 Lesson 1. Mixed Present Tenses In today's lesson, we're going to focus on the simple present and present continuous, also called the present progressive, and a few more advanced details involved in the way these tenses are used. First, let's review the basic difference between the simple present and present continuous. The simple present is used for actions or states that are generally true, or for events that happen regularly. For example, I drive home from work every day. I usually listen to music in the car. The present continuous is used for actions that are happening now, in the moment of speaking. For example, if you're on your cell phone in the car, you could say, I'm driving home from work right now. I'm listening to a great new CD at the moment. Sometimes the present continuous is used to emphasize a situation that is temporary. For example, I work for a cosmetics company. This month I'm working on our new line of nail polish. The nail polish project is a temporary situation, and my working for a cosmetics company is more permanent. It's true in general. My brother lives in Chicago. At the moment, he's between apartment, so he's living with a friend. Living with a friend is a temporary situation, so we use the present continuous. Signal words that are typically used with the simple present include adverbs of frequency, such as never, sometimes, usually, generally, occasionally, seldom, rarely, hardly ever, and always. There is an exception with the word always, which you will learn in the special cases part of this lesson. And every day, every week, every month, every year, as well as once or twice a day, week, month, or year. These are all signal words that are typically used with the simple present. Signal words that are typically used with the present continuous include now, right now, at the moment, currently, today, this week, this month, and this year. Now put it into practice. Answer these questions with the present simple. What's one thing that you always do? What's one thing that you usually do? What's one thing that you sometimes do? What's one thing that you rarely do? What's one thing that you never do? There are two situations in which we tend not to use the present continuous. One is with verbs that describe states of existence, not actions. For example, this bike costs $150. Don't say, this bike is costing $150. He currently owns a boat. Don't say, he's currently owning a boat. We used to drink coffee, but now we prefer tea. Don't say, we used to drink coffee, but now we are preferring tea. You can see that even though we're using signal words that normally go with the present continuous, like currently and now, we use the simple present. Verbs that describe states of existence rather than actions are often called state verbs or state of verbs. They tend to include verbs of opinion, like no, believe, understand, recognize, prefer, agree and disagree, approve and disapprove, suppose and suspect. Verbs of possession, like have, own, belong, possess, include and owe. Verbs involving perception of the senses, like hear, smell, see, feel, appear, seem and resemble. Verbs of emotion, like love, hate, like, want, need, desire and wish. And verbs that describe intrinsic states or qualities, like way, contain, consist, measure, cost, exist, depend, deserve, involve and matter. For example sentences with these verbs, please see the lesson on state of and dynamic verbs. The link is in the lesson text. We also tend not to use the present continuous with verbs that perform the action they refer to. These are usually verbs that make some sort of statement. For example, I admit that I was wrong. No, absolutely not. I refuse to let you copy my work. We promise we'll do a good job. Other examples include acknowledge, advise, confess, congratulate, declare, deny, forbid, guarantee, order, permit, predict, remind, request and thank. These verbs are usually not used in the present continuous. However, in casual spoken English, some of these verbs are occasionally used in present continuous form. For example, okay, okay, you win, I'm admitting defeat. I'm begging you to forgive me. I'm warning you, this class is not for beginners. Now let's look at some verbs with different meanings and uses in the simple present and present continuous. Some verbs have two meanings, one of which can be used in the present continuous and the other of which cannot. One good example is the verb have. When have is used for possession, it cannot be continuous. But when used for eating meals, having lunch, or experiencing things, having fun, it can be continuous. For example, I didn't used to have any pets, but now I have a cat. Don't say, I'm having a cat, because have in this sentence refers to possession. But you can say, I'm having dinner right now, could I call you back later? We're having a great time on vacation. He's having trouble finishing the project. In these cases, have does not refer to possessing a physical object, so we can use it in the continuous form. Here are a few other verbs that follow this pattern. This blue stone looks like a sapphire. Looks refers to appearance, an intrinsic quality of the stone. She's looking at the pictures in the album. Looking is continuous because it refers to an action, directing her eyes at something. The boss feels that the staff doesn't respect him. Feels is used in the present simple because it refers to having an impression or opinion. I was sick for a couple days, but now I'm feeling better. When the verb feel is used for physical health, we can use it in the continuous form. These cookies taste very sugary. Taste is used in the present simple because it refers to the quality possessed by the cookies. Now the chef is tasting the sauce to see if it needs more seasoning. Tasting in this sentence refers not to a quality, but to an action, the action of eating the food to test its taste. Also, with some verbs that describe a mental state, we can use the present simple to imply that we are sure about something, and the present continuous to imply that we are still considering it. We are not yet sure. For example, if you say, I think that taking an intensive English course is the best way to learn, that means my opinion on this is formed. I am sure of my belief. But if you say, I'm thinking about taking a trip around the world, that means I'm still in the process of considering it. I am not sure if I will go or not. Saying, I realize that this is important to you, means I am sure that this is important to you. If you say, nowadays I'm realizing how much I still have left to learn, that means my realization of this fact is currently in progress. If you say, I regret dropping out of school before finishing my degree, that means I am sure that dropping out of school was bad. But if you say, it just started raining, now I'm regretting leaving my umbrella at home, that means the regret is forming in this moment. If you say, we consider this product to be the best value for the price, that means we have formed the opinion and we are sure. But we are considering buying a motorcycle, do you think we should? Means we are still in the process of deciding whether or not to buy it. However, the mental state verbs believe, conclude, know and prefer are never used in the present continuous. Finally, let's look at a couple of special situations regarding the simple present and present continuous. One is using the present and not the past in informal stories and jokes. When telling a story to friends, native speakers sometimes tell it using present tenses, not past tenses, as if the story were happening at that moment. For example, yesterday I'm walking to class, drinking some coffee and carrying a ton of books, when suddenly this dog runs up to me and starts jumping up and trying to lick my face. So I'm trying to fend off this dog and the owner is nowhere to be found. Then I lose my balance and fall over and my books and papers go flying everywhere. That's when a guy jogging in the park sees what's going on and comes to my rescue and he manages to scare off the overly friendly dog. Since these events happened yesterday, you could also say everything in the past. Yesterday I was walking to class, when suddenly this dog ran up to me and started jumping up. However, telling the story in the present is simply a way to make the story seem more alive and help the listeners experience the action. Similarly to the example above, when describing events in books or movies we often use present tenses. For example, in the beginning of the movie terrorists kidnap the president's daughter. The main character discovers something surprising about his family in Chapter 3. At the end of the film the father and son finally forgive each other. We can also use past tenses. It's possible to use either present or past tenses when recounting the stories in books or movies. In newspaper headlines publishers often use the present tense rather than the past tense to describe events that have happened in the recent past. This makes them seem more immediate as if the reader is in the middle of the action. These headlines for example, company opens new HQ in China. Deadly factory accident kills three, injures eight. Veteran tennis champion loses to 19 year old star. Cancer study reveals surprising results. Although all these events happened in the fairly recent past, in the headlines we describe them with the present tense. Now put it into practice. Think about three recent events that have happened in your city or country and write three newspaper headlines using the present simple tense. A final special case is using the present continuous when talking about an extremely frequent action. The beginning of this lesson said that we use the simple present for regular or frequent events, but that there is an exception involving the word always. When someone does an action so frequently that it is almost like a continuous characteristic of that person, we can use the present continuous with always, continually or constantly. This structure is often used when we are annoyed with the frequent action. For example, my sister's constantly asking me for money. It's such a pain. They're always changing their minds. They can't commit to anything. He has such a negative attitude. He's continually complaining about his job, his wife, his kids, his car, his neighborhood. Now put it into practice. Think about someone you know who has an annoying habit and make a sentence using the present continuous. Let's summarize what we've covered in today's lesson. Use the simple present for things that are generally true or happen regularly and use the present continuous for actions that are happening now or are temporary. Do not use the present continuous with state verbs like no, contain, or belong. And we generally don't use the present continuous with verbs that perform the action they refer to, like admit, confess, or refuse, although there are some exceptions. Some verbs can be both state verbs and action verbs, and if they are action verbs then we can use them in the present continuous. With some mental state verbs like think, realize, consider, and regret, we can use them in present simple for certainty and present continuous if we are not yet sure or if the thought is forming in that moment. The simple present is often used in stories and newspaper headlines for dramatic effect. And the present continuous is often used with extremely frequent actions, with always, continually, and constantly. You've finished lesson one. Now take the quiz and do the practice exercises to help reenact.