It's Raining!
You now have two present tenses, and this is the class where they meet. One is for your life; the other is for this afternoon. Choosing between them is the last thing to learn, and the thing that takes longest.
Warm-up
Short answers. Tap a card when you have answered it.
Every city has a rainy-day plan. Tell me yours in English and you have just used half of this lesson's vocabulary without opening the book.
Useful language
Places in the city
Click a word, then click its meaning. Correct pairs turn green. The audio button says the word.
Around the city
Click a word in the bank, then click a gap. Click a filled gap to clear it.
- Everybody in the world knows this singer's name. She is very _____.
- My son loves dinosaurs, so we often visit _____ to see old dinosaur bones.
- The concert in the park is _____. You don't need money for a ticket.
- My grandma loves old clocks and old chairs, so she often shops at an _____ shop.
- My sister paints pictures, and two art _____ in our city sell them.
- It's raining, so let's buy popcorn and watch a movie at the _____.
- My uncle's house has no TV and no internet, so I always get _____ there.
- It's raining a lot today. Put on your _____ before you go out.
What to do in London when it's raining
Watch the video, then read. The comprehension questions have the minute written on them.
London is not really famous for its nice weather. That is why this video asks a useful question: what can you do in London when it is raining?
The first answer is museums. The city is full of them, and most of them are free. You pay nothing to walk in.
The video visits the Design Museum. The person filming says it is really nice, and then takes the camera inside.
The second answer is Portobello Road. You can come here when it is raining and look in the antique shop, the art galleries and the movie theater.
An antique shop sells old things that people collect: furniture, clocks, plates. The word for those things is antiques.
At the end, the video says something kind about the city. Even though the weather is not always nice, there is still a lot to do.
And then comes the best line of all. In London, the video says, you just can't get bored.
Multiple choice
Click an answer and you get the result right away, with the reason. The blue number is where to look in the video.
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0:28Which city is the woman in?
She names it in her first sentence.
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0:31The weather in London is:
"Not really famous for its nice weather" — polite, and careful. She does not say it always rains.
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0:35What is the video about?
She says it in one line, right after the weather joke.
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0:37London is full of:
Which is why rain is not a problem there.
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0:40How much do most of them cost?
"Mostly free" — so a few of them do charge.
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0:43Which museum does she visit?
She calls it really nice and then goes inside.
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1:22What is the name of the second place?
"Now we are in Portobello Road."
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1:25What can you find there? Choose the complete list.
Three things, and she names them in that order.
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2:12At the end she says that in London you can't:
There is too much to do, even in the rain.
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What does an antique shop sell?
Furniture, clocks, plates. The last one is an art gallery.
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"Even though the weather is not always nice…" How does the sentence end?
It is the whole argument of the video in one sentence.
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Which of these is an indoor place for a rainy day?
The other two have no roof.
Two presents, two jobs
Don't ask "which tense is correct?" — ask "am I talking about my life, or about right now?" Answer that question and the tense chooses itself. This is the mistake that follows students all the way to B1.
Present continuous — things happening now, at the moment, or today.
- Its words: always · usually · sometimes · never · every day · on Fridays
- Its words: now · right now · at the moment · today · this week
- We usually go to a museum when it rains. (present simple, in general)
- It's raining today, so we can go to Portobello Road. (present continuous, this afternoon)
- Both in one sentence: I don't usually work on Saturdays, but today I'm working.
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We use the present simple for:
Your routine, your job, your city — the things that were true last month too.
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Which word goes with the present continuous?
The first two describe a habit; the third describes a minute.
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"We usually go to a museum when it ______."
Usually is in the sentence, so both halves are about habit.
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"It's ______ today, so we can go to Portobello Road."
Today, and the It's is already there waiting for an -ing.
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"My brother usually ______ in the evening."
Usually decides it, and he takes the -s.
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"Julie ______ a shower right now."
Right now, so she is in there at this second.
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Which sentence is about a job, not about today?
He worked there last year and he will next year. That is the present simple.
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"I usually ______ a sandwich for lunch, but today I ______ a big salad."
Read the two time words, not the two verbs: usually, then today.
Present simple or present continuous?
Look at the words in bold and name the tense.
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Jenny is working at home today.
Today — and normally she works somewhere else.
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Do you usually do your homework?
Usually, and the question uses do.
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We don't have to work today. We're watching a movie.
The movie is on the screen right now.
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Ben is a doctor. He works in a hospital.
A job is a fact about a person, not an event.
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Hi! Are you driving now?
The reason you ask is that you can hear the car.
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Come here in December. It never rains in December.
Never is about every December, not this one.
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I usually have a sandwich for lunch.
Five days a week, for years.
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Today I'm having a big salad.
Same verb as the sentence before, opposite tense. Only the time word changed.
Put the verb in the right tense
Write only the verb part. Look for the time word first — it is always in the sentence somewhere. Example: Julie ______ (have) a shower right now. → is having.
Underline the time word before you write anything. Right now, usually, every Wednesday, today — the sentence is telling you the answer before you even read the verb.
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haveJulie ______ a shower right now.
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they / studyWhat ______ today?
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workMy brother usually ______ in the evening.
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not / doI ______ exercises at the moment.
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comeMy grandfather often ______ for dinner on weekends.
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startMy school ______ at nine every day.
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you / get upWhat time ______ on weekends?
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you / goHow often ______ to the gym?
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cookThey ______ lasagna today.
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takeAngela ______ guitar lessons every Wednesday.
Both tenses in one sentence
Each sentence appears twice, with the gap in a different place. The other half is already written for you — use it as your clue.
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not / usually / workI ______ on Saturdays, but today I'm working.
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workI don't usually work on Saturdays, but today I ______.
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not / sleepShe ______ now, she's studying.
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studyShe isn't sleeping now, she ______.
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wearI ______ my raincoat because it's raining today.
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rainI'm wearing my raincoat because it ______ today.
True or false for you?
Say true or correct it with the real information. Example: It's raining in my city today. → False. It's sunny in my city today.
Useful language
My city when it rains
60–100 words. Write a short guide to your city for a rainy day: where people usually go, and what you are doing today. Use the present simple three times and the present continuous three times, and one sentence with both.
My results
Check your score, then copy it and send it to your teacher on WhatsApp.
The test that works for the rest of your life: before you choose a present tense, find the time word in your own sentence. Usually and every pull one way; now and today pull the other.