Level 1 - Using the simple present. How to use the simple present tense. Downloadable Worksheets. Entry 1 & 2 - Past, present or future? An activity in sorting out past, present and future messages.

In Wolf Hall, Hillary Mantel uses it to pull the distant past over the threshold of the present, creating the present tense as the new tense du jour for the historical novel (“He turns his head ...

But ultimately it’s the same reason that the simple present is often used in jokes and stories. There’s a certain vividness to it that’s just lacking for more convoluted verb forms.

But if Berger is right, then making this simple shift is well worth the effort. Just swapping in the present tense for the past is a magic trick that makes you instantly more charming and persuasive.