PRESENT SIMPLE AND PRESENT PROGRESSIVE OR CONTINUOUS

a) According to Murphy (2019), we mostly use the present simple:

• To talk about things in general.
• To say that something happens all the time or repeatedly.
• To say that something is true in general.

Here are some examples:

• Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius.
• The earth goes around the sun.
• Rice doesn`t grow in cold climates.
• Nurses look after patients in hospitals.
• In Mexico of the shops close at 8:00 pm.
• Brenda works in her sister´s coffee shop.
• Excuse me, do you speak Portuguese?
• It doesn’t rain very much in the summer.
• What do you usually do at weekends?
• I always get hungry at noon.

b) We also use “DO” as a main verb in simple present. For example:

A: What do you do?

B: I work in a school.

A: What does he do?

B: He´s a lawyer.

c) The Simple Present  is also used to say how often we do things.

• I getup at 7 o`clock every morning.
• My father does not  drink coffee very often. He prefers tea.
• My cousin John and his wife  usually go away two or three times a year.
• How often do you take your children to the dentist?

d) On the other hand, we also use the forms do/does in present simple to make  interrogative and negative sentences:

Do I /we /you /they / STUDY?

Does he/she / it WORK?

I/we/you/they do not   study.

He/she/it does not  work.

More concrete examples in interrogative and negative sentences:

A: Excuse me, do you speak Italian?

B: Yes, I do, but I don´t speak it fluently.

A:  Do you smoke?  Would you like a cigarette? 

B: No, thanks. I do not smoke.

A: Where do you come from, Stella?

B: I come from Chile but I do not live there. I live in Mexico.

e) We use the Simple Present to make a suggestion, you can say “Why don't  you....?  For example:

A:I am not feeling well. I have a terrible headache and I feel dizzy.

B: Why don't you go to the doctor?

f) We use the Simple Present for suggestions. You can say “I suggest” .

A: What do you suggest I do?

B: I suggest that you go to the doctor.

g) Finally, we use the Simple Present to promise or to apologize. Sometimes we do things by saying something. That is, when we promise to do something, we can say “I promise”.  For example: “I promise I’ll help you out”   

(not… I’m promising)

In the same way we can say: I apologize ../ I advise ../ I insist ../ I agree ../ I refuse ..etcetera.

a)  According to Murphy (2019), we use the present continuous to talk about something that is happening at or around the time of speaking.

• Watch out! The water is boiling. Be careful.
• We can go out now. It is not raining anymore.

A:  Hello Ryan? This is Jane. Busy now? What are you doing?

B: Hello Jane.  Not busy at all. How can I help you?

• Listen to that woman. What language is she speaking?

b) Now,  when we compare both tenses, we learn that some verbs are only used  in simple tenses. For example:

• I am knowing (NEVER!)
• I know (ALWAYS IN THE SIMPLE PRESENT)

Other verbs that are not normally used in continuous tenses are: believe, need, love, see, seem, remember, forget ,hate, hear, want, like, belong, know, suppose, understand, realize,  mean, prefer have (when the meaning is possess), think (when the meaning is believe).

Choose the best option to indicate if the sentence is correct or incorrect.

EXERCISE II. Complete the sentences correctly. Choose the correct answer.

A Brief  Approach to Interpersonal Distance and Personal Space

(I)  Different cultures have different attitudes to their zones of space.  It is important to understand what those attitudes are in order to achieve effective cross-cultural communication anywhere we go. Every living being has its boundaries with the external world. From the physical boundary of one’s body, to the intangible personal space and one´s own “territory”. How far people let others into their territory, or how much distance they prefer to keep, reflects the type of relationships between them. The totality of these personal boundaries constitute the originally so-called “cultural space”.

(II)  The extent of the personal boundaries that can or cannot be crossed in social situations greatly varies from culture to culture. Maintaining a well-suited amount of space is a crucial aspect of non-verbal communication. What constitutes  “culturally inappropriate” could be encroaching on someone’s space, as well as keeping too much distance.

(III) Edward T. Hall (1966), an American anthropologist and cross-cultural researcher, who developed the concept of proxemics, widely explored cultural and social cohesion. He described how people behave and react in different types of culturally defined personal space. He researched different cultural attitudes to physical space, in relation to how far apart people stand during interaction or whether they accept tactile contact (and how much) and even how they organize their premises, rooms, buildings and towns. This whole concept of human usage of personal space is given the name “proxemics”. This term is often referred to as personal space.

(IV)  Proxemics is then the study of the nature, degree, and effect of the spatial separation individuals naturally maintain, as in various social and interpersonal situations, and of how this separation relates to environmental and cultural factors.

(V)  On the other hand, proxemics is one among several subcategories in the study of nonverbal communication. Hall used biometric concepts to categorize, explain, and explore the ways people connect in space. These variations in positioning are impacted by a variety of nonverbal communicative factors, listed below.

(VI)  Kinesthetic factors: (Body movement).  This category deals with how closely the participants are to touching, from being completely outside of body-contact distance to being in physical contact, which parts of the body are in contact, and body part positioning.

(VII)  Haptic code: (Touch)  This behavioral category concerns how participants are touching one another, such as caressing, holding, feeling, prolonged holding, spot touching, pressing against, accidental brushing, or not touching at all.

(VIII)  Visual code: This category denotes the amount of eye contact between participants. Four sub-categories are defined, ranging from eye-to-eye contact to no eye contact at all.

(IX)  Thermal code: This category denotes the amount of body heat that each participant perceives from another. Four sub-categories are defined: conducted heat detected, radiant heat detected, heat probably detected, and no detection of heat.

(X)  Olfactory code: (Smell). This category deals in the kind and degree of odor detected by each participant from the other.

(XI)  Voice loudness: (paralanguage) This category deals in the vocal effort used in speech. Seven sub-categories are defined: silent, very soft, soft, normal, normal plus, loud, and very loud.

All these areas of study are valuable components of interpersonal communication, which is strongly influenced by culture.

For each question or statement, mark the correct answer.

Azar, B. S., Azar, D.A., & Koch R.S. (2009). Understanding and Using  English Grammar. Longman.

Barker C. and Mitchell, L. (2004). Mega 1 (First Ed.). Macmillan Publishers.

Hewings, M. (2013) Advanced Grammar in Use with Answers: A Self-Study Reference and Practice Book for Advanced Learners of English. Cambridge    University Press.

Murphy, R. (2012). English Grammar in Use. Ernst Klett Sprachen.

Murray, L. (2014) English Grammar.  Cambridge University Press.

Berry, R. (2018). English grammar. Routledge.

Leech, G., & Svartvik, J. (2013). A communicative grammar of English. Routledge.

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• (2021) Practice exercise written  by Connie Reyes-Cruz_Language Department at ENES-LEON UNAM
• Audio version performed by Sally and Matthew_Voicemaker_Text to Speech Converter_Connie Reyes 2022 Subscription
• Text posted by Lote Agency. Retrived and adapted from (2021)_ https://www.loteagency.com.au/how-does-your-culture-affect-personal-space/_. Published on September 25, 2020.
• Practice exercise written  by Connie Reyes-Cruz_ Language Department at ENES-LEON UNAM
• Audio version performed by Sally and Matthew_Voicemaker_Text to Speech Converter_Connie Reyes 2022 Subscription
• Image 1. Free stock photos_ https://www.pexels.com/photo/2-men-sitting-on-chair-6129455/Photo by RODNAE Productions from Pexels

Graziano, M. S., & Cooke, D. F. (2006). Parieto-frontal interactions, personal space, and defensive behavior. Neuropsychologia, 44(6), 845-859.

Hall, E. T. (1966). The hidden dimension. New York, NY: Doubleday