Search results for 'tag:Present simple tag:Present tenses' matching tags 'Present simple' and 'Present tenses'

Re: why present tense?

Malinka — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 22:25:50 GMT

I came across the following explanation:

The Present Simple is used to give life and colour to the telling of a story. The Past Simple does not have the same dramatic effect. That is why jokes are often told in the present.

Re: grammar check!

AlpheccaStars — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 17:03:57 GMT

Ellisa:

This is a very long passage, and your other post seems to be even longer.

The editor at this web site makes it difficult to make corrections to long passages. Also, many teachers do not want to devote a long time working on a single post. If you post only one paragraph at a time, then different teachers can work on them and you will get your corrections faster.

Ellisa

Hello teachers!
I'm summarising a book which is about teaching methods.
I guess there are millions of errors.
Please ~~check those to right one~~ suggest corrections to my sentences.!
Thanks in advance!

13. Teaching grammar

There are two main ways to teach~~ing~~ grammar.(or you can say "ways of teaching grammar". The word "teaching" is a gerund, and must be used as a noun. In this example, it is object of the preposition "of")
One way is ~~both~~ planning grammar teaching in advance and relying on the coursebooks which can help us teach grammar. The other way is teaching grammar as a result of other work. In other words, it is ~~has~~ done as a peripheral activity. In this chapter, we will look at the various different ways to teach grammar. We will look at the range of activities which satisfy not merely efficiency but also ~~appropriacy~~ (not a word; you can use the adjective forms - a range of activities which are efficient as well as appropriate). . Lastly, we will discuss grammar books and their usages.

(You need to be consistent in using imperative versus declarative sentences)

A. Introducing grammar

The following ~~1 to 4~~ examples (, numbered 1 to 4,) are activities which represent a range of possibilities for introducing new grammar.

Ex1) It's making sentences using the present simple in the third singular. First, the teacher holds up a number of flashcards which are about a specific job. Then (? subject - the students )make sentences in ~~contained~~ present simple tense for ~~the~~ each pictures. It consists (or The exercise consists of) of three affirmative and three negative sentences. Then (? subject - the teacher )makes the students guess what kind of job it is. Once students are confident in ~~with~~ these sentences, the teacher asks them to think of one profession and make 6 sentences. Now, they can do activities guessing what profession is being described.

Ex2) It's using texts which contained (present tense) what the students are being taught (past simple irregular verbs). While the students read the text, they come across blanks that they must fill in with the past tense form of certain verbs. Then, (? subject - the teacher )makes them write these past tense verb forms down in the blanks and also write them phonetically using ~~which are shown~~ ~~their~~ phonemic symbols.

Ex3) This is aimed to show the differences between ~~reporting~~ direct speech and reporting things that were said in the past. The teacher draws ~~Draw~~ two people on the board. One, whose name is Jack, is holding a phone and smiling ~~whose name is Jack~~. The other is just standing. The teacher gives the ~~Give~~ students the information that Jack is talking to a girl who he met in the school canteen. Then, the teacher asks the students what Jack tells his friend while taking on the phone. The answers might be in the present form such as ' She says I'm really nice'. In this process, the teacher makes sure that the students understand how 'you' changes to 'I'. The teacher now tells the students that Jack is back home and he was spurned by the girl. He is telling to his mother that 'She said I was really nice' which is past form. The teacher can write both past and present forms on the board to help students.

Ex4) Here, the language which the students are ~~were~~ going to study is ~~was~~ embedded in the texts which they read. The teacher makes the students read the story first. After confirming that they ~~are~~ fully understanood the story by asking comprehension questions, the teacher asks them to make bad or insensible statements using the story. Then, the ~~get~~ students to come up to the board and write the sentences. ~~so that T~~he sentences have to use the modal auxillary "should," such as ~~ncluding~~ 'Should have p.p.' or' Shouldn't have p.p'.(especially here.)

Re: verb "to be"

Newguest — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 18:05:36 GMT

CalifJim
They all use the simple present tense of be.

CJ

I see. So I should say that these sentences are all in the present simple with the verb "to be". Right?

A myriad of grammar problems :(

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 11:10:23 GMT

A Myriad of Grammar Problems... :(

I have absolutely no idea how to do these, can someone tell me what's going on here, Ive looked up many pages on the web but still am stumped on these:

Exercise 9
Rewrite the following in the PASSIVE voice.

E.g. 1. My wife wrote the letter. --> The letter was written by my wife.

2. My father painted the house. --> The house was painted by my father.

3. The storm will destroy the harvest. --> The harvest will be destroyed by the storm.

4. He has knocked the fence over. --> The fence was knocked over by him.

5. The man in the black hat found the child. --> The child was found by the man in the black hat.

Exercise 10
Rewrite the following in the ACTIVE voice.

E.g. 1. This task can be done by small children. --> Small children can do this task.

2. The supermarket will be opened by the mayor. --> The mayor will open the supermarket.

3. The charge was made by the police. --> The police made the charge.

4. The drawings were done by a famous artist. --> A famous artist did the drawings.

5. The company has been taken over by the Government. --> The government was taken over the company.

Are these right, I have to get them 100% word correct...but I'm really not sure if their right.

For example, we can use the present continuous (also used to refer to the future when we make arrangements) to talk about what is happening now. The simple present is commonly used to refer to routines or habits and it can also be used to refer past and future events.

Exercise 1
Look at this example taken from a newspaper: 'Prime Minister unveils new policies'. Although it is written in the present tense, it refers to past time.

Look at the following sentences using present simple tense verbs and decide what time reference they have - PRESENT, PAST, or FUTURE.

E.g. 1. When you see her, will you say hello from me.	Future
2. Cantona passes to Giggs, who passes to Sharp.
3. She walks in, comes right up to me and says...
4. The train leaves at 10.30.
5. We'll phone as soon as we get there.

Number 2,3 I said was Present, and Number,4,5 I said was Future.
Exercise 2
Look through the following sentences and select the TENSE and the time reference used.

E.g. 1. If I won a lot of money, I'd travel the world.	Past Simple	Future
2. I wish I had more time to finish this exercise.
3. When you have finished, you can go home.
4. 'Major calls for peace summit' (headline).
5. I'm meeting some friends at the pub tonight.
6. We've got the next lesson in the language library.
7. I am to give a speech at the conference next week.

I have NO IDEA how to do the above 2 exercises, I can't even attempt them very well...can anyone relieve me of the stress I'm having with these?

Re: future or present + in 2 days'time?

Clive — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 21:34:11 GMT

Hi,
Could you possibly tell me which tense is used -future or present simple-with the time phrase "2 days'time" and " 2 days from now" ?

These two are OK.
He has an appointment with his doctor in two days' time
He has an appointment with his doctor two days from now.

Consider this. I call my doctor today and make an appointment for 1/Nov next year. I have the appointment now, as soon as it is made.
So, don't say it this way.
He will have an appointment with his doctor in two days' time
He will have an appointment with his doctor two days from now.

People do say this, but present tense seems more logical.
Christmas will be in two months'time
Christmas will be two months from now

So, I prefer this.
Christmas is in two months' time
Christmas is two months from now

Best wishes, Clive

Re: Pray that + [what tense]

Cool Breeze — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 14:45:47 GMT

Ant_222
How to explain the use of the Present Simple in this book title: Â«The Ardennes Tapes: Pray That Somebody Listens!Â».

or this phrase: Â«Pray that John Mc Cain winsÂ».

They both refer to future events but use the Present Simple for some reason...

I just observe, I don't dictate usage. You said in your first post that you have seen the present tense used as well. I believed you; I just offered a reason to use the future tense.

Re: this would be/contact

Huevos — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 14:16:40 GMT

Newguest
So, "were" in the present simple tense refers to a hypothetical situation.

Yes, or one that is contrary to reality.

I see four options in the suborbinate clause if the main clause is present tense, although there may be more.

I think it depends on whether it would be a high salary or a low salary.
I think it depends on whether it will be a high salary or a low salary.
I think it depends on whether it were a high salary or a low salary.
I think it depends on whether it is a high salary or a low salary.

Looking for some tips and/or curriculum suggestions

mikesusangray — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 21:50:11 GMT

Hi all!

I've been giving English conversation lessons to a theology professor for about a year now. He's getting on in the years - a couple years from retirement - and his primary goal has been just to get his spoken English going a little stronger. His mother tongue is French but he's been teaching at a German language university for many years.

I'd like to add some more specific inputs to our lessons but I can't seem to find the right material. His passive skills are excellent - he reads widely and with perfect comprehension in his field - and he can communicate quite understandably. He is a linguistics specialist and can grasp any concept about the language immediately. I brought along Cambridge Advanced Grammar in Use and he could plow through a chapter in five minutes with perfect conceptual comprehension.

However, he also continues to make very simple errors - for example, he has trouble choosing between present simple and continuous or often uses the present tense for past events. Sentence order tends to get wander hither and yon while definite and indefinite articles come and go with the tide. (Prepositions are a problem too, but I won't beat him to hard there - prepositions are difficult in any new language.) In many cases his mistakes are typical of French or German speech patterns.

One other limitation is that he enjoys the weekly lessons (a good hour), but doesn't have much time to study in between.

Right now we spend about 15 minutes reading a chapter from Advanced Grammar in Use and about 45 minutes talking about just about anything under the sun, while I take notes and show him problems under the categories Pronunciation/Articles & Prespositions/Word Order/Other Grammar/Vocabulary/Idioms. However, I don't think the work book is a good choice - particularly since he doesn't do the homework - and it seems like he isn't making very good progress with his typical problem patterns - though he greets them like old friends when I point them out.

Any tips here?

Reported speech

Malinka — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 19:57:38 GMT

Hello everyone! I need your help. One of my books contains the following examples of the reported speech:
1) "Why is the world round?"asked the little girl.
The little girl wanted to know why the world was round.
2) "Smoking is bad for you", the teacher told us.
The teacher explained that smoking was bad for us.

I know that we do not usually change a simple present tense if the statement is always true. So my questions are:
1) Can I keep the present simple unchanged in the examples above, e.g. The little girl wanted to know why the world is round; e.g. The teacher explained that smoking is bad for us.

2) OR maybe both variants - the present and the past simple - are possible here.

Thanks in advance.
Please, give some explanations if you can.

Reported speech

Malinka — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 19:37:16 GMT

Hello everyone! I need your help. One of my books contains the following examples of the reported speech:
1. "Why is the world round?" asked the little girl.
The little girl wanted to know why the world was round.

2. "Smoking is bad for you", the teacher told us.
The teacher explained that smoking was bad for us.

I know that we do not usually change a simple present tense if the statement is always true. So, my questions are:
1) can I leave the present simple here unchanged, e.g. The little girl wanted to know why the world is round.
e.g. The teacher explained that smoking is bad for us.

2) OR maybe both variants - past and present simple - are possible here.

Thanks in advance.
If you can, please give some explanations.