Commentaries

Commentaries are reports on events such as a public ceremony or a football match. They are usually spoken while the events are being viewed. We use both the present simple and the present continuous. The present simple is used to make the commentary sound more immediate:

• [a football commentary: swings the ball here means ‘kicks the ball with a high pass’]
• Chelsea are a goal down and need to score in the next ten minutes. It’s Terry now, passes to Bridge, Bridge swings the ball over to the left and finds Malouda.

The present continuous is used to describe actions which are slower:

• The president is now making his way towards the palace and is waving to the crowds.
• The two golfers are now playing the final stage of the match.