Present Continuous + Present Simple

1. Present Continuous + Present Simple Sept. 12, 2018

2. Present Continuous (I am doing) • Formed by using is/am/are + V(ing) • Example: • I am running. • I am reading a book. • She is learning a new language. • We are going home. • We use this tense to speak about something that is happening now and continues to happen; the action is not done yet.

3. Present Continuous (cont.) • However, the action is not necessarily happening at the time of speaking. • For example: • “I am reading an interesting book. I’ll let you borrow it once I’m finished.” • Even if I am not actually reading the book at the time of speaking, I mean that I have started it but not finished it yet. I am in the middle of reading it.

4. Present Continuous (cont.) • We use the continuous tense when we talk about things happening in a period around now. • Example: “You’re working hard today!” • Example: “Is she working this week?” • We use the present continuous tense when we talk about changes happening around now. • Example: “The population of the world is rising quickly.” (NOT ‘rises’) • Example: “Is your English improving?”

5. Homework:

7. Present Simple (I do) • We use the Present Simple to talk about things in general. We are not thinking only about now. We use it to say that something happens all the time or repeatedly, or that something is true in general. It is not important whether the action is happening at the time of speaking. • Example: “Doctors and nurses take care of patients at the hospital.” • Example: “I usually sleep for 8 hours each night.”

8. Present Simple (cont.) • We use “do/don’t” or “does/doesn’t” to make questions and negative sentences. • Example: Where do you work? He does not know he answer to the question. • In the following examples, do is also the main verb: • What do you do? ( = What’s your job?) • He does not do anything.

9. Present Simple (cont.) • We also use the present simple when we say how often we do things (such as habits) or give facts and general truths. • Examples: • I wake up at 8 o’clock every morning. • I love coffee and tea. • English and Arabic are very different.

10. Homework:

12. Homework (due Sept. 23)Social Issues • Choose a Social Issue that is interesting for you. • Social Issue: a problem that affects a group or all of society. • Print out the article to bring to class on Sept. 23 • General Social Issue Topics: • Economic issues • Illness and Public health • Abortion • Crime and violence • Hunger; obesity • Media; propaganda • Terrorism • Birth rate and life expectancy • Gender inequality • Xenophobia • Racism; sexism, antisemitism, etc. • Social classes • Wealth • Poverty

13. Summary: • Study notes on Present Simple and Present Continuous • Complete the homework from the notes (in the slides – write your answers on a piece of paper). DUE in class on Tuesday, Sept. 18 • Find a “social issue” article. Print it out and bring it to class on Sept. 23. • Don’t forget: • Writing Assignment: 200+ words “is morality universal or relative?” • Use persuasive writing to convince the reader or your viewpoint. • DUE Sunday Sept. 16