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PRESENT CONTINUOUS
PAST SIMPLE
Why dont we all go to the theatre tonight? Time expressions used with Present Simple: always, usually, often, sometimes, rarely, never, every
day/week/month/year, etc., on Mondays/Tuesdays, etc., in the morning/afternoon/evening, at night/the weekend, etc., once a year/day, etc. Spelling: 3rd person singular, affirmative Most verbs take s in the third person singular.
I sit he sits
Verbs ending in -ss, -ch, -sh, -x, -o take es.
I fly he flies
Verbs ending in a vowel + y take s.
I say he says
Present Continuous is used for: actions happening now, at the moment of speaking:
The Smiths are looking for a babysitter at the moment, you should give them a call.
describing things which are changing:
I am finally meeting John after work tomorrow; do you want to join us?
Time expressions used with Present Continuous: now, at the moment, these days, today, this
week/month/year, etc., at present, nowadays, still, etc. Past Simple is used: to describe single completed actions in the past:
First, he opened the window. Then, he looked down the street and saw a strange man. Time expressions used with Past Simple: yesterday, last night/week/year/Monday, etc., a
month/two years, etc., ago, in 1944, etc. Spelling: We add d to verbs ending in e.
I live I lived
Verbs ending in a consonant + y drop the y and add ied.
I try I tried
Verbs ending in one stressed vowel between two consonants double the last consonant and add ed.
I stop I stopped
Past Continuous is used: for an action which was in progress at a stated time in the past, i.e. the action began before the stated time and continued after it:
We were spending time with our friends in their house when somebody stole our car.
for a past action which was in progress when another action interrupted it:
Tim was sleeping in the living room when Sarah came home.
for two or more actions which were happening at the same time in the past (simultaneous actions):
The snow was falling heavily as Mary was walking in the park. Time expressions used with Past Continuous: when, while, as, all day/night/morning, etc.