Learn first: Pronouns
English has four forms for talking about the "present": Present Simple, Present Continuous, Present Perfect and Present Perfect Continuous. They differ not in time but in viewpoint: a habit, a process happening now, a result that matters now, or a process that has continued up to now. Uzbek often uses a single form for several of these (o‘qiyman, o‘qiganman), so the difference has to be learnt consciously. Exams test exactly this: memorising the forms is not enough, you need to "read" the situation.
When it is used:
Form. The base form of the verb; in the third person singular (he, she, it) add -s/-es.
I/you/we/they work — he/she/it works
Question: Do you work? / Does she work? · Negative: I don’t work / She doesn’t work
Add -es when the word ends in -s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, -o: watches, goes, fixes. Consonant + y becomes ies: study → studies; vowel + y just takes -s: play → plays. have becomes has.
Why is the verb bare after does? Because the auxiliary "carries" tense and person: -s appears only once, either on does or on the main verb.
Signal words: always, usually, often, sometimes, rarely, never, every day, on Mondays, once a week. Adverbs of frequency go before the main verb but after to be: She often reads. / She is often late.
My brother ___ (not / like) coffee.
When it is used:
Form: am/is/are + V-ing.
I am working · She is working · They are working
Question: Are you working? · Negative: He isn’t working
Spelling: a final -e drops (make → making); in a short consonant-vowel-consonant word the last consonant doubles (run → running, sit → sitting); -ie → -ying (lie → lying).
Signal words: now, right now, at the moment, today, this week, currently, Look!, Listen!
Simple versus Continuous is permanent versus temporary: I live in Tashkent (permanent) — I’m living with my aunt this month (temporary).
Some verbs describe a state rather than an action, and they are usually not used in the Continuous, because a state has no "start and finish" like an activity:
I know the answer (✗ I am knowing). But when the meaning becomes an action, the Continuous is possible: I’m having lunch, She’s thinking about it (considering); when think = believe, only the Simple works: I think you’re right. The same with taste: The soup tastes salty (state) — The chef is tasting the soup (action).
Listen! Somebody ___ (sing) in the next room.
The action happened in the past, but its result or relevance now matters. No exact time is given.
Form: have/has + V3 (past participle): work → worked; irregular verbs: go → gone, see → seen, write → written.
for + a length of time: for two hours, for a long time
since + a starting point: since 2020, since Monday, since I was a child
Signal words: already, just, yet, ever, never, recently, so far, this week. already/just go between the auxiliary and the main verb; yet goes at the end of negatives and questions: Have you finished yet? ever is used in questions: Have you ever tried plov?
This is where most mistakes happen. If a finished past time is stated (yesterday, last year, in 2019, two days ago, when...), use only the Past Simple:
I saw him yesterday (✗ I have seen him yesterday).
If no time is given or the period is not finished, use the Present Perfect: I’ve seen this film. A conversation often opens with the Present Perfect and moves to the Past Simple for details: I’ve been to Khiva. I went there in May.
been versus gone: He has been to London (went and came back); He has gone to London (he is there now).
They ___ (know) each other since school.
The action began in the past and has continued up to now (or has just stopped and its traces are visible). The focus is on duration.
Form: have/has been + V-ing. Question: How long have you been learning English?
Perfect or Perfect Continuous: result and quantity take the Perfect (I’ve written three letters); duration and activity take the Continuous (I’ve been writing letters all morning). A quantity (three letters, five pages) is rarely used with the Continuous. With live, work, study plus for/since, both are correct: I’ve lived / I’ve been living here for five years.
Your hands are dirty. What ___ you ___ (do)?
See the difference with one verb:
Translating from Uzbek can mislead: Men bu yerda 2020-yildan beri ishlayman uses a present form, but English needs I have worked / have been working here since 2020 (✗ I work here since 2020).