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This unit discussed the present tense, and it began by summarizing the three main tenses that we encounter in the English language: past, present, and future. For this unit, it broke down the present tense into four categories. These four categories, discussed at length, were simple, continuous, perfect, and perfect continuous. As the unit progressed, it dissected each category of the the present tense and illuminated how sentences and questions are constructed in each form. For example, the present simple is as its name implies, a simplified form of describing an event in the present tense, using the subject and a verb (i.e. She walks.). The present continuous, also like its name implies, conveys progressing actions whereas the present perfect and the present perfect continuous tie together past and present in a more complex sentence form. In this unit, one very important thing I learned was that students can have more difficulty learning the present perfect and present perfect continuous because of the irregular verb forms. This presents an interesting challenge in trying to figure out a way to make these irregularities understandable and memorable. Another interesting and useful aspect of this unit and of the present tense that I had not previously thought of or fully studied, is the difference in how the present perfect and present perfect continuous is used. For example, the unit states that the present perfect describes an event and the end result whereas the present perfect continuous describes the action and does not relate the end result. The distinction was also made clear between conveying quantity; the present perfect continuous, unlike the present perfect, does not convey quantity. In conclusion, the unit gave a detailed break-down of the four aspects of the present tense and showed how sentences are structured within each category and the reason and rules behind these sentence structures.
