Anglais > Grammaire > Verbes > Present > Simple Present / Present

Anglais > Grammaire > Verbes > Present > Simple Present / Present Be + ing
Faire la différence entre le Simple Present et le Present Be + ing est une des grandes difficultés pour un
francophone apprenant l'anglais, car ces deux temps correspondent à notre présent de l'indicatif.
Le Simple Present s'emploie, entre autre, pour
- exprimer des vérités générales à valeur scientifique: The sun rises in the east. Le soleil se lève à l'est.
- attribuer des caractéristiques à quelqu'un: He looks like his father. Il ressemble à son père. He likes big
cars. Il aime les grosses voitures. He works as a bus driver. Il travaille comme conducteur de bus.
- exprimer une action habituelle: He often works in his room. Il travaille souvent dans sa chambre. She
rarely listens to me. Elle m'écoute rarement. He always refuses to answer. Il refuse toujours de répondre.
C'est pourquoi le Simple Present est particulièrement utilisé avec des adverbes de fréquence tels que always
(toujours), often (souvent), usually (habituellement), regularly (régulièrement), everyday (tous les jours), …
Le Present Be + ing s'emploie au contraire essentiellement pour
- exprimer des événements en cours: Someone is knocking at the door. = Quelqu'un frappe à la porte.
C'est pourquoi le Present Be + ing correspond souvent à l'expression française: être en train de ...
ATTENTION: Certains verbes admettent rarement d'être conjugués au Present Be + ing car ils expriment
généralement un état d'esprit (believe, understand, mean, agree, know, remember, think, want, doubt,
imagine, prefer, recognize, wish, suppose, ...) un état des sentiments (love, (dis)like, hate, ...), un état des
sens (verbes de perception: see, hear, ...), une apparence (look, seem, ...)
Certains de ces verbes peuvent se conjuguer au Present Be + ing au prix d'un changement de sens. Voici les
principaux:
Simple Present
Present Be + ing
Be
être: You are stupid! Tu es stupide!
se conduire comme, se comporter comme : You are being
stupid! Tu fais l'imbécile!
Have
avoir: He has a car. Il a une voiture.
prendre: He is having lunch. Il prend son déjeuner. He is
having a bath. Il prend un bain.
See
voir: I see what you mean. Je vois ce voir, rencontrer: I'm seeing my boss tomorrow. Je vois
que tu veux dire.
mon patron demain.
Think
penser, croire: He thinks that he is
clever. Il pense qu'il est intelligent.
Look
Look like
sembler: He looks sad. Il semble
triste.
penser à, réfléchir, envisager: He is thinking of moving to
Canada. Il envisage de déménager pour le Canada.
look at=regarder: I'm looking at this car. Je regarde cette
voiture.
look for= chercher: I'm looking for my keys. Je cherche
ressembler: He looks like his mother. mes clés.
Il ressemble à sa mère
look after= s'occuper de: He is looking after his
grandmother. Il s'occupe de sa grand-mère
Exercise 1a - Put the verb (in brackets) into the simple present or the present be + ing.
1. He is a teacher, he (teach) (1)_______________ English, but today he (not - work) (2)_______________.
2. - What (you - do) (3)_______________ ? - I (write) (4)_______________ a letter.
3. She (leave) (5)_______________ for Paris today, but she (not - know) (6)_______________ when she'll
be back.
4. - How often (you - practise) (7)_______________ sport in a week? - I (play) (8)_______________
tennis once a week.
Exercise 1b - Put the verb (in brackets) into the simple present or the present be + ing.
5. This morning they (stay) (1)________________ in bed late, but they usually (wake up)
(2)________________ at 6.
6. When he (forget) (3)________________ his pen, she (give) (4)________________ him hers.
7. - (he - remember) (5)________________ his lessons easily? - No, but at the moment, he (try)
(6)________________ to improve his memory.
8. - (she - read) (7)________________ right now?
No, she (not - do) (8)________________ anything.
Exercise 2a - Put the verb (in brackets) into the simple present or the present be + ing.
1. Usually, Alex (not - read) (1)_____________ in his room, he (watch) (2)_____________ television.
2. - How long (it – take) (3)_____________ for the moon to go round our planet ?
- It (go) (4)_____________ round in 29 days.
3. Listen! It’s the end: Romeo (leave) (5)_____________ but Juliet (not - cry) (6)_____________.
Exercise 2b - Put the verb (in brackets) into the simple present or the present be + ing.
4. - Now, (you – tell) (1)__________________ the truth or (you - lie) (2)__________________?
- I (never - give) (3)__________________ false information.
5. (he - often take) (4)__________________ his car when his wife (not – need) (5)__________________ it ?
6. She isn’t here. She (eat) (6)__________________ out with a friend, as she (do) (7)__________________
every Sunday.
Exercise 3 - Put the verb (in brackets) into the present be + ing if possible, or into the simple present.
1. They (not - look) (1)__________________ very funny.
2. She (look) (2)__________________ at her baby.
3. He (think) (3)__________________ that you're wrong.
4. (you - think) (4)__________________ of changing school?
5. He (be) (5)__________________ stupid. He (not
understand) (6)__________________.
6. They (be) (7)__________________ stupid to annoy their teacher.
7. (she - see) (8)__________________ her secretary at the moment?
8. (you - see) (9)__________________ what I (mean) (10)__________________ ?
Exercise 4 - Put the verb (in brackets) into the present be + ing if possible, or into the simple present.
1. The man who (look) (1)_______________ at my painting (not - look) (2)_______________ sad.
2. They (be) (3)_______________ silly to attract our attention, (you – not – think) (4)_______________?
3. We (think) (5)_______________ of buying a new house, but we (not – see) (6)_______________ our
banker before next week.
4. (not - he - see) (7)_______________ that I (be) (8)_______________ ready?