Lesson 3: Present & Past Tenses: Simple vs Continuous

Introduction

What are you doing now? What do you usually do at 8 PM?


Examples:

  1. She plays tennis. (habit) | She is playing tennis now. (current)

  2. He reads books. (general) | He is reading a book. (now)

  3. They live in Paris. (fact) | They are living in London this month. (temporary)


Instruction

Present Simple vs Continuous:

Present Simple is a verb tense for habits, routines, facts, and general truths that are always or often true.

Present Continuous is a verb tense for actions happening right now, temporary situations, or around the present time.

Tense

Usage

Examples

Present Simple

Habits/routines, facts, general truths, schedules

I play tennis every day.
She lives in Paris.
The bus leaves at 8 PM.

Present Continuous

Actions right now, temporary situations, changing trends

I am playing tennis now.
She is living in London this month.
Prices are rising fast.

Present Tense Formation Rules

Tense

Subject Group

Verb Form

Positive Example

Question Example

Negative Example

Present Simple

I, you, we, they

Base verb

I play tennis.
They play tennis.

Do I play?
Do they play?

I do not play.
They do not play.

Present Simple

he, she, it

Base + -s/-es

She plays tennis.
It works well.

Does she play?
Does it work?

She does not play.
It does not work.

Present Continuous

I

am + -ing

I am playing tennis.

Am I playing?

I am not playing.

Present Continuous

he, she, it

is + -ing

She is playing tennis.

Is she playing?

She is not playing.

Present Continuous

you, we, they

are + -ing

They are playing tennis.

Are they playing?

They are not playing.


Activity:

Use Simple for habits/facts. Use Continuous for now. Check Subject Group + Verb Form from the table.

  1. She usually ___ (walk) to school, but right now she ___ (ride) her bike.

  2. What ___ you ___ (do) at 8 PM every day? I ___ (watch) TV.

  3. Look! The baby ___ (sleep). He always ___ (sleep) after lunch.


Past Simple vs Continuous:

Past Simple is a verb tense for actions or situations that started and finished in the past, often with time words like "yesterday" or "last week."

Past Continuous is a verb tense for actions that were ongoing or in progress at a specific past moment, often interrupted or with duration.

Tense

Usage

Examples

Past Simple

Finished actions, complete events, past habits

I played tennis yesterday.
She ate lunch.
We lived there last year.

Past Continuous

Ongoing actions in progress, interrupted actions, parallel past actions

I was playing tennis all day.
She was eating when I called.
They were studying while we were sleeping.


Past Tense Formation Rules

Tense

Subject Group

Verb Form

Positive Example

Question Example

Negative Example

Past Simple

I, you, he, she, it, we, they

Base + -ed (regular)
2nd form (irregular)

I played tennis.
She ate lunch.

Did I play?
Did she eat?

I did not play.
She did not eat.

Past Continuous

I

was + -ing

I was playing tennis.

Was I playing?

I was not playing.

Past Continuous

he, she, it

was + -ing

She was playing tennis.

Was she playing?

She was not playing.

Past Continuous

you, we, they

were + -ing

They were playing tennis.

Were they playing?

They were not playing.


Activity:

Use Past Simple for finished/short actions. Use Past Continuous for ongoing/interrupted. Check Subject Group + Verb Form from your table.

  1. Yesterday, I ___ (read) a book when my friend ___ (call) me.

  2. While she ___ (cook) dinner, the kids ___ (play) outside.

  3. What ___ you ___ (do) at 8 PM last night? We ___ (watch) TV.


Practice

Describe your typical day and what you did yesterday. Write 5 sentences with each tense. Underline the tense you used.

Example:
Every day, I wake up at 7 AM and eat breakfast (Present Simple - habit). Right now, I am writing this (Present Continuous - now). Yesterday, I was eating lunch when my phone rang (Past Continuous + Past Simple).