Learn how to use the combination of the English present tense and progressive aspect to talk about events in progress
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Beginner Season 1, Lesson 10 - I’m Seeing a Play Tomorrow |
| Chihiro: Chihiro here. |
| Daniel: Daniel here. Beginner series, season one, lesson ten. “I’m Seeing a Play Tomorrow.” Hello and welcome to the Beginner series, season one at EnglishClass101.com, where we study modern English in a fun, educational format. |
| Chihiro: So brush up on the English you started learning long ago, or start learning today. |
| Daniel: Thanks for being with us for this lesson. Chihiro, what are we looking at in this lesson? |
| Chihiro: In this lesson, you will learn how to talk about events in progress. |
| Daniel: This conversation takes place at Innovative University (IU). |
| Chihiro: The conversation is between Oksana, Naomi and Marco. |
| Daniel: The speakers are friends, therefore, the speakers will be speaking casually. |
| Chihiro: Listeners, when was the last time you commented? |
| Daniel: Good question. Stop by EnglishClass101.com, leave us a comment, or just say hi. |
| Chihiro: We'll be waiting! |
| Daniel: OK, let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Oksana: He’s coming. |
| Naomi: Marco! How are you doing? |
| Marco: I’m doing great! How about you, Naomi? |
| Naomi: Never been better! Oh, I’d like to introduce you to my friend, Oksana. She’s from the Ukraine. Marco, this is Oksana. Oksana, this is my friend, Marco. He’s from Italy. |
| Oksana: Hi Marco! Nice to meet you! |
| Marco: Nice to meet you, Oksana! You’re from the Ukraine. |
| Are you planning to go back when you graduate? |
| Oksana: I’m still thinking about my plans. |
| Naomi: Oh, excuse me guys. I’m seeing a play with my roommate tomorrow, and the ticket window is opening now. I’ll be right back. |
| Marco: Okay, take your time. So, Oksana, you’re very beautiful. |
| Oksana: Thank you! |
| Marco: I was wondering; are you free tomorrow night? I have two tickets to a movie, "Attraction." Have you heard of it? |
| Oksana: Um, yeah, I’ve heard of it. I don’t know. |
| Naomi: Hi guys! I’m back. Thanks for waiting. |
| Marco: That was fast! Oh, look at the time. I gotta go. I’ll see you tonight, Naomi. Ciao! |
| Naomi: Ciao! Isn’t he great? He’s always buying me flowers. |
| Oksana: Um, yeah, great. |
| Naomi: He’s living in the dorms right now, but he’s moving into an apartment soon. I can’t wait to visit him there. |
| Oksana: Uh, Naomi, there’s something I have to tell you… |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Daniel: So, Chihiro, what do you think of that Marco guy? |
| Chihiro: Boy, he sure gets around. |
| Daniel: Gets around? What does that mean? |
| Chihiro: It means he is dating many women. |
| Daniel: Yeah, but I think he may have gotten in trouble this time. |
| Chihiro: Yup, that's what it looks like. |
| Daniel: Yeah. Also, what do you think of the conversation he had with Oksana? I mean, would you say it was casual? |
| Chihiro: I would. When two people meet for the first time it's generally considered polite to keep the conversation light and friendly. Silence is thought to be uncomfortable if the people have been acquainted. Asking questions such as where the person is from or what the person studies are common and not too personal. |
| Daniel: Right. Questions that are too personal might be about age or religion, which could easily lead to a bad first impression. |
| Chihiro: Also, usually if one person asks a question, the other person can ask the same question back. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Daniel: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| Chihiro: never been better [natural native speed] |
| Daniel: phrase to show that your health and situation are very good |
| Chihiro: never been better [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chihiro: never been better [natural native speed] |
| Next... |
| to graduate [natural native speed] |
| Daniel: to earn a degree from a school |
| to graduate [slowly - broken down by syllable] to graduate [natural native speed] |
| Next... |
| Chihiro: plan [natural native speed] |
| Daniel: something someone intends to do |
| Chihiro: plan [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chihiro: plan [natural native speed] |
| Next... |
| excuse me [natural native speed] |
| Daniel: phrase to apologize or get someone's attention excuse me [slowly - broken down by syllable] excuse me [natural native speed] |
| Next... |
| Chihiro: ticket window [natural native speed] |
| Daniel: place where you can buy tickets |
| Chihiro: ticket window [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chihiro: ticket window [natural native speed] |
| Next... |
| beautiful [natural native speed] |
| Daniel: very attractive |
| beautiful [slowly - broken down by syllable] beautiful [natural native speed] |
| Next... |
| Chihiro: free [natural native speed] |
| Daniel: not required to do something at a given time |
| Chihiro: free [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chihiro: free [natural native speed] |
| Next... |
| look at the time [natural native speed] |
| Daniel: phrase said when it's time do something |
| look at the time [slowly - broken down by syllable] look at the time [natural native speed] |
| Next... |
| Chihiro: dorm [natural native speed] |
| Daniel: informal for dormitory, a college or university building where students live |
| Chihiro: dorm [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Chihiro: dorm [natural native speed] |
| Next... |
| apartment [natural native speed] |
| Daniel: building typically divided into separate dwellings that is equipped with housekeeping facilities and usually rented as a residence |
| apartment [slowly - broken down by syllable] apartment [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Daniel: Let’s have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Chihiro: The first phrase we’ll look at is, "I was wondering". This phrase is usually used at the beginning of a sentence, when the speaker wants to express that he or she was thinking of something. It's an introduction to a question or a subject in question so that the listener knows that the speaker would like to ask for information. Marco says the phrase before he asks Oksana to the movie, to let her know that he was thinking about going out with her. Daniel, what's another example? |
| Daniel: OK, for example, you want to take a day off and need to ask your coworker to work for you. So, you might say, I was wondering if you could do me a favor. Could you work for me tomorrow? |
| Chihiro: Good example. What's the next phrase? |
| Daniel: The second phrase is "have you heard of it?" This is used when the speaker wants to know if the other person is familiar with the subject at hand. If a person has heard of something, it does not necessarily imply that he or she knows a lot about it. In the dialogue, Marco asks Oksana whether she has heard of the movie before. Oksana replies “yes,” which means that she knows about it but has not seen it. Chihiro, what's another example? |
| Chihiro: I can say, “Daniel, have you heard of the book ‘The Kite Runner’ before?” |
| Daniel: Yes, I have. I haven't read it, but I saw the movie. It was very good. That’s a good example. |
| Chihiro: OK, let's take a look at the grammar point for this lesson. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Daniel: The focus of this lesson is the present progressive. |
| Chihiro: For example, in the the dialogue we heard the sentence, “I’m seeing a play with my roommate tomorrow.” |
| Daniel: In Beginner Series, Season 1, Lesson 7, we learned about the progressive aspect, one of the 4 aspects of verbs (simple, progressive, perfect, and perfect progressive). And, in Lesson 9, we learned the core meaning of the present tense, one of the 3 verb tenses (present, past, and future). |
| Chihiro: OK, what are we looking at in this lesson? |
| Daniel: In this lesson, we will look at the combination of the progressive aspect with the present tense in more detail. This combination is usually called the present progressive tense. |
| Chihiro: First, let’s review the progressive aspect. You can recognize the progressive aspect because a form of the verb “be” such as “is,” “am,” “are,” “was,” “were,” etc… comes before the main verb. And the main verb is in the present participle form. |
| Daniel: In other words, the main verb has an “~ing” at the end. For example, I am speaking. “Am,” the first person, singular, present form of “be” comes before the main verb, “speak,” and speak has ~ing at the end. The main idea of the progressive aspect is that the event is incomplete or limited. It might still be in progress (that is, progressive). In other words, the event may be continuing and unfinished. |
| Chihiro: This is why the progressive aspect is often called the continuous aspect, right? |
| Daniel: That's right. In Lesson 6 and in Lesson 7, we gave the example, “I am living in Los Angeles.” Now, the facts of this sentence are the same as “I live in Los Angeles.” |
| Chihiro: However, with “I am living in Los Angeles,” it sounds like the situation is temporary. It sounds like I might move soon. |
| Daniel: Right. So, again, the progressive aspect is used to talk about events as if they are incomplete, changing, or unfinished. |
| Chihiro: The progressive also differs with the simple in that the progressive aspect is always used to talk about specific events, while the simple aspect can be used to talk about general truths. |
| Daniel: Now, let’s combine the progressive aspect with the present tense and see how they work together. In Lesson 9, we learned that the present tense is used to talk about immediate facts, facts that are related to now. So, we can combine the present tense with the progressive aspect to talk about factual events that are in progress now. Chihiro, what's an example? |
| Chihiro: An example is, “She is eating lunch now. She will be back in an hour.” |
| Daniel: This means she is in the process of eating this moment. |
| Chihiro: Because this is the present progressive, the “be” verb before the present participle will be the present tense of “be,” that is, “am,” “are,” or “is”. |
| Daniel: The present progressive is usually taught as the way to talk about activities that are in progress now. But, there are many other uses. Let’s look at some of the examples from the dialogue and see how they fit our description of the progressive aspect and the present tense. |
| Chihiro: OK, in the dialog, Marco asks Oksana, “Are you planning to go back when you graduate?” With this question, Marco is asking about the future, but the verb tense is the present. |
| Daniel: But, because the event may change, the progressive aspect is used. And because the event, that is, the planning, is immediate, or right now, the present progressive is used. So, the present progressive can be used to talk about future planned events. |
| Chihiro: Next, Oksana replies to Marco, “I’m still thinking about my plans.” This is an example of an activity that is in progress now. |
| Daniel: So, the event is an immediate fact, so the present tense is used. But the activity is incomplete and changing, so we use the progressive aspect as well. |
| Chihiro: In the next example, Naomi then excuses herself and talks about her plans for tomorrow when she says, “I’m seeing a play with my roommate tomorrow.” |
| Daniel: This is another example of how the present progressive can be used to talk about planned events. |
| Chihiro: In the same sentence, she also says, “The ticket window is opening now.” She is not talking about the physical opening of a window, but about the change from the ticket window being closed for business to being opened for business. |
| Daniel: And since this is a change in progress, the present progressive is used. |
| Chihiro: Later in the dialogue, Naomi says about Marco, “He’s always buying me flowers.” In this sentence, Naomi approves of Marco’s present habit, the habit of buying flowers. Usually we use the simple present to talk about habits. |
| Daniel: But, we can use the present progressive to give emotional comments on habits because the emotions may change. In the same way, the present progressive can be used to give a negative, disapproving comment on a habit. For example, you might hear, “He is always complaining about the company’s decisions.” Notice that words like “always” and “forever” are often used with these types of sentences. |
| Chihiro: Finally, at the end of the dialogue, Naomi says about Marco, “He’s living in the dorms right now.” |
| Daniel: We could say “Marco lives in the dorms,” but by using the present progressive, Naomi gives the impression that the situation might change. |
| Chihiro: In fact, at the end of the same sentence, she says, “But he’s moving into an apartment soon,” which means, of course, that the situation will change. |
| Daniel: And, we also see the future use of the present progressive again. OK, so through these examples, we can see that the present progressive has several uses. But, by focusing on the core meaning of both the progressive aspect and the present tense, we can recognize the difference in meaning and use. |
Outro |
| Chihiro: Before we go, we have a tip for you. |
| Daniel: What's that Chihiro? |
| Chihiro: Be sure to check the explanations about the progressive aspect in Lesson 7 and review the aspect system in Lessons 6~8 with the audio and the PDFs. Practice listening to the dialogues to help your ability to notice the grammar forms and write examples in the comments on the website. |
| Daniel: Good advice. Also, be sure to go over today's dialogue many times with the grammar points from the PDF. And, practice, practice, practice! Well, that just about does it for today. But before we go, we want to tell you about a way to drastically improve your pronunciation. |
| Chihiro: The voice recording tool. |
| Daniel: Yes, the voice recording tool in the premium learning center. |
| Chihiro: Record your voice with the click of a button. |
| Daniel: And then play it back just as easily. |
| Chihiro: So you record your voice and then listen to it. |
| Daniel: Compare it to the native speakers |
| Chihiro: And adjust your pronunciation |
| Daniel: This will help you improve your pronunciation fast, and we hope it takes you to the next level. |
| Chihiro: Bye, everybody. |
| Daniel: Bye. |
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