Imagine you are watching a football match and the commentator says: "He is shooting — and he is scoring!" This sounds unnatural and slow. Real sports commentators say: "He shoots — and he scores!" Each action is reported the instant it happens, using the Present Simple.
This use of the Present Simple is called the instantaneous present or the commentary present. The logic is this: the action happens and is completed in a single moment. The Present Simple, which describes a complete fact, captures each action as a rapid snapshot — it is reported as a finished event the very instant it occurs.
Think of it like taking photographs. The commentator takes a photo of each action — click, click, click — one after another. Each photo is a complete fact. There is no sense of duration or process. The Present Simple is perfect for this because it describes facts, not ongoing processes.
The structure is exactly the same as any Present Simple sentence. For third-person singular subjects — he, she, it, or a name — you add -s or -es. This rule does not change just because the context is exciting.
✗ He is shooting! The goalkeeper is diving! She is crossing the finish line!
✓ He shoots! The goalkeeper dives! She crosses the finish line!
The Present Continuous describes something that takes time and is in progress right now. Commentary verbs are instantaneous — they happen and finish in a split second. The Present Simple captures this perfectly. Using the Continuous makes the commentary sound slow, awkward, and unnatural to a native English speaker. In real commentaries, you will almost never hear the Continuous tense.
✗ Ronaldo receive the ball! The goalkeeper dive to his left!
✓ Ronaldo receives the ball! The goalkeeper dives to his left!
Even in the fast, exciting language of live commentary, the third-person -s/-es rule applies. Every time you describe what he, she, it, or a named person does, the verb must take the third-person ending. The excitement of the moment does not change the grammar.
✗ He shot! The referee blew the whistle! She crossed the line!
✓ He shoots! The referee blows the whistle! She crosses the line!
The Past Simple tells us about actions that are already over. In live commentary, the actions are happening at this exact moment — the speaker is describing events as they unfold. The Present Simple is used because each action is reported at the instant it happens, not after the fact.