Present Simple What is simple present tense?

What is simple present tense?

In grammar, verbs are words used to refer to actions or states. In English, verbs can be used in 12 different types of verb tenses. The tense of a verb, in general terms, tells you at what period of time something happens. The verb tense we are going to focus on right now is the simple present tense. Appropriately enough, verbs in the simple present tense refer to an action that is happening right now. In the sentence The cat sleeps, the verb sleeps is in the simple present tense. The cat is performing that action right now (so don’t wake her up!)
When do you use simple present tense?
In general, we use simple present tense for two main reasons:
1. We use simple present tense when describing an action or state that is happening right now. For example, the sentence The airplane flies means, typically, that the airplane is flying right now as we speak. As another example, the sentence The cheese smells like a garbage dump is describing the cheese being in a stinky state that is happening right now in this moment.
When using verbs this way, it is common to use stative verbs in the simple present tense. Stative verbs are verbs that refer to states rather than actions as in This music sounds terrible. Generally, nonstative verbs are used in the simple present tense when a person is telling a story or writing a narrative. For example, a friend might tell you a story like this:
Picture this: I am at the concert. Music plays. People dance. Everything is great. Suddenly, it rains. I am wearing my nice shirt. I run for cover. It is a close call. However, we do often use both stative and nonstative verbs in the simple present tense to state facts (because they are true right now) as in Cats have whiskers or I play college basketball.
2. We use simple present tense to refer to an action or situation that happens regularly. For example, the sentence Jessica exercises at the park expresses the thought that Jessica makes a habit of exercising at the park on a regular basis. Similarly, the sentence The moon looks orange sometimes is stating that the moon has an orange color every once in a while.
Something to keep in mind is that if a sentence is describing a temporary action or state that will continue into the future, it is NOT using a simple present tense verb. For example, the sentences My hamster is getting really fat and I am brushing my teeth are not using a verb in the simple present tense. Instead, these sentences use verb phrases that are in a verb tense known as the present continuous tense. The verbs was and were can also be used in a variety of way beyond the simple past tense. Learn more about them here.

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