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Is it clear to you when to 
use 'I do' and when to use  

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'I'm doing' when you talk about present events?

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Are you aware that these two 
tenses, 'I do' and 'I'm' doing,

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can also be used to speak about 
future events and even past events.

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Hello and welcome everyone, 
this is Minoo at Anglo-Link. 

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In today's lesson, we're 
going to look at all the uses  

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of the Present Simple and 
Present Continuous tenses.

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A pdf of this lesson is available for 
you to download in the description box.

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Now, let's start by looking at 
how we use 'I do' and 'I'm doing' 

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when we're talking about present events.

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We use Present Simple. That is: I do, 
he does, etc. for facts and habits.

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For example:

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I work in a software firm. That's a fact.

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Or:

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We don't live in a big town. That's also a fact.

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A habit can be: He plays golf every Saturday.

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Or: She doesn't often take the train.

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So, what about Present Continuous.
That is: I am doing, he is doing, etc.

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We use the Present Continuous 
tense for actions in progress.

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For example: I'm currently working from home.

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Or: He is playing golf now.

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Now, make sure that you don't use the 
Present Continuous tense with state verbs.

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You can only use Continuous 
tenses with action verbs.

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For example think about the verb 'think'.

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'Think' has two meanings. One is to reflect:

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What are you thinking about?

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You can say that in the Present Continuous tense:
What are you thinking about at the moment?

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But, 'think' also means to have an opinion.

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So, you cannot use that in the Continuous form.

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You can't say: What are you thinking of this idea?

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You have to use it only in the Simple form:

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What do you think of this idea?

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Right! Let's look at how we use 
these two tenses for future events  

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starting with the Present Continuous tense.

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We use the Present Continuous tense to 
talk about arrangements in the future.

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For example: He is playing in a 
golf tournament next Saturday.

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Or: She is taking the train to London tomorrow.

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So, when do we use the Present Simple?

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We use the Present Simple to 
speak about scheduled events.

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For example: The tournament 
starts at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday.

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Or: The train leaves at 2 p.m. tomorrow.

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Okay! Let's put these two 
usages together in a dialogue.

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So, for the present and the future.

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So, the dialogue can go like this:

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Do you have a second now?

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No, sorry! I'm packing my bags.

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Can I see you this evening then?

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No, I'm catching the train 
to St Andrews this evening.

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Oh! Are you taking part in the golf tournament?

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Of course! I take part every year.

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Good luck! What time does the train leave?

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It leaves at 6.

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Right! That's it for using these two 
tenses for present and future events.

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Now, strangely, sometimes you will 
hear them used for past events.

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This is usually when we want to 
tell a story, a compelling story.

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And the Present tense here 
is called the 'Narrative  

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Present' sometimes also 
called the 'Historic Present'.

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We use the Present tense for a past event 
to bring the story, this past story, to life.

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You may have noticed this in jokes.

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For example sometimes you hear: A man 
goes into a bar and asks for a cold beer.

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Instead of: A man went into a 
bar and asked for a cold beer.

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Now, make sure you don't use the 
Narrative Present for ordinary everyday events.

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This is only appropriate when you want to 

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speak about an extraordinary 
event or a very interesting event.

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You can set the scene in the past. 

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You can start your first 
sentence in the Past tense,

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and then switch to the Present 
tense and then stay in the present.

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Right, let's look at an example.

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For example here is a story in the past,  

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and usually we use Past Simple and 
Past Continuous to tell such stories.

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Let me read it out for you:

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The other day, I went for a walk in the park.

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I was walking along the lake when 
I heard a loud splash behind me.

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I turned around and saw this man in the lake.

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He had all his clothes on and he was 
swimming towards the middle of the lake.

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So, I shouted, 'are you o.k.?'

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He didn't answer,
but then I noticed something else in the lake.

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A dog, and it seemed to be in trouble...

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Now we can make this story a lot more interesting. 

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We can bring it to life by changing all 
the Past tenses into Present tenses.

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As you can imagine, Past Simple 
changes to Present Simple, 

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and Past Continuous changes to Present Continuous.

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So, now let me read it to you 
again. This time in the Present.

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So, we start again in the Past. 

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The first sentence and then we 
switch to the Present tenses.

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The other day, I went for a walk in the park.

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So, I'm walking along the lake when 
I hear a loud splash behind me.

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I turn around and see this man in the lake.

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He has all his clothes on and he's 
swimming towards the middle of the lake.

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So, I shout, 'are you o.k.?'

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He doesn't answer, but then I 
notice something else in the lake.

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A dog, and it seems to be in trouble.

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So, in summary:

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The Present Simple and Present 
Continuous tenses are used 

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90% of the time to speak about present events.

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But make sure that you distinguish 
between facts and habits (Present Simple), 

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and actions in progress (Present Continuous).

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You can check the lesson above for more examples 

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and common mistakes to do 
with this very common usage.

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9% of the time we use these 
two tenses for future events.

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Present Continuous for arrangements in the future.

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And Present Simple for scheduled events.

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And only 1% of the time do we use the Present 
tenses to speak about a past event,

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in order to bring a past story to life.

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Of course, you need to be aware of this usage,
but you don't need to necessarily use it yourself.

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If you're telling a story in 
the past, it's perfectly fine  

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to use Past Simple and Past Continuous tenses.

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Well, that's the end of this lesson.

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You will find all my lessons on 
English tenses in this playlist.

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Please remember to check out my 
complete online course at:

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Anglo-Link.com.

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And of course, please subscribe 
and allow notifications 

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to know when my next lesson is available.

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Thanks a lot for watching, and 
I'll see you soon in my next lesson.

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Goodbye for now.