A. Difference and Similarity of Simple Present Tense and Present Continuous
Tense
1.
Difference of the the Simple Present Tense and the
Present Continuous Tense
What is difference between the present tense and the present
continuous tense? The difference between the present tense and the
present continuous tense is we use the simple
present tense when we want to talk about fixed habits or routines – things
that don’t change and we use the present continuous tense to talk about actions which are happening at the
present moment, but will soon finish.
Compare these two statements:
*
I play tennis (Simple Present)
*
I am playing tennis (Present Continuous)
Explain:
¨
(Simple present) I play tennis, tells us
that playing tennis is something the speaker always does. It is part of a
routine or habit. We can call this a permanent situation.
¨
(Present continuous) I am playing
tennis, tells us that the speaker is playing tennis right now. Soon the
game will be over. We call this a temporary situation.
v
We use the Present Continuous tense to speak about things
which are happening now or things which are temporary.
v
The Present Simple tense describes usual,
repeated and permanent things - for example, always, usually, often, sometimes,
never
v
We can also use the present simple and present
continuous like this in commentaries and in giving instructions
·
King serves to the left hand court and Adams makes a wonderful return. She’s playing
magnificent tennis in this match
·
You hold the can in one hand. Right, you’re holding
it in one hand, now you take off the lid with the other.
Simple Present Tense
vs Present Continuous Tense
Simple
present tense
|
Present
continuous tense
|
|
Usages
|
1.
Describes
usual, repeated and permanent things
2. To
talk about fixed habitual action
3.
To talk about theory
4.
To talk about fact now
|
1. To talk about actions which are happening at the
present moment. The action is not finished
|
Modifier of time
|
Now, everyday, every week, every month, every year, once a
week, once in two weeks, twice a week, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, etc
|
Now,
at the moment
|
Adverbs of
frequency
|
Always, usually, often, sometimes, seldom, etc.
|
-
|
Examples
|
1. He jogs every day.
2. The full moon comes once in 30 days.
3. We all need oxygen to live.
4. She is a nice person.
5. She looks beautiful in her newly bought dress
6. I work as an accountant
7. John
doesn't know German.
8. How
often do you play tennis?
9. They
often play football together
10. The
sunrise in the east and sets in the west
|
1. He is jogging now.
2. The full moon is slowly rising in the east at
the moment.
3. He is taking a deep breath.
4. She is being nice to me.
5. She is looking for her newly bought dress.
6. I am not working now. I am on
holiday.
7. Sally is
listening to a new CD.
8. Who are
you phoning?
9. I am
writing a letter now
10. It is
raining now
|
2.
Similarity of the Simple Present tense and the Present
Continuous Tense
What is similarity between the simple
present tense and the Present Continuous tense? Both the Present Continuous and Present Simple are also
used to show future action.
·
We arrive at the airport at midnight
We are arriving at the airport at midnight
·
She carry a bag full of shoping
She’s are carrying a bag full of shoping
·
What’s the matter with Bill? He looks
awful
What’s the matter with Bill? He is looking awful
·
How do you feel now?
How do you feeling now?
·
The children love having Jean stay with
us
The children are loving having Jean stay with us
B.
Difference and Similarity of the Simple Past Tense and the Past
Continuous Tense
1.
Difference of the Simple Past Tense and the Present
Continuous Tense
What is difference between
the present tense and the present continuous tense? We use the Simple Past
tense to show an action that happened at a definite time in the past and we
use the Past Continuous tense the Past Continuous tense to show a
habitual action in the past.
When we use the past continuous tense, we use
it as these sentences:
·
The teacher was giving us a lesson.
·
A year, ago I was working in London.
·
While he was working, we were sleeping
·
While they were playing badminton, I was studying in my room
·
While we were reading in the room, we heard a knock at the
door
·
He was always working in the garden when we went to look for
him
·
What were you doing while I was cooking in the kitchen?
·
She was crying with pain as he was bandaging her arm
·
We were always looking for shells on the beach
·
A thief entered the house while they were sleeping
And we use the simple past
tense as these sentences:
·
The thief picked his pocket.
·
I passed the river yesterday.
·
They made these chairs all by themselves
·
We always visited her whenever we had the time
·
When I was younger, I often went finishing in
that river
·
If you asked him nicely, he would tell you the answer
·
When I reached the station, the train had left
·
When I was young, I went swimming every day
·
She woke up early and prepared breakfast for
them
·
They always brought us sweets when they visited
us
We can also use the simple past tense with the past continuous tense as these
sentences :
1. The teacher was giving us a
lesson when
a little dog walked into the room.
2. While we were having supper, all the lights went out.
3. All the lights went out
while we were having supper.
4. Harry did his homework while the other boys
were playing football
2.
Similarity of the Simple past tense and the Past
Continuous Tense
What is the similarity between the simple
past tense and the past continuous tense? The simple past tense and the past
continuous tense to talk about a particular time in the past.
·
Mario worked in a restaurant while he lived
in London
Mario
worked in a restaurant while he was living in London
·
I worked in a car factory during the
summer of 1976
I
was working in a car factory during the summer of 1976
·
When Carlo was in hospital, we were visiting
him twice a day
When
Carlo was in hospital, we visited him twice a day
·
To get fit for the race, I was going to
the sports centre every day
To
get fit for the race, I went to the sports centre every day
·
I saw her when she was passing my house
I
saw her when she passed my house
C.
Difference and Similarity of the Present Perfect Tense and the Present
Perfect Continuous Tense
1.
Difference of the Present Perfect Tense and the Present
Perfect Continuous Tense
What is difference between the present perfect tense and the present
perfect continuous tense? the difference is that the present perfect continuous
focuses on the activity or event which may or may not be finished. The present
perfect, however, focuses on the effect of the activity or event, or the fact
that something has been achieved.
We use the Present
Perfect tense mainly to express that an action is completed or
to emphasis the result.
·
Mark and Helena have arrived, they are in the
sitting room
·
I have learnt a lot about painting from Paul
·
We have driven all the way here without a break
·
I have always admired Chester’s work
·
They are the most delicious oranges I’ve ever
eaten
·
Prices have decreased by 7%
·
The population has grown from 35 million in 1950
to 42 million today
·
Have you seen Ann recently?
·
I’ve bumped into Susan 3 times this week
·
He has played for the national team in 65
matches so far
We use the Present
Perfect Continuous to emphasis the duration or continuous
course of an action.
·
The guest have been arriving since about 6 o’clock
·
Since the operation two months ago, Joe has been
learning to walk again. He can already take two or three steps unaided
·
She’s been driving for 3 years now
·
I’ve been following their discussion with great
interest
·
The pollution problem has been getting worse
over the last decade
·
Sales have been increasing for some time
·
I have been hearing all sorts of srories about
him
·
The patient who was said to have lost her memory
has been remembering her past bit by bit
·
She has been working too hard, she should take a
rest
·
He has not been attending the meetings lately
|
To state an action that was not continuous
or was interpreted
|
·
to
state an action that is continuations
|
|
to state the amount of times an
action took place
|
to state the length of time or to state
"how long" the action took place.
|
|
-
|
to emphasize the period of time
the
action took place
|
In contrast with
the present perfect tense, which emphasis the result of a completed action, the present perfect continuous tense focuses on the duration or the activity itself.
·
I have written two letters today. (result)
·
I've been writing this letter all week. (duration or activity)
Another difference between these two tenses is that the
present perfect simple might refer to a habitual action over an incomplete period of time. While the present perfect
continuous can be used for habitual, repeated actions over an incomplete period
time:
She has been getting up at 6
for the last two weeks
Note that if the
present perfect simple is used for an action which started in the past and is
still in progress in the present, a time expression is needed, while the present perfect continuous can be
used with or without such an expression.
·
I've
waited for you for an hour.
·
I've
been waiting for you for an hour.
·
I've
been waiting for you.
1.
Similarity of the Present Perfect tense and the
Present Perfect Continuous tense
What is similarity between the
present perfect tense and present perfect continuous tense?
·
We use both the present perfect continuous and
the present perfect to talk about something that started in the past and which
affects the situation that exist now.
·
Both tenses are used to express that an action
began in the past and is still going on or has just finished. In many cases,
both forms are correct, but there is often a difference in meaning.
-
Joseph has been kicking a football
against the wall all afternoon, or
Joseph has kicked
a football against the wall all afternoon
-
The press has been calling for her
resignation for several weeks, or
The press has called
for her resignation for several weeks
-
“Where’s Dr Owen office?” “Sorry I don’t know. I’ve
only worked here for a couple of days.”, or
“Where’s Dr. Owen office?” “Sorry I don’t
know. I’ve only been worked here for a couple of days.”,
-
I’ve followed their discussions with
great interest, or
I’ve been following their
discussions with great interest
B.
Difference and Similarity of the Simple Future tense and the Future
Continuous tense
1.
Difference of the Simple Future tense and the
Future Continuous tense
What is the difference between the Simple
Future tense and the Future Continuous tense? We use the Simple future tense
to express future action that has not been planned and we used the Future
Continuous to show a future action that is not planned or intended, such as
a normal event.
The
Simple Future tense is always used for future events that are influenced by
external, not personal forces.
§
Tomorrow will be Monday
§
I shall be seventeen next birthday
§
Jill has been away a long time. When she
returns, she’ll find a lot of changes
§
That place is very hot. If you touch it, you’ll
burn yourself
§
The flight for Paris will take off in an hour’s time
§
They will be taught by a new teacher next week
§
I shall be left alone if they all go off
§
If we go on like this, we will to lose all our
money
§
If you move to your left, you’ll be able to see
the church
§
When I retire, I shall have more time for my
painting
The Future continuous shows an action that
will be going on up to or at a certain time in the future. Time expressions are
usually given.
§
I shall be doing my homework all evening
§
Don’t come at seven o’clock. I shall be sleeping then
§
Don’t phone me between 7 and 8. We’ll be having
dinner then
§
Next Friday, the president will be celebrating
ten years in power
§
The plane will be traveling at twice the speed
of sound when it passes overhead
§
After then operation you won’t be doing any
sport for a while
§
I will be saying more about that topic in my
next lecture
§
He will be taking up his place at university in
July
§
She will be performing every day until the end
of the month
§
We will be leaving for Istanbul at 7.00 in the evening
2.
Similarity of the Simple Future tense and the
Future Continuous tense
What is
similarity between the Simple future tense and future continuous tense? Very
often we use the Simple Future when the future Continuous should be used.
Remember that the simple future expresses a deliberate future action.
Compare these
examples:
|
Simple future
|
Future continuous
|
|
·
He will not mow the lawn
·
I will walk home
|
·
He will not be mowing the lawn
·
I will be wlking home
|
REFERENCY
1. Alter,J.B,M.A.1993.Essential English Usage and Grammar 1.Singapore:Preston
Corporation
2. Alter,J.B,M.A.1993.Essential English Usage and Grammar 2.Singapore:Preston
Corporation
3. Alter,J.B,M.A.1993.Essential English Usage and Grammar 3.Singapore:Preston
Corporation
4. Alter,J.B,M.A.1993.Essential English Usage and Grammar 5.Singapore:Preston
Corporation
5. Mas’ud,Fuad.2002.Essentials
of English Grammar.Yogyakarta:BPFE-Yogyakarta
6. Hewings,Martin.2001.Advanced
Grammar in Use.Jakarta:Erlangga
7. Azar,Betty
Schrampfer.1999.Understanding and Using English Grammar.United State Amerika:Pearson Education
8. Murphy,Raymond.2001.
English Grammar in Use.England:Cambridge University
Press
12.
http://www.englishforums.com/English/WhatDifferenceBetweenPastContinuous-TenseSimple/dvwcj/post.htm
16.
futurehttp://www.usingenglish.com/forum/teaching-english/37229-predictions-future-simple-v-continuous.html
