Talking about actions happening now

– Hello, our dear friends! My name is Bobby.

– And my name is Tobby. This is our friend Mobby.

– Welcome to our lesson!

– Today we have a guest.

– It’s a dog.

– His name is Alvin.

– He’s our friend.

– Hi, Alvin! We are so happy to see you.

– Hi, boys! I’m happy to see you too!

– Alvin, what would you like to talk about today?

– Well… Boys, could you tell me about the Present Continuous Tense, please?

– Oh, sure! No problem, Alvin!

– Guys, thank you so much, in advance!

– You’re welcome!

– All right! Now let’s start our lesson!

So today in the lesson we will:

·      learn the definition of the term “tense”;

·      discuss when the Present Continuous Tense can be used;

·      learn how to form sentences in this tense;

And

·      put the knowledge into practice.

– First of all, let’s learn the definition of the term “tense”.

– Oh, okay, boys!

– Are you ready to listen, Alvin?

– Yes, of course!

– Great! Let’s start.

Tense is a method to express time through verbs.

Let’s see what I mean.

Look at the following timeline.

Now you see me here… on the screen. This is my Present.

I am 12 years old now.

If we go back, for example, to the point when I was only 9 months old, we will find ourselves in my Past.

Now look! It’s me many years later. This is my Future.

To talk about my life or someone else’s life in the past, present or future we need to use verbs.

Do you know why we need them?

We need verbs, because they are the words which mean action. We cannot form sentences without them.

Now let’s talk about the Present Continuous Tense.

And first let’s answer the question:

When do we need to use the Present Continuous Tense?

We need to use the Present Continuous Tense when we talk about the actions which are happening now.

For example:

Christopher is eating the vegetables now.

Or

Mike is washing his face at this moment.

Now let’s answer the second question:

What time markers can we use in the Present Continuous Tense?

Time markers – указатели времени.

And the answer is:

In the Present Continuous Tense we can use the time markers “now” and “at this moment”.

Now – сейчас.

At this moment – в данный момент.

For example:

Kyle is feeding his dog at this moment.

Or

Benjamin is playing the guitar now.

And the last question is:

How do we form sentences in the Present Continuous Tense?

To form positive sentences we need to put the subject in the first place.

The subject is translated as “подлежащее”. It can be expressed by a noun or a personal pronoun.

Noun – существительное.

Personal pronoun – личное местоимение.

For example:

I

He, she, it

We, you, they

Then we need to use one of the forms of the verb “to be”: am, is or are.

We use “am” only with the pronoun I.

We use “is” with the pronouns he, she, it.

And we use “are” with the pronouns we, you, they.

After that we need to use the main verb with the ending -ing.

Look at the examples:

I am reading a book.

She is singing a song.

They are dancing now.

To form negative sentences we need to put the subject in the first place.

For example:

I

He, she, it

We, you, they

Then we need to use am, is or are with the particle “not”, which can be translated as “не”. After that we need to use the main verb with the ending -ing.

Look at the examples:

I am not reading a book. (or I’m not reading a book.)

She is not singing a song. (or She isn’t singing a song.)

They are not dancing now. (or They aren’t dancing now.)

To form questions we need to put am, is or are in the first place. After that we need to use the subject.

For example:

I

He, she, it

We, you, they

Then we need to use the main verb with the ending -ing.

Look at the examples:

Am I reading a book?

Is she singing a song?

Are they dancing now?

To give short answers to the questions we can use one of the following two constructions:

The first construction.

In the first place we put the word “yes”. After that we use the personal pronoun.

And then we need to put the words “am”, “is” or “are”.

And the second construction.

In the first place we put the word “no”. After that we use the personal pronoun.

And then we need to put the words “am”, “is” or “are” with the particle “not”.

– Alvin, we’ve talked about the Present Continuous Tense.

– Yes, that’s right, boys!

– Now we would like to check your knowledge if you don’t mind.

– Oh, sure! No problem!

Your task is to look at the pictures and answer the question! Use the words from the box.

The pictures are…

And the question is:

What are the children doing?

And the names of the children are:

Mary

Jacob

Mark and Andy

Jessica

Jack and Liam

Check yourselves.

Mary is playing volleyball.

Jacob is walking his dog.

Mark and Andy are riding their bikes.

Jessica is washing the dishes.

Jack and Liam are cleaning the house.

– Well done, Alvin!

– Now you know everything about the Present Continuous Tense.

– Yes, it’s true! Thank you so much, boys!

– Oh, please, don’t mention it!

– Yeah! We were glad to help you.

– That’s all for today, our dear friends!

– We hope that the lesson was interesting and useful for you!

– See you soon.