Lesson 1

PRESENT SIMPLE – PRESENT CONTINUOUS

E.g:
A: You’re always doing silly things, Sam.
Why are you standing in the rain? People don’t usually stand in the rain. They can
catch cold.
B: I don’t normally stand in the rain. I know I can catch cold, mum, but dad says it’s
raining cats and dogs today and I want to catch a little puppy.

PRESENT SIMPLE PRESENT CONTINUOUS

IS USED FOR: IS USED FOR:
1. permanent situations 1. temporary situations
e.g: She works in an office. e.g: He’s standing with some friends at the
moment.
2. repeated actions in the present, especially 2. actions happening at or around the time of
with adverbs of frequency (often, always, speaking
usually, sometimes, etc) e.g: He’s looking for a new job at the moment.
e.g: He often buys her flowers.
3.facts which are permanently true 3. with always to express annoyance/ criticism:
e.g: The sun sets in the west. e.g: He’s always telling lies!
4. timetables/ programs 4. fixed arrangements in the near future
e.g: The lesson begins at 8 o’clock. e.g: I’m flying to London tomorrow.
(it’s all arranged; I’ve already bought the
tickets; the time of the action is always stated or
understood)

Time expressions used with PRESENT Time expressions used with PRESENT
SIMPLE: CONTINUOUS :
usually, always, never, often, now, at the moment, at present, always,
sometimes, every day/ week/ month/ year, etc. tonight, etc.

Adverbs of frequency (often, always, usually, sometimes, etc) are placed before main
verbs but after auxiliary/ modal verbs (be, have, can, will, must, shall, etc).
e.g: He often goes to the theatre.
He is never late.

Non-continuous verbs:
Some verbs appear rarely in the continuous tenses. These verbs express a permanent
state and they are:
appear (=seem), be, believe, belong, cost, feel, forget, hate, have (= possess),
know, like, love, mean, need, prefer, realize, remember, see, seem, smell, sound, suppose,
taste, think, understand, want, etc.
e.g: I understand it know.
I am understanding it now.
HOMEWORK:

Ex.1 Choose a verb from the list and complete the text : read, sleep, eat, sail, cry, drink,
run, sing, play, fish, sit
Laura 1)________ under a sunshade. Two boys 2)_______round a sandcastle while
their father 3)__________a newspaper. Tom 4)_________ Coke. Two girls 5) _______ ice-
cream while their mother 6)______along with the radio. Some boys 7)_______ football near
a man who 8)______. Jim 9)________. On his right a baby 10)__________ . Some people
11)_______ past the beach.

Ex.2 Ask and answer questions about the text above.

e.g: Is Laura running? No, she isn’t. She’s sitting under a sunshade

Ex.3 Put the verbs in brackets into Present Simple or Present Continuous:
Caller: Good morning! 1)____ (be) Mr. Green there?
Man: No, he 2) _____(not/ be) here. He 3)_____ (work) at the moment. He usually
4)____(work) until 4 p.m.
Caller: What about Mrs. Green? Where 5)____ (be) she?
Man: She 6)_____(do) shopping. She always 7)_____(do) the shopping on Thursday
afternoons.
Caller: Where 8)_____(be) the children?
Man: They 9)_____(play) football. They always 10)______(play) football after
school.
Caller: How 11)____(you/ know) all this? Who are you?
Man: I 12)____(be) the burglar!

Ex.4 Think about your favorite recipe. First, make a list of the ingredients that you needs:

Ingredients:
Now, make notes about how to prepare it. Use Present Simple:
First, __________________________________________
Then, __________________________________________
Also, ___________________________________________
Finally, __________________________________________
Tell your partner how you prepare it and the things you need for it.

Ex.5 Write about your daily routine (10 lines)