Present tense: to be to have to like to want

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Harry12345

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Teaches, I read a book, the writer ( He is very famous) introduces the present tense like this

Present tense:
to be
1 I am Gina.
2 His phone number is 13522789

to have
1 I have a basketball
2 He has a basketball.

to like
1 I like hambugers.
2 I don't like hambugers.

to want
1 I want to go to a moive
2 Do you want to go to a movie


After reading it, I got really confused.

1 Why did he use to be to have to like to want to introduce present tense?


2 Why did he put to in front of these four words to be to have to like to want ? but in example sentences , he wrote them without to. He obviously knews I to am Gina I to have a basketball I to like hambugers are wrong, Why did he still use to be to have to like to want to introduce present tense, not be have like want?

Thank you!:)
 

billmcd

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Teaches, I read a book, the writer ( He is very famous) introduces the present tense like this

Present tense:
to be
1 I am Gina.
2 His phone number is 13522789

to have
1 I have a basketball
2 He has a basketball.

to like
1 I like hambugers.
2 I don't like hambugers.

to want
1 I want to go to a moive
2 Do you want to go to a movie


After reading it, I got really confused.

1 Why did he use to be to have to like to want to introduce present tense?


2 Why did he put to in front of these four words to be to have to like to want ? but in example sentences , he wrote them without to. He obviously knews I to am Gina I to have a basketball I to like hambugers are wrong, Why did he still use to be to have to like to want to introduce present tense, not be have like want?

Thank you!:)
Because most instructional materials on English will present the basic form of a verb in its infinitive form with "to" even though it would not be used in forming the simple present and other tenses. I understand why you would be confused.
 

emsr2d2

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Because most instructional materials on English will present the basic form of a verb in its infinitive form with "to" even though it would not be used in forming the simple present and other tenses. I understand why you would be confused.

Almost all languages (European languages) have an infinitive form which is not the same word/combination of words in the present tense. In French and Spanish, you have the infinitive, you remove the suffix, add a different ending to the stem and you have the present tense etc.

In English it just so happens that our infinitives are made up of the word "to" followed by the bare word (the one used in all but the 3rd person singular).

As Bill said, when you see verb tables etc in grammar books, they will refer to the infinitive as "to + verb".
 

Harry12345

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Teacher emsr2d2 billmcd

Thank you very much!

Now I know it's your habit to use to + verb.

But why did he use these four words to introduce present tense, but not for example to write to read to run and so on to introduce present tense?
 

emsr2d2

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Teacher emsr2d2 billmcd

Thank you very much!

Now I know it's your habit to use to + verb.

But why did he use these four words to introduce present tense, but not for example to write to read to run and so on to introduce present tense?

There is no specific reason that I can think of. If you want to give an example of anything, you choose from a very large list! He could have used any verb, he just happened to choose those four.
 

billmcd

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Why those words? Probably because they are representative of the most frequently used words in English. For example, one of the lists I reviewed of the top 300, ranks "be" (21), "have" (24), "like" (64) and "want" (154).
 
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