Spotlight 9. Present Tenses

Present Simple
Affirmative
I/you play
he/she/it plays
we/you/they play
Negative
I/you do not play
he/she/it does not play
we/you/they do not play
Question
Do I/you play?
Does he/she/it play?
Do we/you/they play?

We use the Present Simple to talk about:
habits
He gets up early every morning
She doesn’t eat chocolate.
things that are true in general
Water boils at 100ºC
pemanent states
My mother works as a dentist.
Present Simple

every day
every week
every month
every year
every summer
at the weekend
in the morning
in January
on Tuesdays
on Friday mornings
three times a day
once a week
twice a month
usually
often
always
Time expressions usually come at the end of a sentence. We put them at the beginning of a sentence when we want to emphasise them.
He reads a book every evening.
On Sunday evenings I visit my grandparents.
Time Expressions with the Present Simple

Present Continuous
Affirmative
I am playing
you are playing
he/she/it is playing
we/you/they are playing
Negative
I am not playing
you are not playing
he/she/it is not playing
we/you/they are not playing
Question
Am I playing?
Are you playing?
Is he/she/it playing?
Are we/you/they playing?

We use the Present Continuous to talk about:
Actions in progress at the time of speaking
We are playing in the garden at the moment
Is she reading a book now?
Actions in progress around the time of speaking
He is working hard this week.
I am studying French at school.
Present Continuous

Time Expressions with the Present Continuous
now
nowadays
tonight
still
today
at these days
at the moment
at present

We don’t usually use stative verbs in the Present Continuous. Stative verbs are:
Verbs of senses.
feel, hear, see, smell, sound, taste
The cake smells wonderful
Verbs of emotion.
dislike, hate, like, love, need, prefer, want
She wants to go home now
Verbs of understanding and opinion
appear, believe, forget, hope, know, remember, think, understand
I remember his name now
Verbs of possession.
belong to, own
They own some land in the capital
Stative Verbs

Present Perfect Simple
Affirmative
I/you have played
he/she/it has played
we/you/they have played Negative
I/you have not played
he/she/it has not played
we/you/they have not played
Question
Have I/you played?
Has he/she/it played?
Have we/you/they played?

We use the Present Perfect Simple to talk about:
Something that happened in the past but we don’t know when
Marry has lost her key.
Have they finished their work?
Something that happened in the past but is important now
Mark has broken his leg so he can’t play football.
Something that started in the past but continues now
Suzie has known Tom for 6 years
Something that has just happened
John has just finished his work.
They’ve just told me about it.
Present Perfect Simple

already never so far
ever once this week
for recently lately
for ages since 1995 today
just since June yet
Time Expressions with the Present Perfect Simple

Present Perfect Continuous
Affirmative
I/you have been
playing
he/she/it has been
playing
we/you/they have been
playing
Negative
I/you have not been
playing
he/she/it has not been
playing
we/you/they have not been
playing
Question
Have I/you been
playing?
Has he/she/it been
playing?
Have we/you/they been
playing?

We use the Present Perfect Continuous to talk about:
Something that started in the past and has happened repeatedly or has continued until now
We have been trying to clean the house all morning
Something that happened repeatedly in the past and that may have finished now
I’ve been waiting for you for two hours. Hurry up!
Present Perfect Continuous

Time Expressions with the Present Perfect Continuous
all day
all week
for a long time for years
since
recently
lately
how long