Present Tense

Present Tense

For God’s sake PLEASE do not mistake this with Present Continuous Tense.
No!! Present tense does not mean, “I am reading, she is speaking”, etc.
Present tense means, something that you do every time.
For example: I like Pokémon. (This means at any given time you like Pokémon)

Let’s get this straight like an arrow.

You use present tense for expressing:

✔️ Habits

✔️ Likes and dislikes

✔️ Truths

✔️ General facts

✔️ Repeated actions

✔️ Instructions

✔️ Unchanging situations

✔️ Emotions

✔️ General activities

✔️ Wishes etc.

 

Here are a few examples for you to digest that list:

 

  1. I play golf.
  2. He reads Indian literature.
  3. She works really hard.
  4. They eat only grass.
  5. We bake every Sunday.
  6. You look great.
  7. It understands everything.
  8. Chris smiles when he looks at me.
  9. It rains during July.
  10. Go straight and make a left.

    Did you get any questions?

    Why did I write 1. I play but 2. He reads?
    I plays (incorrect)

I play (correct)

He reads (correct)

He read (incorrect)

Wait.

So there is a format okay?
However, to understand the format you must know what is v1, v2, v3 and a bit of a blah.
Lol, blah means extra words or things that you wanna say.

 

V1                    v2                    v3
Eat                   ate                   eaten

 

I/we/you/they + v1 +blah

Example: I + eat + pasta,
I + eat + vegan pasta
I + eat + spicy vegan pasta

I + eat + spicy vegan pasta at an Italian restaurant

I + eat + spicy vegan pasta at an italian restaurant with my friend

I + eat + spicy vegan pasta at an italian restaurant every sunday

I hope you understood what “blah” is. Lol

So, in the above examples, we can replace I with we, you or they and they take the same v1 and blah format

But now! What if I don't like pasta?
What would I say?

 

The format is like this :

I/we/you/they +don’t  v1 +blah

 

Examples :

I don’t eat Pizza

They don’t eat junk food

We eat together

You eat really slow

 

So, that’s that.

 

You wanna ask if your friend eats spinach, how are you gonna ask?
You say, hey friend! DO you eat spinach? he/she might answer, yes, I do or No, i don’t

Hence, the question pattern is as follows

Do + I/we/you/they +v1 + blah?

Examples: Do you eat spinach?
Do they eat dry fruits? Etc.

 

It’s time for a short recap now
Go up and read again if you didn’t understand

what it means by Present tense and where we use it

Analyze the Structure once again:

I/we/you/they + v1 +blah

I/we/you/they +don’t  v1 +blah
Do + I/we/you/they +v1 + blah?

 

Think of some more examples
You can use other verbs too, like walk, sing, go etc

Got a clarity?
Thank God

Whadda relief
So, take your time, understand the concept and don’t forget to enjoy the language.
Watch this space for the next explanatory article about Present Tense.
I hope this was helpful

With boat loads of love,

Rinnie 🙂