Do you want to express that something is arranged for the near future? Or do you refer to a time set by a timetable or schedule?
| Simple Present | Present Progressive |
| action set by a timetable or schedule The film starts at 8 pm. | arrangement for the near future I am going to the cinema tonight. |
Daily routine or just for a limited period of time?
Do you want to talk about a daily routine? Or do you want to emphasis that something is only going on for a limited (rather short) period of time?
| Simple Present | Present Progressive |
| daily routine Bob works in a restaurant. | only for a limited period of time (does not have to happen directly at the moment of speaking) Jenny is working in a restaurant this week. |
Certain Verbs
The following verbs are usually only used in Simple Present (not in the progressive form).
state: be, cost, fit, mean, suit
Example: We are on holiday.
possession: belong, have
Example: Sam has a cat.
senses: feel, hear, see, smell, taste, touch
Example: He feels the cold.
feelings: hate, hope, like, love, prefer, regret, want, wish
Example: Jane loves pizza.
brain work: believe, know, think, understand
Example: I believe you.
Introductory clauses for direct speech: answer, ask, reply, say
Example: I am watching TV, he says.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ __ _ _ _
Exercises
1 Complete the sentences. Use Simple Present or Present Progressive.
1. (you / go) __________ on holiday by plane sometimes?
2. (they / play) __________ computer games every day?
3. (she / eat)___________ dinner at the moment?
4. What (they / do)_______________ right now?
5. (she / visit) ______________ her grandma very often?
6. Look! Jenny (go)__________ to school.
7. On her back, Jenny (carry)___________ her school bag.
8. The school bag (be)____________ very heavy
9. Normally, Jenny (wear) __________________ black shoes, but today she (wear) red wellies.
10. And look, she (wear) ______________ a raincoat because it (rain) ___________ outside.
11. Jenny (not / want) _____________ to get wet.
12. We (help) _______________ in the canteen this week.
13. Martin usually (drive) __________________ to work.
14. But today, he (take) ______________________ the bus.
15. Listen! She (practise)_________________ the piano.
16. My friend (play) _____________________ the guitar every evening.
17. He (not / spend) _____________ his holidays in Spain each year.
18. I (not / meet)____________ Francis tonight.
19. They (not / fly) _____________ to London tomorrow.
20. We (not / work)____________ this week.
21. The film (not / begin) ______________ at 7 o'clock.
22. (leave / you) ____________ the party now?
23. (have / you) ______________ any brothers or sisters?
24. (love / she) ______________ him?
25. Who (cook) ___________________ dinner tonight?
26. (send / he) ______________ you an e-mail every day?
|
|
|
2
Complete the sentences. Use the Present Simple or Present Continuous.
1. Alice (take, not) _______the bus to school every day. She usually (walk)_______ instead. (Take, you)________ the bus to get to school every day, or (walk, you)_________? 2. It (rain, not)________ right now. The sun (shine)________. (Rain, it) __________a lot here? 3. Right now I (look)__________ at the board. (I, see)_________ some words on the blackboard. 4. I (need) ____________to call my parents today and tell them about my new apartment. They cant call me because they (know, not)_______ my new telephone number. 5. The tea is good. I (like)__________ it. What kind is it? I (prefer)_______ tea to coffee. How about you? 6. Right now the children (be)__________ at the beach. They (have)_________ a good time. They (have)__________ a beach ball and they (play)________ with it. They (like)_______ to play catch. Their parents (sunbathe)_________. They (try)_________ to get a tan. They (listen)_________ to some music on a transistor radio. he also (hear)_________ the sound of sea gulls and the sound of the waves 7. Right now I (think) ___________about sea gulls and waves. I (think)________ that sea gulls are beautiful birds. 8. Sam is at the library. He (sit)_________ at a table. He (write)__________ a composition. He (use)_________ a dictionary to look up the spelling of some Words. The dictionary (belong, not) _________ to him. It (belong)_________ to his roommate. Sam (look) _________up words in the dictionary because he (want)_________ to make sure that he doesn t have any misspelled words in his paper.
9. A: Which colour (prefer, you)___________, red or blue?
: I (like)_________blue better than red. Why?
A: According to this magazine article I (read) ________ right now, people who (prefer)________ blue to red (be) _______calm and (value) ________ honesty and loyalty in their friends. A preference for the colour red (mean) ______ that a person (be)________aggressive and (love)_______excitement.
B: Oh? That (sound)_________like a bunch of nonsense to me.
10. A: (Believe, you)_________in flying saucers?
B: What (talk, you)____________about?
A: You know spaceships from outer space with alien creatures aboard.
B: In my opinion, flying saucers (exist) ________ only in peoples imagination.
11. Janice: What (write, you)___________in your notebook?
Diane: I (make)_________notes about questions I want to ask the teacher.
Janice: (Prepare, you, always)___________ so thoroughly for every class?
Diane: I (try, always)____________to.
12. Bob: Jack really makes me angry!
Sue: Why?
Bob: Well, for one thing, he (interrupt, always)_______ me. I can barely get a whole sentence out of my mouth.
Sue: Is that all?
Bob: No. He (ask, always) _________ me to do his homework for him. I have enough homework of my own without doing his homework too!
13. Mother: Susie! Get your fingers out of the dessert! What (do, you) ________?
Susie: I (taste) ___________the cake. It (taste) __________good.
Mother: Well, youll just have to wait until dinnertime. You can have some then.
14. This morning it (rain) __________. I can see Janet from my window. She (stand) ___________ at the comer of 5th and Pine. She (hold) _________ her umbrella over her head. She (wait) ___________for the bus. 15. Right now I (look) at Janet. She (look) _________angry. I wonder whats the matter. She (have) ___________a frown on her face. She certainly (have, not) __________ any fun right now.
|
|
|
16. I cant afford that thing. It (cost) ________too much. 17. I (own, not) _________an umbrella. I (wear) __________ a waterproof hat on rainy days. 18 The house is in a mess, because weve got the workmen in. The plumber (put) __________ in a new bath, the electricians (rewire) __________ the system, and the carpenter (build) _________us some new bookshelves. 19. You (hear)_________ the wind? It (blow) _________ very strongly tonight 20. You (see)__________ my car keys anywhere?No, I (look) __________for them but I (not see) them. 21. Why you (walk) _________ so fast today? You (walk, usually) ___________quite slowly. 22. You (recognize)________ that man?I (think) _______I have seen him before but (not remember) _________his name. 23. Look at that crowd. I (wonder) ________what they (wait) _______for. 24. Stop! You (not see) ________ the notice? I (see) _______ it but I cant read it because I (not wear) ________ my glasses. What it (say)_______? It (say) ______, These premises are patrolled by guard dogs. 25. You (need) _________ another blanket or you (feel) _____ warm enough?
3 Translate the following sentences into English.
1. ? . .
2. . .
3. . , .
4. . .
5. . .
6. ? . . ? . .
7. ? . .
8. ? 800 .
9. ? .
10. . ?
11. ? .
12. . .
13. ? .
14. ?
15. ? . .
16. ? . , .
17. 0 ? , .
18. ? ?
19. , .
Past Simple
. Past Simple ed.
.
We discussed these questions last Friday.
He left school last year.
did.
Did you go abroad last year? No, I didnt. I did not (didnt) go abroad last year.
Past Simple , : yesterday, the day before yesterday, yesterday morning (evening, afternoon), last week (night, month, year), last time, five days (weeks, years) ago, in 1998.
I saw him yesterday morning.
We went to the country last week.
used to, , , .
Last year we used to go to the theatre.
() .
He used to be a doctor.
.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _
Past Simple Tense
ü something that happened once in the past:
|
|
|
I met my wife in 1983.
We went to Spain for our holidays.
They got home very late last night.
ü something that happened again and again in the past:
When I was a boy I walked a mile to school every day.
We swam a lot while we were on holiday.
They always enjoyed visiting their friends.
ü something that was true for some time in the past:
I lived abroad for ten years.
He enjoyed being a student.
She played a lot of tennis when she was younger.
ü we often use phrases with ago with the past tense:
I met my wife a long time ago.
Questions and negatives
ü We use did to make questions with the past tense:
When did you meet your wife?
Where did you go for your holidays?
Did she play tennis when she was younger?
Did you live abroad?
ü But look at these questions:
Who discovered penicillin?
Who wrote Don Quixote?
ü We use didnt (did not) to make negatives with the past tense:
They didnt go to Spain this year.
We didnt get home until very late last night.
I didnt see you yesterday.
ED ending
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Exercises
