How to Identify and Use the Present Tense

Khan Academy

This concise educational video introduces students to the concept of the present tense in English grammar. The narrator defines the present tense as actions or states that are happening "right now," offering a simple mental check students can use to verify if a verb is in the present tense by adding the phrase "right now" to the end of a sentence. Through clear, handwritten examples on a blackboard style background, the video demonstrates how this rule applies to various sentence structures. The video explores key themes of verb tenses, sentence construction, and temporal awareness in language. It specifically covers standard present tense verbs (like "eat" and "is") as well as present continuous forms (constructions using "is + -ing"), explaining that both forms describe current actions. The examples range from simple statements about eating donuts to more whimsical sentences about catapults, keeping the tone light and engaging. For classroom application, this video serves as an excellent introduction or review of verb tenses for early elementary students or English language learners. It provides a concrete, actionable strategy (the "right now" test) that students can immediately apply to their own writing and speaking. Teachers can use this video to anchor lessons on subject-verb agreement, narrative timing, or the difference between past, present, and future events.