explaining Present Indefinite & Present Continuous Tense in detail

1. Tenses

2. Present Indefinite
present continuous
PRESENTED BY:
Qurat ul ain
IMCG F-6/2
ISLAMABAD.

3. What are tenses?
The tense of a verb shows the time of an
action or happening , whether it is in the
present , past or future.

4. There are mainly three kinds of
tenses:
• Present tense
• Past tense
• Future tense
▫ Each of present, past and future tense is further
divided into four kinds.

6. Present Indefinite Tense:
The tense of a verb that expresses action or state
in the present time.

7. Basic sentence structure of present
Indefinite tense:
Subject + 1st form of verb + Object
RULES:
1) First form of verb is used always.
2) With the first and second persons(I,we) and
the third person plural(they) the verb is used
without ‘s’ or ‘es’.
3) With the third person singular (he,she) the
verb is used with ‘s’ or ‘es’.

8. 4) In negative sentences:
• ‘do not’ is used with first (I,we),
second(he,she) and third (they) person plural.
•
‘does not’ is used with the third person
singular(he,she,it).
5) In questions:
• ‘do’, ‘does’ , are used before subjects
• Verd is used without ‘s’ or ‘es’.
• Question words, ‘why’ , ‘how’ ,’where’ etc are
used before ‘do’ , ‘does’.

9. Uses of Present Indefinite Tense :
It is used to express an action in present time .
E.g.
1) I eat mango.
2) I am happy.

10. It is also used to show a constant practice or a
daily routine.
E.g.
1) I watch TV every day.
2) Ali goes to school daily.
3) Sana reads the newspaper after getting up.

11. It is also used to tell universal truths or or
for general facts, like this:
E.g :
1) The sun rises in the east.
2) Hardware is the physical system of a
Computer.
3) Plants die without water.
4) Birds fly in the sky.

12. We use the present simple for things which you
like or dislike.
E.g:
1) He likes short stories.
2) I like ice cream.
3) Raza dislike lizards.

13. We use the present simple for permanent
situations.
E.g:
• He lives in London.
We use the present simple for perceptions.
E.g:
• The food smells good.

14. We also use the present simple for schedules.
E.g:
1) The airplane leaves at 6:00 am tomorrow.
2) The school starts at 8:15 am.

15. We use the simple present tense to talk about what
happens in books, plays, or films.
E.g:
1)The hero dies at the end of the film.
2) A young woman travels through Europe, where
she meets different people, and finally falls in
love.
3) In this book, an army invades Britain.
4)The main character is very pretty and works in
a bookshop.

16. Strangely, we can use this tense to talk about the
future. When you are discussing a timetable or a
fixed plan, you can use this tense. Usually, the
timetable is fixed by an organization, not by us:
E.g:
1)School begins at nine tomorrow.
2)Our train leaves at eleven.
3)What time does the film start?
4)The plane doesn't arrive at seven, it arrives at
seven thirty.
5)When does the class finish?

17. It can also be used when quoting someone or
something, even if the words were spoken in the
past:
E.g:
1) The label says "External use only.“
2) Mary says she's ready.

18. More examples….
• Positive sentences:
1)She likes flower.
2)They do their work on time.
• Negative sentences:
1)We do not read these books.
2)He does not play football.
• Interrogative sentences:
1) In which class do you read?
2)Do I look healthy?

19. Choosing correct form of verb :
1) It ______ not look like a flower. (do)
2) My friend _____ his class these days.
(attended)
3) Laborers ______ very hard, but a person
sitting in office ______ not. (work, do)
4) He _______ up early in the morning. (get)
5) We _______ to skardu every year.(went)
6) Ali ________ fruit in the morning.(buy)
7) Truth never ______ (fail).
8) He _____not _____up early in the
morning.(d0,get)

20. 9) A good student always ______ (perform)
well in class.
10) She _______ (drink) coffee all the time.
11) He always________(take) a
shower at 7:30 and_____(leave) home at
8:30am.
12) Every morning I _______ (get up) at 7
o’clock.

21. “Some key words, that help you
recognize Present Indefinite Tense.”
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)
11)
12)
13)
Always
Usually
Every day
Often
Daily
Sometimes
Regularly
Seldom
Never
On Sundays e.t.c.
Rarely
Feel
Think

22. 15) Want
16) Need
17) Love
18) Like
19) Hate
20) All the time
21) Every morning
22) Normally

23. Present continuous tense:
It is used to express a continued or ongoing
action at present time. It expresses an action
which is in progress at the time of speaking.
Present Continuous tense is also called Present
progressive tense.

24. Basic sentence structure of present
continuous tense:
subject+1st form of verb with ‘ing’+object
Rules:
1) Subject + am/is/are + (1st form of verb or base
verb + ing) + object
2) If the subject is “I” then helping verb “am” is
used after subject in sentence.
3) If the subject is “He, She, It, singular or proper
name” then helping verb “is” is used after
subject in sentence.

25. 4) If subject is “You, They or plural” then helping
verb “are” is used after subject in sentence.
5) The participle “ing” is added to the 1st form of
verb i.e. going (go) writing (write).
6)In negative sentences , ’not’ is used between ‘is’ ,
‘are’ , ‘am’ and the main verb.
7) In questions, ‘is’ , ‘are’ , ‘am’ are placed before
the subject. Other question words like ‘when’ ,
‘what’ are used before ‘is’ , ‘are’ , ‘am’ .

26. Uses of present continuous tense:
It is used to show action that is continuing at the
present time.
E.g:
1) He is running.
2) Ahmed is sleeping right now.
3) We are studying English at the moment.

27. It is used to describe an action that is taking
place now, but not at the exact moment of speech.
E.g:
• He is working in Dubai.
We can also use this tense for temporary situations,
when we feel something won't continue for a long
time.
E.g:
1) She's staying with her friend for a week.
2) I'm living in London for a few months.
3) I'm reading a really great book.

28. We can use the present continuous for habits but
they have to be temporary or new habits (for
normal habits that continue for a long time, we
use the present simple).
E.g:
1)He's eating a lot these days.
2)She's swimming every morning (she didn't use
to do this).
3)You're smoking too much.
4)They're working late every night.

29. Another present continuous use is for annoying
habits, when we want to show that something
happens too often and we don't like it.
• In this case we usually use an adverb like
'always', 'forever' or 'constantly'.
E.g:
1)You're always losing your keys.
2)She's constantly missing the train.
3)He's always sleeping.
4)They're forever being late.

30. The next use is for definite future arrangements
(with a future time word). In this case we have
already made a plan and we are pretty sure that
the event will happen in the future.
E.g:
1)I'm meeting my father tomorrow.
2)We're going to the beach at the weekend.
3)I'm leaving at three.
4)They're coming to the party at the weekend.

31. We use this tense to talk about a situation which
is slowly changing.
E.g:
1) I'm getting better at playing the piano.
2) The weather is improving.

32. More examples :
• Positive Sentences :
1) I am listening to the news
2) You are washing your clothes
3) She is riding on horse
4) They are playing football.
5) It is raining

33. • Negative Sentence:
1) I am not listening to the news.
2) You are not washing your clothes.
3) She is not riding on a horse.
4) They are not playing football.
5)It is not raining.

34. • Interrogative Sentences:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
Am I listening to the news?
Are you washing your clothes?
Is she riding on a horse?
Are they playing football?
Is it raining?

35. “Some key words, that help you
recognize Present Continuous Tense.”
1) Now
2) Right now
3) This quarter
4) At the moment
5) This morning e.t.c.
6) This time
7) These days
8) Now a days
9) At this moment
10) Today

36. Choose the correct form of verb:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
He is _______in Dubai. (work)
She is _______ a banana. (ate)
She is _______ with her friend for a week. (stay)
Do you know that Ahmed is _________
tomorrow? (come)
What shirts are you ______ ? (select)
Are you ______ your clothes? (wash)
Is he ______ a car? (drive)
They are not ______ football. (play)
We normally _______ (hold) ous sales
conference in Spain, but this year we _______
(hold) it in Poland.

37. 10) Although we ________ (use) our own sales
representative at the moment, we generally
_________ (use) agents in Japan.
11) We don’t often ______ (raise) our prices
more than 5%, but this time we __________
(raise) them 10%.

38. Present Indefinite Vs. Present Continuous
Tense.
PRESENT INDEFINITE TENSE
PRESENT CONTINUOUS TENSE
1) First form of verb
1) First form of verb + ing.
2) Used to refer to an action or event
that takes place habitually.
2) used to refer to something taking
place at the present moment
3)Used to refer things which are
always true.
4) Used for Permanent situations (or
nearly permanent.
E.g: Julie lives in London.
3) Used for temporary situations
E.g: Julie is living in Paris for a few
months (usually she lives in London).
5) Used for future events which are
4) Used for Definite future plans.
part of a timetable
E.g: I'm meeting John after class
E.g: My plane leaves at eight tonight. today.

39. 6) Used to talk about what happens in
books, plays and films.
E.g: At the end of the book, the
detective catches the killer.
6) Used to talk about people in
pictures and photos.
E.g: In this photo, my mother is
walking beside a lake.

40. THE END 