I'm probably getting in on this a bit late but I wanted to check a
college grammar before commenting. We generally think of the present
tense in English as describing things happening in the present time, but
the Harbrage College Handbook describes several other uses:
Habitual action: "Maureen uses common sense."
Universal or timeless truth: "Blind innocence sees no evil."
Historical present: "In 1939 Hitler attacks Poland."
Literary present: "Conrad writes about what he sees in the human heart."
Present form used with an adverb to denote the future: "Winter begins
next week."
Progressive form denoting past, present and probably future: "I am
learning from my mistakes."
Sincerely,
Michael Abernathy
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