Present Tenses - B1

present simple; present continuous; state verbs; have got and have1

You are going to hear a tour guide talking to some tourists in a coach.

She is telling them about places they can see in a city.

Listen and tick the places which they see.

NOTE!

We use do to make questions and negatives for all verbs except to be.

to talk about repeated actions

i.e. for habits and things which happen regularly.

or permanent situations in the present:

i.e. for facts and general truths etc.

talk about actions happening now

or around the present time:

NOTE!

We can also use Present Simple and Present Continuous to talk about the future.

See lesson on Future Tenses - B1.

Only verbs of action can be used in the continuous form, e.g.

I'm working, she's singing, etc.

Some verbs such as believe, know, love are states, not actions.

State verbs can normally only be used in the simple form

I love, not I'm loving.

Some common State Verbs

Some verbs can be action or state verbs, with a change in meaning:

STATES

I think you need to relax more. (= I believe, in my opinion)

I see that you are very tired. (= my observation)

She is stupid. (= her general character)

ACTIONS

What are you thinking about? (think = `use your brain')

`Where is Anne?' `I'm seeing her right now.' (= `I'm meeting her')

She is being stupid. (= `she is behaving in this way right now')

We use have got or have in the present simple not the present continuous…

for things which we possess:

We’ve got a new entertainment centre. = We have a new entertainment centre.

Has everyone got a map? = Does everyone have a map?

We haven't got any money. = We don’t have any money.

for describing things and people:

It’s got a cinema and a concert hall.

It doesn’t have enough seats.

Has he got long dark hair?

for illnesses:

I ’ve got a sore throat.

Note:

We don’t normally use have got in the past and the future

We use have (not have got) in many common expressions (have a bath, have a holiday etc.) to talk about actions.

When it means do, eat, take, enjoy, etc. we can use simple or continuous tenses:

I hope you’re having a good time.

Why don’t you have a walk round there?

You can have lunch in one of the cafés.

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