GRAMMAR

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SNAPSHOT
Present Tense
PRESENT SIMPLE

Use
We use the present simple to describe habits and routines.

Affirmative Statements
When I travel, I always bring my passport.
My family and I sometimes visit historic monuments.
We often travel by plane.
My friend usually comes with us on our trips.

Negative Statements
When I travel, I don’t like to go alone.
My sister doesn’t always go with us because she works.

Questions
Do you take a vacation every summer?
Does your family visit historic monuments when they travel?

We also use the present simple to express general facts.

Arizona has one of the largest Native American populations in the United
States.
Visitors come from all around the world to get acquainted with Native cul
tures such as the Hopi, Tohono O’odham, Apache, and Pima people of
Arizona.
Indeed, Arizona is home to the largest Native American reservation in the
United States: the Navajo Nation.

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 Negative statements
Jessica doesn’t know much about the Navajo Nation, but she wants to
learn more.
Visitors don’t come only from the United States. They come from all over
the world.

Questions
Does Arizona have one of the largest Native American populations in the
U.S.?
Do visitors come from all over the world?

PRESENT CONTINUOUS

Form
be + verb(ing)

Use
We use present continuous to describe actions happening at the moment. The ac-
tion is not finished.

Affirmative Statements
The women are wearing traditional jewelry.
They are sitting on a Navajo blanket.
The older woman is teaching the girl how to make a Navajo blanket.

Negative statements
The older woman is not working in the garden.
The woman and the girl are not cooking.

Questions
What are the woman and the girl doing?
What is the woman teaching the girl?

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We use present continuous to describe actions happening around this moment.
The action is not finished.

This week, we are traveling through Arizona.

In my English course, I am visiting different places around the United States.
Jessica and Allison are planning their next trip.

Negative statements
We aren’t visiting California this week.
I’m not staying at the hotel at the bottom of the Grand Canyon on this
trip.

Questions
What are Jessica and Allison planning for their next trip?
What is Jessica doing at Monument Valley?

There are some verbs we don’t normally use in the continuous. These include
know, own, like, and love. These are sometimes called “stative verbs,” not “active
verbs.” We only use stative verbs in the simple tenses. For example, we don’t say
“I am knowing English,” only “I know English.”

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