Verb Tense Review: Present Simple, Present Progressive, and Present Perfect

Good morning, dear students!!

Today I want to talk about a few verb tenses that are often confused.  It's not always really important for you to know the name of a verb tense-- knowing how to use a verb tense is much more important than remembering its name.  However, many students get confused about which verb tense can be used for what because the names can be very tricky.

Today, let's look at the differences between the present simple, the present progressive, and the present perfect.

We all know from our early years in school that ''present'' means ''now''.  However, these tenses don't all talk about things happening ''now''.

1) Present Simple

The present simple, as shown above, is used to explain general truths or routines/habits.  Someone's general appearance and skills are usually discussed in the present simple.  Facts about history, science, and economics are also often presented in the present simple.  Additionally, habits and routines are always explained in the present simple, usually with a key word at the beginning or end of the sentence to indicate the frequency of the action. 

The Present Simple is most commonly used when:

• making introductions
• talking about work responsibilities
• describing physical or personality traits
• describing your daily/weekly schedule
• talking about traditions
• general truths

2) Present Progressive/Continuous

The present progressive (also called the present continuous) describes an action happening right now, such as in the yellow tag.  It also describes actions that are technically in-process, but might not be happening at this exact moment, such as reading a book or learning a language.  Finally, the present progressive can also be used to discuss plans in the near future, as shown in the blue tag.

To recap, this tense is most commonly used:

• When talking on the telephone (you usually explain where you are and what you're doing)
• to describe an ongoing action or project (reading books and watching shows)
• Plans in the near future (''near'' can obviously mean different things for different people, but in general refers to a plan that will happen soon).

3) Present Perfect

The present perfect is used to discuss past actions without giving any reference to when the action happened.  We also use this tense to talk about general experiences, such as traveling or studying.  It is never used for actions in the present, for general truths and routines, or for a specific time in the past.

This tense is best used to describe:

• past actions that don't include a specific time (if you say ''last year'' or ''yesterday'', you need to use the past simple, not the present perfect).
• general actions from the past that have happened more than once (I have traveled to Asia three times.)
• general actions from the past that have happened for a while (I have studied Spanish for 12 years.)

Questions?  Leave them below in the comments and bring them to our next class!
Which verb tense is the hardest for you?  Have you ever confused these verb tenses before?  Practice using these tenses in your own writing and speaking practice-- we'll be reviewing them in class during the next two weeks!