AOTEAROA NZCHE
A CATHOLIC COLLEGE OF HIGHER EDUCATION

The present and past tenses are two fundamental verb tenses used in English to indicate when an action happens. Here's a breakdown of how they differ:

Present Tense:

• Used to express actions or states of being that are happening now, habitually, or are generally true.

  • Examples:

    • I eat breakfast every morning. (habitual action)

    • The sun shines brightly today. (present action)

    • Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius. (general truth)

• There are different forms of the present tense depending on the verb and the context:

  • Simple present: Used for habitual actions and general truths (examples above).

  • Present continuous: Used for actions happening right now or around now (e.g., I am cooking dinner).

  • Present perfect: Used for actions completed at an unspecified time in the past or with a connection to the present (e.g., I have eaten lunch).

Past Tense:

• Used to express actions or states of being that happened at a specific time in the past.

  • Examples:

    • I ate breakfast this morning. (specific past action)

    • The sun shone brightly yesterday. (past action)

    • They invented the light bulb in the 19th century. (specific past event)

• There are two main forms of the past tense:

  • Simple past: Used for completed actions at a specific time in the past (examples above).

  • Past continuous: Used for ongoing actions that were interrupted by another event in the past (e.g., I was cooking dinner when the phone rang).

Choosing the Right Tense:

• Use the present tense when the action is happening now, habitually, or is generally true.

• Use the past tense when the action is completely finished and happened at a specific time in the past.

Here are some additional points to consider:

• Some verbs, called stative verbs, typically don't have continuous tenses because they express states rather than actions (e.g., believe, understand, seem).

• The present perfect tense can sometimes be used to talk about past experiences without mentioning a specific time,especially if the experience is relevant to the present (e.g., I've traveled to many countries).