The time frame

We use the present simple in order to describe general truths and facts, habitual actions and series of events (such as giving directions or instructions) when there is no reason to think of them as being in any way temporary or limited in time (timeless). For instance: I get up early (habitual action without time limit = timeless) Ice melts at 0 ( general facts) You take the book you are interested, go to the library reception and give the person who were there the book and your library card (giving instructions) Sometimes the events or actions coincide with the moment of speaking however it implies no time duration or instantaneous time. In the first way I am referring to performative actions such as apologizing or statements. In those cases we may use the simple present. In the second one sport commentaries are included and in this case you may use both present simple and continuous. As long as we use the present simple for timeless actions, we may use the progressive for ongoing actions. I mean actions in progress at the moment or around the time of speaking. It is important that the action or event taken place for a limited period of time which includes the moment of speaking. E.g.: Im writing an essay for Linguistic (at the moment of speaking) Im reading The Picture of Dorian Gray (not at the moment of speaking but with a limited period of time) My sister is living in my parents house ( around now) My sister lives in my parents house ( general time) As well, we may use the present progressive with an adverb of frequency in order to express annoyance or irritation on a part of the speaker. If the action occurs in the past, you may express this annoyance or irritation using the past progressive: When Noelia was a baby, she was always crying Noelia is very capricious and she is always crying We use the past progressive in order to: 1. describe something which began before a particular point in the past and was still in progress at that point. E.g: It was raining 2. talk about repeated actions which took place over a limited period of finished time. E.g.: During the first six months of my pregnancy I was throwing up each morning 3. express changing situations. My tiredness was increasing more and more Sometimes the action may be interrupted by another shorter action. You describe the last one using the simple past. He was working at the computer when the power cut occurred

About the simple past, we use it to describe habitual actions and states in the past ( in this case it is similar to the simple present) or completed actions in the past ( now finished actions). E.g.: I lived in Madrid when I was a child (habitual state in the past) They kept on jumping in the bed (completed action in the past) Between the past and the present we have a bridge: the present perfect. It describes an action or situation which started in the past and takes within a period of time which is unfinished. E.g.: The shop has just opened (so it is open now) We often use the present perfect to talk about finished actions when they have some present consequences. For instance: I have broken my leg ( now I cant walk) Contrasting the simple past and the present perfect, both of them may be used to refer to completed events/actions in the past which took place within a period of time which is finished and: 1. definite in the case of the simple past. I bought a new car last week 2. indefinite in the case of the present perfect. I have bought a new car Compare: I havent seen Peter this morning yet ( unfinished period of time, it is still morning) I didnt see Peter at all this morning (finished period of time, it is now evening)

Similar to the present perfect is the past perfect. The past perfect describes actions that took place in a period of time further back than the simple present, so it is a past in the past, or the cause of a past event. E.g.: The police had called when I got home She decided to travel to England because she had failed her FCE exam Past perfect has a simple and progressive form too. It is preferred to use the progressive form in order to focus on duration. For instance: I had been waiting for the bus for half an hour when it finally turned up