Present Tense of Verbs

Some authors write novels in the present tense, and it drives me bats. Whenever I browse in a bookstore, seeking the latest in top beach literature, I always sneak a few peeks to make certain the author does not use the present tense in the narrative:

Juan looks longingly at Teresa, who looks back with total disinterest as she removes the olive from her Waterford crystal martini glass, pops it in her mouth, turns on a dime, and stalks out of the room.

Those books I always put back on the shelf. Each of the authors is telling a story, the story necessarily happened in the past, and they won’t get a nickel of my beach-literature budget if they pretend that the story is happening right now as I soak up the rays with a cooler full of strawberry daq . . . , uh, Kool-Aid.

Every one-word verb in the English language has a one-word present tense. And that one word is the same as the infinitive form for all persons and all numbers except third-person singular. To form present tense in a third-person singular construction, we typically add ‑s or ‑es to the base infinitive (I write, he writes). (The verb to be is the sole exception; its present tense is not the same as the base infinitive form.)

The present tense ordinarily tells the reader about an activity that is occurring right now. The present tense speaks of today. (Please note, however, that the present tense can also refer to the future: The game is tomorrow. See the discussion of the future tense below.)

We do have a technique in writing called the historical present tense, used most often in describing what authors do in their books. (I used the historical present tense above when criticizing beach novelists.) Even though Fitzgerald has long since departed this world, we might analyze The Great Gatsby with the historical present tense:

In Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses color to paint the mood on East Egg. He captures the mood with his pulsing lights ….

We might even use the same technique when describing a document. Though a document might have been written in the past, we would describe what it does in the present tense:

Acme’s annual report shows the continued growth of the widget business. On page 7, the report describes promotional efforts . . . .

Present Tense of Verbs - How to Form

Every one-word verb in the English language has a one-word present tense. And that one word is the same as the infinitive for all persons and all numbers except third-person singular.

Except for third-person singular, the present-tense verbs use the same word:

 

For the third-person singular, you will ordinarily add ‑s to form the present tense:

 

We form third-person singular of verbs ending in ‑y by changing the ‑y to ‑ies:

 

We form third-person singular of verbs ending in ‑ss by adding ‑es:

 

Also, verbs like go and do form their third-person singular form by adding ‑es:

 

Some verbs, like have, break the “add ‑s or ‑es rule” to form third-person singular:

 

Thus, to summarize, we use the base infinitive form of the verb to form the present tense of all persons and all numbers except third-person singular. For the third-person singular, we change the infinitive form, typically by adding ‑s, ‑es, or ‑ies.

We find an exception to this rule with the verb to be, which has unique words for the present tense of all persons and numbers:

 

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