An English (ESL) Story in the Present Simple
Posted: Wednesday, November 24, 2010
by Jack Askew
http://www.jdaenglish.com
This article will help you with using the present simple. Below you will read about Pedro, his daily routine and his family. While reading the article look for all the tenses in the present simple and think about the use. This is discussed after Pedro's article.
I have also included some exercises and links to relevant articles.
Me and My Family
I love Valencia. It's a very beautiful place and the climate is one of the best in Spain. I have a lot of friends here and my girlfriend lives just outside the city.
I really enjoy my job because I love being a teacher. I usually get up at about 7.30 am and then have some breakfast. Most days I take a shower but it depends if I get up on time or not! I get to work at 8.15 am and my first class starts at 8.30 am.
I have lunch at 1.30 pm and I usually eat a sandwich or two. I finish work at 4.30 pm. After I finish work I usually go to the gym or go for a run in the park. Sometimes I am too tired to exercise and I go straight back to bed for a nap.
In the evenings I usually prepare for my classes or go and meet my friends. My favourite bar is in the centre of Valencia and there is always someone who I know in there. I also try and do some housework every evening so that the flat isn't too dirty! I then go to bed at around 11.30pm. From time to time I stay out late and go dancing in a club.
My girlfriend is an artist and she lives just outside of Valencia. She wants to move to Barcelona or even to New York to try and expose more of her work. At the weekends we usually go to the countryside to cook paella or to the beach. We also like mountain biking and I try to do it as much as possible. I also really enjoy watching football on television and in bars. I go to watch Valencia every now and then.
My parents live in Northern Spain. They really like the culture and the people there. They are retired and really enjoy life. My brother lives in Amsterdam and he works in a Shipyard. He has a lot of friends there and we visit him often.
I don't want to leave Valencia but I might have to do it soon because of my girlfriend. Barcelona is a great city and I like it very much. But I love Valencia. It's my home.
Notes
Pedro uses the present simple because he is talking about himself, his family and friends. It is used for daily routines, facts, habits and to talk about things in general.
Pedro also uses adverbs of frequency. The ones used in this article are; usually, sometimes, every now and then (expression), often, from time to time (expression) and always.
Exercises
1. Write about yourself, your friends and your family. Use this article as a guide. Remember to include adverbs of frequency.
2. Write about your daily routine.
The original article, along with more exercises, can be seen here - Present Simple Story
Jack Askew is the owner and head teacher at JDAenglish - Online English Classes and Courses which offers private English one to one classes and group courses. He also writes blogs about learning English online along with grammar resources at Blog - Learn English Online
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)This is a very good learning article for somebody studying English.
A very good story for those teachers who want to teach simple present by using short stories.
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