Simple Present vs. Present

Continuous

Use the simple present for:

1) ROUTINES: action that happens repeatedly (habitual action)

2) general or permanent situations

3) facts

Use the present continuous for:1) Something that is happening now or close to the time of speaking

2) A temporary situation

PRESENT SIMPLE

Routines…

Simple Present (Examples)

1) Routines:Tom goes fishing every week.

I usually work until 2:00 p.m.

My family comes to visit me every year.

Frequency adverbs

• On Mondays, on Saturdays…

• At weekends

• Every day, year, night, morning, weekend, century…

• Once / twice / three times… a week/a month / a year…

Simple Present (More Examples)

2) General or Permanent Situations:

Carmen lives in Palma.Jack doesn’t work on Saturday.Beth and Toan work at ECC.

3) Facts:The Earth is round.Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius.The Eiffel Tower is in Paris.

Present Continuous (Examples)

1) Action happening now or close to time of speaking:

Where’s Tom? He’s playing soccer.

Don’t bother the kids. They are doing their homework.

2) Temporary situations:Martha and her husband are

travelling around Europe for two weeks.

Lisa is living with friends until she finds an apartment.

Present Continuous . . . Time expressions

Now

Right now

We are reviewing the present continous at the moment

At the moment

Today, tonight…

Grammar Structure:

Here are some reminders about how to make the simple present and present continuous:

Simple Present:

The most important thing to remember about this tense is . . .

3rd person singular (he, she, it)We say:

IYouWeThey

Simple Present:

But for 3rd person singular, we say . . .

HeSheIt

Simple Present (Negative)

For all verbs, use:

1) Sara works on Sunday.Sara doesn’t work on Sunday.

2) They have a big house.They don’t have a big house.

3) Sam takes classes at night.Sam doesn’t take classes at night.

4) I have a lot of free time.I don’t have a lot of free time.

Simple Present (Interrogative?)

For all verbs, use:

Do SubjectDoes

Ex. Do you study English? Yes, I do.

Present Continuous:

Don’t forget that VERB BE is part of this structure.

I AMYou, We, They AREHe, She, It IS

Examples:

Everyone is studying hard.

They are celebrating their 40th anniversary today.

I am cleaning my house this week.

Present Continuous (Negative)

For this tense, simply ADD the word NOT after the verb BE.

They are working today.They are NOT working today. (aren’t)

She is taking a Math class.She is NOT taking a Math class.

(isn’t)

Present Continuous (Interrogative ?)

• Am • Is Subject V. -ing• Are

Are you playing football right now? No, I’m not.

Important Note aboutPresent Continuous!

Some verbs are NOT typically used in the present continuous tense. Instead, we prefer to use these verbs in the simple present.

These verbs are called STATIVE (or non-action) verbs. Here are some examples:

want like lovehate

know need seehear

believe understand have (possession)

forget remember belong

Examples:

I like Rome.NOT: I am liking Rome.

She has a big house.NOT: She is having a big house.

I prefer to have coffee.NOT: I am preferring to have coffee.

Practice!Do these exercises with your class.Choose the simple present or

present continuous and discuss why each is correct.

1. On Tuesdays, I ________ (go) to the gym.2. Karen ________ (paint) her apartment this

week.3. This room __________ (be) very large.4. He _________ (have) a headache right now.5. It ________ (rain) really hard right now. 6. Where is John? He _______ (work). 7. I ________ (meet) my friend in a few minutes.8. My family ________ (come) to San Diego often.

Answers!1. On Tuesdays, I go to the gym.2. Karen is painting her apartment this

week.3. This room is very large. (fact)4. He has a headache right now. (stative)5. It is raining really hard right now. 6. Where is John? He is working. (right

now)7. I am meeting my friend in a few

minutes.8. My family comes to San Diego often.

PAST SIMPLETENSE

AFFIRMATIVE FORM

Verbs can be:

REGULAR or …

Irregular!(IRREGULAR VERBS LIST AT THE BACK OF YOUR BOOK…)

Affirmative of Regular Verbs

All Persons add –ED to the Base Form:

I played

You laughed

He listened

She watched

We waited

They rememebered

SPELLING the –ED ending

Regular verbs ending in :1. E : Add –D:I lived , you decided , he liked, …2. Consonant + Y: IED:I studied, He tidied, …(vs: I played)

3. CVC: 1 consonant + 1 Vowel + 1 consonant: Double the consonant:

She planned , they stopped, …

Pronouncing the –ED:

Three possibilities:

- /d/ as in cleaned

- /t/ as in kicked

- /id/ as in decided

Plenty of pronunciation practice:http://englishteachermargarita.blogspot.com/2009/10/pronouncing-ed-2009-10.html

Affirmative of Irregular Verbs

You must learn them by heart:

A List: http://www.mansioningles.com/gram53.htm

An Irregular Verbs in Groups List:http://safasexto.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/irregularverbsingroups1.pdf

I wentYou readHe spokeWe heardThey came

All Persons are the same - as in Regular Verbs.