Simple Present [VERB] + s/es in third person

Examples:

You speak English. Do you speak English? You do not speak English.

Present Continuous [am/is/are + present participle]

Examples:

You are watching TV. Are you watching TV? You are not watching TV.

1. Every Monday, Sally (drive) drives her kids to football practice. 2. Usually, I (work) work as a secretary at ABT, but this summer I (study) am studying French at a language school in Paris. That is why I am in Paris. 3. Shhhhh! Be quiet! John (sleep) is sleeping. 4. Don't forget to take your umbrella. It (rain) is raining. 5. I hate living in Seattle because it (rain, always) is always raining. 6. I'm sorry I can't hear what you (say) are saying because everybody (talk) is talking so loudly. 7. Justin (write, currently) is currently writing a book about his adventures in Tibet. I hope he can find a good publisher when he is finished. 8. Jim: Do you want to come over for dinner tonight? Denise: Oh, I'm sorry, I can't. I (go) am going to a movie tonight with some friends. 9. The business cards (be, normally ) are normally printed by a company in New York. Their prices (be) are inexpensive, yet the quality of their work is quite good. 10. This delicious chocolate (be) is made by a small chocolatier in Zurich, Switzerland.

El presente continuo o progresivo se forma con el presente del auxiliar 'to be' y el gerundio del verbo que se quiere conjugar: I am playing You are playing He is playing We are playing You are playing They are playing Yo estoy jugando T ests jugando l est jugando Nosotros estamos jugando Vosotros estis jugando Ellos estn jugando

I am reading a book / Estoy leyendo un libro Helen is phoning a friend / Helen est telefoneando a un amigo a.) La forma negativa aade la partcula 'not' al auxiliar: I am not playing You are not playing He is not playing We are not playing You are not playing They are not playing Yo no estoy jugando T no ests jugando l no est jugando Nosotros no estamos jugando Vosotros no estis jugando Ellos no estn jugando

I am not reading a book / No estoy leyendo un libro Helen is not phoning a friend / Helen no est telefoneando a un amigo b.) La forma interrogativa invierte el sujeto y el auxiliar: Am I playing? Are you playing? Is he playing? Are we playing? Are you playing? Are they playing? Estoy yo jugando? Ests t jugando? Est l jugando? Estamos nosotros jugando? Estis vosotros jugando? Estn ellos jugando?

Am I reading a book? / Estoy yo leyendo un libro? Is Helen phoning a friend? / Est Helen telefoneando a un amigo? c.) En la forma interrogativa-negativa se coloca la partcula not despus del sujeto: Aren't you reading a book? / No ests leyendo un libro? Isn't Helen phoning a friend? / No est Helen telefoneando a un amigo?

a.) Indica una accin que se est desarrollando en ese momento. He is smoking / l est fumando Est fumando en este momento. Puede ser un fumador habitual o puede que fume en muy raras ocasiones. (*) Oberva la diferencia con el ejemplo anterior del Presente Simple 'He smokes' I am having breakfast now and it's nine o'clock / Estoy desayunando ahora y son las nueve en punto Estoy desayunndo y en este momento son las nueve en punto. Es posible que todos los das desayune a las nueve pero podra ser tambin que habitualmente desayune a otra hora distinta. El hecho es que hoy desayuno a las nueve en punto. b.) Tambin puede indicar una accin planificada que se desarrollar en un futuro. I am going to Barcelona tomorrow / Voy a Barcelona maana c.) Puede indicar una accin habitual que se repite frecuentemente. En este caso, suele acompaarse de adverbios de frecuencia ('often', 'usually', etc.) She is always shouting / Ella siempre est gritando

The past continuous is very simple if you know the present continuous. Just change the verb "to be" into the past: I am watching TV now I was watching TV yesterday She's not listening to me! She wasn't listening to me! are you playing golf with Susan? Were you playing golf with Susan last Monday? SIMPLE PAST VS PAST CONTINUOUS We use the simple past to say that something happened at a particular moment: - I worked 5 hours yesterday - I lived in Rome when I was a child We use the past continuous to say that something was happening at a particular moment: the action started before that time, and it finished at that time: - Yesterday, at 3 o'clock, I was working - In 1980 I was living in Rome (I went to Rome before 1980 and I also lived in Rome after 1980) - In 1980 I lived in Rome (I went to Rome in 1980, I lived there for one year but in 1981 I was living in a different city) When we use the simple past or the past continuous, I am talking about a past action, not a present one, so if I am still living in Rome I can't say "I was living in Rome", I have to say "I am living in Rome". The most common use of the past continuous is when telling a story. We use the past continuous to describe an action that was happening for some time and then stopped when another action happened.