PRESENT SIMPLE/CONTINUOUS

FORM.
Simple Present :
AFFIRMATIVE: subject + infinitive

(3rd person singular_he/she/it : infinitive + ‘s’)

I/you/we/you/they know he/she knows

INTERROGATIVE: Do I/you/ we/you/they know? (auxiliary + subject + verb + ? )

3rd person singular: Does he know?

NEGATIVE: I I/you/ we/you/ do not know (don’t know)

3rd person singular: He does not know/ doesn’t know)

NEGATIVE- INTERROGATIVE: Doesn’t he know?

Special spelling rules:

• After an ending with “o”, “ch”, “sh”, “s”, “ss” add “es”.

Example: do: He does – she washes

• If “y” comes after a consonant, “y” changes to “ies”

Example: carry: he carries

Present Continuous:
We conjugate “be” and we add verb+ ing

AFFIRMATIVE: I am joking/you are joking/he is joking she is joking/we are joking/you are
joking/they are joking

INTERROGATIVE: Am I joking?/Are you joking?/ Is he joking?/Are we joking?/Are you

joking?/Are they joking?
NEGATIVE: I’m not joking/ You aren’t joking/He isn’t joking/We aren’t joking/They aren’t joking
NEGATIVE- INTERROGATIVE: Am I not joking?/ Aren’t you joking?/Isn’t he joking?/Aren’t we
joking? Aren’t they joking?
Special spelling rules:

• When the ‘e’ is silent, we drop it and we add ‘ing’.

Example: come- he is coming

• After a one-syllable verb ending with 1 vowel and 1 consonant, we double the final
consonant.

Example: sit- she is sitting

After a two-syllable verb , when the stress falls on the second syllable , we double the
final consonant .

Examples : beGIN - we are beginning now

PreFER ---› preferring; adMIT ---› admitting

• The ‘ie’ ending in the infinitive changes to ‘y’

Examples: lie- they are lying; die ---› dying

USAGE
The Simple Present

(1) Expresses present habits . actions that happen repeatedly

My father goes to the mosque every Friday.

(2), It is also used for actions that take place one after the other

He gets up, has breakfast, showers, gets dressed and heads out to work.

(3), for short actions

Benzema passes the ball to Ronaldo.

(4) For actions set by a time table or schedule

The film starts at 8 pm.

 Some signal words for Present Simple are: always, often , usually, sometimes, seldom,
never. (adverbs of frequency: they answer the question how often something happens.)

The Present Continuous

(1) refers to an action taking place “right now”, at the moment of speaking. The action
is incomplete .

Listen! Your favourite song is playing on the radio.

(2) It is also for an arrangement for the near future (arrange an event)

I’m eating at the restaurant tonight with my friends.

(3). a temporary situation happening over a limited period of time, and not necessarily
at the moment of speaking

I’m working extra hours this week (because my colleague is absent). I am working ten
hours a day.

the limited period of time is 'this week'.

≠ I work eight hours a day . (this is a permanent situation, this is not supposed to
change)

the contrary of temporary is permanent.

(4) when we talk about an action different from what happens usually

I usually have tea for breakfast , but today I'm having coffee.

Some signal words for Present Continuous are: at the moment, today, now, right now,
look, listen.

Three types of verbs:

Normal, non-continuous & mixed

Group 1: most verbs are normal. They refer to physical activities and can be used in both
Simple Present and Present Continuous.
 I always eat dinner/ I’m eating dinner now.

Group 2:

Non continuous verbs. They refer to things you cannot see somebody doing. They are
not used in the Present Continuous. They include:

• State verbs: to be, to want, to cost, to mean, to need , to care, to owe, to exist, to fit, to
suit.

• Possession verbs: to possess, to own, to belong.

• Emotion verbs: to like, to love, to hate, to dislike, to fear, to envy, to regret, to hope.

• Involuntary, automatic senses: see, hear, smell, taste.

• Brain work: think (opinion), believe, know, understand.

Group 3:

Mixed verbs. They have multiple meanings depending on the context. If they have a
“stative” meaning, they will be non-continuous; only the Present Simple is possible. If
they refer to an activity, they behave like a Normal Verb and can be used both in the
Present Simple and Present Continuous.

Examples: be,look, appear, have, see, hear, smell, taste, think, taste…

Appear_ Diyaa appears confused. stative verb (= seems)

Hassan El Fad is appearing at the Megarama tonight. dynamic verb = action

(giving a performance)

He appears at the Megarama once a year.

Look_ Jihane looks tired. stative verb (=seems)

Farah is looking at the photographs. dynamic verb (=eye activity)

Have_ I have a blue pen. stative verb (possession)

They are having fun with their family. dynamic verb (they are experiencing fun)

They have fun with their family every saturday.

See_ I see a bird in the tree. stative verb= only in the Present Simple ( = involuntary
sense)
 She is seeing the doctor . NV (see=consult with)

Smell_ I smell fish here. stative verb. involuntary sense. stative verb= only in the Present
Simple ( = involuntary sense)

The customer is smelling the fish to make sure it’s fresh. dynamic verb . A
voluntary action.

Each time we buy fish we smell it to make sure it is fresh.

Taste:_ Your dish tastes good. stative verb. (=has a good taste) involuntary sense

The Chef is tasting the cake. dynamic verb (intentional activity. He is trying the
cake to see if it’s successful) to taste: to try food to find out what it tastes like.

Miss_ The children miss their father. He is on a business trip. stative verb (emotional
state)

Sara is missing her daily TV show. dynamic verb (miss= she is not watching the tv
show , she's doing something else. Activity)

Think_ He thinks the test is easy. stative verb (opinion)

I’m thinking about your problem. dynamic verb . (mental activity: I’m going over
it in my head)

Be_ He is a calm, polite person. stative verb (by nature)

He is being rude today. dynamic verb (temporary behavior)

Feel_ It feels wonderful to be here. stative verb(it is a pleasant feeling). The cotton
fabric of this shirt feels soft and nice.

He is feeling his pocket to make sure he still has his phone. dynamic verb (=touch
with a purpose)

Some interesting uses of Present Continuous

• Always: to make a negative comment on a frequent occurrence.

Salah is always complaining about the food. (Criticism: the speaker is criticizing Salah.)
≠Salah often complains about the food. (Not a criticism, just a statement of fact)

Always with present continuous to express admiration:

 Sanae is always getting the best marks. (admiration)

≠Sanae always gets the best marks. (just a fact)

• To express the strong will, intention of the speaker to do, or not do something,
especially in the face of opposition.

I’m going out this afternoon, whether you like it or not.

I’m not going to that party , no matter what (no matter what you think or what you say).

• To comment on what has just been said or done.

A. What you have said is not true.

B. Are you telling me I’m a liar?

NOTES :
A syllable is a unit of pronunciation with a vowel sound

Example : put , eat , get , cut , hit ... (are a one-syllable verbs)

Be-gin (a two-syllable verb)

Un-der-stand (a three-syllable verb)