Present tenses: active and passive

always, usually, often, every morning, at the weekend, etc.

• We often use adverbs and expressions of frequency with the present simple to talk about how often we do something.

• Adverbs of frequency usually come before the main verb (My wife is Italian and we often speak Italian at home.)

always, usually, often, every morning, at the weekend, etc.

• When the verb is negative or in the question form, the adverb comes between the auxiliary verb and the main verb.

  My wife is Italian, but we don't usually speak Italian at home.

always, usually, often, every morning, at the weekend, etc.

• When the verb is be, tha adverb comes after the verb.

  My wife is a singer and she's often away from home on tour.

(usually, often, sometimes)

• We can use some adverbs of frequency at the beginning of a sentence for emphasis.

  Sometimes, we speak Italian at home.

• Other expressions of frequency usually come at the beginning or at the end of a sentence. We use a comma after the expression at the start of the sentence.

  Every morning, we start work at eight.

• We start work at eight every morning.

Uses:

• temporary situations (I'm not spending any money on clothes this month.)

• activities in progress at the time of speaking (Are you using your computer at the moment?)

• trends and changing habits ( Lots of people are watching television shows online instead of on TV now.)

• We often use time expressions with the present continuous: at the moment, this week, etc.

• Are you working from home today?

• A lot of people are studying Chinese nowadays.

Form:

We form the present simple passive with the present simple of be (am/is/are) + past participle of the main verb.

Affirmative and negative

This model of tablet is sold online.

This model of tablet is not sold online.

Questions and short answers

Is this model of tablet sold online? Yes, it is./No, it isn't.

Form:

We form the present continuous passive with the present continuous of be (am/is/are) + past participle of the main verb.

Affirmative and negative

The email is being sent to all users.

The email is not being sent to all users.

Questions and short answers

Is the email being sent to all users? Yes, it is./No, it isn't.

Use

Active: People are downloading films illegally.

Passive: Films are being downloaded illegally.