurry

If ClausesIf I get a good mark my mom will buy me the dress

If I read the whole pile of books I will get a ten

If I understand this page I will call it a day

If I finish here in time I will go to the concert

Time ClausesWhen I go home I’ll have a hot shower and go to bed

As soon as the bell rings I’ll rush out of the door

When I get the phone from Mark I’ll leave the library

When I finish this book I won’t

start another one

Bibliography:

• Ioana Murar, The English Verb, EUC, 2004, Craiova

Present Simple Tense

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