1) To Express habitual actions.
Ex. I skip exercising on Mondays.
Whenever the bus stops, he gets off.
Express present actions by the present progressive tense with the exception for a few sentences beginning with there and here. I will share tips about present progressive tense in a future post.
Ex. Here comes your son.
There goes your plane.
2. To express past truths which are no longer valid and habitual actions no longer occurring.
Ex. At one time, the earth was believed to be flat.
I always went to the library in college to study.
3. To preserve tense sequence even though the state named is still in effect.
Ex. She believes everyone is dishonest.
She believed everyone was dishonest.
He says he knows the code.
He said he knew the code.
4. Historical present to relate most actions and states in literature.
Ex. When Maggie feels the hot water, she yells, "Hot! Hot!"
Lear becomes so upset with Kent he banishes him.
The historical present is used for stage direction in plays:
Ex. Sarah glances at her watch.
5. To express future time in independent clauses if you are confident the action will occur.
Ex. We begin our trip home tomorrow.
He leaves for Vegas next week.
If you are not confident the action will occur, then you must use future tense.
Ex. It will snow tomorrow.
NOT -> It snows tomorrow.
6. To express future time in most adverb clauses and in some noun clauses. Future tense is usually not permitted in this kind of dependent clauses.
Ex.
When you see him, he will be wearing his new hat.
We hope you have a good time at the writing conference.
She will not believe you unless you reveal the evidence.
If she lives through this situation, she will owe her life to you.
