Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Grammar: Present Tense



Present Simple (I do)


English is a unique language. There are many patterns in talking about many condition of time with word changes. One of the grammar pattern is Present Simple (I do). This pattern is used to talk about things in general. We are not thinking only about the present. We use it to say that something happens all the time or repeatedly. Or, that something is true in general. It is not important whether the action is happening at the time of speaking. 
Look at this situation: Sam is a bus driver. But now he is asleep in bed. So, He is not driving a bus (he is asleep). But, He drives a bus. For the complete comprehension, please watch the video. 


After you watch the video, so how do you feel now? Do you understand about the present tense? If not, watch again the video.
Guys, to know more about the verb in this tense, it's better to see this picture:
(Source: https://www.tes.com/lessons/N2e-cvMwr_hb1Q/simple-present-tense )
From the picture above we can see kinds of sentence: affirmative or positive sentence, interrogative or question sentence, and negative sentence. You can also try to change the verb work with other verbs such as: love, run, write, play, pray, etc.

 Read this text
TV or no TV 
Today there is television set in almost every house. In some countries, you can choose between as many as forty channels; some show only a single type of program – news, sports, music, theater or movies; most show different kinds of programs, giving the viewer a wide range of entertainment to choose from. In one country, a recent survey showed that the average person spent three and a half hours a day watching television. Housewives were the biggest group of viewers. They spent an average of about five hours a day watching TV while taking care of their children.
For families with children, a major problem is getting the children away from the television to do their homework. What impact then does television have on peoples’ lives?
To find out, an unusual experiment was carried out recently. A group of forty-four families was asked to disconnect their television sets for one month. The families were studied to see how their lives were affected by not being able to watch TV during this period.
Four of the families found that family life simply could not continue without TV, and they withdrew from the experiment. They said they could find no other way to spend their free time. Among those who successfully kept away from television, several interesting observations were reported.
Some parents were glad to end the daily struggle among family members to decide what program to watch. In some families, the family went to bed earlier. Family members found other things to do, such as reading or playing volleyball. Many families found that they had more time to talk and play among themselves without television. Dinner time was more relaxed without the pressure of TV. Children’s eyesight improved in several cases.
On the other hand, some families said they greatly missed their favorite programs. A father in one family without TV started gambling, and another began to drink heavily. Some children found they had nothing to talk about at school; they no longer could talk about their favorite comedians, singers, or actors. Several mothers found they had less to talk about with their young children. At the end of the experiment, most of the families wanted to have the television back in their homes. But they said that in the future they would watch only certain programs, and not allow their lives to be governed by television.

Now try some questions