Comment on the use of the Present Continuous.

1. I’m always paying for your coffee. Why can’t you pay for a change?

2. We’re spending next winter in Australia.

3. Don’t rush me. I’m working as fast as I can.

4. We are enjoying our holiday here very much.

5. Young people are becoming more and more politically aware these days.

6. Ben and Patty are in London on holiday. They are staying at a small hotel near Hyde Park.

7. I’m meeting Sue on Saturday evening.

8. You are constantly panicking, aren’t you? Calm down.

9. Is he arriving tomorrow?

10. What are you drinking? It looks awful.

11. She is always helping people.

12. She is still waiting to see the boss.

13. He is always upsetting people by asking personal questions.

14. She is running 1500 metres in the next Olympics.

15. What is Maria doing these days? – She is studying English at a school in London.

16. She is forever forgetting to lock the front door.

17. He’s hurrying to catch his train.

18. Prices are rising all the time. Everything is getting more and more expensive.

19. Tom isn’t playing football this season. He wants to concentrate on his studies.

20. Is your English getting better?

21. I’m having treatment on my bad back.

22. He’s always lying. You can’t believe a word he says.

23. Let’s go out now. It isn’t raining any more.

24. Please, be quiet. I’m trying to concentrate.

25. My sister is very busy these days. She’s writing an article.

26. I’m learning English at evening classes this year.

27. Jennifer’s always losing her key.

28. Are you seeing Nigel tomorrow?

29. I’m living with friends until I find a place of my own.

30. You are spending a lot of money these days.

Present Simple is used to:

1. Talk about repeated actions or habits (habitual actions)

I have a shower every morning.

Most evenings my parents stay at home and watch TV.

Do you go to the cinema very often?

What time does Kate finish work?

How often do you go to the dentist?

In summer Tom usually plays tennis twice a week.

Ann doesn’t often drink coffee.

2. Talk about situations which are permanent

Mr. and Mrs. Shaw live in Bristol.

Barry works in a shop.

She wears expensive clothes.

3. Talk about general truth

Summer follows spring.

The river Amazon flows into the Atlantic Ocean.

It rains a lot in Britain in March and April.

4. Give instructions

You turn left at the corner.

First you weigh the ingredients.

5. Tell a joke or a story, to describe the dramatic action of a play

The Englishman goes to the Irishman and says…

6. Talk about fixed future events (timetables, schedules, calendar)

Our plane leaves at nine.

The course ends in two weeks.

The World Cup begins tomorrow.

What time does the film start?

7. Make suggestions

Why don’t they go on a day-trip?

Why don’t you join us?

8. Make commentaries

Becker serves to Lendl.

9. Make observations and declarations

I hope so. I love you.

It says here that…

Present Simple is also used with certain verbs not normally used in the continuous forms. These verbs are called stative. They refer to states rather than actions.

These are the groups of verbs:

1. Verbs of the mind and thinking: believe, think, consider, understand, suppose, expect, agree, know, remember, forget, doubt, mean, mind.

What do you think of that book?

I believe you are the man I’m looking for.

She knows now what she has done wrong.

Paul doesn’t mind if you use his car.

Do you remember me now?

I see the point.

He feels that he is right.

2. Verbs of emotion and feeling: like, dislike, hate, love, want, wish, prefer, care.

I like playing football.

I hate getting up early in the morning.

3. Verbs of the senses: see, smell, taste, hear.

I hear the sound of gun-fire.

The cake smells good.

The wine tastes sweet.

4. Verbs of possession: have, possess, belong to, own.

I have two sisters.

He owns a Rolls Royce.

The book belongs to me.

She doesn’t possess a thing in the world.

5. Certain other verbs: concern, depend on, include, need, owe, seem and others.

I need a bath.

That doesn’t concern me.

A newspaper costs about 20 p.

Some of these verbs can be used in the continuous tenses when the verb expresses an activity not a state. However, the meaning changes slightly.

Compare:

I think it’s a great idea.

He’s thinking of emigrating.

The soup tastes delicious.

I’m tasting the soup to see if it needs more salt.

I expect you’d like something to eat.

She’s expecting a baby.

Jane has a car.

The Browns are having dinner at the moment.

Some of the stative verbs can be used in the continuous form when they show that a process is taking place gradually or that a situation is temporary or unusual:

I’m on holiday in Blackpool and I am loving every minute of it.

I’m slowly remembering all the details of the accident.

You’re being very silly.

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