Simple present or present progressive

Simple present or present progressive

1. Simple Present or Present Progressive? by Tanja Wintrich 04.11.2020

2. Simple Present – how to build it I you he/ she / it we you they speak speak s speak speak speak speak verb : to speak

3. Particularities Modal verbs like can , may and must don‘t need a “ s “ (e.g. You may go to dance class.) After sounds like ch , sh or s there has to be a “ es “ (e.g. He watches a movie at night.) If the last consonant is a “ y “ it changes to a “ ie “ (e.g. She fl ies to the United States.) → however, this rule does not apply if the letter before the „ y “ is a vowel (e.g. She pla ys a video game.)

4. Present Progressive – how to build it I you he/ she / it we you they are speak ing are speak ing is speak ing are speak ing are speak ing am speak ing

5. Particularities If the verb is ending in “e“ it disappears (e.g. to come : She is coming to see him.) → however, this rule does not apply if the verb ends in ” ee ” (e.g. to agree : I’m agr ee ing with her opinion.) After a short and stressed vowel, the last consonant needs to be doubled (e.g. to sit : He is si tt ing next to her.) (e.g. to travel : She is trave ll ing to Spain.) If the verb is ending in a “ ie ” it changes to “ y ” (e.g. to lie : The student is lying to its teacher.)

6. What do you think? When do we use the Simple Present and when do we use the Present Progressive?

7. Usage of the Simple Present If you want to express something that happens in general e.g. Bauti plays soccer every Tuesday . Signal words : always (100%) usually (90%) regularly (80%) normally (80%) generally (80%) often / frequently (70%) sometimes (50%) occasionally (30%) seldom (10%) rarely / hardly ever (5%) never (0%) every … every other … Sequential actions : e.g. First, Alicia plays soccer , then he watches TV. Signal words : first next then after that finally

8. Usage of the Present Progressive If an action happens right now e.g. Look! Alicia is playing soccer now. If there are several actions happening at the same time e.g. Alicia is playing soccer and Talita is watching. Signal words : at the moment at this moment right now now today Listen! Look!

9. Simple Present : Exercises Past Present Future Lucas ______ (like) to play basketball . Sindame ______ ( to meet ) her friend Carmen every Sunday . Usually Rafael ______ ( to read ) a book before going to sleep . Daniel often ______ ( to go ) to visit his family in Colombia . Anastasija never ______ ( to walk ) from the school to her house . Pablo and Mauro usually ______ ( to practice ) their instruments on the weekends . You ______ ( to take ) the bus early in the morning to go to school . Nicolas ______ ( to swim ) three times a week after school . After school Gonzalo ______ ( to go ) home , ______ ( to pack) his bag , ______ ( to put ) on his jersey and then he ______ ( to go ) to soccer training . Usually the train ______ ( to leave ) at 4 pm . Simple Present

10. Present Progressive: Exercises Past Moment of speaking Future Sophia ___________ ( to brush ) her teeth . Nicolas and Sebastian ___________ ( to read ) a book together . The kids ___________ ( to run ) home from school . The English teacher ___________ ( to come ) late to class . Nicolas ___________ ( to get ) a new hair cut . Liam and his best friend ___________ ( to chat ) with each other right now . Kassi ___________ ( to write ) a letter to her friend who lives in Ireland . Ruben ___________ ( to fall) down a tree . They ___________ ( to go ) to see a movie in the center of the city . The cat ___________ ( to chase ) the mouse . Present Progressive

11. Simple Present or Present Progressive? Look! Lucas ___________ ( to leave ) the house . Quiet please ! I ___________ ( to write ) a test . She usually ___________ ( to walk ) to school . But look ! Today she ___________ ( to go ) by bike. Every Sunday we ___________ ( to go ) to see my grandparents . He often ___________ ( to go ) to the cinema . We ___________ ( to play ) Monopoly at the moment . The children seldom ___________ ( to cry ) I ___________ (not to do) anything at the moment . He ___________ ( to watch ) the news regularly .