Unit 1: Present Tenses

The present tenses in English are used:

to talk about the present

to talk about the future
to talk about the past when we are telling a story in spoken English or when we
are summarising a book, film, play etc.

There are four present tense forms in English:

Tense Form
Present simple: I work
Present continuous: I am working
Present perfect: I have worked
Present perfect continuous: I have been working

We use these forms:

to talk about the present:

He works at McDonalds. He has worked there for three months now.

He is working at McDonalds. He has been working there for three months
now.
London is the capital of Britain.

to talk about the future:

The next train leaves this evening at 17:00.

Ill phone you when I get home.
Hes meeting Peter in town this afternoon.
Ill come home as soon as I have finished work.
You will be tired out after you have been working all night.

We can use the present tenses to talk about the past ...

when we are telling a story:

Well, its a lovely day and Im just walking down the street when I see this funny
guy walking towards me. Obviously hes been drinking, because hes moving from
side to side

when we are summarising something we have read, heard or seen:

I love Ian Rankins novels. He writes about this detective called Rebus.
Rebus lives in Edinburgh and hes a brilliant detective, but hes always getting into
trouble. In one book, he gets suspended and they tell him to stop working on this
case. But he takes no notice .

Romeo and Juliet is a violent play. After Romeo and Juliet have married in secret,
Romeo is walking in Verona when Juliets cousin, Tybalt tries to provoke Romeo
into a fight. Romeo refuses to fight and leaves, but his friend, Mercutio, is so angry
that he fights Tybalt and is killed .
 Present simple
Use
We use the present tense to talk about:

something that is true in the present:

Im nineteen years old.

He lives in London.
Im a student.

something that happens again and again in the present:

I play football every weekend.

We use words like sometimes, often. always, and never (adverbs of

frequency) with the present tense:

I sometimes go to the cinema.

She never plays football.

something that is always true:

The adult human body contains 206 bones.

Light travels at almost 300,000 kilometres per second.

something that is fixed in the future.

The school term starts next week.

The train leaves at 1945 this evening.
We fly to Paris next week.

Questions and negatives

Look at these questions:

Do you play the piano?

Where do you live?
Does Jack play football?
Where does he come from?
Do Rita and Angela live in Manchester?
Where do they work?

With the present tense, we use do and does to make questions. We use does for
the third person (she/he/it) and we use do for the others.

We use do and does with question words like where, what and why:

But look at these questions with who:

Who lives in London?

Who plays football at the weekend?
Who works at Liverpool City Hospital?

Look at these sentences:

I like tennis, but I dont like football. (dont = do not)

I dont live in London now.
I dont play the piano, but I play the guitar.
They dont work at the weekend.
 John doesnt live in Manchester. (doesnt = does not)
Angela doesnt drive to work. She goes by bus.

With the present tense we use do and does to make negatives. We use does
not (doesnt) for the third person (she/he/it) and we use do not (dont) for
the others.

Present continuous
The present continuous tense is formed from the present tense of the verb be and
the present participle (-ing form) of a verb:

Use

1. We use the present continuous tense to talk about the present:

for something that is happening at the moment of speaking:

Im just leaving work. Ill be home in an hour.

Please be quiet. The children are sleeping.

for something which is happening before and after a given time:

At eight oclock we are usually having breakfast.

When I get home the children are doing their homework.

for something which we think is temporary:

Michael is at university. Hes studying history.

Im working in London for the next two weeks.

for something which is new and contrasts with a previous state:

These days most people are using email instead of writing letters.
What sort of clothes are teenagers wearing nowadays? What sort of
music are they listening to?

to show that something is changing, growing or developing:

The children are growing quickly.

The climate is changing rapidly.
Your English is improving.

for something which happens again and again:

Its always raining in London.

They are always arguing.
George is great. Hes always laughing.

Note: We normally use always with this use.

2. We use the present continuous tense to talk about the future:

for something which has been arranged or planned:

Mary is going to a new school next term.

What are you doing next week?

3. We can use the present continuous to talk about the past:

When we are telling a story:

 When we are summarising the story from a book, film or play etc.:

Practice

A: Put in the present continuous form of the verb in brackets.

1. Please be quiet. I _______________ (try) to read my book.

2. I _______________ (not/use) the computer at the moment so you can use it.
3. Mary is ill so Sue _______________ (teach) her lessons today.
4. Excuse me, I _______________ (look) for a hotel. Is there one near here?
5. _______________ (you/wait) for someone?
6. Jack, you are very careless. You _______________ (always/forget) to do your
homework!
7. The cost of living _______________ (rise) very fast. Every year things are
more expensive.
8. What _______________ (you/do)? I _______________ (clean) my shoes.
9. Why _______________ (not/wear) shorts? It's so hot today.
10. The neighbours are so noisy! They _______________ (always/argue) loudly.

B: Put the verb into the correct form, present continuous or present simple.

1. I _______________ (not/belong) to this particular government committee.

2. Hurry! The bus _______________ (come). I _______________ (not/want) to
miss it.
3. Gregory is a vegetarian. He _______________ (not/eat) meat.
4. I _______________ (look) for the manager. I can't find him anywhere.
5. We are successful because we _______________ (take) the time to talk to
our customers.
6. John _______________ (deal) with all the enquiries about sales.
7. At the moment we _______________ (make) a training video for Siemens.
8. _______________ (you/know) what Mr. Briceson _______________ (do)? He
is not in his office.
9. I _______________ (apply) for a job in the sales department, but I don't
know if I will be successful. It _______________ (depend) on whether or not
they have any vacancies.
10. Unemployment _______________ (fall) and is now down to 5.6%.
11. Jane is doing some research in the library. She needs it for a book she
_______________ (write).
12. While Anna is away on holidays, Matt _______________ (work) in her office.
13. He _______________ (teach) French and German at University and
_______________ (learn) Greek.
14. There _______________ (be) two flights to Honduras this afternoon. The
British Airways flight _______________ (leave) at 13:00 and _______________
(arrive) at 22:00.
15. Inflation _______________ (rise) at a rate of 2% per annum.

C: Put the verb in brackets into the present simple or the present
continuous.

1. She always _______________ (remember) my birthday.

2. Mr Brown _______________ (work) in a supermarket.
3. I _______________ (work) in this factory until I find a better job.
4. Look! It _______________ (snow).
5. Can you hear those girls? What _______________ (they/talk) about?
6. _______________ (you/know) Helen?
7. We _______________ (never/go) to work by tube. It is too busy.
8. When I'm in Paris I _______________ (usually/stay) in the Hotel du Pont, but
this time I _______________ (stay) in the more expensive Hotel Notre Dame.
9. Ruth _______________ (be) a vegetarian. She _______________ (not/eat)
meat or fish.
10. My father _______________ (be) an engineer, but he _______________
(not/work) right now.
11. _______________ (you/believe) in ghosts?
12. My parents _______________ (live) in Sydney. Where _______________
(your parents/live)?
13. We _______________ (own) two cars, an estate car and a sports car.
14. Can you drive? No, but I _______________ (learn) at the moment.
15. Look! That woman _______________ (try) to steal that man's wallet.
16. The River Nile _______________ (flow) into the Mediterranean.
17. _______________ (you/like) Bon Jovi?
18. I _______________ (get) thirsty. Let's get something to drink.
19. Those flowers _______________ (smell) lovely. What are they?
20. Jane _______________ (repair) her bike. She _______________ (know)
exactly what to do.