When you give instructions — in a recipe, a manual, a guide, or a tutorial — you are describing a sequence of steps that are always valid. The instructions do not describe what you are doing right now at this specific moment. They describe what anyone, at any time, should do when following this procedure.
Think of it this way: a recipe is a description of a permanent process. The steps are true every time you make the dish. This timeless quality is exactly what the Present Simple expresses. The instructions exist outside of any specific moment in time — they are like mini general truths about how a task is done.
In written instructions, the subject is almost always you — meaning the reader or the person following the guide. Because you takes the base form of the verb (same as I, we, they), no -s/-es ending is added. This makes the structure very clean and simple.
You may know that English also uses the imperative for instructions — the verb alone, with no subject: Preheat the oven. Add the flour. Save the file. Both forms are correct in English. The Present Simple with you is slightly softer and more common in informal or step-by-step guides, tutorials, and recipe videos. The imperative is more direct and common in formal manuals and official instructions.
Sometimes instructions describe what a step or a component does — using a subject like the timer, the machine, the system, the light. In this case, the third-person -s/-es rule applies as normal.
✗ First, you are preheating the oven. Then you are adding the flour.
✓ First, you preheat the oven. Then you add the flour.
The Present Continuous describes something happening right now, at this moment. Instructions describe a permanent procedure — steps that are valid every time the task is done. The Present Simple is the correct tense because it describes what is always true, not what is happening right now.
✗ First, you will preheat the oven. Then you will add the flour.
✓ First, you preheat the oven. Then you add the flour.
Using will suggests these are predictions or decisions, not fixed steps in a procedure. Instructions are not future events — they are permanent, repeatable steps. The Present Simple gives instructions their timeless, authoritative character.
✗ Once the timer will go off, you remove the tray. · When the light will turn green, the device is ready.
✓ Once the timer goes off, you remove the tray. · When the light turns green, the device is ready.
This is one of the most common errors for ESL learners. In English, you never use the future tense (will) in a clause that begins with a time conjunction: when, once, after, as soon as, before, until. The Present Simple is always used in these clauses — even if you are talking about a future moment. The will (if needed at all) goes in the main clause, not the time clause.
Common time conjunctions to watch out for: when · once · after · as soon as · before · until · if