Presente continuous

Present continuous (I am working)

de English Grammar Today

Present continuous: form

We use am, are, is + the -ing form of the verb. We use the short form more often than the full form, especially when speaking.

Present continuous: -ing form spelling

For most verbs we add -ing to the base form to make the -ing form:

be → being	eat → eating	order → ordering
cry → crying	fix → fixing	play → playing
do → doing	go → going

For other verbs the spelling changes are (note the underlined syllables are stressed):

	verb	-ing form
When the verb ends in -e, we take off the -e and add -ing.	move	moving
	face	facing
	come	coming
When the verb ends in a vowel followed by a single consonant and if the last syllable is stressed, then the consonant is doubled.	commit	committing
	prefer	preferring
	rub	rubbing
	BUT: cover	covering
	remember	remembering
When the verb ends in a vowel + l, we double the consonant.	travel	travelling*
	control	controlling

Present continuous: uses

Events at the time of speaking

We use the present continuous to talk about events which are in progress at the moment of speaking:

A:

What time’s dinner?

B:

I’m cooking now so it’ll be ready in about half an hour.

She’s pressing the button but nothing is happening.

Temporary states

We use the present continuous to talk about temporary states which are true around the moment of speaking:

Her mother’s living with her at the moment. She’s just come out of hospital.

Who’s looking after the children while you’re here?

Repeated temporary events

We use the present continuous to describe actions which are repeated or regular, but which we believe to be temporary:

I’m not drinking much coffee these days. I’m trying to cut down.

She’s working a lot in London at the moment. (She doesn’t usually work in London.)

Have something done

In order to have more practice with the topic HAVE SOMETHING DONE, here you are a link which allows you to do it.

What someone does for us

We use have + object + -ed form when we talk about someone doing something for us which we ask or instruct them to do. It emphasises the process/action rather than who performs it:

We’re having the house painted next week. (We are not going to paint the house ourselves. Someone else will paint it. The emphasis is on the fact that the house is being painted rather than who is doing it.)

Warning:

This pattern is not the same as the present perfect or past perfect.

Compare

I had my hair cut.	Someone cut my hair.
I’ve cut my hair. I’d cut my hair.	I cut my own hair.

We can also use have + object + -ed form when something bad happens, especially when someone is affected by an action which they did not cause:

They’ve had their car stolen. (‘They’ are affected by the action of the car being stolen but they did not cause this to happen.)

Hundreds of people had their homes destroyed by the hurricane. (Hundreds of people were affected by the hurricane, which they did not cause.)

have something done / exercises

Vocabulary for your exam Reading Explorer 4

Withdraw  - retirar
collapse - colapsar, derrumbar
prejudice- prejuiciar
abolish - abolir
intriguing - misterioso
metorite - meteorito
prudent - prudente
foundation- fundación
unleash - desatar, liberar
crater - cráter
collide - colisionar, chocar
astronomer - astrónimo
coherent - coherente, lógico
diameter - diámetro
subterranean - subterráneo
spectacular - espectacular
dilemma - dilema
drawback  - revés, un contratiempo

Vocabulary for your exam Reading Explorer I

READING EXPORER 1

Bacteria,
cell,
weigh
harmful
nose(s)
health
sick
develop
staphylococcus aureus
it can cause health problems
the good kind
probiotic remedies
to keep healthy bacteria in the body
sneezing
germs
dripping
leaky
tiny
huge
unlike
balance
cure
deadly
warning
swallow

Grammar Review FIRST

Relative clauses: defining and non-defining

de English Grammar Today

 

Defining relative clauses

We use defining relative clauses to give essential information about someone or something – information that we need in order to understand what or who is being referred to. A defining relative clause usually comes immediately after the noun it describes.

We usually use a relative pronoun (e.g. who, that, which, whose and whom) to introduce a defining relative clause (In the examples, the relative clause is in bold, and the person or thing being referred to is underlined.):

They’re the people who want to buy our house.

Here are some cells which have been affected.

They should give the money to somebody who they think needs the treatment most.

[talking about an actress]

She’s now playing a woman whose son was killed in the First World War.

Spoken English:

In defining relative clauses we often use that instead of who, whom or which. This is very common in informal speaking:

They’re the people that want to buy our house.

Here are some cells that have been affected.

See also:

• Relative pronouns

Subject or object

The relative pronoun can define the subject or the object of the verb:

They’re the people who/that bought our house. (The people bought our house. The people is the subject.)

They’re the people who/that she met at Jon’s party. (She met the people. The people is the object.)

Here are some cells which/that show abnormality. (Some cells show abnormality. Some cells is the subject.)

Here are some cells which/that the researcher has identified. (The researcher has identified some cells. Some cells is the object.)

No relative pronoun

We often leave out the relative pronoun when it is the object of the verb:

They’re the people she met at Jon’s party.

Here are some cells the researcher has identified.

See also:

• No relative pronoun

Punctuation

Warning:

In writing, we don’t use commas in defining relative clauses:

This is a man who takes his responsibilities seriously.

Not: This is a man, who takes his responsibilities seriously.

Grammar Review PET

PET

according to what we checked today, here you are a list of verbs followed by infinitive or gerund

2018 NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYBODY!!!!!

Here we are, at the beginning of a new year expecting the best. Have you already thought about your New Year's resolutions?

Here you have a link with the Top 10 New Year's Resolutions, this article can give you some ideas about what yours should be.

Write down a list with at least 5 resolutions you have for this year and explain why you chose each one, you can use the article as reference.

I wish you can reach your goals.





http://pittsburgh.about.com/od/holidays/tp/resolutions.htm