Luke Green's Blog - Posts Tagged "grammar-rant"
Grammar Rant: Simple Present Tense
The present tense on the face of it is used simply to describe events that are going on now at this instant. After all, the present is now. However, the present tense in English is not generally used to indicate current action. At least, not the present tense in and of itself.
Yes, the English present can indicate current action as follows:
The chicken crosses the road right now.
In this case, yes, the simple present tense is indicating current action, but this is not the normal way that the simple present tense is used. In fact, present tense for reporting current action is usually only used when reporting the actions of other people. Such as when a radio announcer watching a sports game reports the actions of a player.
The simple present is used primarily in really four ways.
It is hard to say which of the two is the most common, but I'll start with the use of present tense to describe habitual activity as it is the simplest of the two.
This is quite easy. We use present tense to describe things that we do at regular times over the course of our lives. Look at the following examples.
I drive home.
I drink Dr. Pepper.
I play City of Heroes.
I sleep for at least five hours.
All of these are statements that are used to describe things which I do regularly enough to be a habit. Quite often these statements are combined with a statement of time to indicate the rate at which they happen.
I drive home every day.
I drink Dr. Pepper all the time.
I play City of Heroes four times a week.
I sleep for at least five hours each night
The second common usage is in using simple present to give instructions or explain steps in a process.
I preset the oven at 350 degrees. Then I set the timer for 20 minutes.
The imperative, which is more often used for this purpose, is almost always identical to the present tense in fact.
Preset the oven at 350 degrees. Set the timer for 20 minutes.
The third common usage of the simple present tense is a statement of declarative fact or truth.
The sky is blue.
I am blond.
I like science-fiction and fantasy.
The United States of America is a democracy.
Like with the statements of habitual activity, these are statements involving situations which are not true simply at one small point in time, but generally. The sky is most often blue when looked at. My hair color is, and always has been blond. I have always liked stories with a bit of the fantastical to them and the US has been a democracy since it was established.
Statements of this nature, while mostly of neutral and unemotional, can be controversial dependent on the subject matter.
God exists.
God doesn't exist.
Both of these statements are declarative and definitive and allow for no muddy or gray areas. The very clear and uncompromising nature of the grammar of these statements can be seen as passive aggressive or just plain aggressive dependent on the nature of emphasis and inflection in the voice. They can be confrontational in such cases because the speaker is rather firmly giving his opinion of the truth of their statement. When that statement contradicts the opinion of another person, it is perceived to be instantly an aggressive, ignorant or arrogant stance.
I believe God exists.
By comparison, this is still a declaration of truth, but the truth is limited to the self rather than the world as a whole. The statement "God exists" is the object of the statement "I believe." "I believe" is the actual declaration. I am declaring something about myself and myself only.
Since the declaration is limited to be about just myself, I am not as thoroughly threatening to the world views of anyone who would disagree with it.
The fourth use, strangely enough, can also be used to talk about events in the future.
I go to work tomorrow.
The above statement uses the present tense to talk about things that are going to happen in the future. This seems to be a contradiction, but it is apparently based on the above use of the simple present as a declarative truth. An event that has been scheduled and planned is presumed to happen even though it has not yet done so. There for this is declaring the truth of your statement that an event is going to happen in the future.
Similarly to the description of declarative truth above, this can be either a normal, neutral statement or it can be an aggressive one.
I win our match.
The speaker of this statement is taking his coming victory as a matter of already established truth. This isn't even a statement of confidence. The future progressive and future tense both can be used as a statement of confidence:
I am going to win our match.
I will win our match.
Compared to the first statement, both of these are at least admitting that the event hasn't already happened. The fact that the event hasn't happened allows for a chance of things not turning out the way the speaker expects, even if the speaker is not consciously thinking of that. However, the use of the simple present tense takes away even the unconscious and subconscious admission that an event will not happen the way the speaker expects.
Look at it again.
I win.
Realize again, this is, in the mind of the speaker, a statement of general truth or habitual action. There is no room in this statement for any sort of concept of losing. Compare this to Charlie Sheen's famous statement:
I'm winning.
Even this statement, in the present progressive, only talks about the situation as it exists at the present and the period of time immediately before and after the time of the statement. This statement does not speak of all periods of time while the other:
I win.
...is a general truth and declaration covering now, the past and the future.
Even if there is no actual aggression in the tone of voice, this is a statement beyond confidence and even normal arrogance. This statement admits no possibility of a situation where the speaker does not win.
So, there it is, while present tense can be used for descriptions of actions taking place right at that moment, that is actually the least common use of the present tense in the English language.
Yes, the English present can indicate current action as follows:
The chicken crosses the road right now.
In this case, yes, the simple present tense is indicating current action, but this is not the normal way that the simple present tense is used. In fact, present tense for reporting current action is usually only used when reporting the actions of other people. Such as when a radio announcer watching a sports game reports the actions of a player.
The simple present is used primarily in really four ways.
It is hard to say which of the two is the most common, but I'll start with the use of present tense to describe habitual activity as it is the simplest of the two.
This is quite easy. We use present tense to describe things that we do at regular times over the course of our lives. Look at the following examples.
I drive home.
I drink Dr. Pepper.
I play City of Heroes.
I sleep for at least five hours.
All of these are statements that are used to describe things which I do regularly enough to be a habit. Quite often these statements are combined with a statement of time to indicate the rate at which they happen.
I drive home every day.
I drink Dr. Pepper all the time.
I play City of Heroes four times a week.
I sleep for at least five hours each night
The second common usage is in using simple present to give instructions or explain steps in a process.
I preset the oven at 350 degrees. Then I set the timer for 20 minutes.
The imperative, which is more often used for this purpose, is almost always identical to the present tense in fact.
Preset the oven at 350 degrees. Set the timer for 20 minutes.
The third common usage of the simple present tense is a statement of declarative fact or truth.
The sky is blue.
I am blond.
I like science-fiction and fantasy.
The United States of America is a democracy.
Like with the statements of habitual activity, these are statements involving situations which are not true simply at one small point in time, but generally. The sky is most often blue when looked at. My hair color is, and always has been blond. I have always liked stories with a bit of the fantastical to them and the US has been a democracy since it was established.
Statements of this nature, while mostly of neutral and unemotional, can be controversial dependent on the subject matter.
God exists.
God doesn't exist.
Both of these statements are declarative and definitive and allow for no muddy or gray areas. The very clear and uncompromising nature of the grammar of these statements can be seen as passive aggressive or just plain aggressive dependent on the nature of emphasis and inflection in the voice. They can be confrontational in such cases because the speaker is rather firmly giving his opinion of the truth of their statement. When that statement contradicts the opinion of another person, it is perceived to be instantly an aggressive, ignorant or arrogant stance.
I believe God exists.
By comparison, this is still a declaration of truth, but the truth is limited to the self rather than the world as a whole. The statement "God exists" is the object of the statement "I believe." "I believe" is the actual declaration. I am declaring something about myself and myself only.
Since the declaration is limited to be about just myself, I am not as thoroughly threatening to the world views of anyone who would disagree with it.
The fourth use, strangely enough, can also be used to talk about events in the future.
I go to work tomorrow.
The above statement uses the present tense to talk about things that are going to happen in the future. This seems to be a contradiction, but it is apparently based on the above use of the simple present as a declarative truth. An event that has been scheduled and planned is presumed to happen even though it has not yet done so. There for this is declaring the truth of your statement that an event is going to happen in the future.
Similarly to the description of declarative truth above, this can be either a normal, neutral statement or it can be an aggressive one.
I win our match.
The speaker of this statement is taking his coming victory as a matter of already established truth. This isn't even a statement of confidence. The future progressive and future tense both can be used as a statement of confidence:
I am going to win our match.
I will win our match.
Compared to the first statement, both of these are at least admitting that the event hasn't already happened. The fact that the event hasn't happened allows for a chance of things not turning out the way the speaker expects, even if the speaker is not consciously thinking of that. However, the use of the simple present tense takes away even the unconscious and subconscious admission that an event will not happen the way the speaker expects.
Look at it again.
I win.
Realize again, this is, in the mind of the speaker, a statement of general truth or habitual action. There is no room in this statement for any sort of concept of losing. Compare this to Charlie Sheen's famous statement:
I'm winning.
Even this statement, in the present progressive, only talks about the situation as it exists at the present and the period of time immediately before and after the time of the statement. This statement does not speak of all periods of time while the other:
I win.
...is a general truth and declaration covering now, the past and the future.
Even if there is no actual aggression in the tone of voice, this is a statement beyond confidence and even normal arrogance. This statement admits no possibility of a situation where the speaker does not win.
So, there it is, while present tense can be used for descriptions of actions taking place right at that moment, that is actually the least common use of the present tense in the English language.
