PRESENT SIMPLE

1) We use the present simple when something is generally or always

true.
It snows in winter here.
Two and two make four.

2) We use the present simple when a situation is more or less

permanent.
She works in a bank.
I don't like mushrooms.

3) We use the present simple when for habits or things that we do

regularly. We often use adverbs of frequency (such as 'often',
'always' and 'sometimes') in this case, as well as expressions like
'every Sunday' or 'twice a month'. (See the present continuous for
new, temporary or annoying habits).
I play tennis every Tuesday.
I don't travel very often.

4) We use the present simple to talk about the future when we are
discussing a timetable. Usually, the timetable is fixed by an
organisation, not by us.
School begins at nine tomorrow.
What time does the film start?

5) We use the present simple to talk about the future after words
like 'when', 'until', 'after', 'before' and 'as soon as'.
I will call you when I have time.
I won't go out until it stops raining.

6) We use the present simple in the first and the zero conditionals.
If it rains, we won't come.
If you heat water to 100 degrees, it boils.
 PRESENT CONTINUOUS

1) We use the present continuous for things that are happening at

the moment of speaking.
I'm working at the moment.
Please call back as we are eating dinner now.

2) We use the present continuous for temporary situations, even if

the action isn't happening at this moment.
John's working in a bar until he finds a job in his field.
I'm reading a really great book.

I work in a school. (I think this is a permanent situation.)

I'm working in a school. (I think this is a temporary situation.)

3) We use the present continuous for habits to talk about an annoying

habit.
You're always losing your keys!
She's constantly missing the train.

4) We use the present continuous for definite future arrangements

(with a future time word). In this case we have already made a plan
and we are pretty sure that the event will happen in the future.
I'm meeting my father tomorrow.
We're going to the beach at the weekend.
Stative verbs
Some verbs are not usually used in the continuous form, even when we
are talking about temporary situations or states. These are
called stative verbs.
So, we say I’m sorry, I don’t understand rather than I’m not
understanding.
1. Stative verbs are often verbs connected with thinking and opinions.
She doesn’t know what to do NOT She isn’t knowing what to do
Do you agree with me?
I don’t recognise it, do you?
Other verbs in this group
include: believe, doubt, guess, imagine, mean, remember, think

2. Other stative verbs are connected with feelings and emotions

I like this song. Who sings it? NOT I’m liking this song
What do you want to do now?
I hate my new boss!

Other stative verbs in this group

include: dislike, love, prefer. want, wish

3. ‘see’, ‘hear’, ‘taste’, ‘smell’, ‘feel’ are verbs that describe senses.
These verbs aren’t usually used in continuous forms. They are often
used with ‘can’.
It smells of smoke in here. NOT It’s smelling of smoke in here
I can’t see anything. It’s too dark.

Stative verbs describe things that are not actions.

He smells of fish.
He’s smelling the fish.
The second sentence is an action – not a state. The man wants to
know if the fish is OK to eat.
 I think we should go to Croatia for our holiday this year.
Sorry, what did you say? I was thinking about my holiday.
The first sentence is an opinion but the second sentence is an action.

adore disagree loathe resemble

agree dislike look (seem) satisfy
appear (seem) doubt love see
appreciate equal matter seem
be (exist) feel mean smell
believe hate measure sound
belong to have mind suppose
concern (possession) need surprise
consist of hear owe taste
contain imagine own think
cost include possess (opinion)
deny involve promise understand
depend on know realize want
deserve lack recognize weigh
detest like remember wish
 PAST SIMPLE

1) We use Past Simple with finished actions in the past when we have
a finished time word (yesterday, last week, at 2 o'clock, in 2003)
and when we know from general knowledge that the time period has
finished. This includes when the person we are talking about is dead.
I went to the cinema yesterday.
We spent a lot of time Japan in 2007.
Leonardo painted the Mona Lisa.
The Vikings invaded Britain.

2) We use Past Simple for stories or lists of events, we often use it

for the actions in the story and the past continuous for the
background.
He went to a café. People were chatting and music was playing. He sat
down and ordered a coffee.

3) We use the past simple to talk about things that are not real in
the present or future. So we use it with the second conditional and
after words like 'wish'.
If I won the lottery, I would buy a house.
I wish I had more time!
 PAST CONTINUOUS

1) We use Past Continuous for an action in the past which overlaps

another action or a time. The action in the past continuous starts
before and often continues after the other shorter action or time.
I was walking to the station when I met John.
(I started walking before I met John, and maybe I continued
afterwards.)

At three o'clock, I was working.

(I started before three o'clock and finished after three o'clock.)

2) We use the Past Continuous for the background of a story. (We

often use the past simple for the actions.)
The birds were singing, the sun was shining and in the cafés people
were laughing and chatting. Amy sat down and took out her phone.

3) We use the Past Continuous for annoying habits or habits that

happen more often than we expect in the past. We often use 'always',
'constantly' or 'forever' here.
He was always leaving the tap running.
She was constantly singing.

4) We use the Past Continuous to emphasise that something lasted

for a while. We usually use it with time expressions like 'all day' or
'all evening' or 'for hours'.
I was working in the garden all day.
He was reading all evening.

Remember you can't use this tense or any continuous tense

with stative verbs.