Theory

Tenses: Present and Past

The good news is that the difference between past and present hardly ever causes problems: you know when something happened. The bad news is that English has two forms for the past and two for the present. For a large part it is clear when you need to use which, but there is also a grey area when both forms can be used. In this section we will try to show you when which form should be used.

I do or I am doing?

You all know the I am doing form for actions: you are reading this text at the moment, while you are sitting in a chair or lying on your bed. Where students usually make mistakes is that you can also use the two forms to talk about whether a situation is permanent or not. We do not have two different forms for that in Dutch. So from now on, instead of trying to think of the rules, try to think of the situation: is it permanent or not? Let’s look at an example: I am staying with my friend until my new house is ready. You will hopefully agree that you will not be staying with your friend for ever. By using “ am staying” you indicate that the situation is temporary (and your friend will be relieved to hear so!)

I did or I was doing?

Basically, the same rule applies here: use the I was doing form to talk about actions is the past (I was doing my grammar exercises when the telephone rang), and to talk about temporary situations in the past: Because my house was not ready yet, I was staying with a friend.

What about the grey area then? Well, you could argue if a situation is permanent or temporary. But let’s cross that bridge when we come to it, shall we?

Think about the situation, and just apply the correct form! And remember: We do not make this distinction in Dutch, so the first few times you need to think about it carefully.