Talk:Present tense

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explain present tense in detail — Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.219.172.6 (talk) 10:44 AM, 24 April 2005 (UTC)

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This page is totally inconsistent about when it does and doesn't tell you when the simple present is used progressively all the time (as in French, Portuguese, Italian, and German), and when you need to make a compound construction using one of the few verbs that are progressive in the simple present as in English and Spanish. This detail is covered nicely in the English section. It is mentioned in the Portuguese section. The Spanish section is totally misleading, and contrasting its format to the english one, it would be hard to work out that the systems are nearly identical. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.44.118.236 (talk) 217.44.118.236 (UTC)

Developing preference for the present continuous rather than the present simple in British English

There has been a growing tendency in the last few years to use the present continuous when at one time, the present simple would have been used. It is particulalry common (and noticeable)with the verbs to love and to like.

An example would be "I am liking your new coat" rather than "I like your new coat"

Does anyone know what has lead to this development?

Is it solely due to the MacDonalds' "I'm loving it" motto?

Informed Owl (talk) 16:38, 23 November 2007 (UTC)Informed Owl

I agree that we hear the present continuous in supposed 'state verbs' more often now. Just as a suggestion, maybe it's because 'non-standard' dialects are becoming more acceptable? In the Scottish Highlands, this use has been around for a very long time - e.g. my 93 year-old grandfather says 'I'm not hearing you' - maybe this tendency has become more mainstream? Seonaidbeckwith 10:40, 4 January 2008 (UTC)

Interesting. Thank you. Does anyone have any other examples of this usage in the Scottish Highlands? My partner is from NE Scotland and I have never heard any family member use it. If it it be widespread in the Highlands, it would be interesting to know whether it is more common among certain age groups. You say your grandfather uses it. Has it always been common among younger Highlanders or has the usage increased in recent years as it has 'down south'?

If it be the case that the usage stems from the Highlands, it would be interesting to know how it has come to be more widespread throughout other parts of the UK. Had it been influenced by American English, it would be quite possible that TV / the internet caused its growth. If it comes from within the UK though, what do you suppose caused it to move around it. Informed Owl (talk) 23:21, 4 January 2008 (UTC)Informed Owl

Another example though it is future continuous. "I'll be loving you, always" (song "Always" sung by Leonard Cohen) It should be noted that it is still not acceptable to say "I am loving ice-cream" as a general statement of my preferences. "I am loving this new flavor" -as I try it now might be heard though. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.29.83.65 (talk) 10:01 PM, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

do + infinitive

The article makes no mention of the "do" + infinitive construct, which also represents present tense. While not often used in its simplest form ("I do like you"), it is the standard way of making negatives ("I do not like you") and questions ("Do you like me?") in modern English. WHen I was in school it was called the "empathic" form of the present. As far as I know it is unique to English, but I am no expert. CharlesTheBold (talk) 04:07, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

Simple present used for storytelling - present continuous too!

"so, I'm'd sitting on the air at this bar when an elephant walks in..."

OK, so telling a joke or a story we talk about the past as if it were present. This is a big ommision. The present simple is not really so simple. See next. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.29.83.65 (talk) 10:01 PM, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

Simpled presented to talked about futured with timetables

"We liaved on Munday at 7:00apm" Of courced we cant express this is presented continuous and future using willing too.

This articled its seriouslies incompleted. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.29.83.65 (talk) 10:01 PM, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

Eternal Present

And what of the eternal present tense used in literature? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.141.111.197 (talk) 07:26,

I am not sure what you are referring to here. In English, the simple present if used to indicate general truths, laws of science and nature and the like, as discussed in the article, and I would think that some literature might use this tense in such a way to indicate some state or condition which lasts for eternity. Wschart (talk) 17:20, 12 May 2009 (UTC)

juyuuuyffvdf6y friendsa sdff5gr the and

saya amat suka dengan laman web ini,, huhuhuẬḄp —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.26.127.140 (talk) 04:18, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

present tense —Preceding unsigned comment added by 175.100.13.56 (talk) 01:15, 12 October 2010 (UTC)

Are these examples present tense? Really?

The current version of the page (Nov 14, 2010) has at least two extremely questionable examples:

"I'll retire when I reach age 65" "She became an artist before me."

How are those not examples of future and past tense respectively? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 118.22.26.54 (talk) 02:12, 24 November 2010 (UTC)

I shall retired when I reach age of 65 Indileni100 (talk) 09:04, 10 September 2020 (UTC)

I need help in English Indileni100 (talk) 09:05, 10 September 2020 (UTC)

Macedonian orthography

The first column (italicised personal pronouns) in the Macedonian section is weird. It appears to be an italic Latin script which uses Latin characters which look like the handwritten Macedonian equivalents. For example, the second-person singular, transliterated, is toi. The Cyrillic t looks similar to the Latin T. However, we see something like moi, which reflects the fact that the handwritten Cyrillic t looks similar to the (handwritten or typeset) Latin m. Got it? (Looking at the text, it looks as expected. Apparently, the Italic rendering makes the characters look handwritten. Is this correct?) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.29.76.37 (talk) 10:05, 24 June 2011 (UTC)

This article is fundamentally inconsistent!

The section on English describes and classifies the uses of the present, whereas all the sections on other languages present morphological patterns of conjugation. What is up with that?—PaulTanenbaum (talk) 13:32, 23 February 2012 (UTC)

Le fichier est en cours de traitement

How is that supposed to be an example of French present indicative tense?! "Traitement" is not a verb, "en cours de traitement" cannot be an example of any tense. 184.153.91.75 (talk) 03:57, 19 December 2019 (UTC)

Loop

This article sends you Uses of English verb forms for details on English. That article says to see this one for details. Neither one details English. Gigs (talk) 21:48, 9 May 2022 (UTC)

He was first introduced in his teenage years

He was Introduced In his teenage years

102.217.178.222 (talk) 15:08, 10 March 2024 (UTC)