U1.7: Great places to be - Key Grammar: Present simple & Present Continuous

Last updated 4 months ago

4 questions

Present simple and present continuous
Present simple
Forms
Affirmative
I / You / We / They come from Cairo.
He / She / It comes from Cairo.
Negative
I / You / We / They do not (don’t) come from Cairo.
He / She / It does not (doesn’t) come from Cairo.
Question
Do I / you / we / they come from Cairo?
Does he / she / it come from Cairo?
Uses
We use the present simple:
To describe something that is always true or something that is permanent:
 Children learn languages more quickly than adults.
 Hanan lives in Muttrah.
To describe an activity that happens regularly:
 I do my homework every Friday evening.
With thoughts and feelings using these verbs:
 believe, know, remember, think (meaning believe), feel (meaning believe), suppose, love, like, want, dislike, hate, prefer, etc.
 I love my city.
Present continuous
Forms
Affirmative
I am (I’m) eating lunch.
He / She / It is (He’s / She’s / It’s) eating lunch.
We / You / They are (We’re / You’re / They’re) eating lunch.
Negative
I am (’m) not studying.
He / She / It is not (isn’t) studying.
We / You / They are not (aren’t) studying.
Question
Am I making too much noise?
Is he / she / it making too much noise?
Are we / you / they making too much noise?
Uses
We use the present continuous to talk about:
Something happening now:
 She’s making some notes.
A situation which is changing or developing:
 Your English is improving.
An activity which is in progress, but not exactly now:
 She’s studying chemistry in Wuhan.
A temporary situation:
 He’s living in a student hostel while he’s in England.

Underline the verbs in these four extracts from the Speaking section and say whether they are present simple or present continuous.

At the moment, I’m studying English as well.
I come from Muttrah in Oman.
I find the traffic very unpleasant.
Young people are leaving the village.

Look at the extracts in Exercise 1 again and complete this table.

Other Answer Choices:

present continuous

present simple

I find the traffic very unpleasant.

Young people are leaving the village.

I come from Muttrah in Oman.

Complete these sentences by putting the verb in brackets into the present simple or present continuous.
Hassan lives in Qatar, but right now he __________ friends in Bahrain.
I __________ geology because I __________ to work in the oil industry.
He __________ living in Manchester because it __________too much.
Transport in my city __________because the government __________ more roads.
People in my area __________ a lot of sport in their free time because they __________ to keep fit.

IELTS candidates often make mistakes with the present simple and present continuous. Find and correct the mistakes in these sentences.

e.g. At the present time, most people are thinking money is important for their lifestyle.
--> At the present time, most people think money is important for their lifestyle.
I think most children are influenced by their parents while they grow up. --> I think most children are influenced by their parents while they _______ .
Lots of people argue that international tourism bringing us advantages. --> Lots of people argue that international tourism _______ us advantages.
Most countries are encourage tourism. --> Most countries _______ / _______  tourism. (both tenses are acceptable here)
Nowadays, more and more cities around the world become bigger and bigger. --> Nowadays, more and more cities around the world _______ bigger and bigger.
People in most cities are believing that traffic is one of the most important problems. --> People in most cities _______  that traffic is one of the most important problems.