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The Continuous Tenses

(be + V-ing)

Theory Introduction

The Continuous forms denote actions in progress at the present moment or at a given moment in the past or future.

 

The Present Continuous Tense

(am, is, are+ V-ing)

 

The Present Continuous Tense is formed with the present tense of the auxiliary verb be + the Present Participle (V-ing).

In the interrogative form the auxiliary verb is placed before the subject.

In the negative form notis placed after the auxiliary verb.

Affirmative Interrogative Negative
I am working He She is working It We You are working They Am I working he Is she working it we Are you working they I am not working He She is not working It We You are not working They

The Present Continuous tense is used:

1. for actions happening now.

It is raining. Take your umbrella.

I’m waiting for my friend. She is having coffee.

2. for an action happening in the present time period but not necessary at the moment of speaking. (often with the words: these days, this week, today, this evening, this month, etc.

Is Tom working this week? – No, he is on holiday.

3. for changes happening around us.

The population of the world is rising very fast.

Your English is getting better.

4. for emotional colouring of actions (annoying habits, praise, blame, impatience, etc.) with the words: always, all the time, constantly.

You are always finding fault with me.

She is constantly losing things.

5. for a definite arrangement in the near future, for a future intention or planned actions.

I’m meeting Sarah tonight. We are spending Christmas in Chicago.

We are leaving London next week.

6. We don’t usually use the verbs in the Present Continuous which express:

likes and dislikes: love, like, hate, care, prefer

wants and needs: want, wish, desire, need, lack

sense perception: see, hear, feel, notice, smell, taste, sound

mental activity: know, understand, remember, forget, realize

opinion: believe, recognize, seem, appear, think(that)

affects: impress, surprise, astonish

possession: have, own, possess, contain, consist of, include

existence: be, exist

But there are exceptional uses of these verbs (more frequent in spoken English), when we want to give special emphasis to their particular application to this very moment.

I think it’s too expensive (=opinion) He is friendly (=appearance) What are you thinking about? (at the moment). He is being friendly (=behaving or pretending now).

Notes: 1) We can use verbs that describe the way we feel physically in a Simple Tense or Continuous.

I feel sick. My legs hurt. I’m feeling sick My legs are hurting

2) When we want to express intention, the form be going to is often used.

He is going to answer his friends’ letters tonight.

Spelling Rules:

– if the infinitive ends in-e, drop it: make-making;

– when a one-syllable verb has one vowel and ends in a consonant, double the consonant: sit-sitting;



– if the verb ends in -ie, change it to y: die-dying, lie-lying;

– if the infinitive ends in -y,add -ing without any changes: try-trying;

– verbs ending in –ee:agree-agreeing, see-seeing.

Practice

 

Teaching Models

 

Ex. 1.Read the following conversation paying attention to the Present Continuous forms and answer the questions given below.

I’m Waiting

Julia: Mark? I’m at the station. I’m waiting for the train to London.
Mark: Hello, Julia. Glad to hear you. I’m waiting for you here.
Julia: What are you doing? Are you getting the dinner ready? Oh, I don’t hear you. The train is coming. I’m arriving home in an hour. Bye.

Questions:

Model: Is Julia waiting for the train at the station? – Yes, she is.

1. Where is she going to?

2. Who is waiting for Julia?

3. Is Mark waiting for Julia at home or at the station?

4. Mark is getting the dinner ready, isn’t he?

5. I wonder if Mark is meeting Julia at the station?

 

Ex. 2.Put the verbs in brackets into the proper tense form.

Model: Where is Helen? – She (teach) her son to swim.

– She is teaching her son to swim.

1. In spite of the awful weather now, we (have) a very good holiday here.

2. Why you (not to wear) your new dress today? Do you remember that we (go) to the party tonight?

3. The fire (go) out. Will you bring some more coal, please?

4. I (live) at a guesthouse at the moment as I (look for) a flat. Could you send this letter to my work address?

5. Someone (knock) at the door. Shall I answer it? – I (come) in a minute.

6. What (make) that terrible noise? – It’s Jim. He (move) the furniture. He (paint) the floor in his room.

7. The children are very quiet. Go and see what they (do). – They (play) outside.

Ex. 3. Ask and answer the questions:

Model: I’m wearing my sun-glasses today as the sun is shining very brightly. (Why) – Why are you wearing your sun-glasses today?

 

1. Helen, can I talk to you? ‘Sorry. I’m leaving in five minutes’. (Who, when)

2. The teachers are discussing one of the approaches in language teaching. (Who, what)

3. My mother was ill last week. But she is feeling better these days. (How)

4. I am not going to the party on Sunday. My cousin is coming from Ireland and I’m meeting him. (Who, where, why)

5. Food prices are going up nowadays. (tag question)

6. Professor Green is leaving for Oxford next week. (Where)

7. Don’t disturb Alex. He is working at his report. (General)

Self Check

 

Ex. 4.Compare and choose the proper form.

1. She speaks/is speaking five languages.

2. Look at that man! He wears/is wearing such a funny hat.

3. Don’t take that book back to the library. I am reading/read it.

4. They have/are having two daughters and two sons.

5. Do youunderstand/are you understanding Spanish?

6. We think/are thinking opera is boring.

7. Be quiet! I am watching/watch my favorite program.

8. We don’t enjoy/aren’t enjoying this party at all. The music is too loud. But we are enjoying/enjoy going to big parties.

9. Alex and Mary are Scottish. They come/are coming from Glasgow. They’ll be here very soon. They come/are coming by car.

10. Lisa can’t answer the phone. She has/is having a bath.

11. Every hour the Planet Earth travels/is travelling 66,620 miles around the Sun.

12. Where is Jane? She listens/is listening to a French song but she doesn’t understand what it is meaning/means.

Ex. 5. Put the verbs in brackets into the Present Continuous or the Present Indefinite.

1. Debbie (work) as an administrator at the university. She (organize) all the timetables and teaching schedules. She (work) very long hours at the moment because it’s the start of the academic year but she (go) on a short holiday at the end of the month.

2. The international School for Languages (do) very well at the moment. About two hundred students (take) evening classes this term. Many of them (need) to learn a new language to improve their job prospects but some of them (learn) a new language purely for pleasure. The European languages (be) very popular but Japanese and Russian (get) more popular too. The school (provide) good learning facilities and (organize) a range of study tours.

3. The world population (still increase) rapidly. Many people in the world (already starve) and many more (suffer) from malnutrition. The population (grow) fastest in the poorest countries where people (need) to have children to look after them in their old age and where many of their children (die) at a very young age.

 


Date: 2015-12-11; view: 1601


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