The structures: HERE COMES... , THERE GOES

There goes our bus.

Here come the students of our group.

Giving or asking for instructions.

What do we do next? What happens next?

Where do we go now? How do I get to the station?

Demonstrations and commentaries.

First I take a bowl and break two eggs into it.

Smith passes to Daved – nice ball – and David shoots.

Now watch me closely: I take a match, light it, put it into the glass and …oh, nothing happens.

10 Formal correspondence.Some fixed phrases that are used in letter-writing can be expressed either in the Present Simple (formal) or the Present Continuous (less formal).

We write to tell you .... (formal)

We are writing to tell you .... (less formal)

Newspaper headlines, the outlines of novels, plays, films, etc.

Dog Saves Its Master.

Terrorists attack Manhattan.

12 To denote actions and states happening at the moment of speaking (used with stative verbs, which can’t be used in the continuous aspect). See Unit 3.

Who does this car belong to?

I do not see what you are doing.

NowI hear you perfectly well.

13The Present Simple is used with a perfect or past meaning in introductory expressoins like I hear/ I see/ I gather/ I understand

I hear that you are leaving next week.

I understand you are looking for a job.

The Present Simple is used in the past meaning in such sentences:

It is a long time since ....

It is ten years since I came here.

14The Present Simple is used after such expressions as: make sure/ take care/see to it

I’ll see to it that everybody leaves after classes.

15 In adverbial clauses of time and conditionafter conjunctions when, till, until, as soon as, as long as, before, after, while, if, unless, in case, on condition that, provided, etc.

Ring me up when she comes.

Do it as soon as you are through with your duties.

Practice

Ех. 1 Explain the use оf the Present Indefinite in the following sentences:

1. I sleep here; Му father sleeps in his study. 2. Уоur mouth is bleeding. Does it hurt? 3. Where do we go from here? 4. Please see that the children don't get nervous. 5. I do а lot of travelling, уоu know. 6. One lives and learns. 7. Не owns а big саr. 8. His men act silently as а rule. They wear dark glasses and they call after dark. 9. Changes happen very quickly here. 10. It is too late to go anywhere.What do we do then? 11. "Perhaps after breakfast I could ring up my family." "The telephone doesn't work." 12. Why don't you go back home? 13. They wish to make sure that he does not alter his p1ans. 14. I brush my teeth еvегу night. 15. "I give up," she said. "You win". 16. It is а scene in which Мr Dante, in а white dinner-jacket, arrives at the ground floor by lift. The lift door opens, Dante gets out, looks at something on his left, registers alarm and walks away briskly. 17. I’ve got to get him to the station. His train leaves at eleven.

Ex. 2 Complete the sentences by putting in the verbs. Use the Present Simple. You have to decide if the verb is positive or negative:

1. Claire is very sociable. She (know) lots of people. 2. We've got plenty of chairs, thanks. We (want) any more. 3. My friend is finding life in Paris a bit difficult. He (speak) French. 4. Most students live quite close to the college, so they (walk) there. 5. My sports kit is really muddy. This shirt (need) a good wash. 6. I've got four cats and two dogs. I (love) animals.7. No breakfast for Mark, thanks. He (eat) breakfast. 8. What's the matter? You (look) very happy. 9. Don't try to ring the bell. It (work). 10. I hate telephone answering machines. I just (like) talking to them. 11. Matthew is good at badminton. He (win) every game. 12. We always travel by bus. We (own) a car.

Ex. 3 Complete the conversation. Put in the Present Simple forms:

Rita: ... (you / like) football, Tom?

Tom: ... (I / love) it. I'm a United fan. ... (I / go) to all their games. Nick usually ... (come) with me. And ... (we / travel) to away games, too. Why ... (you / not / come) to a match some time?

Rita: I'm afraid football ... (not / make) sense to me — men running after

a ball. Why ... (you / take) it so seriously?

Tom: It's a wonderful game. ... (I / love) it. United are my whole life.

Rita: How much ... (it / cost) to buy the tickets and pay for the travel?

Tom: A lot. ... (I / not / know) exactly how much. But ... (that / not / matter) to me. ... (I / not / want) to do anything else. ... (that / annoy) you?

Rita: No, ... (it / not / annoy) me. I just ... (find) it a bit sad.

Unit 2 The Present Continuous (Progressive) Tense

Formation

The present continuous tense is formed with the present tense of the auxiliary verb be + the present participle (the infinitive + ing).

Table 2

Affirmative	Negative	Interrogative
I am working	I am not working	am I working?
you are working	you are not working	are you working?
he/she/it is working	he/she/it is not working	is he/she/it working?
we are working	we are not working	are we working?
you are working	you are not working	are you working?
they are working	they are not working	are they working?

Spelling rules

1 We can add -ing to most verbs without changing the spelling of their base forms:

beat/beating, carry/carrying, catch/catching, enjoy/enjoying, hurry/hurrying

2 If a verb ends in -e, omit the -e and add -ing.

come/coming, have/having, make/making, ride/riding, use/using

The exceptions are: to age/ageing, singe/singeing

But! This rule does not apply to verbs ending in double e:

agree/agreeing, see/seeing

3 A verb that is spelt with a single vowel followed by a single consonant doubles its final consonant:

hit/hitting, let/letting, put/putting, run/running, sit/sitting

4 With two-syllable verbs, the final consonant is normally doubled when the last syllable is stressed:

for'get/forgetting, pre'fer/preferring, up'set/upsetting

Compare: 'benefit/benefiting, 'differ/differing, 'profit/profiting

Note!

'label/labelling 'quarrel/quarrelling,'signal/signalling, 'travel/travelling (BrE) are exceptions to this rule.

Compare:

labeling, quarreling, signaling, traveling (AmE)

5 -ic at the end of a verb changes to -ick when we add -ing:

panic/panicking, picnic'picnicking, traffic/trafficking

6 A verb having –ie at the end, changes -ieto –y and adds –ing:

lie/lying, die/dying, tie/tying

7 A verb having -p at the end doubles it, but only when the ending has the construction consonant+vowel+consonant.

Worship/worshipping

Main uses

1 We use the Present Continuous to describe actions or events which are in progress at the moment of speaking. To emphasize this, we often use adverbials like now, at the moment, just,at present, currently, still.

Someone's knocking at the door. Can you answer it?
What are you doing? - I'm just tying up my shoe-laces.
He's working at the moment, so he can't come to the telephone.

He's still talking to his girlfriend on the phone.

Temporary situations

1) The Present Continuous can be used to describe actions and situations which may not have been happening long, or which are thought of as being in progress for a limited period. The following indicators are generally used: these days, this week, this month, this year.

What's your daughter doing these days?

- She's studying English at Durham University.

2) Such situations may not be happening at the moment of speaking:

Don't take that ladder away. Your father's using it. (i.e. but perhaps not at the moment).

3) Temporary events may be in progress at the moment of speaking:

The river is flowing very fast after last night's rain.

4) Temporary actions and situations may be given as a contrast to usual actions:

I usually drive to work, but this week I am taking a bus as my car is in repair.

3 We also use the Present Continuous to describe developing or changing situations. The verbs to change, to get, to grow, to improve, to become, to rise, to fall, to increase and to decrease are usually used. Very often adjectives in comparative degree are used in such sentences.

The number of cars on the road is increasing. The earth is slowly getting warmer.
People are becoming less tolerant of smoking these days.

4 When we are talking about repeated temporary actions in the present tense, we use the Present Continuous for an action that continues to happen before and after another action that interrupts it. We use the Present Simple for the other action.

The phone always rings when I'm having a bath.

Friends always talk to me when I'm trying to study.

Whenever I come, he is arguing with his sister.