Lesson 1.4 · Talking about the present

Be careful when reading news headlines

If you read the business news in English, you will notice that headlines seem to break the rules from Lessons 1.1–1.3. They use the present simple for things that are happening now – and for things that have just happened. It is a special style used only in headlines, so it is worth recognising, but not copying.

From How to Use English Verb Tenses in Business by David Cox · 200+ diagrams for professional English

Headlines use the present simple for current situations

In normal English, a temporary situation happening now takes the present continuous. In a headline, it takes the present simple.

Energy prices increase rapidly

News headlines use the present simple to talk about a temporary situation

Other examples:

House prices plummet
Tech shares slump on AI fears
Eurozone economy slows
Mortgage rates climb again

News headlines only use simple tenses. They use the present simple to talk about current situations. This style is only used in headlines, so unless you write them, you will never need it. But if you read the news in English often, it is important to recognise that the tenses in a headline are not standard English tenses.

As soon as the article begins, normal tenses return

Read past the headline and the article switches back to standard verb tenses.

Energy prices increase rapidly

News headlines use the present simple to talk about a temporary situation

According to analysts, the price of gas is increasing dramatically across Europe, causing real concern for manufacturers.

When the article begins, it switches back to standard verb tenses: present continuous to talk about a present temporary situation

Headlines use the present simple for events that have just happened

Headlines also use the present simple for news that has only just happened – where normal English would use the present perfect.

Central bank cuts interest rates

News headlines use the present simple to talk about events which have just happened

Other examples:

CEO resigns after profit warning
Carmaker cuts 2,000 jobs
Retailer beats profit forecasts
Shares plunge 40% on profit warning

Again, this is a style used only in headlines. If you don’t write news headlines, you will never need it – but you do need to recognise it, because the headline is not telling you about a habit or a general fact.

The article switches to the present perfect

Once the article begins, the same event is described with the present perfect – a past event we haven’t moved on from.

Central bank cuts interest rates

News headlines use the present simple to talk about events which have just happened

The central bank has cut its main interest rate by 0.25%, citing slowing growth across the region.

When the article begins, it switches back to standard verb tenses: present perfect to talk about a past event we haven’t moved on from

We look at the present perfect in detail in Lesson 3.

Decoding a headline

When you see a present simple verb in a headline, ask which of these it really means.

The headline is about…	Headline	What it means in normal English
A situation happening now	House prices plummet	House prices are plummeting.
Something that has just happened	CEO resigns after profit warning	The CEO has resigned after a profit warning.

Practise this lesson

Test yourself on the present simple and present continuous with sentences from real meetings, emails and presentations.

Teachers: use these diagrams

You are welcome to use these diagrams in your lessons and materials. Please credit Fluency Space with a link to this page.

Diagram: Fluency Space – fluencyspace.com/grammar/verb-tenses/tenses-in-news-headlines/

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