Simple Present

Simple Present

Nidhu Bhusan Das

Unlike other tenses,the verb in the simple present tense normally speaks of an action which is habitual or of a universal truth.Only when an adverb of time modifies it,the verb may mean an action that is subject to change in time. example:

When we say, “We play football” we mean 'it is our routine or habit’ i.e., 'We play football as a matter of habit or it is in our routine’.The perception, however,changes when we say, “We play football now”. Here the verb(play) in essence means that the action(playing) is in progress,not that it is a matter of habit or routine.

Besides,it is the only tense we can use in case of an imperative sentence.This is so because our desire always belongs to the present moment.For the same reason, verbs in the optative sentence and the implied verb in exclamation are also in the simple present tense.

Not only this, we can express a planned action of near future in this tense of the verb.Another interesting aspect of the tense is that whenever it is a supposition we use unreal past to mean simple present. We say,”If I were a king,I would have made everyone rich and happy” or “He behaves as it were he is our saviour”.