Present Simple Tense. Use #3: Scheduled Events in the Near Future
Speakers occasionally
use present simple to talk about scheduled events in the near future. This is
most commonly done when talking about public transportation, but it can be used
with other scheduled events as well. It can be a little confusing to grasp that
present tenses can be used to express the future.
Example: The plane leaves tonight at 8pm.- Самолет
вылетает сегодня в 8 вечера.
Example:
The train doesn’t arrive at 9pm., it arrives at 10pm.- Поезд не прибывает в 9 вечера., он прибывает в 10
вечера.
Here we talk of the
transport schedules. The idea is that the times are certain, and it is the
certainty of this that is expressed with present simple.
Example:
The party starts at 7pm. – Вечеринка начинается в 7 вечера.
Here we talk of
things that are not related to transport, but nonetheless have a scheduled time.
