PRESENT SIMPLE or CONTINUOUS?

Present Continuous:

- We use this for actions happening now, at the moment of speaking.
( You are reading this. / She's drinking a cup of coffee. /
What's happening? / They aren't working today. )

- The concept is short-term, temporary. We often use words like
'now' or 'at the moment'.
( I'm reading an interesting book at the moment. )

- There is a future meaning when we refer to plans or arrangements.
( How long are you staying? / He's visiting a client tomorrow morning. )

Present Simple:

- We use this for repeated actions, happening around now; and for
general states and facts.
( He works in a bank. / Does she usually get up early? /
They live in Switzerland. / It rains a lot in England. )

- The concept is long-term, permanent. We often use frequency words
like 'often', 'always', 'sometimes', 'never' or 'twice a week'.
( He usually walks to work, but sometimes he rides his bicycle. )

- There is a future meaning when we refer to timetables or schedules.
( The train leaves at nine o'clock and arrives at twelve. /
What time does the film start? )

Write the correct form of the verb - Present Simple or Continuous.
(Answers below.)

1 - Where _____ you _____ from?   come

2 - It ________ late: we must go.   get

3 - What time _____ the train usually _____ ?   arrive

4 - Water ________ at 100°C, and ________ at 0°C.
                                                    boil / freeze

5 - _____ you _____ anything this evening?   do

6 - They normally ________ every Saturday, but this week
      they ________.                      go out / stay in

7 - I ________ a new project at the moment.   work on

8 - What _____ 'sensible' _____ ?   mean

 

VOCABULARY-BUILDING

Choose a word from the list on the right with a similar meaning
to the adjective on the left.  (Answers below.)

Make sentences using these words.

I

II

No IF's..!
LITERARY INVERSION STRUCTURES

When writing (in British English), the word 'if' is sometimes omitted from conditional sentences, for reasons of style. To do this, the structures

'Should.. (x happen)' / 'Were.. (x to happen)' / 'Had.. (x happened)' are used.

( Should it rain tomorrow, the party will still go ahead. /
Were it to rain tomorrow, the party would still go ahead. /
Had it rained yesterday, the party would still have gone ahead. )

These structures correspond to Conditionals I, II and III, respectively:
( I - 'If it rains..' or 'If it should rain*..' /
II - 'If it rained..' or 'If it were to rain*..' /
III - 'If it had rained..' )

* 'should/were to' in these conditions indicate something is (slightly) less likely to happen:
( 'If you meet John..' - it's quite possible. / 'If you should meet John..' - by chance )

CONSTRUCTION

      I - If removed, inversion of the subject and should.
   II - If removed, inversion of the subject and were.
III - If removed, inversion of the subject and had.

( 'If you should meet John..' - 'Should you meet John..' /
'If your boss were to ask you..' - 'Were your boss to ask you..' /
'If we'd known about it..' - 'Had we known about it..' )

Take care with continuous..
( 'If it's raining..' - 'If it should be raining..' - 'Should it be raining..' /
'If it was raining..' - 'If it were to be raining..' - 'Were it to be raining..' )
..and negative constructions.
( 'If I hadn't been so tired..' - 'Had I not been so tired..' )

Rewrite the following conditions using the appropriate
inversion structure.  (Answers below.)

  1 - If you should require any further information..
  2 - If aliens were to land tomorrow..
  3 - If I'd known their address..
  4 - If he were to change his mind..
  5 - If they hadn't been able to speak English..
  6 - If you should hear from John in the next few days..
  7 - If the company paid its staff more..
  8 - If you do not wish to receive further product news..
  9 - If his alarm clock hadn't woken him up..
10 - If we'd had enough money..
11 - If the flight is delayed for more than three hours..
12 - If they couldn't speak English..

Now complete the sentences with an appropriate ending.
( Send me your answers for correction - a free service! )