The simple present and the present continuous

Put the verbs in brackets into the correct present tense.

1. Ann sees Paul putting-on his coat and says: Where _______you ___________(go), Paul?
Paul: I ________________(go) to buy some cigarettes. _________you ___________(want) an evening paper?
2. Ann: No, thanks. You are always buying cigarettes, Paul. How many_______ you ____________(smoke) a
day?
Paul: I __________________(not smoke) very many—perhaps 20. Jack ___________ (smoke) far more than I
________(do). He ___________(spend) £10 a week on cigarettes.
3. Mary _____________(see) Peter standing at the bus stop.
Mary: Hello, Peter. What bus __________you _____________(wait) for?
Peter: Hello, Mary. I_______________________ (wait) for a 9 or a 14.
4. Mary: You usually _______________(go) to work by car, don't you?
Peter: Yes, but the car ______________(belong) to my mother and she sometimes _________________ (want)
it. She _____________________(use) it today to take Tom to the dentist.
5. Mary: I usually _______________(go) by car too. Jack ________________(take) me because he
_________________ (pass) my office on his way to the factory. But this week he
______________________(work) in a factory in the opposite direction: so I ________________ (queue) like
you.
6. Peter: Here's a 9 now. __________You____________ (come) on it or ________you ____________(wait) for
a 14?
Mary: I ____________(think) I'll take the 9. If I ______________(wait) for a 14 I may be late, and if you
_____________(be) late at my office everyone ______________(look) at you.
7. Mary and Ann __________________________(wait) outside a telephone box. Inside the box a boy
________________________________(dial) a number.
Mary: __________You ________________(know) that boy?
Ann: Yes, he's a friend of my brother's. He ______________(phone) his girl friend every day from this box.
8. Mary: Where _________he ______________(come) from?
Ann: He ______________________(come) from Japan. He's a very clever boy;
he______________________________ (speak) four languages.
9. Mary: I _________________(wonder) what he _______________________(speak) now.
Ann: Well, his girl friend ______________(come) from Japan too; so I ______________(suppose) he
_____________________________(speak) Japanese.
10. It is 8.30. Tom and Ann ___________________(have) breakfast. They ______both
___________________(open) their letters.
Tom: No one ever ____________(write) to me. All I ____________(get) is bills! ______you
_______________(have) anything interesting?
11. Ann: I've got a letter from Hugh. He ____________(say) he ___________________(come) to London next
week and ________________(want) us to meet him for lunch.
12. Peter: _________you ____________(have) traffic wardens in your country?
Pedro: No, I ________________(not think) so. You ________________(not see) them in my town anyway.
What exactly ________________a traffic warden ___________________(do)?
13. Peter: He ______________(walk) up and down the street and if a car _____________(stay) too long; at a
parking place or _____________(park) in a no-parking area he _________________(stick) a parking ticket to
the windscreen.
14. Look! He __________________(put) a ticket on Tom's car. Tom will be furious when he
___________________(see) it. He _________________(hate) getting parking tickets.
15. Customer: I _____________(want) to buy a fur coat. Have you got any nice coats for about £500?
Assistant: I'm afraid we ______just ___________(close), madam. It's 4.55, and we always ____________close)
at 5.00 sharp on Fridays as Mr. Jones the manager __________________(not want) to miss his favourite
television programme.
16. It is Friday evening and the Brown family are at home. Mrs. Brown _____________________(listen) to a
concert on the radio; Mr. Brown ______________________(read) a paper, George Brown
____________________(do) his homework and Ann Brown ________________________(write) a letter.
17. Mr. Brown always ____________(read) his newspapers in the evenings. Mrs. Brown sometimes
______________(knit) but she ________________________(not knit) tonight.
18. Mr. Black often ________________go) to the theatre but his wife _____________________(not go) very
often. He ______________(like) all sorts of plays. She______________________(prefer) comedies.
19. Tonight they __________________(watch) a very modern comedy. They _________________(enjoy) it,
but they _____________(not understand) some of the jokes.
20. What _______________(happen) in your class? _______The teacher _________(give) lectures every day?
~
No. He __________(give) one lecture a week, and on the other days he _____________(show) films or
____________(discuss) books with us.
21 A bus conductor _____________(get) more exercise than a bus driver. The driver just ______________(sit)
in his cab but the conductor ______________(stand) and _____________________ (walk) about and
__________________(run) up and down the stairs.
22. Why _____________that man _____________(stand) in the middle of the road? ~
He ______________(try) to get across. He _______________(wait) for a gap in the traffic.
Why__________he____________________ (not use) the subway?
Lots of people __________________(not bother) to use the subway. They_______________ (prefer) to risk
their lives crossing here.
23. You ______________________(wear) a new coat, aren't you? ~
Yes. __________you ______________(like) it? ~
The colour _________________(suit) you but it _________________(not fit) you very well. It's much too big.
24. All the guides here _______________(speak) at least three foreign languages, because a lot of foreign
visitors _________________(come) every summer.
25. Paul _________________(take) a party of French tourists round now and tomorrow an American party
____________________________(come).
26. Englishmen very seldom ________________(talk) on the Underground. They ___________________
(prefer) to read their newspapers. ~
Those two men in the corner _____________________(talk). ~
But they _________________________(not talk) English.
27. Jones and Co. ___________________(have) a sale at the moment. Shall we look in on our way home? ~
I'd love to but I'm afraid I won't have time. I____________________________ (meet) Tom at 5.30. ~
_______you ____________________(go) out with Tom often?