Talking about present issues

Contrary to French, in English, there is no unique form which is used to talk about present
issues. Three forms are used to talk about the present depending on the context. In this class
we are going to deal with two of them.

Present simple

Pattern

Subject Affirmative sentence Negative sentence Interrogative

sentence

I Read Do not read Do I read?

He Reads Does not read Does he/she/it read

She

It

We Read Do not read Do we/you/they

read?
You

They

Mind:

- les verbes qui se terminent par un “O”, “s”, “sh”, “ch”, “x” s’accordent à la troisième
personne du singulier avec un « es » qui se lit « iz » à l’exception du « o ».
- la marque « s » se lit comme la lettre « c » après « t, p, k ».
- la marque « s » se lit comme la lettre « z » après « d, b, g, w et les voyelles».

Use:

 for permanent situations (e.g: I live in Ouagadougou. IBM manufactures mainframes

and PCs, and sells its products all over the world.)
  for scientific facts or general truths: The mother board connects computer components
together.
 for habits or routine activities (I usually updates my computer.)
 for the description of processes (For example To save a document on your computer,
first you click on the menu “files”, second you select “save under”, third you name the
file, fourth you select the place to save it and finally you click on “safeguard”

Present Continuous Tense

Pattern

The present progressive tense is formed with the auxiliary ‘to be’ and the -ing form of the
main verb.

Example: I am going to the university.

Some verbs are practically never used in the Present Continuous Tense: see, hear, exist, want,
believe, know, like, love. When used in the progressive form, they may have different
meanings.

Think

When think means ‘believe' or ‘have an opinion', we do not use the continuous: I think Mary
is Canadian, but I'm not sure, (not I'm thinking) What do you think of my plan? (= What is
your opinion?)

When think means ‘consider', the continuous is possible: Example: I'm thinking about what
happened. I often think about it. C Nicky is thinking of giving up her job. (= she is considering
it)

See, hear, smell, taste

We normally use the present simple (not continuous) with these verbs: Example: Do you see
that man over there? (not Are you seeing) This room smells. Let's open a window.

We often use can + see/hear/smell/taste: I can hear a strange noise. Can you hear it?

Look, feel
You can use the present simple or continuous to say how somebody looks or feels now: C J
You look well today, or You're looking well today. How do you feel now? or How are you
feeling now? but I usually feel tired in the morning. (not I'm usually feeling)

Use

We use the present continuous tense to talk about:

 things which are happening at the moment of the speech (I am speaking on the phone
right now.)
 temporary states and activities; today, this week, this evening etc. (He's working till 8
pm this week.)
 Slow changes

The present continuous is also used to describe current trends and slow changes that are
taking place: e.g: More and more people are studying online in Burkina Faso.