Simple Present Vs.

Present Progressive
Grammar Practice Worksheets

Grammar Notes
SIMPLE PRESENT VS. PRESENT PROGRESSIVE

A. Comparison Chart

There are two ways to show present time in English.

Use the simple present for repeated actions (actions that happen over
and over). Use the present progressive (also called present continuous)
for continuing actions (actions that are happening now).

Simple Present Present Progressive

base verb (+ -s)

Be + -ing verb
Pattern (ends in -s for he, she, it, singular
(forms of Be: am, are, is)
count nouns, and non-count nouns)

Use repeated action continuing action

Diagram

• every
(every day, every week,
every month, every year, etc.) • now • at the moment
• once, twice, three times, etc. • right now • at this time
Time Markers (once a week, twice a month, • these days • currently
five times a year, etc.) • nowadays • presently
• today
• adverbs of frequency
(always, almost always, often,
usually, sometimes, never, etc.)

• My son always brushes his teeth. • The students are reading now.
• They walk their dog every day. • At the moment, the boss is talking.
Examples
• I don’t call my parents very often. • He isn’t doing his homework.
• Do you usually study after school? • Are you listening to me?

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 Simple Present Vs. Present Progressive
Grammar Practice Worksheets

Grammar Notes cont.

B. Non-Action Verbs

Most English verbs involve an action (movement), but there are some
verbs that have no movement. They are called non-action (or stative)
verbs. Non-action verbs almost never take an -ing form.

Common non-action verbs can be grouped into five categories.

Categories Examples

state be, seem, appear, exist

possession have, own, possess

feelings & needs like, love, hate, feel, want, need, prefer, wish

thought think, believe, know, imagine, understand

the senses see, hear, taste, smell

Use the simple present with non-action verbs.

Do not use the present progressive.

check I am a student. check My sister wants a new car.

times I am being a student. times My sister is wanting a new car.

check He has a dog. check I think that winter is the best season.
times He is having a dog. times I am thinking that winter is the best season.

check The children like pizza. check I see a stain on my shirt.

times The children are liking pizza. times I am seeing a stain on my shirt.

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 Simple Past
Grammar Practice Worksheets

Grammar Notes
SIMPLE PAST

A. Use

We use the simple past to talk about

finished actions that happened in the past.

past present future

B. Time Markers

Words that show the time of an action are called "time markers."
Common time markers for the simple past are yesterday, last, ago, and when.

Time Marker Examples

• I walked my dog yesterday.

yesterday
• He called me yesterday morning.

• They went to the movies last night.

last
• Our company hired 20 new employees last year.

• She got a new job two months ago.

ago
• Six weeks ago, we moved to New York.

• My brother learned to ride a bike when he was four years old.

when
• When I graduated from university, I applied for many jobs.

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 Simple Past
Grammar Practice Worksheets

Grammar Notes cont.

C. Form

A common way to form the simple past is to add -ed to the end of a verb.
These verbs are called “regular verbs.”

Other verbs have many kinds of changes.

They are called “irregular verbs.”

The Be verb is a special kind of irregular verb.

It has two forms (was and were). It also has different sentence patterns.

Let’s look at regular verbs, irregular verbs, and the Be verb in more detail.

D. Regular Verbs

To form the past tense of regular verbs, add -ed to the base verb.

Type of Sentence Pattern Examples

• I talked to my friends for hours yesterday.

• They worked until 7:00 pm last night.

Positive base verb + -ed
• She tried to help me two weeks ago.

• My coworkers completed the project.

• He did not study French at school.

Negative did not / didn't + base verb
• My classmates didn't like my speech.

• Did you call me last night?

Question did + subject + base verb
• Did she go on a trip last year?

• When did you leave?

Wh- Question Wh- word + did + subject + base verb
• How did they know about the test?

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 Simple Past
Grammar Practice Worksheets

Grammar Notes cont.

D. Regular Verbs cont.

How do we spell regular past verbs? Follow these simple rules:

# Rule Examples

• like  liked
1 If a verb ends in -e, add -d. • arrive  arrived
• decide  decided

• carry  carried
2 If a verb ends in consonant + -y, change -y to -i and add -ed. • try  tried
• study  studied

• play  played
3 If a verb ends in vowel + -y, add -ed.* • stay  stayed
• enjoy  enjoyed

• hug  hugged
If a verb ends in a consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) pattern,
4 • plan  planned
double the final consonant and add -ed.**
• stop  stopped

• watch  watched
5 For all other verbs, add -ed. • ask  asked
• clean  cleaned

*Note: **Note:
There are some exceptions to this rule: For verbs with more than one syllable, this rule is only
true if the stress is on the last syllable. Notice the
• pay  paid difference below:
• lay  laid
• prefer  preferred
• visit  visited

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 Simple Past
Grammar Practice Worksheets

Grammar Notes cont.

E. Irregular Verbs

To form the past tense of an irregular verb, we must

make a change (in the middle or ending) to the verb.

Type of Sentence Pattern Examples

• She wrote me a long email this morning.

• I ate an entire pizza on the weekend.

Positive various changes* • The staff members met with the boss.

• They rode their bikes to

school when they were young.

• He did not read the newspaper yesterday.

Negative did not / didn't + base verb • My neighbors didn't pay
their rent last month.

• Did you tell her about your accident?

Question did + subject + base verb •  id they go shopping
D
yesterday afternoon?

• When did you catch a cold?

Wh- Question Wh- word + did + subject + base verb
• Why did you sing that song?

*Note:
For a complete list of irregular verbs,
see page 23 in this lesson.

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 Simple Past
Grammar Practice Worksheets

Grammar Notes cont.

F. Be Verb

To form the past tense of the Be verb, use the words was or were.

Type of Sentence Pattern Examples

I / he / she / it / singular count noun / • I was happy when I was in Hawaii.

non-count noun + was • The teacher was in the classroom.
Positive
you / we / they / • We were sick last month.
plural count noun + were • The children were at the park.

was not / wasn't • He was not at home last night.

Negative
were not / weren't • We weren't at work yesterday.

• Were you in trouble?

Question was / were + subject
• Was your sister at school yesterday?

• Who was that?

Wh- Question Wh- word + was / were + subject
• Where were you?

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 Simple Past
Grammar Practice Worksheets

Irregular Verb List

Base Form Past Form Base Form Past Form Base Form Past Form

be was, were get got read read

become became give gave ring rang

begin began go went run ran

break broke grow grew say said

bring brought have had see saw

buy bought hear heard sell sold

catch caught hide hid send sent

choose chose hit hit shut shut

come came hold held sing sang

cost cost keep kept sleep slept

cut cut know knew speak spoke

do did lay laid spend spent

draw drew lead led stand stood

drink drank leave left take took

drive drove let let teach taught

eat ate lie lay tell told

fall fell lose lost throw threw

feel felt make made understand understood

find found meet met wake woke

forget forgot pay paid wear wore

freeze froze put put write wrote

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