The present tenses

eternity now

If you haven't followed the introductory guide to English tenses yet, please consider doing so now.

Talking about now

Present tenses in English (as in most languages) are actually reasonably straightforward. It is easier to understand the way English functions if you think of tenses being divided into two types – past and non-past.
The reason for this is that English, like many other languages, uses a variety of 'present' forms to talk about the future, because it lacks a dedicated tense form.
For more about how that is done, see the guide to four future forms.

Compare these examples and see if you can figure out what the difference in meaning is:

Cows eat grass
She always complains
She's always complaining
I usually stay at The Grand but this year I'm staying at The Imperial
I type in my user name and then the password. See? Now we click on 'Proceed'
I'm taking it apart again so you can see how it all fits together
Johnson runs up to the crease and bowls to Smith who raps it away to the boundary for four more

Click here when you have an answer.

	Tense	Use	Other examples
1	Present simple Cows eat grass	The timeless present for statements which are always true.	The sun rises in the east After June in Europe the days get shorter
2	Present simple She always complains	A timeless use applied to a person for habit or habitual attitude.	They never arrive on time She always distrusts innovation We take our holidays in France
3	Present progressive She's always complaining	A timeless use applied to a person indicating the speaker's irritation. (This use often comes with a frequency adverb such as always, frequently, constantly, continually etc.)	He's constantly interfering They are continually moaning
4	Present simple vs. present progressive I usually stay at The Grand but this year I'm staying at The Imperial	The first verb expresses habit. The second verb indicates a departure from the habit for an action of limited duration happening now.	He studies at Oxford but this term he's doing a course at Cambridge She usually works in Finance but she's helping out in this department to cover sickness
5	Present simple I type in my user name and then the password. See? Now we click on 'Proceed'	Instantaneous use describing a sequence of actions. (A single action is expressed with the present progressive.)	I start with 2 measures of this, you see, and add one of this like so and finish it off with some crushed ice and there you have it
6	Present progressive I'm taking it apart again so you can see how it all fits together	Instantaneous use describing an action taking place right now. (If no time is implied or marked in some way, we assume this form refers to the present.)	He's watching television in the lounge They're cutting the grass
7	Present simple Johnson runs up to the crease and bowls to Smith who raps it away to the boundary for four more	Instantaneous use mostly confined to sports commentator speech. Also occurs in the performative use where the saying performs the act such as I call upon everyone here to ...)	Federer serves down the centre, the return comes too high and he easily puts it away in the corner I implore you to stop

It is important to remember that many languages do not distinguish between progressive and instantaneous actions. In French, for example, je lave la voiture could be translated either as I wash the car or I am washing the car. The context will usually make things clear. In German, Greek and many other languages, the same thing applies.

Now, as a test, can you complete this table? Click on the table when you have filled in all the blank cells in your head.

present 2

Three important points

If an event is timeless we always use the present simple unless we are expressing irritation
If an event is of limited duration, we use the present progressive
If an event is instantaneous we use either tense but the present progressive is more common

There's another short test on this here.

Forming the tenses

With these two tenses, form is not usually a serious problem. As with most tenses in English, it is the concept that takes some mastering.

Present Simple	Person	Declarative	Interrogative	Negative	Examples
Singular	1st	subject + base form	do + subject + base form	subject + don't + base form	I think that's sensible Do I have your support? I don't play tennis very well
	2nd	subject + base form	do + subject + base form	subject + don't + base form	You think that's important Do you have enough support? You don't play very well
	3rd	subject + base form + s / es	does + subject + base form	subject + doesn't + base form	He thinks I'm stupid Does it rain a lot in the winter? She doesn't play tennis very well
Plural	1st	subject + base form	do + subject + base form	subject + don't + base form	We think that's sensible Do we have your support? We don't play tennis very well
	2nd	subject + base form	do + subject + base form	subject + don't + base form	You think that's important Do you have enough support? You don't play very well
	3rd	subject + base form	do + subject + base form	subject + don't + base form	They think that's sensible Do they have your support? They don't play tennis very well

Things to notice:

Many languages change the ending (inflect) for all persons and number so, for example, in German, we see:
ich spiele (I play)
du spielst
er / sie / es spielt
wir spielen
ihr speilt / Sie speilen
sie spielen
The same applies to most European languages and some are even more complicated than German.
English is unusual because ONLY the third person singular has any inflexion and it takes -s or -es to show number and person.
Even above elementary level, the lack of an inflexion on the majority of forms results in learners forgetting to insert it when necessary.
To form questions and negatives, many languages rely on changes to word order or simply on intonation or punctuation.
English, however, makes use of the auxiliary verb do (called an operator) to form both questions and negatives with the simple present (and past, incidentally).
In the third person singular, this becomes does, of course.
At elementary level in particular, this is confusing and hard to remember so we get errors such as:
*Go you?
*Make you?
etc.

Present progressive	Person	Declarative	Interrogative	Negative	Examples
Singular	1st	subject + am + -ing form	am + subject + -ing form	subject + am + not + -ing form	I'm thinking about it Am I telling the truth? I'm not playing very well
	2nd	subject + are + -ing form	are + subject + -ing form	subject + are + not + -ing form	You are thinking clearly Are you have enough support? You aren't playing very well
	3rd	subject + is + -ing form	is + subject + -ing form	subject + is + not + base form	She is expecting me Is he expecting you? It's not raining at the moment
Plural	1st	subject + are + -ing form	are + subject + -ing form	subject + are + not + -ing form	We are waiting for a bus Are we expecting anyone? We aren't working today
	2nd	subject + are + -ing form	are + subject + -ing form	subject + are + not + -ing form	You are working too hard Are you doing anything? You aren't working enough
	3rd	subject + are + -ing form	are + subject + -ing form	subject + are + not + -ing form	They are working too hard Are they doing anything? They aren't working enough

Things to notice:

Because of the peculiar nature of the verb be in English, the first and second person singular forms use am and is while all the others use are.
This doesn't usually cause problems above very elementary levels but the use of aren't I? instead of the expects amn't I? can produce error. See the guide to question tags for more.
The verb be is acting as a primary auxiliary verb in forming this tense so the negative and interrogative forms do not use the operator do, relying on word order to signal questions and on the insertion of not for negatives. At elementary levels this can confuse and we may get errors such as
*Do you are coming?
*Does he is listening?
It's not usually too serious or long-lasting.

Stative and dynamic uses of verbs

There is a guide to stative and dynamic uses on this site and that will not all be repeated here.

For now, it is important that you understand that the stative (or state) use of a verb means that it is used to describe a state, not an action or event.
The dynamic use of a verb means that it is used to describe an action or event, not a state of affairs.

verbs which are used to refer to a current state, are usually in the simple tense form
For example:
1. She believes in ghosts [this is her current state of mind]
2. I feel a bit sick [my current state of health]
3. I think that's the right train [my current belief]
4. He understands me [a continuous state]
verbs that are used to refer to a current action, are usually in the progressive form
For example:
1. We are waiting for the bus
2. She is walking the dog
3. She is taking an examination
4. My father is doing the gardening

Verbs that are frequently used statively mostly fall into these categories:

Mental processes: think, believe, imagine, doubt, guess, remember etc.
Feelings and emotions: like, love, adore, enjoy, prefer, want, wish etc.
Senses: taste, feel, smell, see, hear etc.

Two things to be very careful with

Many languages do not make this distinction at all so learners consistently make errors, even at quite high levels, such as:
    *I am believing her
    *I am enjoying tennis
    *It is smelling of tobacco in here
The distinction refers to how we use the verbs, not the verbs themselves (so it makes little sense to talk about stative and dynamic verbs). Sometimes, the sense of the verb changes depending on how it's used.
For example:
    I think he's coming later
vs.
    Please be quiet, I'm thinking
    I am enjoying the music
vs.
    I enjoy music
    You are hearing things!
vs.
    I hear what you say.

If we overstate the distinctions and tell learners, e.g., that we never use certain verbs in the progressive, you will misinform and confuse your learners.

Other ways to talk about the present

Do not run away with the idea that time and tense are the same thing. They often are, of course, and I think she's wonderful is both a present tense and refers to present time.
However, most languages have other ways to talk about the present which do not necessarily appear to be present tenses. For example:

[Hearing a knock on the door] That will be the postman (This is a future form but clearly refers to this second)
I have lost my wallet (This is the present perfect tense used to describe a current state. On this site, the present perfect is analysed as a present not past tense.)
If I were a rich man (This is subjunctive for of the verb be used to talk about unreal present states.)

It is also true the other way around: present tenses are often used in English to talk about times other than the present. For more, see the guide to four future forms.