Present Simple Vs. Present Continuous

AFFIRMATIVE

NEGATIVE

S+Vbase / S3rdpers +V–ES/-S I/You

work

He/She/It

works

We/You/They

work

S+AUX(DON’T/DOESN’T)+Vbase I/You

don’t

He/She/It

doesn’t

We/You/They

don’t

work

INTERROGATIVE (close questions)

SHORT ANSWERS

AUX (DO/DOES)+S+Vbase ? Do

I/you

Does

he/she/it

Do

we/you/they

Yes/No, + S + AUX (Ejemplo) Yes, I do Yes, she does

INTERROGATIVE (open questions)

work?

(Ejemplo) No, I don’t No, she doesn’t

QUESTION WORD+AUX+S+Vbase ? When/Why

do

I/you

How/Where

does

he/she/it we/you/they

work?

AFFIRMATIVE

NEGATIVE

S + am/is/are +V–ING I

am (‘m)

You

are (‘re)

He/She/It

is (‘s)

We/You/They

are (‘re)

working

S + ‘m not/isn’t/aren’t +V–ING I

‘m not

You

aren’t

He/She/It

isn’t

We/You/They

aren’t

working

INTERROGATIVE (close questions)

Am/Is/Are + S + V-ING? Am

I

Are

you

Is

he/she/it

Are

we/you/they

Yes/No, + S + AUX

SHORT ANSWERS

(Ejemplo) Yes, I am Yes, she is

INTERROGATIVE (open questions)

working?

(Ejemplo) No, I’m not No, she isn’t

QUESTION WORD+AUX+S+Vbase? When/Why

am

I/You

How/Where

is

He/She/It

…

are

We/You/They

working?

–S ENDING Generally ----- -S “works” Verbs ending in “–s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, -o” ----- -ES “passes”, “brushes”, “watches”, “fixes”, “goes” Verbs ending in “consonat + y” ----- change “y” into “i” + -ES “cries”, “tries” “plays”

-ING ENDING

Generally ----- -ING “working” Verbs ending in “–e” ----- drop –e and add –ING “writing” Verbs ending in “–ie” ----- change “–ie” into “y” + -ING “dying” Monosyllabic verbs ending in “consonant+vowel+consonant” ----double last consonant + -ING “stopping”, “swimming”, “cutting” Verbs with 2/3 syllables ending in “cons.+stressed vowel+cons.” ----- double last consonant + -ING “referring” “sufering” Verbs ending in “vowel+L” ----- double last “L” + -ING (in BrE)

FREQUENCY ADVERBS

TIME EXPRESSIONS

ALWAYS

EVERY (day/month…)

USUALLY/NORMALLY

ON (Mondays…)

FREQUENTLY

IN (the morning/ afternoon/evening)

OFTEN SOMETIMES OCCASIONALLY RARELY SELDOM HARDLY (EVER) NEVER

AT (noon/night) ONCE TWICE

+ a year/month…

THREE TIMES … ONCE IN A WHILE

TIME EXPRESSIONS NOW

TOMORROW

RIGHT NOW

TONIGHT

AT THE MOMENT THIS (evening/afternoon…) AT PRESENT (Imperative)

NEXT (month/year…)

ALWAYS

Eternal truths

(Verdades Eternas)

Present habits

(Hábitos en el presente)

“The sun sets in the West”

“Carol goes to school by train every day”

Permanent situations/actions/states (situaciones/acciones/estados permanentes)

“My father works in a factory”

Likes and Dislikes

(preferencias)

“My mother hates loud music”

Jokes, stories, tales, sport events… cuentos, acontecimientos deportivos…)

(chistes, historias,

“Nadal hits the ball over the net…Game!”

Future value: Timetables

(Valor futuro: Horarios)

“Our flight to Turkey leaves at 6.30 a.m.”

Actions happening at the speaker’s moment (Acciones que están sucediendo en el momento del hablante)

“The children are playing in the garden now”

Temporal situations/actions/states (situaciones/acciones/estados temporales)

“They are building a new school in the city”

Future value: Arrangements citas concertadas)

(Valor futuro:

“We are planning a meeting tomorrow morning”