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

Re: Teaching the Present Continuous

ayvied — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:55:46 GMT

when i teach the Present Continuous tense (elemenentary level) I usually ue these easy steps:

1. Introduce/ review the Verb BE, in it's different forms..AM, IS, ARE ( Present Tense)

2. Introduce/revi Personal Pronouns, I , HE, SHE, IT, WE, YOU, THEY.

3. Explain/expound the relationship of these two (the verb BE and the Personal Pronouns) when used in a sentence and give examples;
                I -       AM                       HE, SHE, IT - IS
                YOU   - ARE
                 WE    - ARE
                 THEY - ARE

Example:  HE IS dancing.

4. Introduce/review Verbs...ask for examples e.g   dance,

5.Explain how to from the Present Participle:Participles = VERB+ ING
example : dance+ ing= dancing (explain that the E in danceshould be dropped)

4. Now, you are ready to present your lesson on PRESENT CONTINUOUS: Define
    PRESENT CONTINUOUS = Verb BE + VERB+ ING (present participle)

example: He IS DANCING.

I hope this will help.

Re: Always ( Present Tense or Past Continous ??)

optilang — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 08:23:41 GMT

Hi

She is so annoying! She always leaves her dirty dishes in the sink. I think she actually expects me to do them for her.

You can use the present simple here. Using the present continuous conveys a feeling of annoyance.

She always leaves her dirty dishes in the sink - habit.

She is always leaving her dirty dishes in the sink - expresses annoyance.

Re: Always ( Present Tense or Past Continous ??)

happyhour123 — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 08:17:37 GMT

She was so annoying (adjective) ! She was always leaving her dirty dishes in the sink. I think she actually expected (Past tense) me to do them for her.
She is so annoying! She is always leaving her dirty dishes in the sink (is Present Continuous sentence?). I think she actually expects me to do them for her.

Both are correct, right? But May I know why I can't use the present tense in this sentence? Because in this sentence is "Habit", right?
She is so annoying! She always leave her dirty dishes in the sink. I think she actually expects me to do them for her

Re: she's talking about or talked about

Yoong Liat — Mon, 26 May 2008 19:01:48 GMT

I walked to the nurse desk and asked for a bottled water and one of the nurses told me that I couldn't take any liquid before surgery. Instead, she told me to get some rest. I walked back to my room and told my mom. Mom said, "Sounds like she knows what she's talking about."

You're using direct speech (the sentence in bold). This means that what you are talking about happened not long ago and therefore the present continuous tense is fine. When someone asks you to have some food and you have eaten earlier, you will turn down the offer, saying, "No thanks. I have eaten." You've to use the present perfedt tense, not the past perfect tense.

I hope this gives you a clear picture why the present tense is used for something which has taken place recently.

What conditional?

Anonymous — Sat, 24 May 2008 05:55:15 GMT

Hi,

Please tell me what conditional these are and it they are correct

If we take a look at the table of contents, it tell us what topics are included and on what page the information is located. -- Is this concern with what some people seem to call 'universal truth' and thus, a zero conditional? A table of contents also tells what topics and information are in the book or text? Can I use modal 'will' before 'tell' and make a first conditional?

It is important to use it if we are going to get accurate information form the map. -- To me, this looks to be a first conditional, where an imperative form is used for the main clause, but the if-clause has a present continuous, not a present tense. Is this correct?

Tense questions

Believer — Sun, 18 May 2008 22:20:28 GMT

Hi, I have three questions on tenses.

1. How are they different? The mixing of a present and present continuous is what troubles me.

He frowns, while he looks very embarrassed.

He is frowning, while he is looking very embarrassed.

He is frowning, while he looks very embarrassed.

He frowns, while he is lookng very embarrassed.

2. I think it has been said a present tense indicates a habit and a present continuous on-going action, but I feel that might not help much to English learners to help them to understand what a sentence is telling them fully.

He plays chess. -- Does this indicates a habit? Can it also imply he is playing chess now -- on-going action?

He is playing chess -- I think many will say this indicates an on-going action.

3. Should I change the tense here? Mingling a past with present is what gives me trouble.

He thought it was important to help her and that is why he is sending her the money now.

Should I change it to?

He thought it was importnat to help her and that was why he decided to send her money.-- but this lacks the present action part: What he is doing now.

He thought it was important to help her and that is why he has decided to send her money now.

Re: Condtitional tense

Yankee — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 14:07:01 GMT

Avangi
Hi Amy,
So this will yield to the same analysis?: If I'm on vacation, the last thing I'll worry about is whether I've closed the fridge! What tense do you call, "I'll worry"? Do I need will be whether?
Thanks, - A.

Hi Avangi

To me, the word 'if' is used like 'whenever' in your sentence, and the word 'will' is used to indicate a habitual or repeated action (i.e. in that sentence, you are saying it is not your habit to wonder about things such as closed doors while you are on vacation). No, as I'm sure you know, the word 'will' is not necessary in your sentence. Removing 'will' would simply present what you (don't) do as a fact.

Do you actually like the present perfect in your sentence? Is that a wording you would actually choose? I can see using the simple past tense (i.e. whether I closed the door), but the present perfect still rubs me the wrong way. I can also see rewording it to "whether the door is closed" -- i.e. the simple present tense of 'be' followed by the adjective 'closed' (the current state of the door).

Using 'will' to build a future tense is often called "the will-future". However, the word 'will' is used in a number of ways in English, and we also have other ways of of referring to the future (e.g. the simple present tense, the present continuous, be going to).

The word 'if' can be used instead of 'whether'. I used 'whether' in Anon's sentence so that the conditional IF part of the sentence would be more obvious.

confused about tenses

Anonymous — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 02:24:22 GMT

Hi,

Please take a look at this and tell me why it is OK to use both the present and present continuous tenses. I have tendency to use a present continous for the likes of this sentential siutation. The part in present continous 'while doing the task' seems to go better if the tense in the main clause is continous too, but I do see the use of the present tense a lot too.

Many of the elements of text overlap with the speaker, since the speaker is saying the text and that's what learners listen (are listening??) to while doing the task.

Re: How - like - the way... aaaargh!

Yankee — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 20:17:01 GMT

Kooyeen wrote:
Hi,
can somebody comment on these, and tell me what you think in terms of meaning, how common they are, etc.?

Do it the way I told you.
Do it how I told you.
Do it like I told you.
Do it as I told you.
To me, these all mean the same thing; the last one would be the least common, and the second one sounds the most informal, in my opinion.

It's unbelievable how he can still walk with only a one leg.
It's unbelievable the way he can still walk with only a one leg.
Both sound equally natural to me if you change 'a' to 'one'.

It doesn't really look like I wanted (it to).
It doesn't really look the way I wanted (it to).
It doesn't really look how I wanted (it to).
To me, the first two would be the most likely. I also think people are likely to add 'it to' rather than to simply omit it.

I don't like the way she looks at me.
I don't like how she looks at me.
For some reason that I haven't yet identified, I prefer the first sentence in the simple present tense, and would be more likely to also feel comfortable with the second in the present continuous.

Thanks

Re: is joining/ will be joining

Clive — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 01:44:36 GMT

Hi,

could you pls explain the difference between

1) He is joining on oct 28 .He will joining on Oct 28.

2) "we are moving " "we will be moving"

I am confused as which is correct.

I know we can use present tense for the action that is decided before we speak. I would say it this way. You can use present continuous, if you want to, to show that plans and arrangements that are already made. If other people are involved, they have agreed to the plan.

Howver, you can also speak of these events with future continuous, but then you are not showing so clearly that the arrangements have been made, etc.

hence we can use "He is joining on Oct 28" .But when we already decided

why do we need to say "he will be joining" "i will be sending" which is correct

Please post again if you still are not clear about this.

Best wishes, Clive