Present Continuous (review)

Hello, guys! Welcome to our grammar lessons!

My best friends Maddy, Kristie and Martin will help me make our lessons useful and enjoyable.

Tommy: Hi, guys, listen to this … (играет громкая тяжёлая музыка)

Maddy: It sounds awful! I hate it! (пытается перекричать, говорит громко)

Martin: I love it! Who’s playing the guitar? I think he’s great!

Mike: I am. Thanks! I’m Mike, Tommy’s cousin.

Tommy: Mike is staying with us for a few weeks. He’s got a new job in London and he’s looking for a flat.

Martin: Great! What do you do, Mike?

Mike: I’m a music teacher.

Tommy: He’s in a band, too! They’re making their first CD! Listen to this!

Maddy: Well, it doesn’t sound that bad … Actually …

Mike: It’s OK!

Look through the text. What tense is used in the highlighted sentences?

In the lesson today we are going to revise the Present Continuous Tense.

And let’s start with its formation.

Complete the table.

Now check how well you remember the rule.

We form the Present Continuous with the auxiliary verb to be (am, is, are) and the main verb with the –ing suffix.

We form questions by putting am/is/are before the subject.

Am I looking?

Is (he/she/it) looking?

Are (you/we/they) looking?

To make negatives we need to put not after am/is/are.

I am not looking

He/she/it is not (isn’t) looking

You/We/They are not (aren’t) looking.

Pay attention to the Spelling:

·                   Verbs ending in –e drop the –e and take the –ing suffix.

write – writing               see – seeing

·                   Verbs ending in one stressed vowel between two consonants, double the last consonant and take the –ing suffix.

sit – sitting           swim – swimming

·                   Verbs ending in –ie, drop the –ie and take –y +ing.

lie – lying             die – dying

Now let’s talk about the usage of the Present Continuous.

We use the Present Continuous:

·                   for actions happening now, at the moment of speaking.

E.g.

Old lady: Waiter! This meat is too hard! Why is that?

Waiter: The problem isn’t the meat, Madam. You’re cutting the plate!

·                   for actions happening around the moment of speaking.

E.g.

He’s revising for exams these days. (he is not revising now; he’s resting)

She is looking for a better job.

·                   repeated actions with “always” expressing annoyance and criticism.

E.g.

You’re always interrupting me!

She is always complaining!

·                   for fixed arrangements in the near future.

E.g.

Kristie and Martin are visiting us tonight.

She is flying to Glasgow in an hour.

·                   The Present Continuous describes situations which are slowly changing.

E.g.

London is getting bigger and bigger.

His English is getting better.

Time markers used with the Present Continuous tense:

now

at the moment

at present

this week/month

these days

today

tonight

tomorrow

next week.

Now it’s time to practice the rule with Martin.

Fill in with the present simple and the present continuous and explain your choice.

Now check yourselves.

Kristie: Hi, Granny. It’s me!

Granny: Kristie! What a lovely surprise! Are you calling from school? (she is calling at the moment of speaking – Present Continuous)

Kristie: Yes, I am being on my lunch break at the moment. (the time expression at the moment helps us to define the Present Continuous here.)

Granny: Is everything all right? You don’t usually call me this time. (repeated action – Present Simple)

Kristie: Everything is fine! I just want you to know that Tommy and I are visiting you this weekend. (they are having fixed arrangements in the near future – Present Continuous)

I’m booking our train tickets online right now. (the time expression right now helps us to define the Present Continuous.)

Granny: Wonderful!

Kristie: Our train leaves London at 5.15 pm and arrives in Liverpool at 7.45 pm. (we normally use the Present Simple to talk about timetables)

Granny: Great! See you soon then!

That`s all for today.

Join us at our grammar lessons at videouroki.net and you’ll realize that grammar is interesting.