Time expressions

PRESENT SIMPLE

PRESENT CONTINUOUS

The present simple is used with the following time expressions: usually, often, always, etc., every day / week / month/ year, in the morning / afternoon / evening, at night, at the weekend, on Mondays, etc. Adverbs of frequency (always, usually, often, sometimes, seldom / rarely / never, etc.) come before the main verb (read, work, etc.) but after the verb to be, auxiliary verbs (do, have, etc.) or modal verbs (can, should, etc.) Susan often goes skiing at the weekend.

The present continuous is used with the following time expressions: now, at the moment, at present, these days, still, nowadays, today, tonight, etc.

1. Identify the tenses in bold, then match them with the correct description.

1. He works in a TV studio.

2. Tom is always causing trouble at work.

3. She is working at a supermarket at present.

4. Fish live in the sea.

5. She is looking for a job as a nanny in Madrid.

6. The thief grabs the bag and disappears.

7. He usually leaves his office at 6.00 pm.

8. She starts her new job on Monday.

9. We are attending a seminar on Monday.

10. The new company is growing steadily.

1. temporary situation

2. permanent state

3. fixed arrangements in the near future

4. dramatic narrative (reviews / sport commentaries)

5. permanent truths or laws of nature

6. changing or developing situations

7. timetables / programmes with future meaning

8. frequently repeated actions expressing annoyance

9. actions happening at or around the time of speaking

10. repeated / habitual actions

2. Read the following extracts and put the verbs in brackets into the present simple or the present continuous.

A These days, it seems everything 1) is changing (change). Cities 2) ..... (become) bigger and busier every year, technology 3) ..... (develop) faster than ever before, and scientists 4) ..... (learn) more about the way things work.

B Water 1) ..... (boil) at 100^C and 2) ..... (freeze) when the temperature 3) ..... (drop) below 0^C. Salt water 4) ..... (be) different, howerever.

C This film 1) ..... (be) great! It 2) ..... (have) an all-star cast and the script 3) ..... (be) very funny. The action 4) ..... (begin) when two young men 4) ..... (try) to rob a bank....

D Rogers 1) ..... (kick) the ball and 2) ..... (pass) it to Jones. Jones 3) ..... (run) down the pitch. He 4) ..... (pass) the ball to Smith who 5) ..... (shoot) and 6) ..... (score)!

3. Read the text and put the verbs in brackets into the present simple or the present continuous.

Michael McBrown 1) is (be) a very busy man.

Every morning, he 2) ..... (leave) home at 8 o’clock, and 3) ..... (go) to his office. He 4) ..... (usually / have) meetings until lunchtime, and in the afternoon, he 5) ..... (often / visit) the people of Madewell. He really 6) ..... (enjoy) talking to people.

At the moment, he and his team 7) ..... (organise) his election campaign. There are elections in June and he 8) ..... (hope) to persuade lots of people to vote for him.

Next month, he 9) ..... (go) to London to meet the Prime Minister. They 10) ..... (have) a meeting to discuss future plans for Madewell.

4. Put the verbs in brackets into the present simple or the present continuous.

1 Dave 1) ..... (live) in Glasgow and 2) ..... (work) for an advertising company. He 3) ..... (have) a good job and 4) ..... (earn) a lot of money. He 5) ..... (meet) many people every day and 6) ..... (lead) a busy life. The company 7) ..... (expand) rapidly and today he 8) ..... (see) a new client.

2 John and Anna 1) ..... (fly) to Paris on Monday for a holiday. Their flight 2) ..... (take off) at 7.10 in the morning and 3) ..... (arrive) in Paris at 8.15. Anna’s cousin 4) ..... (own) a house there, so they 5) ..... (stay) with him.

3 My neighbour 1) ..... (bang) on the walls of his flat when he 2) ..... (do) repairs. This week he 3) ..... (install) a new bath, and the noise 4) ..... (drive) me crazy. He 5) ..... (not / seem) to care about the way he 6) ..... (bother) other people.

4 Ben is an athlete. Every morning he 1) ..... (swim) ten laps in the pool and 2) ..... (lift) weights for an hour. This year he 3) ..... (train) harder because he 4) ..... (want) to compete in the next Olympic Games.

5. Underline the correct tense, Present Simple or Present Continuous, in the following sentences.

1. I’m sleeping / sleep on Niko’s sofa until I find a place of my own.

2. I’m only working / only work there for a couple of months because

I’m going abroad in the summer.

3. If you aren’t listening / don’t listen to the radio, why don’t you switch it off?

4. His only bad habit is that he talks / is talking too loudly.

5. So in the first scene we see / are seeing him getting up and then he goes out / is going out and meets / is meeting a strange woman.

6. You make / are making goulash using meat, vegetables and paprika.

7. I never do anything I feel / am feeling is against my principles.

8. He appears / is appearing to be very friendly but I don’t know him very well.

9 There’s nobody at the door; you just hear / are just hearing things.

10 I’m thinking of doing a postgraduate degree – what do you think / are you thinking ? Is it a good idea?

6. Complete these sentences using the present simple or the present continuous. Use the verbs given in brackets. Add never or always if this is also given.

1. I (use; never) my mobile phone if I (drive).

2 I (like; always) to get post but I (seem; never) to have the time to reply.

3 The heroine (prefer) to be with Paul because James (argue; always).

4 Maria (forget; always) what time the soap (start).

5 You (moan; always) about the state of the flat but you (help; never) me.

6 Turtles (lay; always) their eggs on the same beach; however, they (come; never) in winter.

7 Whether I (go) swimming or not (depend on; always) the weather.

8 I (shop; never) here again – they (be; always) so rude.

9 We (smell; always) cooking when we (pass) your house.

10 He (borrow; always) money but he (pay; always) me back.

7. Complete this letter with the correct form of the present simple or the present continuous. Use each verb in the list once. The first (0) is given as an example.

stand seem write be make shine stay taste look cost feel

Dear Jill,

0) I am writing to you from Granada where everything 1) ..... to be going just fine; we 2) ..... nice and relaxed. We 3) ..... in a gorgeous hotel just down the road from the Alhambra, which 4) ..... an old fortress build by the Moors. It 5) ..... at the top of the hill just opposite our hotel and we can see this wonderful building through our window. It 6) ..... absolutely magnificent! The hotel is lovely, but unfortunately it 7) ..... a lot to stay here! Eating out is great. Have you heard of gazpacho? It’s a cold cucumber and tomato soup which they 8) ..... with oil, vinegar and garlic and it 9) ..... delicious.

Well, outside the sun 10) ..... so I’m off to get a bit of a suntan; I hope everything’s OK back in Birmingham.

Lucy

8. Choose the correct form of the verbs.

Dear Karen,

1) I’m having / I have a great time here in England. My university term 2) isn’t starting / doesn’t start until the autumn, so 3) I’m taking / I take the opportunity to improve my English. 4) I’m staying / I stay with some English friends who 5) are owning / own the farm. On weekdays 6) I’m catching / I catch a bus into Torquay to go to language classes. 7) I’m making / I make good progress, I think. My friends 8) say / are saying my pronunciation is much better than when I arrived, and 9) I’m understanding / I understand almost everything now. At weekends 10) I’m helping / I help on the farm. At the moment 11) they’re harvesting / they harvest the corn and 12) they’re needing / they need all the help they can get. It’s quite hard work, but 13) I’m liking / I like it. And 14) I’m developing / I develop some strong muscles!

15)Do you come / Are you coming to visit me at Christmas? 16) I’m spending / I spend the winter holiday here at the farm. My friends 17) are wanting / want to meet you and there’s plenty of space. But you must bring your warmest clothes. 18) It’s getting / It gets very cold here in the winter.

Let me know as soon as 19) you’re deciding / you decide . And tell me what 20) you’re doing / you do these days.

Do you miss me ?

Love,

Paul

9. Put the verbs in the correct tense, present simple or present continuous.

Leila Markham is an environmentalist. She is being interviewed on the radio by Tony Hunt, a journalist.

Tony: So tell me, Leila, why is it important to save the rainforests?

Leila: There are a number of reasons. One is that many plants which could

be useful in medicine 1) ..... (grow) in the rainforest. We 2) ..... (not / know) all the plants yet – there are thousands and thousands of them. Researchers 3) ..... (try) to discover their secrets before they are destroyed.

Tony: I see. What other reasons are there?

Leila: Well, I’m sure you’ve heard of global warming?

Tony: You mean, the idea that the world 4) ..... (get) warmer?

Leila: That’s right. The rainforests 5) ..... (have) an important effect on the earth’s climate. They 6) ...... (disappear) at a terrifying rate and soon they will be gone. People 7) ..... (not / do) enough to save them.

Tony: But is global warming really such a problem? I 8) ..... (enjoy) warm sunshine.

Leila: Well, what 9) ..... (happen) when you 10) ..... (heat) ice?

Tony: It 11) ..... (melt) of course.

Leila: OK. The polar ice caps 12) ..... (consist) of millions of tons of ice. If they 13) ..... (melt), the level of the sea will rise and cause terrible floods. Many scientists 14) ..... (believe) that temperatures 15) ..... (already rise). We must do everything we can to prevent global warming, and that 16) ..... (include) preserving the rainforests!

Tony: Thank you, Leila, and good luck in your campaign.

Leila: Thank you.

10. Put the verbs in brackets into the present simple or the present continuous.

1. Debbie (work) as an administrator at the university. She (organise) all the timetables and teaching schedules. She (work) very long hours at the moment because it’s the start of the academic year but she (go) on a short holiday at the end of the month.

2. Simon and Sylvia (stay) in a cottage in the Yorkshire Dales this month. The cottage (belong) to a cousin of Sylvia’s but the cousin is away: she (cycle) around Norfolk for a few weeks. Simon and Sylvia often (use) the cottage when Sylvia’s cousin is away. They really (enjoy) being in the middle of the countryside.

3. The International School for Languages (do) very well at the moment. About two hundred students (take) evening classes this term. Many of them (need) to learn a new language to improve their job prospects but some of them (learn) a new language purely for pleasure. The European languages (be) very popular but Japanese and Russian (get) more popular too. The school (provide) good learning facilities and (organise) a range of study tours.

4. The world population (still increase) rapidly. Many people in the world (already starve) and many more (suffer) from malnutrition. The population (grow) fastest in the poorest countries where people (need) to have children to look after them in their old age and where many of their children (die) at a very young age.

11. Put the verbs in brackets into the present simple or the present continuous.

Maggie and Jill, two friends, are talking at a party.

M: Jill, how nice to see you. I 1) ..... (not think) we’ve seen each other since that party at Jim’s last year. How 2) ..... (you / get on)?

J: Oh, fine. Everything 3) ..... (go) very well.

M: 4) ..... (you still / go out) with Dave?

J: No, I’m not, but I 5) ..... (go out) with someone called Jamie. I met him on my pottery class.

M: Is he here now?

J: Yes look, he’s over there. He 6) ..... (talk) to Charlotte.

M: Oh yes, I 7) ..... (see) him. 8) ..... (he / wear) a yellow jumper?

J: Yes, that’s him.

M: Oh, he 9) ..... (look) really nice.

J: He is. I’ll introduce you to him when he 10) ..... (come) over here. So what about you? How 11) ..... (life / treat) you ?

M: Not too badly. I 12) ..... (still / work) at that awful cafe. I 13) ..... (keep) looking for other jobs but the problem is that I 14) ..... (feel) so tired when I 15) ..... (get in) that 16) ..... (not have) much energy to look through all the job ads and everything. Oh well, I 17) ..... (suppose) something else will come up soon.

J: I 18) ..... (hope) so. Oh look, Jamie 19) ..... (come over) here.

20) ..... ( you want ) to meet him ?

M: Oh yes.

12. Read the text below and look carefully at each line. In most of the lines there is one word that does not fit grammatically. Write this unwanted word on the right. If a line is correct, put a tick. The first two are given as examples.

..........

..being..

............

............

............

............

............

............

............

............

............

............

............

............

............

............

............

0 This week in Kyoto in Japan the latest conference

00 on the environment is being taking place. The whole

1 world is today watching to see what happens 2 as delegates from more than 165 countries discuss

3 what measures need not to be taken to reduce the

4 fumes that do create the Greenhouse Effect. They

5 are hope to agree on ways of reducing the amount

6 of carbon dioxide and other gases that we

7 send into the atmosphere. These gases to act the way a

8 greenhouse does and, as a result, the Earth is

9 be getting hotter and hotter all the time. The

10 temperature it is rising gradually and

11 in 100 years’ time the Earth will be hotter by about 4C

12 The problem is be getting worse as more cars

13 are make an appearance on our already crowded roads.

14 The solution in Kyoto is depends on what the United States,

15 the most powerful nation on Earth, feels is in its interests.