This document discusses the simple present and past tenses in English. It explains that the present tense can refer to events that occurred in the recent past or may occur in the near future, as the boundaries are undefined. The past tense refers to a specific action or event that occurred at some point in the past, without repetition or extension into the present or future, though it does not exclude prior or subsequent occurrences. An exception is "used to", which describes a habitual past action that was terminated before the present.

1. PAST PRESENT FUTURE
Simple Present Tense
I often visit my aunt.
I sometimes visit my aunt.
I rarely (seldom) visit my aunt.
I visit my aunt every week.
I never visit my aunt.
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The terms past, present, etc. are relative and context-dependent. (Hence we have used a gradient shade rather than 3
distinct solid colors). In some contexts, today’s happenings are to be expressed in the present tense; in some other
contexts, what happened this morning or even what happened a few minutes ago may be reported in the past tense.
Similarly, what is going to happen in the future is always uncertain.
In the simple present tense, we have shown the actions as stretching both backward and forward along the timeline. The
exact length to which we ought to extend the timeline either way is undefined. In I study in XYZ School, the past and the
future will cover only a few years (from year of joining to (expected) year of leaving). In I drink milk every morning, the
timeline extends backward at most to the year of your birth. Cows eat grass (the so-called universal truth) cannot
extend backward beyond the time when cows evolved on the earth. The earth goes round the sun is true from the time
the planet earth was born!

2. Simple Past Tense
I visited my aunt this morning.
I visited my aunt six months ago.
I visited my aunt last month.
I visited my aunt five years ago.
I often used to visit my aunt when I was in London. / When I was in London I would often visit my aunt.
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In contrast to simple present tense, where a statement was shown as being true on several occasions in the past, at
present and (hopefully) in the future, simple past tense refers to an action that happened at any time in the past. There
is no repetition of the occurrence and the truth of the sentence does not extend into the present / the future.
When we say there is no repetition of the occurrence, we do not imply that the action had never happened before / will
never happen again. He played football yesterday does not mean that he has never played the game earlier. The
sentence mentions one particular game which he played yesterday, and any games he may have played earlier or will
play in the future is not covered within the scope of this particular sentence.
One exception is USED TO which talks about a habitual past action, and hence is repetitive in nature, but which gets
terminated at any point before the present, thus having no extension into the present or the future.
PAST PRESENT FUTURE