Present continuous and present simple

From BBC learning English Hello. Welcome to 6 Minute Grammar with me, Sophie.

And me, Neil. Hello.

Today we’re talking about the present simple tense… And the present continuous tense. Coming up in today’s programme: We’ll take a look at positives, negatives, and question forms… We’ll find out when to use each tense… We’ll hear some short forms… And we’ll have a quiz to test what we’ve learnt.

But first: the present simple tense. We use it to talk about things that happen regularly. Here’s Finn with an example: John checks his email every morning.

Thanks Finn. So the verb to check is in the present simple – John checks - because he checks his email regularly – every morning.

We make the present simple with a subject plus a base verb – I check, you go, we live, they wear .

For he , she and it , add an s to the verb.

I always we­ar a coat in the winter. My brother wears a jacket.

Now we also use the present simple to talk about facts and permanent situations. So we can say… I work in the fashion industry. My sister lives in China .

To make the present simple negative, use don’t or doesn’t . And there’s no s on the end of the verb. Finn?

I don’t work in the modelling industry. My brother doesn’t like fashion.

For questions, use do or does .

Do your friends live in London? Does John check his email in the morning?

So that’s present simple. Now: let’s look at the present continuous tense. Ooh just a minute, let me get that… Hello? Sorry, I’m working at the moment. Can I call you back ? Sorry about that everyone… No problem…

So, I just said I’m working at the moment.

Aha! A clever demonstration!

You see – I said I’m working at the moment, because it’s an activity that’s happening now. I can say I work at the BBC in the present simple because my job is a permanent situation. But right now at this moment I’m doing the activity of working, so I use present continuous to say I’m working at the moment.

Right. As well as activities, we use the present continuous tense for temporary situations like this: My parents are staying with me this week. I’m sleeping on the sofa.

Sorry to hear that Finn. To make the present continuous, use am , is or are plus an i-n-g verb.

I’m checking my email at the moment. Emily’s wearing a pink hat today. They’re eating dinner now.

And did you hear those short forms? The words I am are shortened to I’m.

Emily is sounds like Emily’s.

And they are sounds like they’re. We’ll have short forms in just a moment.

You’re listening to BBC Learning English.com.

And today we’re talking about the present simple tense.

and the present continuous.

Let’s look at present continuous negatives. We make them with the little word not.

I’m not wearing a raincoat because it isn’t raining.

And here are those short forms again.

I am not becomes.

I’m not.

Is not.

Sophie

isn’t .

And for are not we get.

aren’t .

I’m not wearing shoes. He isn’t working today. You aren’t watching television.

Umm Neil, are you sending an email?

Yes, What are we doing? Are we talking about questions?

Yes, we are.

Ooh, sorry – Back to the programme!

Aha! Another clever demonstration! I said: Are you sending an email?

And I said: Are we talking about questions?

And of course, we both asked present continuous yes/no questions.

And to make them, you just change the word order. Instead of You are sending an email , it’s Are you sending an email?

It’s fine to put question words like why or what at the start of the question.

What are we doing? Why are you sending an email?

Thank you Finn. So that’s present continuous questions.

So that means, it’s time for a quiz. I’m going to say a sentence and you need to make it negative. Neil will give the answer. Ready? Number 1. Paolo speaks Chinese.

Paolo doesn’t speak Chinese.

Now make this sentence into a yes/no question: The children are playing a game.

Are the children playing a game?

And one more: this time, make a present continuous question starting with why . Simon is learning Japanese.

Why is Simon learning Japanese?

And that’s the end of the quiz – well done if you got them all right.

And that’s also the end of the programme – but there’s more about these tenses on our website at bbclearningenglish.com.

Join us again for more 6 Minute Grammar.

Bye.

Bye.

That was BBC learning English.