PRESENT SIMPLE – PRESENT CONTINUOUS

PRESENT SIMPLE  Yo estudio

Se utiliza para hablar de acciones habituales, genéricas, que tienen lugar con cierta frecuencia,
sin hacer referencia a si en el momento actual se están realizando.

AFFIRMATIVE NEGATIVE INTERROGATIVE

I/you/we/they study English I/ you/ we/ they don’t study English Do I/ you/ we/ they study English?
He/ She/It studies English He doesn’t study English Does he study English?

La forma del "present simple" coincide con la del infinitivo sin la partícula "to", salvo en la 3ª
persona del singular en la que se le añade una "s"

To eat (comer) eat eats

To run (correr) run runs

Si el verbo termina en "ss", "sh", "ch", "x", "o", al formar la 3º persona del singular se le añade
"-es".

To kiss (besar) I kiss He kisses

To watch (observar) I watch He watches

Si el verbo termina en "y" tras consonante, al formar la 3ª persona del singular se sustituye esta
"y" por una "i", seguida de la terminación "es".

To carry (llevar) I carry He carries

To envy (envidiar) I envy He envies

Exercices

1. John is so smart that he ________ every exam without even trying. (Pass)
 2. My mother ________ eggs for breakfast every morning. (Fry)
3. I ________ in a bank. (Work)
4. My best friend ________ to me every week. (Write)
5. The bank ________ at four o'clock. (Close)
6. It ________ almost every day in Manchester. (Rain)
7. John ________ very hard in class, but I don't think he'll pass the course. (Try)
8. She ________ in Florida. (Live)
9. We ________ to Spain every summer. (Fly)
10. My life is so boring -- I just ________ TV every night. (Wach)

PRESENT CONTINOUS  Yo estoy estudiando

Se utiliza para describir acciones que se están desarrollando en este mismo momento:

AFFIRMATIVE NEGATIVE INTERROGATIVE

I am not studying English
I am studying English Am I studying English?
He/ She/ It is not (isn’t) studying
He/ She/ It is studying English Is He/ She/ It studying English?
English
You/ We/ They are studying Are You/ We/ They studying
You/ We/ They are not (aren’t)
English English?
studying English

Por ello usa particulas de tiempo que indican que la acción se realiza en el momento concerto:
Now, At the moment, Today, This morning…
Exercises

1. I _________________ the questions now. (to answer)

2. You ___________________ boots today. (to wear)
3. We ___________________ for work this morninh. (to look)
4. At the moment she ____________________ her friend. (to call)
5. He ________________________ a house. (to build)
6. They ____________________________ supper. (to cook)
7. We _____________________ a story. (to tell)
8. You ________________________ for the bus at the moment. (to wait)
9. Today I ___________________________ a book. (to read)
10. They _______________________ berries. (to pick)

Contrast Exercises (Present simple and present continuous)

For each of the following sentences, determine whether the Simple Present tense or the Present
Continuous tense is more appropriate, and fill in the blank with the correct form of the verb given in
brackets.

At the moment, I __________________________ supper. (to cook)

He _________________________ the paper every weekday. (to read)

We ___________________________ right now. (to study)

She _________________________ every day. (to study)

Now it _______________________. (to rain)

They ______________________ to Mexico every year. (to travel)

Just now we _________________________ the shopping. (to do)

She always ________________________ correctly.( to answer)

You _________________________ never late. (to be)

Now I __________________________ to the radio. (to listen)

Each Sunday, we ______________________ the flea market. (to visit)

At present, I________________________ for work. (to look)

John ____________________to Mary now (talk)

I ________________________television every night. (watch)

The children usually __________________________to bed at nine o'clock. (go)

__________________a book at the moment?. (Richard read)

They ________________________ to the theatre very often. (not go)

I __________________________at the moment. (not study)

I ______________English, although I ________________at the moment. (not speak) / (study)

I ______________________ in Valencia, though I __________________ in Madrid at the

moment. (live) / (stay)

I ___________________ in a hotel at the moment, although I _______________my own

apartment. (stay) / (have)

She ___________________from Chile, though she _______________in New York just now.

(come) / (live)