Present continuous-Simple Present

A la hora de usar los presentes juntos lo más difícil es saber cuándo hay que usar el presente simple y cuándo el continuo. En este post vamos a tratar de explicar esas diferencias en el uso de cada uno de ellos.

Usamos el presente continuo para hablar de acciones que están ocurriendo en el momento en que estamos hablando.

                        I’m eating an apple now.

Recordemos que el presente continuo se forma con el verbo to be en presente simple y el verbo principal acabado en –ing. Vamos a recordar ahora las reglas para formar el –ing de los verbos:

• Regla general es añadir –ing al infinitivo del verbo: play – playing
• Con los verbos que acaban en –e, quitamos esa –e y añadimos –ing: come – coming.
• Si los verbos  son cortos (una sílaba al pronunciarlos) y acaban en consonante+vocal+consonante, doblamos esta última consonante y añadimos –ing: sit – sitting.
• Si los verbos acaban en –ie, cambiamos la –ie por y y añadimos –ing: lie – lying, die – dying.

¿Recordáis cómo se forma el presente continuo? Hagamos un repaso rápido:

AFIRMATIVA: S + AM/IS/ARE + V(-ING) + C

                        He’s playing football in the park at the moment.

NEGATIVA: S + AM NOT/ISN’T/AREN’T + V(-ING) + C

                        He isn’t playing football.

INTERROGATIVA: AM/IS/ARE + S + V(-ING) + C?

                                 WH- + AM/IS/ARE + S + V(-ING) + C?

                        Is he playing in the park at the moment?

                        Where is he playing football?

Vamos a recordar por último, la diferencia entre el presente simple y el presente continuo:

PRESENTE SIMPLE	PRESENTE CONTINUO
- Rutinas, hábitos, acciones permanentes: He always goes to work by car. - Verdades absolutas o hechos científicos: The moon goes round the earth. - Verbos que expresan estados,   sentimientos u opiniones(1): The flowers smell great!. - Expresiones: adverbios de frecuencia (2). every day/week… on Mondays/Tuesdays… in winter/autumn… in the afternoon/ morning… one a week/twice a day/ three	- Acciones que están sucediendo en el momento de hablar: I am writing at the moment. - Acciones temporales: He goes to work by bus but today he’s going by train. - Expresiones: right / now at the moment / at present… look! listen!

(1) be, believe, belong, hate, like, love, mean, own, prefer, realise, remain, remember, think, seem, have(=actions), suppose, understand, want, wish, hear, see, smell, taste.

(2) always, usually, often, sometimes, rarely, seldom, never.

Ahora te propongo hacer unos ejercicios, pero si tienes alguna duda, revisa la forma del presente simple que ya puse en un post anterior…😉

1. Write the third person singular of the verbs in the list in the correct box:

laugh, kiss, write, lose, eat, rain, read, look, open, jump, ride, walk, watch, see, travel, listen, finish, say, cry, miss, put, dry, do, mix, finish, wash, copy, pass, begin, play.

-S	-ES	-IES

2. Add –ing to the verbs and put them in the correct box.

walk, dance, swim, sit, open, stop, travel, die, lie, shop, study, play, cry, laugh, write, read, smoke, sleep, look, watch, wash, run, make, do, ride, dance, stand, push, wear, put.

+ ING	IE → Y+ING	E → ING	double consonant+ ING

3. Fill in the blanks with present continuous or simple present.

1. The children (play) outside now.
2. She usually (read) the newspaper in the office.
3. I (do) my homework now.
4. I (eat) my dinner now.
5. (You/want) a pizza?
6. They (watch) TV now.
7. I (not/like) fish.
8. The baby (sleep) now.
9. My mother usually (cook) dinner in the evening.
10. He (write) a Christmas card to his friends every year.
11. She (no/like) football.
12. Susan (listen) to music now.
13. Tom usually (drink) coffee, but he (drink) tea now.
14. We (go) to the disco tonight.
15. (He/go) to work by bus everyday.
16. Susan usually (go) to school by bus, but now she (go) to school by train.
17. Mary often (read in bed, but today she is very tired and she (not/read).

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