Present Simple vs. Present Continuous: Spot the Difference!

Present Simple vs. Present Continuous: Spot the Difference!

Learning Objective

At the end of the lesson, you will be able to identify and correctly use Present Simple and Present Continuous tenses in sentences.

Introduce the learning objective to the students and explain why it is important to learn the difference between these two tenses.

What do you already know about the differences between Present Simple and Present Continuous?

Present Simple

Present Simple is used to talk about habits, routines, and facts. For example: 'I walk to school every day.'

Explain the definition and usage of Present Simple. Give examples and encourage students to share their own examples.

Present Continuous

Present Continuous is used to talk about actions that are happening right now or around the current time. For example: 'I am eating breakfast.'

Explain the definition and usage of Present Continuous. Give examples and encourage students to share their own examples.

Forming Present Simple

To form Present Simple, we use the base form of the verb. For example: 'I walk to school.'

Explain how to form Present Simple and give examples. Encourage students to practice forming sentences using Present Simple.

Forming Present Continuous

To form Present Continuous, we use the verb 'to be' and the present participle (-ing) form of the verb. For example: 'I am eating breakfast.'

Explain how to form Present Continuous and give examples. Encourage students to practice forming sentences using Present Continuous.

Keywords for Present Simple

Keywords for Present Simple include: always, usually, often, sometimes, rarely, never, every day/week/month/year, etc.

Explain the keywords that are commonly used with Present Simple and give examples. Encourage students to identify these keywords in sentences.

Keywords for Present Continuous

Keywords for Present Continuous include: right now, at the moment, currently, today, this week/month/year, etc.

Explain the keywords that are commonly used with Present Continuous and give examples. Encourage students to identify these keywords in sentences.

Present Simple vs. Present Continuous: Exercise 1

Choose the correct verb tense: 'I (am/is/are) going to the store.'

Provide an interactive exercise for students to practice choosing the correct tense. Provide feedback and explanations for the correct and incorrect answers.

Present Simple vs. Present Continuous: Exercise 2

Choose the correct verb tense: 'She (cook/cooks/cooking) dinner right now.'

Provide an interactive exercise for students to practice choosing the correct tense. Provide feedback and explanations for the correct and incorrect answers.

Present Simple vs. Present Continuous: Exercise 3

Choose the correct verb tense: 'We (watch/watches/watching) TV every night.'

Provide an interactive exercise for students to practice choosing the correct tense. Provide feedback and explanations for the correct and incorrect answers.

Present Simple vs. Present Continuous: Exercise 4

Choose the correct verb tense: 'They (are/is/am) playing soccer at the park.'

Provide an interactive exercise for students to practice choosing the correct tense. Provide feedback and explanations for the correct and incorrect answers.

Present Simple vs. Present Continuous: Exercise 5

Fill in the blank with the correct verb tense: 'She (read/reads/reading) a book every night.'

Provide an interactive exercise for students to practice using the correct tense. Provide feedback and explanations for the correct and incorrect answers.

Present Simple vs. Present Continuous: Exercise 6

Fill in the blank with the correct verb tense: 'We (not/goes/are not going) to the movies tonight.'

Provide an interactive exercise for students to practice using the correct tense. Provide feedback and explanations for the correct and incorrect answers.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Common mistakes to avoid include using Present Simple instead of Present Continuous when talking about actions happening now, and using Present Continuous instead of Present Simple when talking about habits or routines.

Explain the common mistakes that students make when using these tenses and provide examples. Encourage students to identify and correct these mistakes.

Present Simple vs. Present Continuous: Exercise 7

Rewrite the sentence using the correct verb tense: 'I am always forgetting my keys.'

Provide an interactive exercise for students to practice using the correct tense. Provide feedback and explanations for the correct and incorrect answers.

Present Simple vs. Present Continuous: Exercise 8

Rewrite the sentence using the correct verb tense: 'She usually wears a red dress to parties.'

Provide an interactive exercise for students to practice using the correct tense. Provide feedback and explanations for the correct and incorrect answers.

Real-life Application

Knowing the difference between Present Simple and Present Continuous can help you communicate more clearly in everyday conversations and improve your English language skills.

Explain how learning these tenses can be useful in real-life situations and encourage students to practice using them outside of the classroom.

Summary

Present Simple is used for habits, routines, and facts while Present Continuous is used for actions happening now or around the current time. Use the correct verb tense to avoid common mistakes.

Summarize the main points of the lesson and encourage students to ask any questions they may have.

Assessment

Assess the students' understanding of the lesson by providing a short quiz or asking them to write a few sentences using Present Simple and Present Continuous.

Provide an assessment to ensure that the students have met the learning objective.

Further Learning

Encourage students to continue practicing their grammar skills by reading, writing, and speaking in English. Provide resources and materials for further learning.

Give students suggestions for how they can continue to improve their grammar skills outside of the classroom.

Write down 3 things you learned in this lesson.

Have students enter three things they learned in this lesson. With this they can indicate their own learning efficiency of this lesson.

Write down 2 things you want to know more about.

Here, students enter two things they would like to know more about. This not only increases involvement, but also gives them more ownership.

Ask 1 question about something you haven't quite understood yet.

The students indicate here (in question form) with which part of the material they still have difficulty. For the teacher, this not only provides insight into the extent to which the students understand/master the material, but also a good starting point for the next lesson.