PRESENT SIMPLE vs PRESENT CONTINUOUS

We have studied the present simple and the present continuous separatedly, but what about using them together? Do you really know when to use one and when to use the other? Let's have a look at them.

Present simple

It is used to speak about routines, hobbies, things that are always true.

Present continuous
It is used to speak about what is happening now or around now, temporal things or situations.
REMEMBER: there are some verbs which are not used in the continuous: believe, want, love, hate ...

Watch this video where both the present simple and continuous are explained





And now let's see if you understood. Do the following exercises and check your knowledge!!!

Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 3
Exercise 4
Exercise 5
Exercise 6
Exercise 7
Exercise 8
Exercise 9
Exercise 10

PRESENT CONTINUOUS

Use the Present Continuous with normal verbs to express the idea that something is happening now, at this very moment. It can also be used to show that something is not happening now.

Example: I am watching TV now.
                he is not reading a newspaper now.

To make a statement in the present continuous we need the present of verb to be (AM/IS/ARE) + the -ing form of the verb we want to use

          I AM READING a book
          She IS DRIVING a red car
          They ARE HAVING a shower

To make negative sentences we just add NOT after verb to be.

          I am not reading a book
          She is not driving a red car
          They are not having a shower

To make questions we just place the verb to be before the subject.

          Are you reading a book?
          Why is she driving a red car?
          Are they having a shower?


With this video you can practise negative and questions in the present continuous




Let's see if you have understood, let's practise with these exercises
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 3
Exercise 4
Exercise 5 Watch the video and make full sentences, You can check the answers if you have a look at the comments to this post.

SHERLOCK HOLMES - THE ADVENTURE OF THE STARRY NIGHT

What do you know about Sherlock Holmes? Have you ever read any of his stories? I'm sure you have, but how much do you know about him? Watch the video below to learn more about him and to practise the past simple of the verbs. Stop the video when you consider as on the left hand side grammar and vocabulary is explained.

GULLIVER'S TRAVELS

I'm sure you have heard of Gulliver and his visit to Lilliput. Why don't you listen to the story? This is just for you to practise your listening.

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

THE PAST SIMPLE

Watch this video to learn more about the past. Good one!!!

PRONUNCIATION OF -ED, REGULAR VERBS

To pronounce the past simple of the regular verbs we have to have in mind that is the sound which is important, not the letter or the spelling. So, how do we pronounce the past of the regular verbs? In three different ways.

- When the verb ends in sound /t/ or /d/ ------> /id/

- When the verb ends in an unvoiced sound (/p/,/f/,/s/,/sh/,/ch/,/k/ -----> the final sound is /t/

- When the verb ends in a voiced sound (the rest) ------> /d/

	/d/		/t/		/id/
	lived		worked		waited
	arrived		stopped		hated
	played		asked		ended

Now watch the video below to listen to the different sounds of the past of the regular verbs.




Time for you to practise. Why don't you record yourself?. Come on, don't be shy, you can do it!!!!! Remember that theory without practice is nothing.

IRREGULAR VERBS

Learn some irregular verbs with this video. Repeat after him. It's good practice to remember them!

IT'S OR ITS?

Sometimes you confuse it's with its.

It's is a contraction for it is or it has.

Its is a possessive adjective and a possessive pronoun meaning, more or less, of it or belonging to it.

Watch this one minute video to learn their differences!!!

LIKES AND DISLIKES

To talk about what we like or we don't like we use the verbs love, enjoy, like and hate. After these verbs we can use a noun

          She loves chocolate

          They don't like football

          Does he hate the beach?

But we can also use a verb. When we use a verb it usually takes the form of the gerund, that is, we add -ing to the verb.

          He loves going to the cinema

          She doesn't like dancing

          Do they enjoy playing chess?

Remember that there are some rules to add -ing:

* most of the times we just add -ing directly to the verb
          
          go ---> going                 work ---> working
          study ---> studying        play--->playing

* but when the verb ends in a silent final e preceded by a consonant, we drop the -e and add -ing

         live ---> living                write ---> writing

* when the verb ends in a consonant and it is a strong one syllable verb then we double the final consonant. Also when the verb has two or more syllables but the stress is on the last syllable.

        stop ---> stopping         begin ---> beginning

This video might help you




And of course, nothing better than some practice!!!

exercise 1
exercise 2
exercise 3

SAYING THE DATE

Let's revise the dates with this video. There are two parts. During the first part of the video just listen to it and try to understand as much as you can. You can take pen and paper and write the dates they say. In the second part you can read the subtitles and check your answers.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF ... (Present tense)

This is a video from MadridTeacher.com. Victoria Fontana tells us about a typical day in her life. There are two parts. During the first part of the video just listen to it and try to understand as much as you can, in the second part you can read the subtitles. Does she live in an Okinawa way? What do you think?

COLOURS, OBJECTS AND VERB TO BE

This is a video from MadridTeacher.com to learn not only daily objects and colours but also to review verb to be.

NOTE: colour is the British English spelling while color is the American English spelling.

WHAT'S YOUR JOB?

This is listening practice. There are two parts in the video. In the first part listen to the people saying what their jobs are. In the second part you can read what they say in the subtitles.

Notice that what's your job? = What do you do?

WHAT DO YOU DO? JOBS

With this video you can practise vocabulary related to jobs. How many of them do you already know?




And now, why don't you try these exercises to practise your vocabulary?

Exercise 1 (Crossword)
Exercise 2 (another crossword with definitions)
Exercise 3 (Crossword, complete the word)
Exercise 4 (Wordsearch)
Exercise 5 (What's the job?)
Exercise 6 (Hangman) (el juego del ahorcado)
Exercise 7 (match the pictures with the jobs)

PRESENT SIMPLE (+) (-) (?)

How do we form a sentence in the present simple? When do we use it? Watch the video and do the activities below.


exercise 1  Complete the sentence with one word.
exercise 2 Click on the words in the right order.
exercise 3
exercise 4
exercise 5 Is there a mistake in the sentence?
exercise 6 Choose the correct answer.
exercise 7 Word order in questions.
exercise 8 Put the words in the correct order.

100 MOST COMMON WORDS IN ENGLISH

Remember that with a bit of grammar and a lot of vocabulary we can say many things! According to Wikipedia these are the 100 most common words in English in order from 1 to 100. How many of them do you already know?

HOW TO FORM THE PLURAL

Are you good at forming the plural of the nouns? In case you need some extra help this is a presentation for you to review how to make singular nouns plural. If you download it to your computer you will see it better.

And this is a video where a teacher shows some of the rules. Very instructive.

Now it's time to practise! Look up the words you don't understand in the dictionary and you will learn more vocabulary.

In these exercises each time you load them you will get new words, do them more than once. Remember, the more times you do the exercises the more words you will learn!
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 3

Exercise 4 (Singular or plural?)

And this is a game to practise the plurals. Go fishing with the gnomes. Let's see how many fish you can get!
Game by the BBC

THE ABC

Do you still have problems with the ABCs? Not a problem, here you can sing the song with Sesame Street.



Why don't we put it into practice now? Watch the video and write down the names they say. In the second part of the video you can ckeck your answers. Good luck!!!



In case you still want one more exercise:
exercise 1

NUMBERS

Review the numbers with these videos.

Numbers 1-30




Numbers 1-100





In this exercise you can practise your listening.
Good luck!

VERB TO BE (present)

And now, would you like to practise verb to be in the present? If the answer is 'YES!' these are some pages where you can do it.
exercise 1 (only verb to be)
exercise 2 (the basics)
exercise 3 (introducing yourselves)
exercise 4 (make it negative)