(a) Water consiste of hydrogen and) The simple present says that something. oxygen, was true in the past, is true in the (b) The average person breathes | present, and will be true in the future 21,600 times a day. Trexpresses general statements of fact (©) The world is round cand timeless eruths. - * (@) I study for wo hours every night. | ‘The simple present is used to express (©) L getup at seven every morning. | habitual or everyday activites. (O) He always eats a sandwich for lunch, iT PROGRESSIV! (g) John ie sleeping tight now. ‘The present progressive expresses an (h) Tneed an umbrella because it is | activity thats x progress ar the moment raining of speaking. Iris a temporary activity (@) The students are sitting at their | that began in the past is continuing desks right now. at present, and will probably end at some point in the Future. G) Lam takeing five courses this | Often the activity is of a general semester. ‘nature: something generally in progress (ke) John is trying to improve his | this week, ehis month, this year. ‘work habit Note (1: The sentence means that (1) Susan is writing another book | writing a book is a general activity this year. ‘Susan is engaged in at present, but it does not mean that at the moment of speaking she is sitting at her desk with pen in hand, Co EXERCISE 2. Simple present vs. present progressive. (Charts 2-1 and 2-2) Directions: Practice using present verbs. Give some examples of your daily habits. Use the simple present. Give some examples of “general statements of fact or timeless truths.” . Describe activities that are in progress in this classroom right now. Describe activities that are in progress in the world right now. . Thumb through this text. Stop when you see an illustration. Are there any activities in progress in the illustration? Describe them, Ol EXERCISE 3. Activity: using the present progressive. (Chart 2-2) Directions: On a piece of paper, write an action that a classmate can demonstrate (¢.g., stand up, smile, open the door, sneeze, worite on the chalkboard). Give your paper to the teacher, who will redistribute the papers at random to the class. Then everyone will take turns performing these actions for the entire class to guess and describe, using the present progressive. Present and Pas, Simple and Progressive 13