Golden Rules

1 We can use the present continuous with some state verbs (e.g. attract, like, look, love, sound) when we want to emphasize that a situation is temporary. Compare:

(a) Ann visits us quite often. The children love having her here.

(b) Ann is staying with us at the moment. The children are loving having her here.

2 With some verbs describing mental states (e.g. find, realize, regret, think, understand) we can use the present continuous to emphasize that we have recently started to think about something or that we are not sure about it, cf:

(a) I regret that the company will have to be sold. (=I am sorry but I have made the decision)

(b) I’m regretting my decision to give her a job. (=I am increasingly ware that it was the wrong decision.)

The verb consider is only used with the present continuous when it means “think carefully about”:

He’s considering taking early retirement. (NOT *He considers…)

3.We can use the Present Simple in the phrases such as It says here, I hear, I gather, I see, They say, Someone tells me to introduce news that we have heard, read, seen, or have been told. We can also use past tenses (It said here, I heard):

Alice tells me you are thinking of taking up a new job.

I hear the next speaker is one of the top experts in his line.

4. We use the Present Perfect after the pattern It/This/That is/will be the first time…:

That’s the first time I’ve participated in such a big project.

It won’t be the first time she has missed a deadline.

After It/This/That was be the first time…:we generally use the Past Perfect.

It was the first time I’d talked to my boss outside the office.

5. We can use either the Past Continuous or Past Simple, or Past Perfect to talk about things we intended to do but didn’t:

I was hoping to check out of the hotel by 9.00, but overslept and missed the train. (or I hoped…, I had hoped…, I was hoping…, I had been hoping…)

Bill planned to retire at 60, but his colleagues persuaded him to stay for a few more years. (or Bill had planned…, Bill was planning…, Bill had been planning…)

6 We use the Present Perfect to break the news and the Past Simple to give the details:

This company has made a remarkable breakthrough. Their turnover increased threefold. They launched two new production lines. They opened their branches in some big European capitals.

7. We use the Present Perfect Continuous rather than the Present Perfect when we draw a conclusion from what we can see, hear, etc. We often use this form to complain or criticise:

Who’s been messing around with my papers? They are all over the place.

8. We normally use the inverted word order of the past perfect with conjunctions no sooner… than or hardly/scarcely/barely… when:

The new employee had no sooner left the room than they began to gossip about her.

The presenter had hardly/scarcely/barely begun his speech when he was interrupted.

Grammar in Focus

Present Tenses

1. Chose the correct verb tense form.

1 Vegetarians are people who don't eat / are not eating meat.

2 Look out! The inspector comes / is coming.

3 Some people still think the sun goes / is going round the earth.

4 I go /I 'm going for a picnic every weekend in summer.

5 Who uses / 's using my computer?

6 What happens / is happening in cricket if the striker attempts to hit the ball with his bat and misses it?

7 An alcoholic is a person who drinks / is drinking too much and can't stop.

8 Look! She wears / She's wearing Prada shoes.

9 'What are you looking / do you look at?' 'A balance sheet.'

10 I stay /I 'm staying with Peggy for some time until my flat's ready.

11 We usually stay / 're usually staying with Mel when we go to New York.

12 Can you explain why water always runs / is running downhill?

13 What do you do / are you doing with my scarf?

14 Nobody gets / is getting up early for fun.

15 Not many passenger planes fly / are flying faster than sound.