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  1 Water boils at 100C   2 He works in a bank.   3 I (always) take sugar in coffee.   The present simple form is used to refer to the existence of a situation or   state of affairs which either is permanent (sentence 1), or is regarded as   premanent (2), or to refer to repeated or habitual actions (3).   The verb in 1 is in fact completely timeless: It states what is true for all   time; while in 2, the verb refers to a constant and unchanging feature of the   current situation, a situation that is regarded as permanent. The present simple   used in these ways is particularly characteristic of scientific and technical   English, and of expository writing generally.   The verb in 3 refers to one of 'my' habits, which presumably existed before now,   and which may be assumed to continue to exist in the future.   Someone who knows me would say, when offering coffee, whether yesterday,   today, or tomorrow, ' Ah, yes. You take sugar, don't you?'.   The name 'neutral' present is sometimes given to the verb as used in 1 and   2, and the name 'iterative' present to the verb as used in 3.   If we wish to refer to the 'actual' present, we generally use a progressive form   (but see examples 4, and 5a, and 5b blow). We may thus compare boil and works   as used in examples 1 and 2 with the progressibe as used in sentences 1a and 2a:   1 Water boils at 100 C   1a You can make the tea. The water's boiling.   2 He works in a bank.   2a My husband's working in the garden. (at the moment)   These are, however, some verbs in English that are not normally used in a   progressive form because they describe states, not events, and their meaning is   incompatible with the characteristic 'meaning' of the progressive, i.e. uncompleted   action or series of actions, and limited duration. Two such verbs apper in   following sentence, and in this case they refer to the 'actual' present.   4 I know what you mean.   Examples 1- 4 represent the commoneset uses of the present simple, but it is   also used in the following ways:   (a) in descriptions accompanying demonstrations or experiments:       5a We make sure that the current is switched off, and then       remove the cover plate.       and in commentaries on radio or television:       5b Smith hits that one off the back foot, and the ball goes straight           to the boundary.       In the case of commentaries, the speaker may also use the present       progressive. The choice will depend either on the duration of the       action, or on the speaker's point of view.   (b) in announcements (this use is similar to example 2a above):       6a This park opens half an hour after sunrise and closes half an       hour before sunset.       and in headlines:       6b America puts forward peace plan.         to past events (real or fictions):       7a I rush to the station, and find I've just missed the train!       (real event, colloquial usage)          When Hamlet meets his father's ghost, he learns the truth about          his uncle Claudius. (fictions event)       and in stage directions:       7b (Petkoff goes beside Sergius, looks curiously over his left       shoulder as he signs; and says with childlike envy): |