Grammar-Quizzes › Verb Phrases › Verbs › Present › Custom v. At the Moment

Present: Custom vs. At the Moment

Relate a custom and current actions to carry it out

easter bread Easter, in my country, is the most sacred and celebrated of all the Greek holidays. The Gregorian calendar determines the date. This year, we are celebrating Orthodox Easter a month later than Western Easter. Orthodox Easter begins with a 40-day fast. We only eat foods found in nature (grains, greens, beans, vegetables, snails, and seafood without backbones), no meat from red-blooded animals. On Palm Sunday, we serve only fish courses.

church On Saturday before Easter, we take the food we will serve on Easter to the church where the priest blesses it. On Easter Sunday, roast lamb is the centerpiece of the table. In the early morning, the spits turn in backyards and courtyards as the lamb is slowly cooked. We color eggs bright red and bake them into bread, "tsoureki". This tradition bonds one generation to the next and always is the highlight of the year.

bond (V) – unite people together in shared interest, ideals or love

carry out (VP – do something to completion, finish, perform, achieve

centerpiece (N) – the most important, noticeable, or attractive part of something

course (N) – one of the dishes (parts) in a large meal

custom (N) – something done by people in a social or religious group as a tradition

determine (V) – control, set, influence, decide

dye (V) – add or change color

generation (N) – large group of people born and living around the same time

highlight (N) – most enjoyable, interesting part of a holiday or performance

spit (N) – a rod or bar that holds meat which will be roasted, cooked over a fire

Present vs. Present Progressive

HABIT / CUSTOM—MORE PERMANENT
We use the present tense (nonprogressive) for an activity, celebration, habit or custom that is habitually repeated, existed in the past and will probably exist in the future, relatively permanent.
SUBJECT	PREDICATE	COMP / ADJUNCT
NP	VERB	NP
We	eat	locally produced food.
The priest	blesses	the food.
We	color	eggs bright red.
This tradition	bonds	one generation to the next.

AT THE MOMENT—TEMPORARY
Use the present progressive for an activity that is short-term, not the usual state, a temporary change, happening just for the present (which may be this moment, day, week, or year.)
ADJUNCT	SUBJ	PREDICATE	COMP / ADJUNCT
ADV	NP	PROG. VERB	NP
This week,	we	are not eating	fish, olive oil or dairy products.
This year,	we	are celebrating	Orthodox Easter a month later.
Today,	we	are dying	eggs red. white eggs to be red.
This morning,	we	are preparing	special dishes.

Word Functions: Subj – Subject; Pred – Predicate/Predicator – Pred; COMP – complement: elements required by an expression to complete its meaning ; ADJUNCT: — adjunct: elements not required by an expression to complete its meaning; Supplement – a clause or phrase added on to a clause but not closely related to the central idea or structure of the main clause (an aside comment).

N – noun; NP – noun phrase; V – verb; VP – verb phrase; Adj – adjective; AdjP – adjective phrase; Adv – adverb: AdvP – adverb phrase

NP – a noun phrase has a noun and possibly an article or determiner, adjective, and more. See Word Functions.

Present Adverbs (time expressions)

Specify the timing of an action or activity

Present Time Expressions — definite vs. indefinite timing

DEFINITE TIMING "HAPPENING AROUND NOW"
Adverbial expressions with definite timing are used when actions can be marked on a timeline (clock/calendar); they have endpoints/goals. Compare: I am walking to class today. (definite timing, it ends when I arrive at class) to I walk to class. (indefinite timing, "timeless", no endpoint, a routine).
WITH PROGRESSIVE VERBS	WITH PROGRESSIVE VERBS
I am walking to class now. *I walk to class now.	I am walking to class today. *I walk to class today.¹
NOW	THIS ...
now (just now, right now) currently (presently)	today / tonight (word origin – this day, this night)
at the moment (for now, for the time being, for now, at present)	this month (time not passed: morning, evening, week, semester, this spring, year, decade, century)
as we speak (expression: now)	these moments (time not passed: weeks, months, semesters, years)
still (with a negative verb: no longer) Used with progressive.	this Tuesday (June 20, June 20, 2020) (in the current week)

INDEFINITE TIMING "HAPPENING SOMETIME"
Adverbial expressions with indefinite timing are used when activities or states happen "sometime", not related to a timeline. The precise time is not important. The focus is on the activity or state. These adverbs express duration (a period of time) or repetition (the interval of occurrence).
BOTH PROGRESSIVE & NON	BOTH PROGRESSIVE & NON
I am walking to class temporarily. I walk to class during the week.	I am walking to class often. I walk to class often.
DURATION	REPETITION
temporarily(continuously, briefly, momentarily) [imperfective, ongoing] ⇒ Mostly progressive.	repeatedly(constantly, continuously, again and again, perpetually, eternally)⇒ Switch to "keep" with progressive.³
for a moment (ten minutes, a week, a month, for a while², a little while, a day, forever) ⇒ Often present perfect.	always (routinely, customarily, usually, in general, normally, often, sometimes, hardly ever, never)
during the week (month, year, etc.) ⇒ Mostly nonprogressive.	at night (noon, midnight, sunset) in spring (winter, summer, June, July)
from Monday to Tuesday(1 PM to 2 PM, morning to night) ⇒ Mostly nonprogressive.	on Mondays (Tuesday, Sundays, etc.) most days (nights, weekends, etc.)
while it is warm(a relative time: when, if, whenever, before, after) before lunch (after)	every / each / every other day (hour, day, night, week, month, year, May, spring)

¹ adverbs like today or this month include time that is past, present and future. With the present tense, we understand the time to be present, current, now. "I walk to class today," could also be understood as a scheduled activity. See Scheduled Events—Routine vs. Near Future.

² for a while (PP) – can be understood in two ways: (1) having some amount of duration, or (2) being very temporary

³ keep + verb+ing – Repetition can be expressed by using the "keep" (I keep walking. He kept smiling.) The progressive with "repeatedly" (*I am walking to class repeatedly. )sounds awkward.

Specific adverbial pages: Frequency Adverbs| Preps for Time—In v. On v. At | During v. In | For-Since

Word Order

Adverb Placement

Word Order & Emphasis

INITIAL: Usually, my family eats dinner together. Emphasis position
MEDIAL: My family usually eats dinner together. Normal word order
FINAL: My family eats dinner together usually. No particular emphasis

Three positions:

Normal Placement — pre-verb vs. mid- verb

MEDIAL — BEFORE VERB
Normally, an adverb for frequency is placed before the verb. No particular emphasis is placed on the timing of the activity.
SUBJECT: NP	FREQ. ADVERB	VERB + COMP
My family	always	eats together.
	usually
	sometimes
	often
	frequently
	occasionally
	rarely
	seldom
	hardly ever
	never
	*most of the time
	*on occasion

MEDIAL —BETWEEN AUXILIARY AND VERB
When an auxiliary verb is used, the adverb is placed after the auxiliary and before the verb.
SUBJ + AUX	FREQ. ADVERB	VERB + COMP
My family will	always	eat together.
My family shall	usually
My family can	sometimes
	often
	frequently
	occasionally
	rarely
	seldom
	hardly ever
	never
	*most of the time
	*on occasion

*expressions are rarely used in mid-sentence position.
aux – auxiliary verb (do, be, can, may, might, etc.)

Also see Splitting Verbs.

Emphasis Change

INITIAL — BEFORE CLAUSE
For emphasis on the timing, an adverb for frequency is placed before the clause and separated with a comma. Time expressions are usually pre- or post- clausal.
FREQ. ADVERB	SUBJECT: NP	VERB +
Most of the time,	my family	eats together.
Usually,
Often,
Sometimes,
Half of the time,
Frequently,
Occasionally,
On occasion,
†Rarely,
†Seldom,
†Hardly ever,
†Never,
*Always,

FINAL — END OF CLAUSE
When no particular emphasis is desired or when the an adverbial phrase is used (two- or three-word prepositional phrase), the adverb is placed at the end of the clause.
SUBJECT: NP	VERB +	FREQ. ADVERB
My family	eats together	most of the time.
		usually.
		often.
		sometimes.
		half of the time.
		frequently.
		occasionally.
		on occasion.
		rarely.
		seldom.
		hardly ever.
		never.

† See negative adverbs of frequency below.

*Yellow highlighted words are examples of incorrect placement.

together (adverb / preposition) – previously categorized as an adverb, now is categorized as a preposition (Huddleston 614)
Also see Adverbs of Frequency for sentence examples.

Negative Adverbs

Word Order Change

Negative Adverbs in Initial Position

NORMAL SUBJECT–VERB ORDER
When a negative adverb – never, rarely, seldom, hardly ever – is placed at the beginning of a sentence for emphasis, the auxiliary of the verb is moved in front of the subject.
*Seldom we are home in the day time. We seldom are at home in the daytime.
*Never we have much time together. We never have much time together.

NORMAL SUBJECT–VERB ORDER

When a negative adverb – never, rarely, seldom, hardly ever – is placed at the beginning of a sentence for emphasis, the auxiliary of the verb is moved in front of the subject.

*Seldom we are home in the day time.

We seldom are at home in the daytime.

*Never we have much time together.

We never have much time together.

INVERTED SUBJECT–VERB ORDER
After a negative adverb, place the auxiliary verb (do, does, is, are, am, have, has) before the subject and main verb. Initial placement of the adverb is for emphasis.
Seldom are we ___ home in the day time.
Never do we have much time together.

pop question Pop-Q "Never"

Practice 1

Habits & Temporary Changes

Is the activity a habit or a change from the usual routine?

Select the response from the list that best completes the sentence.
Compare your response to the feedback by clicking the "Check" or the "Check 1-8" button.

Today, we're eating dinner at 5:00 because we're going to a movie.
However, usually we dinner at 6:30.

Feedback 1

Tonight, I'm cooking dinner for my family, but I seldom dinner when I am alone.

Feedback 2

This week, I'm not driving to work because my car is being repaired. Instead, I'm taking the train to work.
Most of the time , I .

Feedback 3

Usually, I answer my phone.
Just for now, during dinner, I my phone.

Feedback 4

Usually, ABC shows the news at 6:00 p.m.
However, tonight, they a baseball game.

Feedback 5

This week, I the night shift.
More often, I work the day shift.

Feedback 6

This year, we are getting a lot of rain.
Usually, we half as much rain.

Feedback 7

I usually feel energetic.
Right now, I tired.

Feedback 8

Practice 2

Adverb Placement

Which adverb may be used in the sentence position that is given?

Select the response from the list that best completes the sentence.
Compare your response to the feedback by clicking the "Check" or the "Check 9-13" button.

we celebrate people's birthday on the actual birth date.

Feedback 9

10.

, we celebrate half-birthdays. (6 month anniversaries)

Feedback 10

11.

Children bring gifts for the birthday child.

Feedback 11

12.

Children attending parties receive party favors .

Feedback 12

13.

do the children leave unhappy .

Feedback 13

Additional practice: Present vs. Present Progressive