Tenses
Simple present vs present progressive
The simple present simple is mainly used to indicate habitual actions, general truths
and permanent situations not limited in time.
My father runs his own company. (= seen as a permanent situation)
Note that the present tense is not used to say how long something has been going on.
He’s owned the business for years (NOT: * He owns the business for years).
The present progressive is used to express limited duration. It is suitable for describing
temporary situations, trends and developments going on at the moment of speaking.
She is working for Merrill Lynch. (= seen as a temporary situation)
The local economy is doing reasonably well. (= at the moment)
Note that some verbs are not normally used in progressive forms: know – mean –
seem – believe – own – realise – remember – think (=have the opinion) – see
(=understand) …
Present perfect vs past tense
The past tense is used to refer to a definite time or period in the past. The important
thing is not that it happened long ago, but that the moment or period is now over.
Typical time indications include ten years ago, in 1998, last week and even this
morning.
Consumer spending rose 0.8% last month.
He joined the bank in 1991.
The present perfect is used to refer to an event or a period that is perceived as
continuing up to now. Typical time indications include over the past few years, since
then, in recent months, never, so far, yet.
Consumer confidence has fallen to its lowest level in two years.
Some companies have adopted a four-day work week. (= focus on the outcome)
Present perfect simple vs progressive
Use the present perfect simple to stress the outcome of the action, and the present
perfect progressive to stress the action itself.
So far, Raspberry Pi has sold 30 million tiny computers. (= how many => result,
outcome)
We have been monitoring the situation closely over the last 12 months. (= an
ongoing activity)
In many contexts, both forms can be used.
He has worked as a sales manager for four years.
Andrew has been working in IT since 1996.
Past perfect
The past perfect is used to refer to completed actions that happened before other
events in the past.
Gasoline prices nationwide continued to ease in early August, falling to $2.84 a
gallon. Three
months earlier, prices had spiked past $3 a gallon.
The past perfect is often used in indirect speech, when the reporting verb is in the past
tense.
Mr. Dawe added: “Turnover has risen 7.8%”.
Mr. Dawe added that turnover had risen 7.8%.
1
Simple present vs present progressive
The simple present simple is mainly used to indicate habitual actions, general truths
and permanent situations not limited in time.
My father runs his own company. (= seen as a permanent situation)
Note that the present tense is not used to say how long something has been going on.
He’s owned the business for years (NOT: * He owns the business for years).
The present progressive is used to express limited duration. It is suitable for describing
temporary situations, trends and developments going on at the moment of speaking.
She is working for Merrill Lynch. (= seen as a temporary situation)
The local economy is doing reasonably well. (= at the moment)
Note that some verbs are not normally used in progressive forms: know – mean –
seem – believe – own – realise – remember – think (=have the opinion) – see
(=understand) …
Present perfect vs past tense
The past tense is used to refer to a definite time or period in the past. The important
thing is not that it happened long ago, but that the moment or period is now over.
Typical time indications include ten years ago, in 1998, last week and even this
morning.
Consumer spending rose 0.8% last month.
He joined the bank in 1991.
The present perfect is used to refer to an event or a period that is perceived as
continuing up to now. Typical time indications include over the past few years, since
then, in recent months, never, so far, yet.
Consumer confidence has fallen to its lowest level in two years.
Some companies have adopted a four-day work week. (= focus on the outcome)
Present perfect simple vs progressive
Use the present perfect simple to stress the outcome of the action, and the present
perfect progressive to stress the action itself.
So far, Raspberry Pi has sold 30 million tiny computers. (= how many => result,
outcome)
We have been monitoring the situation closely over the last 12 months. (= an
ongoing activity)
In many contexts, both forms can be used.
He has worked as a sales manager for four years.
Andrew has been working in IT since 1996.
Past perfect
The past perfect is used to refer to completed actions that happened before other
events in the past.
Gasoline prices nationwide continued to ease in early August, falling to $2.84 a
gallon. Three
months earlier, prices had spiked past $3 a gallon.
The past perfect is often used in indirect speech, when the reporting verb is in the past
tense.
Mr. Dawe added: “Turnover has risen 7.8%”.
Mr. Dawe added that turnover had risen 7.8%.
1
