FUNCTIONS:

Agreeing

Disagreeing

Hesitating

Introducing your opinion

Asking for opinions

Expressing preferences

Asking for clarification

Expressing likelihood

Speculating, guessing

Advice and recommendations

Describing a picture

Agreeing

I think you’re right

I would go along with the idea

I completely agree with you

That makes perfect sense

You have a point there

Absolutely, that’s spot on!

I couldn’t agree more

Disagreeing

That’s not how I see it

I couldn’t agree less

You must be kidding

That’s a ridiculous idea, don’t you think?

With all due respect, I must disagree

I’m afraid I can’t see it that way

No way, that’s nonsense!

Hesitating

I’m in two minds about it

I have some reservations regarding that

I’m not entirely convinced

There’s something that gives me pause

While I’m not entirely opposed, I do have some doubts

Introducing your opinion

To my mind

I reckon

In my opinion

As I see it

It seems to me

I would argue

From my point of view

Asking for opinions

Don’t you think …?

What’s your attitude to …?

What’s your opinion of …?

Are you in favour of …?

What’s your position as regards …?

You don’t support …, do you?

Expressing preferences

I prefer…

I would rather…

My preference would be…

I tend to favour…

If I had to choose, I would…

I lean towards…

I am inclined to…

I’m a big fan of…

I really enjoy…

I’m into…

I absolutely love…

I’m crazy about…

I’m fond of…

It’s right up my alley

It’s my thing

I can’t get enough of…

It appeals to me

It’s growing on me

I wouldn’t miss it for the world

I’m not a big fan of…

I don’t really enjoy…

I’m not into…

I can’t stand…

I’m not fond of…

It’s not my cup of tea

It doesn’t do anything for me

I’m sick of…

It gets on my nerves

It puts me off

I’d rather not…

It leaves me cold…

Asking for clarification

Could you please elaborate on that?

Would you mind explaining that further?

I’m not quite sure I understand. Could you clarify?

Could you provide more details?

Can you expand on that point?

Expressing likelihood

“It’s a foregone conclusion that…”

“There’s no doubt in my mind that…”

“I am almost certain that…”

“It’s highly likely that…”

“Chances are that…”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if…”

“It’s possible that…”

“There’s a chance that…”

“It’s unlikely that…”

“I doubt that…”

Speculating, guessing

“It seems to me that…”

“My gut feeling is that…”

“From what I gather…”

“If I were to guess…”

“It would appear that…”

“I reckon that…”

“I suspect that…”

“In all likelihood…”

“There’s a distinct possibility that…”

“It’s plausible that…”

Advice and recommendations

“You might want to consider…”

“Perhaps you could try…”

“If I were you, I would…”

“One thing you could do is…”

“Have you thought of…”

“May I suggest…”

“It might be beneficial to…”

“Consider this approach…”

“Why not give this a go…”

“If it were up to me, I’d…”

Describing a picture

“In the foreground…”

“In the background…”

“In the center of the image…”

“On the left side of the picture…”

“On the right side of the picture…”

“At the top of the picture…”

“At the bottom of the picture…”

“The picture depicts…”

“The image illustrates…”

“The photograph shows…”

“One can see…”

“Notice how…”

“This scene captures…”

“This photograph highlights…”

LEARNING
ENGLISH

Business English

English grammar

English grammar

Everyday English

Everyday English

Learn more words

Learn words

Test your English

Tests and quizzes

GENERAL
INTEREST

Culture

Culture

Entertain yourself

Entertainment

Entertain yourself

Health and fitness

Entertain yourself

Man and society

Entertain yourself

Science stuff

THE BLUE TREE - Surprise me

Surprise me

THE BLUE TREE - Surprise me

The arts

THE BLUE TREE - Surprise me

Travel and nature

THE BLUE TREE - Surprise me

What do you think

THE BLUE TREE - Surprise me

Wise quotes

PERSONAL
DEVELOPMENT

THE BLUE TREE - Better Communicator

Better Communicator

THE BLUE TREE - Better writer

Better writer

THE BLUE TREE - How to learn

How to learn

THE BLUE TREE - Learn from TED

Learn from TED

THE BLUE TREE - Personal productivity

Personal productivity

DICTIONARY

Add new and interesting words from this lesson to your English dictionary.

Store your words and expressions in this handy dictionary. You can create groups and play games based on your entries. There is also a practical importing feature.

You must log in to see content.

Learn more words

THE BLUE TREE

Tests & Quizzes

CEF B1

CEFR A2

Pre-Intermediate

Practise speaking by describing this picture

TEST YOUR ENGLISH

The key to mastering the English tenses lies in understanding what we use them for. 

Do the tests below and check how well you know what we use the Present Simple and Present Continuous tenses for. 

If you get more than 70 % of correct answers you will receive a beautiful certificate. 

part one

Decide if uses a) to k) are usually associated with the Present Simple or Present Continuous tenses.

a) facts and permanent situations
b) actions and events in progress
c) arrangements for the future
d) verbs of thinking and feeling
e) habits and routines
f) temporary situations
g) fixed timetables
h) current trends and changes


Well done! You're almost there!

i) talking about homes and jobs
j) sport commentaries
k) talking about things we do not expect to change



Time to check your answers. Click on CHECK YOUR ANSWERS button below.

part two

Now assign the correct use of Present Simple and Present Continuous to the examples below. 

1)

She's talking on another line right now, can I ask her to call you back?

2)

We offer a networking solution that is customised, reliable and secure.

3)

We release figures for total sales and net earnings every quarter.

4)

I'm arriving in Munich at 10.30.

5)

The plane arrives in Munich at 10.30.

6)

I'm working in our customer services department this month.

7)

Internet fraud and cybercrime is increasing all over the world.

8)

OK, I understand what the problem is now.

9)

I wear glasses.

10)

Susan works as a nurse in the local hospital.

11)

Krzychowiak passes to Lewandowski scores the goal! What a match!?

12)

The price of crypto currencies is rapidly declining.

13)

I'm meeting the sales team later today. Would you like to come too?

14)

I don't understand this contract. Can you help me?

15)

Food goes off if you don't keep it in the fridge.

16)

I hardly ever need to speak English in my work.

17)

His plane lands in twenty minutes. We should hurry up if we don't want him to wait for us.


Well done! You're almost there!

18)

Świątek hits a brilliant forehand and wins her next tournament.

19)

They live in the suburbs, if my memory serves me right.

20)

This week I'm taking a bus to work. My car is being serviced.

DOWNLOAD

Well done! Have you managed to get the certificates for both of the tasks? I certainly do hope so!

Here’s a little reward for your hard work and effort! It’s a mind-map with the uses of Present Simple and Present Continuous. 

Present Simple and Present Continuous

THE END OF THE LESSON

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