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Results tagged with present-tense
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user 12952
The present tense is a grammatical tense that locates a situation or event in present time.
3
votes
Grammaticalization of third person singular -s
Almost certainly not. The usual 3rd person singular inflection in Old English was -th or -eth and it looks as if its replacement by -s came about by a process of sound change.
- 141k
5
votes
"Why aren't you listening to me?" versus "Why don't you listen to me?"
The present progressive construction is typically used to refer to an event occurring at the time of speaking. The present tense is typically used to refer to something which is generally the case. Wh …
- 141k
10
votes
Accepted
"Connection to/with the server was/has been lost"
Both are grammatical. The first uses the past tense (‘was lost’), which indicates that the connection was lost at a specific time in the past. The second uses the present perfect construction (‘has be …
- 141k
3
votes
Accepted
'Comes in' instead of 'is coming in' or 'came in'
Sports commentators sometimes use the present tense, rather than the present progressive construction, to describe a present event that occurs at the moment of speaking. It gives the commentary a grea …
- 141k
2
votes
Accepted
3
votes
Present Continuous or Present Simple in a Meeting
All are grammatical. The choice depends on the precise context in which you are seeking the information, but Are we going to have a meeting today? is likely to cover most situations.
- 141k
6
votes
What tense should be used here?
In the absence of a future tense, English has several ways of expressing the future. One is the present tense, as in ‘My daughter goes to school tomorrow for the first time’. In practice, a native spe …
- 141k
2
votes
The Use of Present Simple
‘They come to dinner tonight’, ‘They are coming to dinner tonight’, ‘They are going to come to dinner tonight’, ‘They will come to dinner tonight’ and ‘They will be coming to dinner tonight’ are all w …
- 141k
-1
votes
Present simple on temporary action
The present progressive construction, while we are redecorating her room, would also be possible here. However, the present tense is used because the length of time the redecorating will take, while n …
- 141k
2
votes
Accepted
Present Simple or Present Continuous
One of the uses of the present tense is to state a general truth, such as Water boils at 100 degrees. It returns “value1" instead of "value2" is not, perhaps, of the same broad interest, but it expres …
- 141k
1
vote
"Why are you asking?" versus "Why do you ask?"
One of the uses of the present progressive construction is to describe something that is temporary. The event described in ‘Why are you asking Tom?’ is by its nature unlikely to last for long.
One o …
- 141k
11
votes
Accepted
Past simple with today
If I found a ball in the morning, I might say in the afternoon I found a ball today. The past tense locates an action at a specific time in the past, but today is a sufficiently prolonged period of ti …
- 141k
3
votes
"The author wrote" vs. "the author writes"
In general the present tense is used when the author’s words are the subject of present discussion. So we might say ‘Schopenhauer writes that after your death you will be what you were before your bir …
- 141k
1
vote
"The more time a person invests" vs. 'the more time a person will invest'
I’m taking it that you’re interested in the different verb forms in each example. The present tense can be used to express a general truth, such as ‘Water boils at 100 degrees centigrade’, and this is …
- 141k
2
votes
Difference between "have had" and "having"
Neither is grammatical in British Standard English, where what you want is I've had a headache since this morning. However, I believe today morning is found in Indian English.
- 141k