“I have lunch”, or “I’m having lunch”? Which is good English? That’s an easy question: they’re both good, but they have different meanings. But then it gets more complicated, and here lies a problem for teachers. Do we offer a simple explanation which is true up to a point, or a full explanation which (like everything in language) is complex, rich, diverse, changeable – and hard to cope with? Or somewhere between the two, depending on the students?
When I’m working through a new language point with students, I often use a phrase which makes them laugh because they’ve heard it so often: “It’s more complicated than that, but that’s enough for now”. I am going to start by offering four basic facts about these two tenses, and after each of them I shall want to say: “It’s more complicated than that . . . “ You know the rest.
So we’re talking about the present simple tense (I eat, she lives . . .) and the present progressive tense (I am eating, she is living . . .) (the present progressive is also called the present continuous, especially in older books).
Notice something: time and tense are different. Time is what a clock tells us; tense is a form of the verb. The present tense of a verb does not necessarily tell us about the present time, nor the past tense about past time.
Here is the first pair of facts.
First fact: Liz reads French. I know she does, because she has a copy of ‘Le Monde’, which is a Parisian newspaper, under her arm.
But the paper is under her arm, so she’s not reading French now.
Second fact: she’s speaking French now.
So the present simple tense happens at any time, past, present or future, whereas the present progressive tense is tied to the present time.
To summarise:
She reads French = ANY TIME, PROBABLY NOT NOW
She is speaking French = NOW
Here are a few examples you could try out with students of any age:
TRUE or FALSE? (of student)
Pedro eats lunch Pedro is eating lunch.
Hans spends his time in a bank (or wherever) Hans is working in a bank
Juana listens to me Juana is listening to me (is she?)
Susana studies English Susana is studying English (in
class, both true!)
It’s always a good idea to mix in examples where both sentences are true.
Of course, “it’s more compl . . .” you know the rest.
Now for the second pair of facts (which don’t quite fit with the first pair): First, the present progressive tense.
She’s asking about ‘these days’, which is not exactly the same as ‘now’. Now, they are chatting and drinking a cup of coffee. He’s not studying at this very moment, but studying is a temporary activity, which will go on for a short while, and then he will move on to other things.
Now, the present simple tense:
He is asking Mr Stevenson what his permanent job is.
So the present simple tense happens at any time, past, present or future, whereas the present progressive tense is tied to near the present time, but not necessarily at the present time.
To summarise:
“I’m studying engineering” = TEMPORARY, CLOSE TO THE PRESENT
“I work for Marcus and Welby.” = PERMANENT, ANY TIME, CENTRED IN THE PRESENT
Putting those two sets of facts together, we can see some similarity, with facts 1 and 3 being temporary, and at or around the present. Facts 2 and 4 feel permanent, and the link to present time is weak, sometimes non-existent.
My last point on this: you can sometimes choose either present simple or present progressive; the choice depends on your attitude. If you say “I’m living in London”, it sounds as if you regard your stay in London as being for a limited time; if you say “I live in London”, it sounds as if you don’t have any idea of moving somewhere else.
“Of course, it’s more compl- . . .”
I made a video on these four facts, which you can find at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dToboUPXdxE
Notes on the “more complicated” stuff
Here are four of the ‘more complicated’ areas. There are more than four, and new ones appear from time to time as speakers pursue their anarchic way.
1 Future reference
We have a rich range of ways of talking about the future. Here are four:
- Intention: “I’m gonna wash that man right out of my hair.” (song) going to
- Prediction: “It will be cold in Finland.” will
- Plan: “I am taking my holiday in Ibiza this year.” Pres. prog.
- Unalterable plan: “The train leaves Paddington at 17.42.” Pres. simple
I have four videos on the future; I’ll talk about those another day.
2 Immediate present (especially describing)
When we describe something which is happening as we speak, we often use the present simple tense. here is a radio commentator describing a scene:
An assistant opens the car door and the queen steps out. She walks slowly up the steps and greets the archbishop . . .
Teachers often use this when they are demonstrating something.
I have a video on this, which I’ll discuss another day.
3 Stative verbs
We use some verbs only – or mostly – in the present simple tense, and it’s because of the semantics of the verb – what kind of meaning does it have?
We think of verbs like know, understand, cost, want, like as describing permanent states, or qualities or conditions, and we don’t think of them as having a beginning or an end. Of course everything has a beginning and an end, but that’s not how we see these verbs.
I haven’t made a video on stative verbs yet; I really must.
4 Weird habits of native speakers
Native speakers, and the growing millions of near-native speakers around the world today, are anarchic, and change and shift language to make it do what they want. They can do this because language is not a fixed system; it is more of a living thing, driven by its own biology more than by rules and logic.
This is most obvious in vocabulary: hoover, biro, radar, mouse, upload, download, internet and thousands of other words are created every year – I almost want to say every day. However, they are seldom entirely new: nearly all neologisms are existing words, or combinations of existing words, or sometimes people’s names or acronyms which are given a new meaning.
This is also true of grammar, which changes more slowly, but is always on the move. Words like can, should and shall have shifted in meaning, you became both singular and plural long ago, they is in the process of becoming singular as well as plural (Wikipedia: ‘singular they’). We hear phrases such as I’m liking this! We use the present simple to make a past action seem alive in the present time.
Languages are living things. They are more biological than logical.
That’s all for today!
© Shepherd School of English