Where To Use Simple Present Tense?

Simple things play vital role in learning English, so does the tense. There are basically 12 tense forms, one of them being ‘simple present tense’. There are certain cases or situations where one should use this tense. To know the language properly, one needs to have a very good understanding on all tenses.

In general, Simple Present Tense is used to express habits, repeated actions or events, general truths, fixed arrangements and give directions or instructions. 

The situations or cases where this tense needs to be used are followings :

A. To express habits, this tense is used. See the sentences :
1. I usually take rice at breakfast.
2. My father likes to have a cup of coffee after dinner or night time meal.
3. My boss smokes. (meaning it’s his habit)
4. Housewives watch television regularly.

5. I usually play football.

B. To express repeated actions or events or unchanging situations :

1. In general, I take a bus to get to the office.
2. I return home by bus from office as well.
3. We catch the bus every morning.
4. I put username and password first to get the computer run at office.
5. My brother in law drives to his office in Dhanmondi from Mirpur.
6. The north America edition of daily Bangladesh Pratidin gets published every Friday.

C. To say general truths :

1. Water freezes at zero degrees.
2. The Earth revolves around the Sun.
3. The Moon does not have its own light.
4. What’s your faith? …. I am a Muslim or Islam is my faith.

D. To give instructions or directions : See the following conversations :

A. How could I get to the Apollo Hospital?
B. Oh! It’s very easy. First you go straight this road for 5 minutes and take turn to the right. Then you drive for another 2 minutes. The hospital is on the left side to the road.
A : I got it. Thank you.
Conversation 2 :
A. How can I go to Jatra bari? (the person is in Mirpur)
B. First, you take a bus to Gulistan. It takes one and half hours to get there. From Gulistan, you take another bus to the destination which takes at best 30 minutes to reach there. Or you can directly go to Jatra bari. Therefore simply you take a bus from Mirpur 12. The journey takes at least two hours to get there.
A. Thank you very much for the assistance.
B. It’s ok. Have a nice day.
Conversation 3 :
A : Can you teach me how to cook rice?
B : Oh! Why not? It’s simple. First, You wash the rice in a bowl. Then you put it in a pot and place it under the fire for 20 minutes. Ok.
A : Thank u for the instruction.

E. To express fixed arrangements :

1. Former UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon arrives in Bangladesh on July 8 for a four day visit.
2. We have an important official meeting at 11 am tomorrow. (the schedule is fixed)
3. I leave Dhaka the day after tomorrow for a five day visit to Malaysia.
4. My SSC exam starts at 10 am daily.

F. After some conjunctions such as when, after, before, as soon as, until, till etc., we use the tense to express future time.

1. Please call me as soon as you get home. I need to talk to you urgently on the next exam.

2. I will call you after I get home or after getting home. Ok.

3. I will discuss the matter in details when you come to my residence next week.

4. I will stay there until you come.

5. Malaysia schools shut after students fall sick.

Final Words : If one has good knowledge about tense, then learning English gets quite easier for his or her. Simple Present Tense is vastly used in daily conversation. So one needs to have a full understanding about this tense if she or he wants to be eloquent in English.