Lesson 1 - Grammar - MY FAMILY - Page1
GRAMMAR: Present Simple vs. Present Continuous
Imagine the following situation and read Dialogue 1.
DIALOGUE 1
Anna: Good morning, Mrs. Johnson. I’m doing research about people’s lifestyles in our area. Could you answer a few questions? It will only take a couple of minutes.
Mrs. Johnson: OK, Anna. I hope they are not too personal.
Anna: Of course not! So what time do you usually leave for work, Mrs. Johnson?
Mrs. Johnson: Well, I usually leave around 7, but today I’m a bit late.
Anna: What about your husband? Does he leave earlier or later?
Mrs. Johnson: He always takes the kids to school, so they never leave earlier.
Anna: How often do you go shopping?
Mrs. Johnson: We always go shopping on Thursday, but my husband sometimes buys some groceries or drinks on his way home.
Anna: Does your daughter play with the kids in the neighbourhood?
Mrs. Johnson: Yes, she does, almost every day. But my son doesn’t. He’s much younger than other boys here.
Look at the questions Anna is asking in Dialogue 1. They are in the present simple because they are about:
-
people’s habits.
-
what people are doing now.
Look at the answers in Dialogue 1:
- He always takes the kids to school.
- They leave earlier.
- We go shopping on Thursday.
In the present simple we sometimes add –s to the verb.
To make questions in the present simple we use do or does.
To make negative sentences we use don’t/do not or doesn’t/does not.
