Б. С. Хаймович, Б. И. Роговская теоретическая грамматика английского языка

Indicative Mood Grammemes


The Present, Non-Continuous, Non-Perfect

§ 253. As a part of the verb system it may be said to pre­sent an action in the present (present tense) unspecified as to its character (non-continuous or common aspect) and correl­ation with other situations (non-perfect order).

When occurring in speech in about 70 per cent of all cases it serves to denote a habitual, recurrent act, typical of a given person or thing, its more or less constant characteristics.
E. g. We never talk about our clients. (Hemingway).
It is used in narration describing a chain of events in the present.
E.g. I p о и r a glass of milk into a pan, add two table-spoonfuls of sugar and an egg and т i x it all well. (Daily Worker).

§ 254. The action it denotes may either coincide with the moment of speech or cover a more or less lengthy period of time including the moment of speech.

The present non-continuous non-perfect thus shows a dia­lectical combination of polar meanings.
It denotes an action as occurring at the moment of speech when found with verbs not commonly used in the continuous aspect ² (as in You see the joke, don't you?), or when the situation of speech shows that it is the fact itself that is import­ant, but not the progress of the action, as in There goes Tom. Why do you s h o и t at me?
When the present non-continuous non-perfect expresses an action that goes on forever and consequently takes place at the moment of speech as well ³, it implies that the state­ment was true in the past, it is true now and it will continue to be true in the future ⁴. It implies that time is unimportant to the truth of the statement.
E. g. Radio waves t r a v e l in straight lines, or Tissues consist of cells.
When so used it is referred to as the 'supertemporal' or 'extemporal' present.
We do not hold with these terms since action cannot de­velop otherwise than in time. I. P. Ivanova aptly suggests that it should be termed 'omnitemporal' rather than 'super-temporal' or 'extemporal' ⁵.
As seen from the examples the present non-continuous non-perfect is particularly well suited to formulate the laws of science.
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2} See § 221.

§ 255. In a context showing that reference is made to the past, the present non-continuous non-perfect may be used to denote past events, mostly presented as the speaker's reminiscences.

When employed in this function it is often termed 'histor­ic' or 'dramatic' present. It can only be used if there is some­thing in the context or in the situation of speech to show that the events described belong to the past.
I remember it as vividly as if it had happened yesterday. The old general shakes my hand, smiles and says: Well done, son. (The Worker).
Curme also mentions the so-called 'annalistic' present, a variety of the historical present used when some well known events or public figures of the past are spoken of. No other reference to the past may then be necessary.
E. g. Then Edward the Elder wins back Essex. (Hearn-shaw).

The historical present functions as a stylistic device im­parting vividness and expressiveness to narration, bringing past events nearer the hearer (or reader), making them unfold before the speaker's eyes. Somewhat allied to this is the use of the present non-continuous non-perfect when we quote an old author feeling that his words 'have weight in the ques­tions of the hour'(Curme).

Galsworthy says that humour is as essential to man as the scent to the rose.

§ 256. The present non-continuous non-perfect sometimes occurs with such verbs as to hear, to forget, to learn, to tell with reference to a past act where one might expect the pre­sent perfect to show that the act is viewed as one of present interest.