Some presents for you

Most learners know that English has several present tenses. It has the simple present, the present continuous (or progressive, in some grammar books) and the infamous present perfect, which has some present involvement but is also rooted in the past.  The uses of these tenses are fairly complex. Take the present simple, for example  Despite its name, it isn't as simple as you might think.   I / you / they / we / Mr. and Mrs Smith /  the dogs go BUT he / she / it / goeS to the park every afternoon.

Third person singular -s in present simple

The final s the plural of all nouns with a handful of exceptions: the dog/dogs.  But he/she it/the man/Mary all  agree with goeS.  They are third person singular.  That means that we are not talking about me or us (first person) or you (second person) but about him, her, Gisele Bundchen or the man (third person singular).  Many learners of English write "he go" or  "she work" thinking that the final s in goes and works is unnecessary because the subject is not plural.  That's not the case at all.  We need that s on the verb when the subject is third person singular.     

S is a plural for nouns - not for verbs!

The girl sings (the third person, singular noun, verb with-s). The girls sing (in s plural noun, verb without -s).

Present simple for habitual action

This routine or schedule use of the present simple is sometimes accompanied by frequency adverbs such as always, often, sometimes, rarely or never.  Other adverbial expressions used with present simple include every day, every week, or all the time.  How often? is a question that requires present simple in the answer.  The t in often is normally silent, by the way.  Some people pronounce it, but they are in the minority.  How often (how frequently) do you eat lunch?   I eat lunch every day/ once a day/ daily/frequently.  We often use questions with when and present simple.  When you do eat lunch?  At 1 o'clock.  Another aside: Time in the English-speaking world goes from 1 o'clock to 12 o'clock only.  13 o'clock doesn't exist.  There's even an old joke about this.  Q: What time is it when the clock strikes thirteen?  A: Time to get a new clock!  Instead of the 24 clock widely used in Brazil, we use a.m. and p.m.  0700 = 7 am,  1900 = 7 pm.   We can skip the am or pm if the context makes it obvious what we are talking about.   The present simple is also used for eternal truths.  The sun rises in the east.  The earth revolves around the sun.

Stative verbs - Verbs that don't take -ing

There is a class of verbs that do not have continuous aspect (that is, we don't normally use -ing with them) and only appear in simple form.  They are called stative or non-continuous verbs.  There are many different classes of them.  Some can do double duty, functioning as both stative and normal action verbs.  See as a verb of perception is stative.  I see many people crossing the street.  But see can have other meanings which take -ing.  For example,  I am going out with or dating Helen.  I am seeing Helen.   For a clear presentation of statives, with a video and a lot of exercises, you might want to take a look at   http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/stative-verbs.html.   A problem arises when a verb is stative in one language but continuous in another.  In Portuguese, like = gostar, but gostar is continuous and like is not.  This leads to incorrect sentences such as "I am liking this class a lot."  To fix this sentence, we can either say "I like this class a lot" or change verbs and use enjoy, which is continuous:  "I am enjoying this class a lot."  Problem solved.  

The present as future

Present simple can also be used for a predetermined future, as with a train, bus or plane timetable or vacation plans.  For example, I leave here at 7 am tomorrow.    She arrives next Thursday.  

The instantaneous present

Sports play-by-play commentators make frequent use of the present simple as they narrate the action.  He gets the ball.  He passes to Smith.  He scores.  Goallllll!  I'm just kidding here.  English sports announcers never use the GOOOOLLLLL! you hear so often in soccer coverage in Spanish and Portuguese - they think it's undignified.  

The present simple as past

This use of the present simple is largely restricted to headlines.  Vila Nova Beats Goiás 8 -1.  Obama Wins Election.  Smith Resigns.