Some uses and forms of 'present tenses'

The present tense is the tense (form of a verb) that is often used to express:

1 Action at the present time

If you want to describe what you are doing at this precise moment you would probably say –

I’m studying.

2 A state of being

If you wanted to express a characteristic of someone or something you might say –

Mount Fuji is a beautiful mountain.

My sister plays the cello very well.

3 A habitual action

If you wanted talk about something you often or regularly do, you might say –

I get up at 6:00 am

I never drink gasoline

4 An occurrence in the near future

If you wanted to talk about something that is ‘timetabled’ or arranged, you might say –

The next bus leaves at 4:00pm.

The entrance exam is tomorrow.

5 An action that occurred in the past and continues up to the present

If you wanted to talk about something that started in the past and is still going on now, you might say –

We have studied three units this semester.

We have been sitting in this classroom since 9:00am.

To take care of these situations above, we use four basic verb tenses.

1 The present simple

2 The present progressive

3 The present perfect

4 The present perfect progressive

Examples of the above might be:

1 I go to work every weekday

2 The student is speaking to his partner.

3 I have lived in Suginami for three years.

4 We have been studying TOEFL for the past month.