| Jorge: | María, hoy tengo ganas de hablar un poco sobre turismo. ¿Te parece? |
| María: | Genial. Estoy segura de que has hecho muchos viajes en este tiempo... |
| Jorge: | ¡Ya sabes cómo soy, no puedo estarme quieto! |
| María: | ¿Y qué has visto que te gustaría contarme? |
The Present Indicative is used in a similar way both in Spanish and in other languages. Its main function is to express an action that happens in the moment in which the speaker expresses it.
When talking about the present, it is normally followed by "de indicativo" to differentiate it from the Present Subjunctive (presente de subjuntivo), which mostly expresses unreal situations, wishes or advice among others and not current or present actions.
The Present Indicative is conjugated as follows (regular verbs):
* In English, it is common to use the Present Continuous instead of the Present Simple in situations where the Present Simple is used in Spanish, although the Present Continuous could also be used in Spanish without modifying the meaning of the sentence.
2.- Frequent events - the Present Indicative is used to describe habits or actions that happen frequently.
3.- Future events - the Present Indicative is used to describe actions that will happen in the future, actions which the speaker is confident that will happen such as timetables and scheduled events.
Periphrastic Future (Futuro perifrástico): when instead of the Present Simple, a present periphrasis is used to indicate future value.
4.- Past or historic events - the Present Indicative is used to talk about actions that happened in the past, actions which the author tries to relive in the present. This use is more common in literature rather than in the spoken language.
5.- Imperative events - the Present Indicative can be used in place of the Imperative when the speaker wants to imply obligatory nature or command.
| María estudia Economía en la Universidad de Salamanca. Maria studies Economics in the University of Salamanca. |
When talking about the present, it is normally followed by "de indicativo" to differentiate it from the Present Subjunctive (presente de subjuntivo), which mostly expresses unreal situations, wishes or advice among others and not current or present actions.
The Present Indicative is conjugated as follows (regular verbs):
Presente | CANTAR | BEBER | VIVIR |
yo | cant-o | beb-o | viv-o |
tú | cant-as | beb-es | viv-es |
él, ella, usted | cant-a | beb-e | viv-e |
nosotros/as | cant-amos | beb-emos | viv-imos |
ellos, ellas, ustedes | cant-an | beb-en | viv-en |
Uses of the Present Indicative
1.- Current events – the Present Indicative is used to describe actions that happen now in the present.| Ella lee un libro de Paulo Coelho. She reads a Paulo Coelho book. Mi madre cocina para la fiesta de cumpleaños de mi hermana. My mother cooks* for my sister´s birthday party. |
* In English, it is common to use the Present Continuous instead of the Present Simple in situations where the Present Simple is used in Spanish, although the Present Continuous could also be used in Spanish without modifying the meaning of the sentence.
| Mi madre cocina (está cocinando) para la fiesta de cumpleaños de mi hermana. My mother is cooking for my sister´s birthday party. |
2.- Frequent events - the Present Indicative is used to describe habits or actions that happen frequently.
| En Inglaterra siempre llueve mucho. It always rains a lot in England. Me despierto cada día a las siete de la mañana. I wake up at 7am every day. |
3.- Future events - the Present Indicative is used to describe actions that will happen in the future, actions which the speaker is confident that will happen such as timetables and scheduled events.
| El tren sale a las diez de la noche. The train leaves at 10pm. La obra de teatro comienza a las siete de la tarde. The play starts at 7pm. |
Periphrastic Future (Futuro perifrástico): when instead of the Present Simple, a present periphrasis is used to indicate future value.
| Hoy he firmado el contrato y la semana que viene empiezo a trabajar. I signed the contract today and I start working next week. |
4.- Past or historic events - the Present Indicative is used to talk about actions that happened in the past, actions which the author tries to relive in the present. This use is more common in literature rather than in the spoken language.
| Año 1492. Cristobal Colón descubre América. Parte del Puerto de Palos el 3 de agosto de 1492 y llega a la isla de Guanahani el 12 de octubre de 1492. Year 1492. Christopher Columbus discovers America. He leaves Puerto Palos on August 3rd, 1492 and arrives in the island of Guanahani on October 12th, 1492. |
5.- Imperative events - the Present Indicative can be used in place of the Imperative when the speaker wants to imply obligatory nature or command.
| ¡No digas nada más, te callas ya! (Present Indicative) ¡No digas nada más, cállate ya! (Imperative) Don’t say another word, shut up! ¡Si no vas a ser respetuoso, te vas de aquí en seguida! (Present Indicative) ¡Si no vas a ser respetuoso, vete de aquí en seguida! (Imperative) If you are not going to be respectful, leave right now! |
The following sentences include the uses of the present indicative we've seen in today's lesson. Identify each sentence with its correct use by filling the box with:
1 - current events
2 - frequent events
3 - future events
4 - past or historical events
5 - imperative events
1 - current events
2 - frequent events
3 - future events
4 - past or historical events
5 - imperative events
- Las Islas Canarias goza de un clima suave todo el año.
- La madre de Juan llega a las ocho de la tarde. Seguro que trae muchos embutidos del pueblo con ella.
- Alfonso juega al fútbol con su hijo.
- ¿Aún no has hecho la cama desde esta mañana? ¡La vas a hacer ya mismo!
- Mañana firmamos el contrato de compra-venta del apartamento y la semana que viene nos vamos a mudar.
- Él nunca miente, siempre dice la verdad.
- El 7 de diciembre de 1941, la Armada Imperial Japonesa ataca Pearl Harbor lo que lleva a Estados Unidos a entrar en la Segunda Guerra Mundial.
- Este grupo de música es famoso porque canta nuevas versiones de canciones antiguas de los Beatles.
- Cada viernes, mis amigos y yo nos reunimos en el bar de Julia.
- ¡Estamos atrapados! La puerta está cerrada con llave.
- En 1964, los españoles inventan el trapeador que usamos hoy en día para limpiar el suelo.
- La discoteca cierra a las seis de la mañana pero yo no me pienso quedar hasta tan tarde.
Conjugate the verbs at the beginning of each short story in the present indicative form and place them in the right sentence.