INTRODUCTION
1. Background of the study
English is an international language and has been widely used in so many
countries in the world. In Vietnamese, is also considered as the most important
foreign language which has been taught as a compulsory subject for many years.
There are three important components in a language, namely pronunciation,
grammar and vocabulary. One of the most important aspects of English is
grammar which is considered as a challenge for many teachers and students of
English at schools. Especially for tenses, the play an important part in English
grammar, they are always put in tests and exams for students of high schools.
However, many students often use tenses incorrectly, especially for present
tenses. They are often confused with using present tenses so they make meaning
of the sentences change and make them wrong in grammatical rules.
In learning languages, using present tenses cause lots of difficulties for
learners of English as a foreign language. It is also one of the basic factors to
complete grammatical and lexical meaning in a sentence. Therefore, using
present tenses correctly is very necessary to students learning English.
However, there is a fact that English learner in general and students of
grade 10 students at Ngo Gia Tu High school,Vinh Phuc province in particular
still do not know how to using present tenses in English in a correct way. They
make many mistakes when using present tenses in tests and exams. Finding the
common mistakes in using present tenses will help teachers find out good way
to correct those mistakes for students. For main reason above, I choose the
subject: “Common mistakes in using present tenses of grade 10 students at
Ngo Gia Tu High school,Vinh Phuc province: the current situation and
solutions” for my graduation paper.

1


2. Previous Research



3. Research Purpose
This study is intended to help students understand the usages of present
tenses in English. On the other hand, the researcher wants to reduce student’s
mistakes when using present tenses in English.
This study aims to:
- Studying the usages of present tenses in English
- Giving the current situation and identifying common mistakes on using
present tenses in English of grade 10 students at Ngo Gia Tu high
school,Vinh Phuc pronvince
- Suggesting some possible solutions
4. Research questions
The study will find the answers for the following questions:
- What are common mistakes made by grade 10 students at Ngo Gia Tu
High School in using present tense?
- Which solutions should be done to minimize these mistakes?
5. The methods of research
1.5.1. Theoretical research method
The study was based on some theoretical researchers on English tenses in
general and the usages of present tenses in particular. By theoretical method the
researcher will in the literature study section to get the basis for the research.
1.5.2. Statistical method
To make statistics about common mistakes in using present tenses of
grade 10 students at Ngo Gia Tu High School. The researcher uses some tools to
collect data.
1.5.2.1. Questionnaires
This research paper was conducted at Ngo Gia Tu High School.
Questionnaires were designed for the students to get basic information about
situation of teaching and learning present tenses at school.

8. Hypothesis
The researcher bases on the usage of present tenses, finding common
mistakes of grade 10 students at Ngo Gia Tu High School, the causes for these
mistakes and application of proposed solutions will help students to understand
and use present tenses in English correctly. Their knowledge of how to use
4


present tenses correctly will help reduce and overcome their mistakes in using
present tenses and improve the results of their English learning.
9. Design of the study
The study consists of 3 parts and references
Introduction
This is the chapter that introduces an overall view of the research.
Chapter 1: Literature Review
Literature review of English grammar, present tenses, and mistakes in
using present tenses are provided in this chapter
Chapter 2: The study
This chapter analyzes the data collected from students survey
questionnaires and an interview for the teachers on teaching and learning present
tenses, collected a written test to find out common mistakes made by students of
grade 10 at Ngo Gia Tu high school. After that the researcher finds the causes
for students’ mistakes.
Chapter 3: Suggestion some solutions
In this chapter, the researcher provides some solutions, which follows
these causes in chapter 2.
Conclusion
A conclusion of the study gives a summary of the whole research,
provides limitations of the research and suggestions for further research.


forming the meaning of sentences. Tense may indicate whether an activity or
state is, was, or will be completed or whether it is, was, or will be in progress
over period of time. In learning English as a foreign language, it is very
important to know the rules of tenses as part of grammar. By knowing the rules
6


of tenses, the students are believed to be able to construct good sentences in
English communication. In other words, it is believed that by mastering the
tenses as one aspect in English grammatical structure, the students will be able
to communicate in English correctly.
1.2.2. The classification of Tenses
1.3. Present Simple Tense
According to Krohn (1971), simple present tense is tense denoting an
action happening in this time. This tense is used to talk about things in general.
We are not only thinking about now, but it is used to say something is true in
general.
1.3.1. Form
1.3.2. Usage
1.3.3. Spelling notes
1.4. The present continuous tense
1.4.1. Form
1.4.2. Usage
1.5. The present perfect tense
1.5.1. Form
1.5.2. Usage
1.6. Distinguishing Present Simple, Present Continuous and Present Perfect
1.6.1. The Present Simple Tense and the Present Continuous Tense
1.6.2. The Past Simple Tense and the Present Perfect Tense
1.7. Mistakes in English

THE COMMON MISTAKES IN USING PRESENT TENSES

8


2.1. An introduction of grade 10 students and teachers of English at Ngo
Gia Tu High School
The study was conducted with participation of a total of 150 students of 3
classes at grade 10 in Ngo Gia Tu high school. Most of them have been studied
English for six or seven years at elementary and secondary school and they are
now at the second term of the the school year.
Although the students have been studied English for six or seven years,
the fact that they do not really acquaint to basic grammar and main skills in
English. Besides, they have not been studied each of the aspects carefully and
done variety of exercises. Moreover, classes of English as other subjects are
large, there are frequently 45 to 50 students in a class. Thus, time for students
practicing is limited.
Besides, the textbook of 10th grade is designed following with many
communicable topics. The textbook includes 16 units, each of which covers 5
parts such as: Reading, Listening, Speaking, Writing and Language Forcus. Each
unit has a part of the grammar and this is followed by a set of practice exercises.
For example, in unit 3, the student will be revised about the present simple and
the present progressive. And in unit 4 about “special education”, the present
perfect will be presented.
Being a young teaching staff, they give students enthusiasm and
responsibility in training and educational career. Besides, they also give new
methods to make students more interested in the English class. However, due to
effect of old teaching methods, some teachers have not met demand of students
yet and students have not played center role in the class.
2.2. Data collection

120 = 80 %

12 = 8 %

12 = 8 %

6=4%

Question 2

0=0%

21 = 14 %

93 = 62 %

36 = 24 %

Question 3

45 = 30 %

42 = 28 %

33 = 22 %

30 = 20 %

Question 4


56 = 36 %

63 = 42 %

21 = 14 %

12 = 8 %

2.3.1.2. Data collected from interviewing the teachers
The aim of interviewing the teachers gets more information of current
situation. The researcher designed 4 questions to get information from 7 teachers
at Ngo Gia Tu high school. (For more details, see Appendix 2)
Question 1: How long have you been teaching English?
Question 2: Do your students have problems in distinguishing Present
Tenses?
Question 3: What kind of mistakes do they often make?
Question 4: What do you do to help them overcome these problems?
From the data collected, the researcher understood more about the current
situation of teaching and learning Present Tenses in grade 10 at Ngo Gia Tu high
10


school and the common mistakes made by students. This is the useful
information for the researcher finding out causes for theses mistakes and giving
some solutions to improve this situation.
2.3.1.3. Data collected from the test
The participants of the study are 150 students from 3 classes of grade 10
and 3 tests. Therefore, the researcher got 450 tests from 150 students. And then,
the researcher would count the total of mistakes. The table below show common
mistakes made by students of grade 10 at Ngo Gia Tu high school when using


After giving and collecting the test, the researcher found out 4 common
mistakes made by students of grade 10 when using Present Tenses. These
mistakes belong to three tenses: the present simple tense, the present continuous
tense, the present perfect tense. The number of mistakes most is (36%) about
omission (omission of –s/es in the present tense, omission of to be “am/is/are” or
verb “ing” in the present continuous tense, and omission of “have/has” or past
participle verb in the present perfect tense). Besides, the mistakes about subject
and verb agreement is 24% and 22% is the mistakes of confusion in the usages.
Lastly, there are 18% about the mistakes of spelling.
2.3.2. Discussion and Findings
2.3.2.1. Discussion
After carrying out the survey, the interview and analyzing data, the
researcher found that the teachers at Ngo gia Tu high school used effective
methods to transform necessary knowledge in the textbook to the students,
11


delivered them some exercises to practice and gave necessary correction for
their common mistakes. However, they did not really focus on students’
understanding; they only concentrated on quantity of knowledge which they
conveyed to the students. The teachers are lack of delivery extra exercises to
students practicing.
Besides, the students were usually neglected their study in the class; they
did not pay attention to teacher’s lectures. In addition, they were very lazy doing
exercises at home. A large number of students did not do their homework or
exercises given by the teachers. For extra exercises in the reference books, very
few students did them. When having difficulty in doing exercises, the students
often did not ask the teachers or their friends and they sometimes passed these
exercises. Because most of the classes at Ngo Gia Tu high school are very large,

students in using Present Tenses.
2.4. Causes for students’ mistakes
2.4.1. Interference of Mother tongue.
According to Achara Wongsothorn (1983), interference from Vietnamese
language to English learning is considered to be the main sources of errors for
Vietnam students.
Many Vietnamese students beginning to study English have much trouble
learning English grammar. One of the problems they usually have is handling
English aspect. This may be because verbs are not marked for tense and aspect
in Vietnamese. As a result, students usually transfer non-conjugated verbs and
implied tense and aspect into English.
From the result in this study, the researcher think that interference from
Vietnamese language to English learning is the main cause for student’s
mistakes. For example, they did not change the form of verb “to have”or verb
past participle after verb “to have” in present perfect tense.
2.4.2. Difficulties in the usages and forms of Present Tenses.
Almost students of grade 10 at Ngo Gia Tu high school had learnt English
at secondary school, thus, they have been learnt basic knowledge of English.
English tenses are not easy to remember all their usages for non native English
13


speakers, especially secondary students. Moreover, there are 12 tenses in
English system and tense actually relates to times: present, past, and future.
Therefore, students feel difficult to remember and understand deeply about
tenses in general and Present Tenses in particular. In addition, the students have
not done and practice a variety of exercises at school. When they have started
studying at high school, they usually forgot some usages, verb forms and
spelling notes of the Present Tenses and had confusion when using them.
2.4.3. Inadequate practice

the difference between them about the usage of verbs.
Besides, teachers should help students practice the three tenses in more
varied contexts, such as picture descriptions, information gap activities,
authentic listening activities, storytelling, and games. For example, the teacher
may give students pictures of somebody’s daily routine. The teacher asks them
to make sentences about that person’s daily activities using the present tenses.
The teacher can also ask some of them to show some pictures of their family
members’daily routines to the class, and other students make sentences by using
the present tenses. Another example is to ask students to listen to some sounds
on a tape and make sentences about what is happening with the sounds on the
tape using the present tenses. The teacher can also ask some volunteers to show
some actions in front of the class, and other students make sentences about the
actions using the present tenses. By practicing sentences in contexts such as
these, students may become more aware of how to use the two aspects.

3.2. Suggestions for reducing mistakes by difficulties in the usages and
forms of Present Tenses
3.2.1. For teachers
The teacher should emphasize the usages and forms of present tenses.
For example, teachers should emphasize that verbs in present perfect tense form
must take the aspect " have or has + past participle of main verb". Teachers
15


should teach their students first what subjects use with have or has and then
teach them the past participle of main verb both regular and irregular form. And
then, the teacher should show students additional sentences containing the present
perfect tense such as: “I have been here since last week” or “Our parents have
lived in London for many years”. Or teachers should teach their students first
what subject can a sentence take (i.e. First, second or third person) an explain

In fact, athough the teachers taught clearly about tenses in general and the
Present Tenses in particular, the students still forgot a lot of them. Therefore,
reading the theory and self- study is very necessary. Many English grammar
books can provide essential knowledge of the Present Tesnses. If the students
can not understand any aspect, they may ask the teachers for explanation at
class. In short, reading the theory and self- study help students understand and
remember strongly.
+ Practicing exercises at class and at home carefully and frequently
It is useless for any learners to study a foreign language without
practicing, especially for English grammar. Students must be encouraged to
apply the drill practice (Larsen-Freeman, 1986) in learning the present tenses in
English. They first are advised to list the adverbs of time in present tenses (e.g.
always, often, sometimes, etc. in the simple present tense) in their notebooks or
to draw a chart in order to remind them whenever they are not confident in
writing words as learning a new language is a process of habit formation. In
other words, students could learn language through repetition and drill
practicing is an activity which is very useful for them.
After memorizing the adverbs of time in present tenses and the
problematic words, the students should have given more chances to practice
writing. This is due to the fact that the students might easily forget the words and
the structures if they have few chancesto write them. According to Madsen
(1983:112-113), dictation is considered to be one of the easiest methods for
practice and testing. Thus, dictation might be a useful writing exercise for the
students. Dictation may be done during class session, either at the beginning of
the class or at the end, for both of individual words and/or of sentences in
context.
17


3.3. Suggetions for reducing mistakes by inadequate practice


corrective. Besides, the students can ask questions for the the teachers’ answers.
This solution creates an interactive atmosphere in the language class. This is
useful to make the students more involved and motivated. Moreover, both the
teachers and the students will be closer with each other.

CONCLUSION
In this part, the researcher first provides a summary of major findings of
the study, the implications of the study are described next, followed by a number
of limitations and suggestions for further study. This part ends with a conclusion
to the whole study.
1. Major findings
19


This study is about the common mistakes in using present tenses of grade
10 students at Ngo Gia Tu high school. Firstly, the study had overview about the
tenses in general and the present tenses in particular. Then, it found out the
current situation and the common mistakes in using present tenses. Finally, the
researcher suggested some solutions for these problems.
By analyzing the mistakes made by the students in using the present
tenses, the researcher could find out the current situation for grade 10 students at
Ngo Gia Tu high school. Besides, the researcher can understand more about
causes of these mistakes such as: inference of Mother tongue, difficulties in the
usages and forms of Present Tenses, etc and identify the kinds of mistake made
by students. There are four common mistakes: mistakes of omission, mistakes of
subject- verb agreement, mistakes of confusion in the usages, and mistakes of
spelling. From these mistakes, the researcher suggested some solutions, were
given for both the teachers and the students to reduce these mistakes.
In short, the findings and suggestings would help the students understand

not be as deeply as expected.
Lastly, that was the first time I had done the research at a high school. As
a researcher, I was not experienced in doing it at all. Thus, the researcher herself
hopes that other aspects which have not been mentioned here will be completed
fully in further studies.
4. Conclusion
In conclusion, the significance of the research is to find out the common
mistakes in using present tenses in English and distinguish between them. It is
clear that students can realize their mistakes and then the researcher give out
some solutions to students avoid or reduce these mistakes.The researcher hope
that this study will help students to understand more and use present tenses in
English correctly. Their knowledge of how to use present tenses correctly will
help reduce and overcome their mistakes in using present tenses and improve the
results of their English learning.

21