Basic Clause PatternsI love my mother.
I feel pretty, oh so pretty.
Sense perception verbs:
I taste the saffron.
I hear it now.
Cognitive state verbs:
I know how to cook paella.
I doubt his story.
Because the simple present of state verbs denotes a state of affairs which
includes the present time but may extend indefinitely into the past or the
future, we can indicate the extent of the time involved by adding various
temporal adverbials, such as now, these days. For example, She loves you now
but it won’t be for long, We all live in a yellow submarine these days, We are here
now but we’re leaving shortly.
Present tense of activity verbs
With activity verbs the present is interpreted somewhat differently. I exercise
denotes a series of events rather than a single exercise event. The series may
extend indefinitely into the past and the future. Even though I may not be
exercising as I utter the sentence, the period of time occupied by the series
includes the present time. So, activity verbs in the simple present can de-
note repetitions of events that overlap the present time. This usage is often
referred to as the iterative.
Temporal adverbials may be added to indicate how regularly or frequent-
ly the events take place (everyday, regularly, frequently), when they occur (at
noon, whenever I feel like it), when they begin (from 6 a.m.), when they end
(till late at night), and how long they last (for an hour, while watching The
Young and the Restless). For example, I exercise everyday for an hour from 6 to
7 a.m.
Many textbooks claim that the present tense of activity verbs denotes ha-
bitual or regular actions. However, their examples typically include adverbi-
als indicating regularity or habituality. The present tense itself says nothing
about frequency or regularity; the adverbials do this. One can say without
contradiction, I exercise, though neither frequently nor regularly.
Timeless truths
The simple present is used also for “universal or timeless truths,” permanent