Unit 3 the present continuous tense

Positive	Negative	Interrogative
I am speaking. We are speaking. You are speaking. He is speaking. She is speaking. It is speaking. They are speaking.	I am not speaking. We are not speaking. You are not speaking. He is not speaking. She is not speaking. It is not speaking. They are not speaking.	Am I speaking? Are we speaking? Are you speaking? Is he speaking? Is she speaking? Is it speaking? Are they speaking?
I’m speaking. She’s speaking. We’re speaking.	She isn’t speaking. We aren’t speaking.	N.B! Who is speaking? She is speaking, isn’t she?

Grammar Reference:

The Present Continuous Tense is used:

1. To express an activity happening now, still, at present, at the moment (Look! Listen!), just, constantly.

• They’re just waiting for the attorney.

• She can’t answer the phone because she is speaking to the investigator.

• The world is constantly changing.

2. To express an activity happening around now, but perhaps not at the moment of speaking.

• She is studying Law at university.

• I’m reading a good book by Henry James.

3. To express a planned future arrangement.

• I’m meeting Mr. Black at ten o’clock tomorrow.

• He’s starting a new job next week.

• What are you doing at the weekend?

Note:

There are certain groups of verbs that are almost never used in the Present Continuous Tense. That is why we use the Present Indefinite Tense. These are the groups of such verbs:

1. Verbs of the mind: know, understand, think, believe, forget, remember, mean, doubt, consider, suppose, realize

2. Verbs of emotion and feeling: like, love, hate, dislike, prefer, want, care

3. Verbs of the five senses: see, smell, taste, hear

4. Verbs of possession: have, own, belong

5. Certain other verbs: cost, need, contain, depend, consist, seem

Exercise I

Read and translate the following sentences. Find the predicate; define its person and number. Explain the use of the Present Continuous Tense in each sentence.

1. He is a legal professional. He is working with legal resources.

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2. I am looking through a form book to find some necessary information.

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3. The investigator is gathering primary materials about crimes involving young offenders.

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3. The police are investigating a serious case now. They are still collecting evidence against some young offenders.

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3. Listen! The judge is instructing the jury on the laws relevant to the case.

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3. We are worried because crime among young people is increasing.

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3. Who is looking up this legal term in the dictionary?

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3. We are just discussing what research skills legal professionals need.

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3. Look! The librarians are carrying around legal encyclopedias, digests and journals.

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3. At the moment she is locating primary materials in the computerized database.

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3. The attorney is explaining some difficult points to the paralegal.

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3. Now the law students are using a legal encyclopedia to find out the meaning of the difficult term.

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3. They are writing a summary of the statutes on young defendants.

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3. I’m writing some official papers, that’s why I’m using form books.

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3. They are printing this annotation in a law journal.

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Exercise 2

Ask questions of 4 types (general, alternative, special and disjunctive) about each sentence.

Model:

We are working hard this week.

1. Are you working hard this week?

2. Are you working hard this week or next week?

3. Why are you working hard this week?

4. You are working hard this week, aren’t you?

1. I am working with the secondary materials because they give opinions on the relevant law.

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2. The young offenders are not answering the investigator’s questions at the moment.

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3. The librarian is lending out a law journal to the student.

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4. The judges are discussing the case against a young defendant with no previous convictions.

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5. The jury is announcing a verdict in the courtroom.

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6. At present the judge is making a sentence.

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7. The witnesses for the defense are giving their evidence now.

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8. The defense lawyer is still talking to the witness.

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9. The plaintiff is filing a paper called a complaint.

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10. The legal professionals are sharing their assessments about the new law.

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Exercise 3

• Read and translate the text into Russian. Open the brackets putting the verbs into the Present Continuous Tense.

Mr. Black is in a Magistrate’s Court now.

Look! He (to stand) _______________ in a kind of large, open box. The sides come up almost to his chin.

He is “in the dock”.

Three Magistrates (to sit) ____________________“on the bench” in front of him. Another man (to sit) __________________in front of and below them. It (to be) ________ me. I (to be) ___________the “clerk of the court”. Now I (to give) ________________ advice to the Magistrates on legal points.

Listen! The hearing (to begin) ______________. The policeman (to give) ________________ evidence. He (to read) _______________ details from a small black notebook.

Mr. Black’s solicitor (to cross-examine) __________________ him.

One of the Magistrates speaking for all three (to ask) ______________ questions.

Mr. Black (not to speak) __________________ in his defense.

The Magistrates (to discuss)_________________ the case in low voices. One of them (to announce) ________________ the verdict. He (to sentence) _____________Mr. Black to a fine of 40 pounds for dangerous driving.

The hearing is over.

• Answer the following questions:

1. Who is sitting in the courtroom in front of Mr. Black?

2. Is the clerk of the court giving advice to the Magistrates or the witnesses?

3. What is the policeman doing during Mr. Black’s trial?

4. What are the Magistrates doing during the trial?

• Retell the text.

Exercise 4

Complete the sentences with the verbs from the box. Use the Present Continuous Tense.

play

harass

dump

deal

start

spray

vandalize

break

1. I’m really worried. I think my neighbor _________________ drugs.

2. Look! Those teenagers over there ________________ graffiti all over the walls.

3. The residents in those flats _______________ loud music again, and it’s 1.30 a.m.

4. No doubt that those two young men ______________ that woman – they’re following her and shouting.

5. Some children ______________ a fire in that abandoned car.

6. He’s taking all that rubbish out of his garden and he _____________ it in the street.

7. Police – come quickly! A group of boys _____________ the school buildings. They ___________ all the windows.

Exercise 5

Translate the sentences from Russian into English using the Present Continuous Tense or the Present Simple Tense.

1. Профессионалы в области права получают информацию о (судебных) делах из сборников судебных решений, компьютерных баз данных и других источников.

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2. – Чем ты занят? – Я ищу значения сложных терминов в юридической энциклопедии.

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3. Эти публикации включают комментарии к судебным делам и сборники с образцами судебных бланков.

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4. Он оформляет необходимые документы в своем кабинете.

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5. Судьи часто закрывают дела в отношении несовершеннолетних ответчиков.

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6. В настоящий момент мы собираем основные материалы о преступлениях с участием несовершеннолетних правонарушителей.

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7. Сборники судебных решений обобщают отдельные дела, которые имеют схожие признаки.

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8. Есть ли у обвиняемых судимости в прошлом?

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9. Сейчас я занят. Я составляю сводку (обзор) законов о несовершеннолетних обвиняемых.

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9. Имеются ли в наличии эти ресурсы в компьютерных базах данных?

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