The Simple Present and The Present Progressive

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Simple Present & Present Progressive Test

English online test

The Simple Present and The Present Progressive

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Simple Present

The simple present expresses daily habits or usual activities, as in (a) and (b).

The simple present expresses general statements of fact, as in (c).

In sum, the simple present is used for events or situations that exist always, usually, or habitually in the past, present, and future.

(a) Ann takes a shower every day.

(b) I usually read the newspaper in the morning.

(c) Babies cry. Birds fly.

NEGATIVE

(d) It doesn’t snow in Bangkok.

QUESTION

(e) Does the teacher speak slowly?

Form and basic meaning of the simple present tense

Notice: The verb after “she, he ,it” (3rd person singular) has a final –s: talks

  Singular Plural
1st person I talk We talk
2nd person you talk You talk
3rd person She talks They talk
He talks  
It rains  

(a) I eat breakfast every morning.

(b) Olga speaks English every day.

(c) We sleep every night.

(d) They go to the beach every weekend.

The simple present tense expresses habits.

In (a): Eating breakfast is a habit, a usual activity. Every morning = Monday morning, Tuesday morning, Wednesday morning, Thursday morning, Friday morning, Saturday morning, and Sunday morning.

Frequency Adverbs

Always (a) Bob always eats breakfast
Usually (b) Mary usually eats breakfast
Often (c) They often watch TV at night.
Sometimes (d) Tom sometimes watches TV.
Seldom (e) I seldom watch TV.
Rarely (f) I rarely drink milk.
Never (g) I never eat paper.

The words in this list are called “frequency adverbs”. They come between the subject and the simple present verb.

Other frequency expressions

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I drink tea once a day.
twice a day.
three times a day.
four times a day.
etc.
I see my grandparents three times a week. We can  express frequency by saying how many times something happens(a day – a week – a month – a year)
I see my aunt once a month.
I see my cousin Sam twice a year.  
I see my roommate every morning. “Every” is singular. The noun that follows (e.g. morning) must be singular.Incorrect: every mornings   ×
I pay bills every month.
I see my doctor every year.

The Present progressive

The preset progressive expresses an activity that is in progress (is occurring, is happening) right now. The event is in the progress at the time the speaker is saying the sentence.

The event began in the past, is in progress now, and will probably continue into the future.

FORM: AM, IS + -ING

Forms of the Simple Present and the Present Progressive

  Simple present
Statement I – You – We – They  ⇒  work
He – she – it    ⇒  works
Negative I – You – We – They   ⇒ do not work.
He – She – It        ⇒          does not work.
Question Do      I – We – You – They    work?
Does    he – she – it       work?
Contractions Does + not = doesn’t      She doesn’t work.Do + not = don’t         I don’t work.

 

  Present Progressive
Statement I    ⇒  am workimg
You – We – They  ⇒    are working.
He – she – it    ⇒  is working
Negative I     ⇒ am not working.
You – We – They    ⇒  are not working.
He – She – It        ⇒          is not working.
Question Am      I         working?
Are      you – we – they       working?
Is         he – she – it         working?
Contractions I + am   = I’m working
Pronoun + be You/we/they + are = you’re, we’re, they’re working.
He/she/it + is   = he’s, she’s, it’s working.
Be + not Is + not = isnt       He isn’t working.
  Are + not = aren’t    They aren’t working.
  Am + not = am not   I am not working.

Frequency adverbs with Simple Present and Present Progressive

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Always, almost, usuallyt, oftent, frequentlyt, generallyt, sometimest, occasionallyt, seldom, rarely, hardly ever, almost never, not ever, never

Frequency adverbs usually occur in the middle of a sentence and have special positions, as shown in examples (a) through (e) below.

The adverbs with the symbol (t) may also occur at the beginning or end of a sentence.

I sometimes get up at 6:30.

Sometimes I get up at 6:30.

I get up at 6:30 sometimes.

The other adverbs in the list (the ones not marked by “t”) rarely occur at the beginning or end of a sentence. Their usual position is in the middle of a sentence.

(a) Karen always tells the truth. Frequency adverbs usually come between the subject and the simple present verb (except main verb be).
(b) Karen + is + always on time. Frequency adverbs follow be in the simples present (am, is, are) and simple past (was, were)
(c) Do you always eat breakfast? In a question, frequency adverbs come directly after the subject.
(d) Ann usually doesn’t eat breakfast.(e) Sue doesn’t always eat breakfast. In a negative sentence, most frequency adverbs come in front of a negative verb (except always and ever).Always follows a negative helping verb or negative be.
(f) correct: Anna never eats meat.(g) incorrect: Anna doesn’t never eat meat. Negative adverbs (seldom, rarely, hardly ever, never) are NOT used with a negative verb.
(h) Do you ever take the bus to work?Yes, I do. I often take the bus.

(i) I don’t ever walk to work.

(j) incorrect: I ever walk to work.“Ever” is used in questions about  frequency, as in (h). it means “at any time”.Ever is also used with “not” as in (i).

Ever is NOT used in statements.

 

Singular: one bird

Plural: two birds, three birds, many birds, all birds, etc.

Singular = one, not two or more

Plural = two, three, or more

Birds sing.

A bird sings.

A plural noun ends in –s, as in (c).

A singular verb ends in –s, as in (d)

A bird sings outside my window.

It sings loudly.

Ann sings beautifully.

She sings songs to her children.

Tom sings very well.

He sings in a chorus.

A singular verb follows a singular subject.

Add –s to the simple present verb if the subject is:

A singular noun (a bird, Ann, Tom) or

He, she, or it.

Spelling of final –S/-ES

Visit ⇒visits Final –s, not –es, is added to most verbs.Incorrect: visites, speakes ×

Many verbs end in –e. final –s is simple added.
Speak ⇒ speaks
Ride ⇒ rides
Write ⇒ writes
Catch ⇒ catches Final –es is added to words that end in –ch, -sh, -s, -x, -z.
Wash ⇒ washes
Miss ⇒ misses
Fix  ⇒ fixes
Buzz ⇒ buzzes
Fly ⇒ flies If a word ends in a consonant + -y, change the –y to –i and add –es. (incorrect: flys   ×)If a word ends in a vowel + -y, simply add –s. (incorrect paies or payes   ×)
Pay ⇒ pays
Go ⇒ goes The singular form of the verbs go, do, and have are irregular.
Do ⇒ does
Have ⇒ has