AS + ADJECTIVE + AS/NOT AS + ADJECTIVE + AS

AS + ADJECTIVE + AS

 To compare people, places, events or things, when there is no difference, use as + adjective + as:

• Peter is 24 years old. John is 24 years old. Peter is as old as John.

More examples:

• Moscow is as cold as St. Petersburg in the winter.
• Ramona is as happy as Raphael.
• Einstein is as famous as Darwin.
• A tiger is as dangerous as a lion.

COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES

NOT AS + ADJECTIVE + AS

Difference can also be shown by using not so/as ...as:

• Mont Blanc is not as high as Mount Everest
• Norway is not as sunny as Thailand
• A bicycle is not as expensive as a car
• Arthur is not as intelligent as Albert

Present Continuous (I am doing / I'm doing)

A - Check out this example situation:
        Dave is in his car. He is on his way to school.   
        He is driving to school.
        This means: he is driving at the moment of speaking, now. Indeed the action is not finished, rather is continuing.
        Am/is/are -ing is the present continuous:
                          I         am   (= I'm)                                  driving
           he/she/it          is      (= he's/she's/it's)              working
      we/you/they         are    (= we're/you're/they're)    dancing.

B - I am doing something = I'm in the middle of doing something; I've started doint it already and haven't finished at all.
        The action is often happening at the time of speaking or acting:

• Please don't make so much noise. I'm working a18 . ( not "I work")
• "Where's Lakisha?"   "She's having a bath."  (not "she has a bath")
• Let's go out now. It isn't raining any more. (not "it doesn't rain")
• (at a party) Hello, Jane. Are you enjoying the party? ( not "do you enjoy")
• I'm tired. I'm going to bed now. Goodnight!

         But the action is not necessarily happening at the time of speaking. For example:
       
                         
Dave and Lakisha are talking in a café. Dave says:
I'm reading an amazing book at the moment. I'll lend it to you when I've finished it.
Dave is not reading the book at the time of speaking.
He means that he has started it but not finished it yet.
He is in the middle of reading it.
   Some more examples:

• Lakisha wants to work in Barcelona, so she is learning Spanish. (but maybe she isn't learning Spanish exactly at the time of speaking)
• Some friends of mine are building their own house. They hope it will be finished before next summer.   

C - We use the present continuous when we talk about things happening in a period around now (for example, today / this week / this evening etc.):

• "You're working hard today."            "Yes, I have a lot to do." (not "you work hard today")
• "Is Lakisha working this week?"      "No, she's on holiday."

         We use the present continuous when we talk about changes happening around now:

• The population of the world is rising very fast. (not "rises")
• Is your English getting better? (not "does your English get better")

      

Present Simple (I do)

1. The present simple refers to something true in general. We use it to talk about things in general while we are not thinking only about now, but that something happens repeatedly or all the time.

• Mothers take care of kids.
• The earth goes round the sun.
• I always play football.

Don't forget we say: he/she/it takes, with -s, but I/we/you/they take.

2. Do/Does are used to make questions and negative sentences:

do I/we/you/they take? / I/we/you/they don't take

does he/she/it take? / he/she/it doesn't take

Example:

• Where do you come from? I come from Cameroon.
• Cat doesn't like water.
• What does it mean? It means nothing.

Do can also be the main verb:

• She's so lazy. She doesn't do anything to help her mum.
• "What do you do?" (Stands for What's your job?). "I work in a bar."

When we say how often we do things, we use the present tense:

• Dave doesn't drink beer very often.
• We get up at 8:00 am every morning.
• How often do you ride a bike?

The present tense is used to promise, suggest...

Here are some examples.

• I promise I'll come.
• I suggest that you...

The same with: I advise.../ I refuse.../ I insist.../ I apologise.../ I agree...etc