Present Progressive and

Simple Present Тense

Cross-Cultural Confusion

Whу iэ Taro
|еaningback

,рiё
F i n et h a n k e ,
|,owarе уou2,

Whуiэ Эami
эtandingeo

Friеndsfrom differеntсuIturesoften Sometimеsthey don't agrее about

havе differеntideasabout timе. soсiaIdistanсе,either.

l€ н Е€ l <| P0INт
Сirclе T (Truе)or F (Folsе)'
т F Karl is arriving late tоnight.
т F In Sami's сulture, people rarely stand сlose to eaсh other.

.Pп
сIiARтсltЕсl( PREsЕN. oGREsslvЕ slпnPlЕ PRЕSЕNт тЕNsЕ
Сheсk thе сorrесt Bдsв Foпм|
onswеrs. Suв;вст Bс + -rArG I 5uUвст Vвпв
The present am
progтessivehas: |/Wе/You/Thеy arrlvе
nеvеr
Wе/You*/They
are arriving now. on timе.
t оnе part arways
П two parts Hе/She/|t ts Hе/She/It arrlvеs
*You is both singular and plural
The simplе present
tense has:
LJ one form
П t*o forms

t4
 Present Progressive and Simple Present тense r 15

EхPREss
Жxdi
Сomplеtеthe following chorts with thе vеrb buу'

PRЕSENт PRoGREss|vE slluPLE PRESЕNт тЕNsЕ

Suвlвстl Bд l BдsвFoпм + .lшс I Suв;вст| |v.*" l
am buying buy
You are buying fIowеrsnow. You usually buy сhoсoIates.

He is buying Hе buys

G r аm m ar Еx planat io ns Ехampl e s
1. Usе thе present progressive for things r Sami is talkin9 to Тaro.
happеningright now. r Аt thе momеnt,Тarois spеaking Еng|ish.
{o(o.
'
Now -^to
: . *d$n'
p a s t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . ;.. S.9- .F]u. -t u r e
i
Use the simplе рreJеnt tеnJе to desсгibе r Sami talks to Taro еveryday.
what rеgu|arlyhappеns. l Тarospеаks Japanеsеat homе.
*?*
Past.'.........'Х.x Future
i x.........x.......'>
Hе tolksto hiimеverуdoу.

2. Usе the prеsеnt progrеssivе for things I We.rе studying in thе U.S. this month.
happеningthesedays. t Laura,sstudуing in Franсеthis уeor,
Now I Arе you studying hard thеse doуs?

Pаst . . . . . . . . . .Futurе
.>

3. RвмвмввR!Most non-aсtlon vеrbs аrе r |anеwants to go homе right now.

not usuallyusеd in thе Prеsentprogrеssivе Noт
еven whеn thеy dеsсribеa situationthat exists
аt thе moment of spеaking.

4. Use the simple present tеnse to talk about r StressCauses high b|ood prеssure.
-l
sсiеntifiсfaсts аnd physiсallaws. r Watегboils аt 00.с.

Cheсkit oul!
For a list of сomrnоtrnon-aсtion verbs, seе Apperrdiх 2 on page 337.
16 r Unit zr

о Rеod thеsеjournol еntriеsbу Brion, а Сonodion summerехсhongеstudеnt

IDENтIЕY
studуing in Argеntino. Сirсle oll thе vеrbsthot dеscribеwhаt is hoppening now.
Undеrlinеthе vеrbs thot desсribеwhot gеnerаllу hoppеns.

June 2o; t@tn a oaat Ju|y 4: The wea|hеr ie cold now,

ЭО'ООО frеL aboveLhe еarth l u e u a | | уэ p e n dt h е f i r o t w е е k e n d
е n r o u t е | o ^ r q e n | i n a l| u o u a | | у of JuIу at the bеach,Todaу |m
h a v ed i n n е ra t t h i e t i m e , b u t r i q h | wa|kingaround in a heavу ;vlea|er,
n o w I h a v еa h е a d a c h ef r o m L h e
axClLamen|.gу eеa|ma|е le Аuguэt 6z I fee| eo LtredtonighL.
eatinq mу food. Эhе lookэ haP?у, Еveryonеr|эe feе|oqrеat in Nhе
е v e n | n qb e c a u e et h е у t a k e l o n q
June Эo: It'e 7:ЭО, gу hoэt parеnLe napэ in |hв aftеrnoon,
are эti|l workinq,Сar|oo,mу fathеr,
wОrkэa| hоnзe.Mу |i|||ebroLher
K i с а r d oi э c u | е , А е | o o k e( a n d
aсta) a |o| |ikebobbу,Kiqht now,
h е ' e| o o k i n qО v e rm у э h o u l d e ra n d
tryinq to rеad mу journa|,

о Studеntsorе tolking outsidе o сlossroom.Сomplеtеthеir сonvеrsotions

сOffiPIEтE
with thе prеsеntprogrеssivеor the simplеprеsеnttеnseof thе verbsin porеnthеsеs.

l. Lr-wu: Hi' Paulo. WЪat are you doinа

a. (do)
Pдur,o: oh, I 'm waiting for сlass to begin.
b. (wait)
Lr-wu: How are you? You look tired.
с. (|ook)
Pдulo: I аm a little tired. I 'm working evenings this semеstеr.Hеy, is that
d. (rvork)
your teaсher over there?

Lr-wu: Yеs' She is talking to one оf mу tt-.\

сlassmatеs.
e. (tаlk)

,
Рt
.)Ф-.g
]:Js,
.r
' i]./.., Ц}.-'
ъ*
Pдur,o: I wonder what,s wrong. He is not looking at
looks
f. (not look)
,,"ъ
,.ll-!
!-]
her. He еmbarrassed.
u '

\+ч
g. (look) -J
] ! lr
I
\,,1:l-

Lr-wu: Oh. That doesn't mean -.--4.Bь:-. ,l-

anything. In Taiwan -|,у)
h. (not meаn)
it's not respeсtfulto lоok direсtly at yоur teaсhеr.
2. Moвrкo: Look, there,sМiguеl. He is talking tо Luisa.
a. (1аlk)

Nrшд: Yes. They

are taking
a сlass together this semestеr.
b. (tаkе)
 Flreserrt Рrogressivr and simple Рresent Tense r 17

're standing very сlose to еaсh other. Do you

(. (stand)
think theу are dating 2
d. (thiпk) е. (date)

NIшд: No. I don't think it means

f. (notthink) 9' (meаn)
anything spесial. I come from Costa Riсa,
h. (соmе)
and people thеre nоrmally stand that
i, (stand)
сlose to еaсh othеr.

3. Rдsrrд: There's Hans. Wlrv is he - . r

t l

walking starts ,li

so fast? Class r ,r; il
a. (walk) b. (stаrt) \
о.l
at 9:00.Hе still has tеn minutesl

Cr-дuов: He always
walks fast. Pеople from
d. (walk)
Switzerland often appear t o b e i n а hurry.
e. (аpреao
4. Yoкo: Isn't that Sеrgio and Luis? Why are theу
shaking
a. (shаkе)
---
. аvt-
tla i!
hands? They know
b. 1know;
shake
eaсh othеr.

..:s"so3; Jrшс: In Brazil. rrrеn hands evеry

,.' Ъ 'r.*4
'' meet
<. (shake)

\:-J
\; li\
time thеу
d. (meet)
.) t ! /'r\,
.ъ
-.:с J ,J
аъ;.. -a,-zф.@

EDIT.Reod this student,sjournol, Find аnd сorreсtеlevеnmistаkеsin thе use of thе presеnt
progressivеor simple prеsеnttеnse' The first mistokеis olrеаdу corrеctеd'

|'moi|ъ|ng
lt.s '|l:3oац_dtФ+iц|he lib1а1yright цow.Мy с!аssmаfesq1e qаl_i1qlunф toget!р1'
never eat
am
eat
I miss'my old roиtinе.Аt homе we alwaysare eаtingа Ьi9 щq4!аt |:1Оoin-the
have
аft9-ц11oor,r''
Тhenwr res ' 4 ' 9 ' ''
Еverуdaу,l аlmost fа[!
is always
сoЧrse|m ngt borqd.I jus-t4eedmy аfternoo'4nqp!Т,!isс!аs-sg!уv'qyg-i.q
tчn' Тhiq
are working
$L teaц j.s-fitmirr.g
seцеste.r,.щe work on a p1ojeсtчvithv!d.egсаm-е-ца's'. grgups--o.|
analyzing -soсlat
peoplein differentс9r!tures'.
We are ana|уze distаnсe'-Тhqt meац-show 9!9_seto
'm leaving
eасhothеrthesepgoplestaцd.Асс'ordingto
don't really like
for my l:oo q!gрs.Тeq-с'hers.
h-9rereal|yarеn't likiц9 ryhqцу.oч9oцe-|9tq]-'