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I play games now. I want a chocolate now.

Why not I am playing/wanting?

What is the tense of such these sentences?

Are they grammatical?

Are they formal?

Edit: If that was a simple present tense, how come we use “now” with it? As far as I know “now” indicates an instant state not a mere fact or a routine as the simple present indicates!.

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    "As far as I know..." – have you looked up the word now in a dictionary? You might be surprised to find out now need not mean "at this very moment". Also, please provide some context for your sentences. I think you should look up present continuous and present simple in your textbook or on the internet (here or elsewhere) in order to familiarize yourself with some basic facts about these common constructions. It'd also be nice to try to read and listen to English as it's written and spoken: that way you'll internalize its rules without having to learn them explicitly.
    – user3395
    Oct 31, 2019 at 8:51

2 Answers 2

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They are simple present tense. They are examples that basic tense.

I play games now.

... is a very basic sentence. May be too basic and simple to be used in real life situations. Hardly anyone says it like that in real life.

I want a chocolate now.

... is also very basic. You may hear something like that in real life but saying it like that may make it sound like you're ordering someone to get you chocolate quite rudely.

They're grammatically correct but we usually don't say it like that. Instead, depending on the situation, we may say one of the following:

We're playing games now.
We'll be playing games now.
I'd like some chocolate.


Edit:

I play games.
I want a chocolate.

Without the "now", these are perfectly fine sentences.

"I play games" actually means something like "I play games as a job/hobby", since the simple present tense can be use to state something that is always true. If you want to say that you are playing games at that time, it's better to say "I'm playing games now".

"I want chocolate" itself expresses that the "wanting of some chocolate" is the the present. However, if "now" is added at the end and there is no prior context, it acts as an emphasis, which can be (mis)understood as "I want chocolate right now. Give me chocolate". If, however, you say "That was delicious. I want chocolate now.", that is perfectly fine and is actually used to mean something like "I want chocolate now because that was delicious".

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    "... saying it like that sounds like you're ordering someone to get you chocolate quite rudely." Do you have any source (e.g., dictionary entry, articles, etc) to substantiate that claim?
    – AIQ
    Oct 31, 2019 at 4:34
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    "No one says it like that in real life." - Interesting. Any sources to support this?
    – AIQ
    Oct 31, 2019 at 4:36
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    So, you don't have a reliable source to substantiate this "No one says it like that in real life." You may very well have years of experience using English, but if you don't have a reliable source to cite that claim then it is simply false. It is impossible to know for sure if in fact no one says something (whatever that may be) in particular.
    – AIQ
    Oct 31, 2019 at 4:48
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    Again, you repeat ""that sounds like you're ordering someone rudely" is because when someone says it like that, that's just what usually it means." without really giving any solid evidence that it is true. I don't see anything rude here: "That was a wonderful meal. Time for dessert! I want a chocolate now."
    – AIQ
    Oct 31, 2019 at 4:52
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    Well, that claim I made of course is not 100% true. Someone will say that in real life. What I'm trying to say is that most people proficient at English will not say it like that. It only takes 1 person to make my claim wrong, but it wasn't meant to be 100% true. I'm only stating what is often the norm. If you say it like that, people will understand you but you will likely sound "not very familiar with the language". Oct 31, 2019 at 4:54
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“I am playing game now” will be true for the current situation. But if some one is asking that what are your hobbies, then the answer should be “I play games”, “I read books” etc. but in this case “Now” is not used!

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