GRAMMAR

PRESENT TENSE SIMPLE / PRESENT TENSE CONTINUOUS

1. PRESENT TENSE CONTINUOUS

USES :
1. ACTIONS HAPPENING NOW: Mom’s getting ready for work now.
2. TEMPORARY ACTIONS , AN EXCEPTION TO WHAT USUALLY HAPPENS: I’m helping Dad in the kitchen
and mom’s trying on a new dress for an important conference.
3. SITUATIONS THAT ARE CHANGING (TO GET, TO GROW, TO BECOME): Dad’s growing a beard.
4. ANNOYING HABBITS: She’s forever losing her things.
5. ARRANGEMENTS IN THE NEAR FUTURE : We’re visiting Brian in Scotland next month.

KEY WORDS:
NOW, RIGHT NOW, AT THE MOMENT, FOR THE TIME BEING
TEMPORARY ACTIONS:

• TODAY
• THIS WEEK/ THIS WEEKEND/ THIS MONTH/ THIS TERM/THIS SUMMER/ THIS YEAR/THESE DAYS:
ANNOYING HABITS:

• ALWAYS
• FOREVER
• CONTINUALLY
• CONSTANTLY

2. PRESENT TENSE SIMPLE

USES:
1. FACTS, GENERAL TRUTHS: Water boils at 100 degrees C.
2. DAILY ROUTINES OR HABITS: We visit our granny three times a year.
3. PERMANENT STATES: She has two daughters.
4. FUTURE EVENTS, PART OF FIXED TIMETABLES, PROGRAMMES, SCHEDULES: The plane to London
takes off at 5am.
KEY WORDS:
ADVERBS OF FREQUENCY:
SOMETIMES, USUALLY, FREQUENTLY, OCCASSIONALLY, ALWAYS, RARELY, SELDOM, HARDLY EVER, NEVER
TIME EXPRESSIONS:

• ONCE/TWICE A DAY/WEEK/MONTH/YEAR (once a day, once a week, twice a year, twice a month)

SMART Academy of Languages

 • EVERY DAY/WEEKEND/MONDAY/SUMMER/AUTUMN etc
• IN THE MORNING/ AFTERNOON/ EVENING
• AT NIGHT/AT THE WEEKEND

3. STATIVE VERBS

→ Possession: have, own, belong, need, want

→ Feelings and emotions: love, like, love, dislike, hate, prefer
→ Sense/perception: smell, taste, feel, hear, feel
→ Thoughts: know, agree, remember, believe, imagine, realize

STATIVE VS. DYNAMIC

STATIVE DYNAMIC

TO BE TO BE = BEHAVING, ACTING
You are stupid = it's part of your personality. You are being stupid = only now, not usually.

TO THINK – HAVE AN OPINION THINK – CONSIDER, HAVE AN OPINION

I think that coffee is great. What are you thinking about? I'm thinking about my
next holiday.

HAVE – OWN HAVE – PART OF AN EXPRESSION

I have a car. I'm having a party / a picnic / a bath / a good time /
a break.

SEE - SEE WITH YOUR EYES / UNDERSTAND
I see what you mean.
I see her now, she's just coming along the road.
TASTE – HAS A CERTAIN TASTE
This soup tastes great.
The coffee tastes really bitter.
SEE - MEET/HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH,
HALLUCINATE
I've been seeing my boyfriend for three years.
I'm seeing Robert tomorrow.
I’m seeing things.
TASTE – THE ACTION OF TASTING
The chef is tasting the soup.

TO SMELL -HAS A CERTAIN SMELL TO SMELL -SOMEONE DOES THE ACTION OF

SMELLING
This room smells strange.
The flowers smell wonderful. Ann is smelling the flowers from her husband.
Mom is smelling the vegetables, so she can throw
the rotten ones away.

SMART Academy of Languages