Writing in the Present Tense — Here’s All You Need to Know

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One of the most commonly used tenses both in writing and speaking is the present tense, particularly the simple present type.

Although most people who can speak the English language are familiar with this grammatical tense, not everyone thoroughly knows the subtle nuances behind it.

Apart from the simple present form, verbs can also be inflected in the present continuous, in the present perfect, and in the present perfect continuous forms.

This post mainly tackles all of these four basic present tenses to address the inquiry on how to write in the present tense, which seems to be causing some confusion among people.

Let’s start with a quick answer.

 

How do you write in the present tense?

Writing in the present tense means knowing its four aspects: the simple present (“she does” or “they do”), present continuous (“she is doing” or “they are doing”), present perfect (“she has done” or “they have done”), and present perfect continuous (“she has been doing” or “they have been doing”).

 

Everything about the present tense: A grammar-based discussion

We already know that the present tense is used for actions and events that are scientifically proven or generally accepted, such as the sun rising in the east and wars being costly.

However, there is more to these ideas than what meets the eye. That is, the present tense also constitutes other specific elements that need to be discussed in detail to be fully understood.

The present tense can be used to represent ideas that happen regularly, continuously, at an indefinite time in the past, or for things that started to occur in the past but still continue at the present time.

In grammar, we refer to these time-related concepts as “the simple present,” “the present continuous or progressive,” “the present perfect,” and “the present perfect continuous” aspects.

If we wish to describe an action or event falling in any of these four grammatical aspects, the verbs must also be inflected in particular ways, which is apparently not that fun to do for many young learners.

However, adults who have already gained a decent amount of linguistic competence and world knowledge may relatively find this grammatical discussion easier and more relevant.

To understand these ideas in utmost detail, listed below are the explanation of the four grammatical aspects under the present tense, as well as some examples for contextualization:

 

The Simple Present Aspect

The simple present aspect is particularly used for actions and events that happen regularly, habitually, or customarily.

These actions are expected to be true and to repeat regularly such as going to work at seven, eating breakfast at six, or waking up at five-thirty in the morning. 

In English, ideas that are expressed in the simple present follow a certain subject and verb agreement; the grammatical number of the subject is crucial in identifying the correct verb form to use.

All singular subjects need to be succeeded with verbs that contain the suffix “-s” or “-es,” while all plural subjects need to make use of the base form of the verb.

Examples:

 

 
As not all ideas are positive or affirmative, we may also write sentences in their negative form; this can be done by using the adverb “not” together with the verb.

Singular subjects need to make use of “does not,” while plural subjects need to use “do not” to form negative sentences, followed by the base form of the main verb.

In casual language use, “does not” is often conveniently contracted into “doesn’t,” whereas “do not” gets combined into “don’t.”

Examples:

 

By extension, even though “I” is singular and “you” can either be singular or plural depending on the context, these two pronouns must always take the base form of the verb as an exception to the rule.

Examples:

 

 

 
You may also refer to our other resource text that specifically covers the differences between “love” and “loves” to understand more about the simple present tense.

Additionally, we also use adverbs of frequency like “always,” “often,” “sometimes,” “seldom,” “rarely,” and “never” in conveying the simple present tense.

Examples:

 

 
The simple present may also be used to talk about states, events, and general knowledge using the primary auxiliary verbs in English, namely, “am,” “is,” and “are.” 

Examples:

 

 

 
Similarly, we can also just add the adverb “not” after the auxiliary verbs to create the negative form of sentences.

While it is possible to contract “is not” and “are not” into “isn’t” and “aren’t,” respectively, using “amn’t” is a grammatical anomaly in English.

Examples:

 

 

The Present Continuous or Present Progressive Aspect

The present continuous aspect, which is otherwise known as the present progressive tense, is used to describe ongoing actions and events.

Present continuous verbs are formed by using either “am,” “is,” or “are” followed by the main verb with the suffix “-ing.”

The grammatical number of the subject also needs to be considered in determining the correct verb form to use in the present continuous tense.

While the simple present is used for actions that happen repeatedly, the present continuous is particularly used to describe something that is persistently happening at the time of speaking or writing.

If you wish to state a piece of factual information, you have to use the simple present tense, as in “Water freezes at zero degrees Celsius.”

However, if you wish to describe the currently “very cold” temperature outside your house in the middle of winter, you should say “It’s freezing outside.”

Interestingly, the present continuous aspect may also represent a stronger, more emphatic, or even a negative connotation when compared to the simple present.

If you are merely declaring or sharing information in “I always lose my keys,” the meaning of the sentence changes in “I’m always losing my keys, so I should already do something about it.”

Here are other examples for your reference:

Examples:

 

 
Although superficially easy, the present continuous aspect tends to become extra challenging when we get confronted with certain types of verbs.

Stative verbs are those ones that represent states rather than actual actions like “mean,” “know,” “want,” “believe,” and “suppose.”

Example:

 

 
We normally avoid using stative verbs in the present continuous form unless we want to evoke politeness, humor, or any other form of emphatic connotation.

For example, we may use the word “being” instead to be able to describe a person’s act or behavior at the time of speaking or writing.

In other words, we may also say that the simple present is great for describing realistic or genuine personality observations.

Meanwhile, the present continuous can be used for talking about temporary or situational attitude observations.

Example:

 

 

The Present Perfect Aspect

The present perfect aspect is used to describe events that happened at an indefinite time in the past such as experiences, achievements, and transformations.

This is formed by using the auxiliary verb “has” for singular subjects and “have” for plural subjects followed by the past participle form of the main verb.

Relative to the present time or “now,” we can use the present perfect is used to talk about actions and events that continue from the past until the present.

We particularly use the present perfect aspect for experiences like the following:

Examples:

 

 
We also use the present perfect in things that denote achievements or developments in an indefinite time in the past, particularly if the context already indicates so.

If we normally use finished past time markers like “yesterday,” “last week,” or “last year” for the simple past tense, we use unfinished ones for the present perfect such as “today,” “this week,” and “this year.”

Examples:

 

 

The Present Perfect Continuous or Present Perfect Progressive Aspect

The present perfect continuous or present perfect progressive aspect is meanwhile used for describing continuous actions and events that started from the past until the relative present.

In other words, the present perfect continuous focuses on describing the duration of actions and events or the stretch of time they take.

As opposed to momentary or punctual verbs like “catch” and “explode”, durative verbs are used in writing and speaking sentences in the present perfect continuous tense.

Examples of durative verbs are “play,” “walk,” “run,” “read,” “travel,” “write,” “sing,” “perform,” “rain,” “snow,” “work,” and so on.

To form present perfect continuous verbs, we must use either “has” or “have” followed by the past participle “been” and the main verb ending in “-ing.”

Examples:

 

 
If we compare the present continuous and the present perfect continuous aspects, we can see that there is more temporal or durative focus on the latter.

Examples:

 

 

Common subject-verb agreement errors in the present tense

Subject-verb agreement is probably the most challenging part of writing in the present tense; hence, this section particularly covers this concern in detail.

Listed below are linguistic elements that often cause confusion especially among non-native speakers of the English language:

 

Indefinite pronouns

Indefinite pronouns can either be singular or plural in number. While most native speakers do not find any difficulty in distinguishing both kinds of pronouns, this is a common issue among non-natives.

Singular indefinite pronouns need to either use “is” or regular verbs with the suffix “-s” or “-es,” while plural indefinite pronouns need to take the base form or “are.”

Examples of singular indefinite pronouns are “anybody,” “everyone,” “either,” “each,” and “everything,” and examples of plural indefinite pronouns are “few,” “many,” “both,” and “several.”

Examples:

 

 

Nouns ending in the suffix “-ics”

Although branches of knowledge typically end in the suffix “-ics,” which makes us think that they are plural in number, they are actually singular nouns.

Example:

 
However, when we use these branches of knowledge to refer to activities and practices, we have to make use of the base of the verb or the auxiliary verb “are.”

Example:

 

Nouns that are plural in form and number

Nouns that are plural in form and number also exist in the English lexicon. Examples of these words are “scissors,” “fireworks,” “tweezers,” and “clothes.”

These words are quite tricky because they do not actually have singular forms because they either come in pairs or are too hard to numerically count.

Since these words are plural in number, we have to treat them as plural subjects which means they should also take base verbs and the plural auxiliary verb “are.”

Examples:

 

 

“The number” vs. “A number”

The article “the” is definite, and it is used to mark the singularity of “number” as well as its other subsequent constituents like “of people” or “of applicants.”

Example:

 
This also means that “a number” is, therefore, the plural marker in noun phrases as in “a number of contestants” and “a number of participants.”

Example:

 

Delayed subjects

In sentences starting with “here” and “there,” the subject can be located after the verb because “here” and “there” are only dummy elements.

This special type of sentence construction requires attention to detail because it defies the regular sentence pattern in English which is “subject-verb-object.”

To know the appropriate verb form to use, we have to keenly consider the grammatical number of the delayed subjects.

Examples:

 

 

Antecedents and relative clauses

An antecedent is a linguistic construct used to classify words that provide meaning to certain pronouns that come at a later part of the sentence.

In the example below, the antecedent is “my uncle.” It provides meaning for the pronoun “he” in the second sentence:

Example:

 
Antecedents determine the grammatical number of relative pronouns used in relative clauses in constructing sentences with relative clauses.

A relative clause is a piece of either restrictive or non-restrictive information that post-defines a noun that is often the subject of the sentence.

Commas need to separate non-restrictive information, but no commas should encapsulate relative clauses whose meanings are restrictive to the rest of the sentence.

Commas before relative clauses may also be another tricky grammatical concern in English, but there are lots of easy ways to know how to use them.

In writing simple present sentences, the verb in the relative clause, as well as the main verb in the sentence, should always agree with the grammatical number of the antecedent.

Examples:

 

 

Frequently Asked Questions in “Writing in the Present Tense”

 

How do we write in the present tense third person?

The third-person point of view is represented by the subject pronouns “he,” “she,” “it,” and “they.” To put it simply, writing in the present tense third-person means writing from the point of view of another person instead of using “I,” “you,” and “we.”

 

How do we write in the past tense?

Writing in the past tense entails inflecting verbs in the simple past (verb + -d/-ed), the past continuous (was/were + verb + -ing), past perfect (had + past participle), and past perfect continuous (had + been + verb -ing).

 

Why are past events in stories and novels written in the present tense?

Past events and actions are written in the present tense in stories and novels to let readers experience the events as if they also exist at the moment with the characters. Doing so also promotes better imagination which then compels readers to continue reading. 

 

Conclusion

Knowing how to write grammatical sentences is key in persuasive, non-ambiguous, and therefore, effective communication.

Even if verb tenses are quite technical to learn, it is inarguably essential to study these linguistic elements to promote healthier and more accurate communicative exchanges.