Class 1

The Simple Present Tense and The Present Progressive Tense

The king of animals is very lazy and sleeps a lot.

He sleeps 20 hours a day.

Look at the photo, he isn´t sleeping.

THE SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE

1.    We form affirmative statements in the simple present tense with a subject + a verb + or a verb + -s or –es. We form negative statements with a subject + do not/ don’t or does not/doesn’t + a verb.

I like football.

Tom likes football.

We don’t like tennis.

Tom doesn’t like baseball.

2.    We form yes/no questions in the simple present tense with do or does + a subject + a verb. In short answers, we use a pronoun subject + do/don’t or does/doesn’t.

A: Do you like soccer?

B: Yes, I do./ No, I don’t.

A: Does Sue like tennis?

B: Yes, she does./No, she doesn’t.

3.    We use the wh- words what, where, when, how, which, why, who, and whom to form wh- questions in the simple present tense. We form these questions in two ways.

a.    If the wh- word is the subject of the question, we do not use the auxiliary verbs do or does, and we do not change the word order of the subject and the verb.

Who wants to play basketball?

b.    If the wh- word is not the subject of the question, we use the wh- word + do or does + the subject + the base verb.

Why do you like baseball?

What does the catcher do in baseball?

THE PRESENT PROGRESSIVE TENSE

4.    We form affirmative statements in the present progressive tense with a subject + the present tense of be + a verb + -ing. We form negative statements with the present tense of be + not + a verb + -ing.

The players are trying to score.

They aren’t succeeding.

5.    We form yes/no questions with the present tense of be + a subject + a verb + -ing. In affirmative short answers, we use a pronoun subject + the present tense of be. In negative short answers, we use a pronoun subject + the present tense of be + not. We usually contract negative short answers.

A: Is our team winning?

B. Yes, it is./No, it isn’t.

A: Are you enjoying the game?

B: Yes, I am./ No, I’m not.

6.    We form wh- questions in the present progressive tense in the same two ways as in the simple present tense, but we use present progressive verb forms.

Who is winning?

Why is that player running now?

In speech and in informal writing, we often contract is with the wh- word.

In speech, we also contract are with the wh- word, but we do not usually write this form.

Who’s speaking?

Where’s he going?

How’s your car running?