Simple Present Tense : Unit 8, I am doing (present continuous) and I do (simple present)

Jim is watching television.
He is not playing the guitar.

But Jim has a guitar.
He often plays it, and plays very well.

Jim plays the guitar,
but he is not playing the guitar.

“Is he playing the guitar?”           “No, he isn’t.”  (present continuous.)
“Does he play the guitar?”           “Yes, he does.”  (simple present)

Present Continuous (I am doing) – now, at the time of speaking :

                                                                                I am doing
past                                                                   NOW                                                          future

-          Please be quiet.I’m working.

-          Linda is taking a shower at the moment.

-          Take an umbrella, It’s raining.

-          You can turn off the television. I’m not watching it.

-          Why are you under table the table? What are you doing?

Simple present (I do) – in general, all the time, or sometimes :

                                                                                        I do

past                                                                            NOW                                                                         future

-          I work every day from 9 o’clock until 5.00.

-          Linda is taking a shower at the moment

-          It rains a lot in the winter.

-          I don’t watch television very often.

-          What do you usually do on weekends?

Do not use these verbs in the present continuous (I am –ing) :
want      like      love      hate      need      prefer      depend      know     mean     understand
believe      remember       forget

Use the simple present only (I want/do you like?. Etc) :

-          I’mtired. I want to go home. (not “I’m wanting”)

-          “Do you know that woman ?”   “Yes, but I don’t remember  her name.”

-          I don’t understand. What do you mean?

For the present continuous, see also unit 3 and unti 4
For the simple present, see also Units 5-7.

Simple Present Tense : Unit 7, Do You . . . ? (simple present questions)

We use do/does in simple present questions :

Positive			Questions
I We You they	Work Like Do Have		do	I We You They	Work . . . ? Like . . . ? Do . . . ? Have . . .?
He She It	Works Likes Does has		does	He She it

The word order in these questions is :

Do/does  +  subject  + base form
Where How often What How much What	Do Do Do Do Do Does Does Does	you your parents they you you usually Chrish It This word	Work Live? Have Wash Do Play Cost Mean?	On Saturday? A car? Your hair? Om weekends? Tennis often? To fly to Hawaii?

What do you do? = What’s your job?:
                      -      “What do you do?”   “Iwork in a bank.”

Remember  :
do   I/we/you/they                         - Do they like music?
does she/he/it                                  - Does she like music?

Short Answer
Yes,       I/we/you/they         do. Yes,       he/she/it                   does.	No,         I/we/you/they           don’t. No,         he/she/it                    doesn’t

-          “Do you have the time?”    “No, I don’t.”

-          “Do they speak English?”     “Yes, they do.”

-          “Does he work hard?”      “Yes, he does.”

-          “Does your sister live in Toronto?”       “No, she doesn’t.”

For the simple present, see also unit 5, unit 6, and unit 8.

Simple Present Tense : Unit 6, I don’t . . . (negative simple present)

She doesn’t like my apples.                         He Doesn’t drive

Positive			Negative
I we you they	Work Like Do Have		I We You They	do not (don’t)	work like do have
He She it	Works Likes Does has		He She it	does not (doesn’t)

-          I drink coffee, but I don’t drink tea.

-          Sue drinks tes, but she doesn’t drink coffee.

-          They don’t have any children.

-          We don’t know many people in this town.

We use don’t/doesn’t +  the base form (like/do/speak/work, etc) :

-          I don’t like washing the car. I don’t do  it very often.

-          She speaks Spanish, but she doesn’t speak Portuguese. (not “she does’t speaks”)

-          It’s a nice house, but it doesn’t have a garage. (not “it doesn’t has”)

Remember:
I/we/you/they don’t         -  I don’t like golf.
     he/she/it        doesn’t     -  He doesn’t like golf.

-          I don’t  like Fred and Fred doesn’t like me. (not “Fred don’t like”)

-          My car doesn’t use much gas. (not “my car don’t use”.)

-          Sometimes she is late, but it doesn’t happen very often.

For the simple present, see also Units 5 and 7.

Simple Present Tense : Unit 5, I do/work/have, etc. (Simple Present)

They have  a lot of books                                              She’s eating ice cream cone.
They read a lot.                                                             She likes ice cream cone.

They read / I like / she likes, etc, = the simple present :

I/we/you/they     do          read       like      work        play       watch        have          he/she/it      does      reads     likes     works      plays      watches    has

Remember:
he/she/it –s : he likes(not “he like”)        my sister plays        it rains
                      I live in Los Angeles, but my brother lives in New York.

have       has:  I have        she/he/it has

Spelling :
-es after –s/-ch-sh:  pass = passes            watch = watches              finish = finishes
                           also:   do = does                    go = goes
                                        study = studies         carry = carries

We use the simple present for things that true in general, or for things that happen sometimes or all time :

-          I like animals. I have three dogs and six cats.

-          The stores open at 09.00 a.m. and close at 05.30 p.m.

-          He works very hard. He starts at 07.30 a.m and finishes at 8 o’clock in the evening.

-          The Earth goes around the sun.

-          We do a lot of different things in our free time.

-          She’s very smart. She speaks four languages.

-          It costs a lot of money to stay at luxury hotels.

We use the simple present with always/never/often/sometimes/usually :

-          She always gets up at 7 o’clock.

-          I usually drive to work, but sometimes I walk.

-          Jack never has breakfast in the morning.

-          The weather here isn’t very good. It often rains.

Simple Present Tense : Unit 4, Are you –ing? (present continuous questions)

Possitive		Question
I            am      -ing he she       is         -ing It we you       are      -ing they			am         I        -ing . . . ?               he     is       she   -ing . . . ?                it                                  we   are      you   -ing . . . ?               they

-              “Are you feeling all right?”     “ Yes, I’m feeling fine.”
-              “Is it raining?”     “Yes, take an umbrella.”
-              Why are you wearing a coat?    It’s not cold today.
-              “What’s Tim doing?”     “He’s making dinner.”
-              “What are the children doing?”     “They’re playing outdoors.”
-              Look! There’s Sue.    Where’s She going?

The word order in these questions is :

                is/are    +       subject                        +     -ing
                is                      she                                       working today?
                is                      Ms.Smith                           working today?
Where  are                  they                                     going?
Where are                   those people                   going? (not “Where are going those people?”)

Short answer
Yes, I am.               he Yes,       she        is.               It               we Yes,       you       are.               they	No, I’m not.              he’s                                          he No,       she’s        not.     or    No,     she     isn’t.               It’s                                            it               we’re                                     we No         you’re     not.    or    No,     you    aren’t.               They’re                                 they

-              “Are you listening  to radio?”     “Yes, I am.”
-              “Is Rosa working today?”     “Yes, she is”
-              “Is it raining?”     “No, it isn’t.”   or   “No, it’s not.”
-              “Are your friends staying at a hotel?”     “No, the aren’t.”    or    “No, they’re not.”

For the present continuous, see unit 3.

Simple Present Tense : Unit 3, I am Doing (Present Continuous)

 

She’s eating.                      It’s raining.                         They’re running.
She isn’t reading.              The sun isn’t shining.           They aren’t walking.

The Present Continous Tense is :

Am/is/are-ing (Doing/eating/raining/running/, etc.)

I                am       (not)     -ing            I’m working. he                                                          Tom is writing a letter. She           is          (not)    -ing            She isn’t eating. It                                                            The telephone is ringing. We                                                        We’re having dinner. You          are        (not)  -ing              You’re not listening to me. They                                                      The children are  doing their homework. For the constraction ‘m/’s/re/isn’t/aren’t, see in Unit 1.

am/is/are-ing = something
is happening now :                             

I’m working She’s wearing a hat They’re playing soccer I’m not watching television

past                                                       NOW                                                     future

-              Please be quiet. I’m working. (= I’m working now)
-              Look! Sue is wearing her new hat.  (= she’s wearing it now)
-              Don’t go out now. It’s raining.
-              “Where are the children?”   “They’re playing in the park.”
-              (on the telephone) We’re having dinner now. Can you call back later?
-              You can turn the television off. O’m not watching it.

Spelling  :

                Come = coming                                run = running                    Lie = lying
                smoke = smoking             sit = sitting                          die – dying
                write = writing                   swim = swimming