Simple Present 1. Formation Affirmative Statements Negative Statements I You (*) We They Plural nouns V bare inf I You (*) We They Plural nouns do not (don’t) V bare inf He She It Proper name Nouns sing / unC V -s/es He She It Proper name Nouns sing / unC does not (doesn’t) V bare inf *You is both singular and plural • I walk to school . • She likes strawberries . • I do not (don’t) walk to school . • She does not (doesn’t) like strawberries . (For spelling rules for the Present Simple, see appendix 7 on page xxvii. For pronunciation rules for the Present Simple, see appendix 11 on page xxx.) Yes/No Questions WH-Questions Do I you (*) we they Plural nouns V bare inf ? What Where When What time do I you (*) we they plural nouns Does he she it Proper name Nouns sing / unC does he she it proper name nouns sing / unC • Do you walk to school? Yes , I do . • Does she like strawberries? No , she doesn’t . • What does she like? • She likes mangoes . Wh-Questions About The Subject Who V -s/es Complement ? What 87 29 Grammar Time Nguyen Tri Tuan – Nguyen Tuan Kiet Who buys new cars? Anna’s brothers (do) . What costs a lot? Anna’s car (does) . Usage We Use the Simple Present Example 1. to express a general truth. • The English are reserved and cold . • Vietnam doesn’t export automobiles . • The earth revolves around the sun . 2. to express a present habit or routine. • My father always goes to work by bus . • He doesn’t drink coffee . • She and I go to the cinema once a week . 3. for a present situation (not temporary). • He lives in the United States . 4. for a scheduled future event (timetables, programs, schedules) Verbs such as “start, begin, leave and end” are often used in this way. • The press conference begins at 8 : 30 A . M . • Our meeting ends promptly at 4 : 30 P . M . 5. always with stative verbs. • verbs of the senses • verbs of opinion and understanding • verbs of emotions and feelings • in the first conditional • Do you hear anything? • He doesn't understand Japanese . • She hates classical music . • He will come to the party if you invite him . NOTES: i) Adverbs of frequency are often used in the simple present: “always, usually, often, sometimes, occasionally, rarely, seldom, never, once / twice a week…” My aunt never eats meat . Kate Winslet usually wears a pair of size 11 shoes . ii) The following adverbs are placed either at the beginning or at the end of a sentence: 88 Nguyen Tri Tuan – Nguyen Tuan Kiet Chapter 5 “sometimes, every day, every week, every year, occasionally” Every day his grandfather eats meatless meals .  EXERCISE 1 Put the verbs in parentheses into the correct form. 1. The swimming pool ______________ (open) at 9:00 and ______________ (close) at 6:30 every day. 2. What time ______________ (the banks / close) here? 3. I have a car, but I ______________ (not / use) it very often. 4. How many cigarettes ______________ ( you / smoke ) a day? 5. "What ______________ (you/do) ?" "I'm an electrical engineer.” 6. "Where ______________ (your father / come) from?" "He ______________ ( come ) from Mexico.” 7. It ______________ (take) me an hour to get to work. How long ______________ (it / take) you? 8. I ______________ (play) the piano, but I ______________ (not / play) very well. 9. I don't understand the word "deceive". What ______________ ("deceive" / mean)?  EXERCISE 2 Complete the sentences. Use the correct form of the verbs in parentheses. Al Brown ___ teaches__ (1. teach ) English as a second language. He is unlike the other teachers in his department. He is only twenty-seven years old. The other teachers are over thirty. The other teachers _____________ (2. wear ) button-down shirts. Al _____________ (3. wear ) T-shirts or sweatshirts. After class the other teachers ______________ (4. go ) home. Every afternoon Al _____________ (5. go ) to the park. Many students _____________ (6. play ) soccer in the park. Sometimes Al ______________ (7. watch ) his students, and sometimes he _____________ (8. play ) soccer with them. Three evenings a week Al _____________ (9. have ) Japanese lessons with a private tutor. His tutor is one of his students. Every evening Al _____________ (10. study ) Japanese at the library and _____________ (11. do ) Japanese homework. Al’s girlfriend is in Japan. Al _____________ (12. miss ) her a lot. He _____________ (13. worry ) about her, too. He _____________ (14. hope ) to see her in the summer.  EXERCISE 3 Use these sentences to make questions. Begin your questions with the word(s) in parentheses. Examples: Tom plays tennis. (How often?) How often does Tom play tennis? I jog in the morning. (What time / usually?) What time do you usually jog? 1. Ann watches television. 89 Grammar Time Nguyen Tri Tuan – Nguyen Tuan Kiet (How often?) _____________________________________________________? 2. I write to my parents. (How often?) _____________________________________________________? 3. I have dinner in the evening. (What time / usually?) _____________________________________________? 4. Tom works. (Where?) _______________________________________________________? 5. I go to the movies. (How often?) _____________________________________________________? 6. People do stupid things. (Why?) _________________________________________________________? 7. The car breaks down. (How often?) ____________________________________________________?  EXERCISE 4 Find and correct the mistakes in this story about Doug. My name is Doug Winston. I’m in my second year of high school. I’m the captain of my school’s soccer team. I lives live in New York City with my parents. We lives in a large apartment in an old building. Both my mother and father works. My mother is a writer. She write stories for magazines. My father is a businessman. His work take him all over the world. I has two older sisters, Carol and Norma. Carol live in Oregon and Norma live in Massachusetts. I no have any brothers. Carol’s a student at Oregon State University and Norma’s a Spanish teacher in a high school in Boston. Norma’s a good Spanish teacher, but I’m glad she no is my teacher. She gives her students a lot of homework. Present Continuous 1. Formation S + Am / Is / Are + V ING + … Affirmative • I am reading now . • The bees are humming . Negative • My students aren’t taking the midterm test . • He isn’t taking a shower . Interrogative • What are you doing? I am tying up my shoelaces . • Is she leaving for Japan tomorrow? Yes , she is/ (No , she isn’t . ) (See appendix 6 on page xxvi.) 2. Usage We use the Present Continuous to express Example 90 30 Nguyen Tri Tuan – Nguyen Tuan Kiet Chapter 5 1. a continuous action at the moment of speaking. • My students are writing now . • They are talking noisily at the moment . 2. an action that is happening in the extended time (e.g., nowadays, this month, this semester, this year, etc.), even if it’s not occurring at the moment of speaking. • He is preparing for the final test this week . • She is studying computer programming this semester . 3. a planned action in the near future. • She is flying to Japan tomorrow . • Are you paying for dinner next time? 4. a gradual change. • It is getting colder and colder . • The test’s difficulty is increasing . 5. a present and temporary activity. • She is smoking a lot . (She doesn’t normally smoke.) 6. a repeated action that irritates the speaker (with always, constantly, continually, repeatedly, forever). • The boy is always asking me for candies . • He is continually telling other people what to do . NOTES: i) Non-action verbs are not normally used in the continuous tense. ( See Appendix 2 on page xxiii for a list of non-action verbs. ) ii) Some non-action verbs can be used in the Present Continuous tense when they have another meaning, as in the following examples: Non-action Verbs Other meanings • Are you hungry? • You are being foolish . You know? (be = act) • I think you’re right . (think = believe) • I’m thinking about this grammar . (think about= consider) • He has a car . (have = own) • He is having a good time . (have = spend) • This soup tastes delicious . (taste = have a particular flavor) • My mother is tasting the sauce she’s made . (taste = eat) • This room smells a little damp . (smell = have a particular smell) • Sashay is smelling the sweet aroma of warm chocolate . (smell = notice) • He sees the scene clearing now . (see = catch sight of) • He is seeing the zoo . ( see = visit) • You look about twenty . (look = have a particular appearance) • Sheila is looking at herself in the mirror . (look = direct one’s eyes) • My present job appears not easy at all . • The most famous singer is 91 Grammar Time Nguyen Tri Tuan – Nguyen Tuan Kiet (appear = seem) appearing on the stage . (appear = begin to be seen)  EXERCISE 5 Write the “–ing” forms for the following words. 1. stand 2. smile 3. eat 4. cut 5. plan 6. say 7. cry 8. ride 9. clap 10. fly 1. _________ 2. _________ 3. _________ 4. _________ 5. _________ 6. _________ 7. _________ 8. _________ 9. _________ 10. _________ 11. study 12. write 13. get 14. drop 15. camp 16. dye 17. sneeze 18. lie 19. refer 20. see 11. _________ 12. _________ 13. _________ 14. _________ 15. _________ 16. _________ 17. _________ 18. _________ 19. _________ 20. _________  EXERCISE 6 Supply the correct tenses of the verbs in parentheses. 1. Anna _____________ (look) for a new job. 2. If all _____________ (go) well, I will finish it in a fortnight. 3. You _____________ (like) this toy car? I _____________ (give) it to my nephew on his birthday tomorrow. 4. Listen! Someone _____________ (knock) at the door. 5. They always _____________ (lie) on the beach and _____________ (chat) away on Sunday mornings. 6. I _____________ (walk) to school every day, but today I _____________ (go) to school by bus. 7. What you _____________ (do) ? I _____________ (type) my English essay. 8. She _____________ (begin) to play tennis in two weeks. 9. She _____________ (share) the same room with me, but she’ll move to another one some days later. 10. On schedule, they _____________ (traffic) weapons across the border next Tuesday. 92 Nguyen Tri Tuan – Nguyen Tuan Kiet Chapter 5 93 Grammar Time Nguyen Tri Tuan – Nguyen Tuan Kiet  EXERCISE 7 Put the verbs into the correct form: Present Continuous or Simple Present . Los Angeles 15 September 2003 Dear Glen, How are things? I'm doing fine. I _____________ (1. spend ) my holidays in Los Angeles. It's a great city with excellent beaches and lots to do. I _____________ (2. enjoy ) it very much. I _____________ (3. stay ) with a Mexican family. I _____________ (4. get up ) at 10 o'clock every morning, then we ______________ (5. go ) to Venice Beach where we _____________ (6. have ) breakfast. Venice Beach is a famous beach in LA, and although many tourists _____________ (7. frequent ) the place, it's still one of my favorite hangouts. The weather is very good and the sun _____________ (8. shine ) all the time, just like in the song "It never _____________ (9. rain ) in Southern California". Today, however, it _____________ (10. rain ) cats and dogs. Tomorrow we _____________ (11. leave ) for Mexico to visit my host family’s relatives. I _____________ (12. look ) forward to seeing a different country for a change - hopefully there will be less smog in Mexico. We _____________ (13. return ) to LA in two weeks. Write me and tell me what you _____________ (14. do ) these days. Love, Jan  EXERCISE 8 Decide whether the verbs in these sentences are RIGHT or WRONG. Correct the verbs that are wrong. Example: I don't know your telephone number. RIGHT ___________________________________________________ Please don't make so much noise. I study. WRONG Please don't make so much noise . I am studying . 1. Look! Somebody is climbing that tree over there. ______ ________________________________________________________. 2. Can you hear those people? What do they talk about? ______ ________________________________________________________. 94 Nguyen Tri Tuan – Nguyen Tuan Kiet Chapter 5 3. Are you believing in God? ______ ________________________________________________________. 4. Look! That man tries to open the door of your car. ______ ________________________________________________________. 5. The moon goes around the earth. ______ ________________________________________________________. 6. What are you thinking about my idea? ______ ________________________________________________________. 7. The government is worried because the number of people without jobs is increasing. ______ ________________________________________________________. 8. I am usually going to work by car. ______ ________________________________________________________.  EXERCISE 9 Put the verbs into the CORRECT form: Present Continuous or Simple Present . Example: Please don't make so much noise. I am studying (study). How many languages does Tom speak (Tom / speak)? Jean doesn't speak (not speak) any foreign language. 1. I ______________ (not / belong) to a political party. 2. Hurry! The bus ______________ (come) . I ______________ (not / want) to miss it. 3. The Nile River ______________ (flow) into the Mediterranean. 4. The river ______________ (flow) very fast today - much faster than usual. 5. ______________ (it/ever / snow) in India? 6. We usually ______________ (grow) vegetables in our garden, but this year we ______________ (not / grow) any. 7. A: Can you drive? B: No, but I ______________ (learn) . 8. You can borrow my umbrella. I ______________ (not / need) it right now. 9. I ______________ (get) hungry. Let's get something to eat. 10. George is a vegetarian. He ______________ (not/eat) meat. 11. George says he's 80 years old, but I ______________ (not / believe) him. 12. Ron is in Caracas now. He ______________ (stay) at the Hilton Hotel. He usually ______________ (stay) at the Hilton Hotel when he is in Caracas. 13. Where ______________ (your parents / live)? My parents ______________ (live) in Acapulco. They were born there and have never lived anywhere else. 14. She ______________ (stay) with her sister until she finds somewhere else to live. 95 Grammar Time Nguyen Tri Tuan – Nguyen Tuan Kiet 15. A: What ______________ (your father / do)? B: He's a teacher in Lima, but he ______________ (not / work) right now.  EXERCISE 10 Read this student’s journal. Find and correct eleven mistakes in the use of the Present Progressive or Simple Present Tense. It’s 12:30 and I sit in the library right now. My classmates are eating lunch together but I’m not hungry yet. At home, we eat never this early. Today our journal topic is culture shock. It’s a good topic for me right now because I’m being pretty homesick. I miss my old routine. At home we always are eating a big meal at 2:00 in the afternoon. Then we rest. But here in Toronto I’m having a 3:00 conversation class. Every day, I almost fall asleep in class, and my teacher ask me. “Are you bored?” Of course I’m not bored. I just need my afternoon nap! This class always is fun. This semester we work on a project with video cameras. My team is filming groups of people from different cultures. We are analyze “social distance”. That means how close to each other these people stand. According to my new watch, it’s 12:55, so I leave now for my 1:00 class. Teachers here really aren’t liking tardiness! 96 . being foolish . You know? (be = act) • I think you’re right . (think = believe) • I’m thinking about this grammar . (think about= consider) • He has a car. nowadays, this month, this semester, this year, etc.), even if it’s not occurring at the moment of speaking. • He is preparing for the final test this week