GRAMMAR – guided discovery

We use the Present Simple for:

__________________________________
e.g. Isabel always pulls faces in photos.
__________________________________
e.g. Saliba lives near Jess.
__________________________________
e.g. He doesn’t like the city.

The Present Simple form:

Positive:_____________+ _____________
Negative _____________+ _____________+_____________
Question: _____________+ _____________+_____________
We use the Present Continuous for:
__________________________________
e.g. Jess is showing her photos to Ann.
__________________________________
e.g. She’s applying lots of jobs. OrI’m reading a very good book at the moment.
__________________________________
e.g. Joe’s living in a student house.__________________________________
e.g. Grandpa’s getting old.

The Present Continuous form:

Positive:_____________+ _____________+_____________
Negative _____________+ _____________+_____________
Question: _____________+ _____________+_____________
 GRAMMAR – guided discovery

Present Simple versus Present Continuous.

Which timeline indicates the present simple and which indicates the present
continuous?

Now

No
w

Present Continuous spelling rules

Word ending Rule Example

1 silent e at the end of a word e.g.

come

Double e (‘ee’) at the end of a word

e.g.

agree

Consonant, vowel and consonant

ending e.g sit

ie at the end of a word e.g.

lie
 GRAMMAR – guided discovery

‘State’ versus ‘action’ verbs

Some verbs are rarely used in the continuous tense. These are verbs which describe ‘states’ (things that
stay the same) rather than ‘actions’ (which can change).
Examples of state verbs:

Connected with emotions: _____________ _____________ _____________ _____________

Connected with understanding_____________ _____________ _____________ _____________

Connected with sense: _____________ _____________ _____________ _____________

Connected with possession and unchanging qualities: _____________ _____________ _____________

Examples of verbs that can be either dynamic or stative:

 Think
 have

Example sentences:

 "I think it is wrong to hit children."

Here, think is a stative verb. It means "to have an opinion" and it cannot be used in the
progressive form in this case.

BUT

"I'm thinking about buying a new car."

Here, thinking is describing a process, or an action. This is something that is happening, rather
than simply being. So here we can use the progressive form.

 "I have three brothers." 
Have here talks about the family relationship the speaker has with her brothers and is therefore
stative.

BUT

"I'm having a bad day today. I'll call you when things are better." 

Having in this sentence means the speaker is going through the process of a bad day. It is
therefore dynamic.