Of

Meaning
Generally speaking, 'of' has the same meaning as 's. They both talk about possession:
My brothers wife comes from Scotland

(My brother has a wife)

My sisters car was made in the UK.

(My sister has a car)

British peoples pets are well looked after.

(British people have pets)

Englands flag is a red cross on a white flag.

(England has a flag)

Animate and Inanimate

My brother, British people and England, are all animate things (things that are alive, like
people, animals, countries and organisations).
But inanimate things (things that are not alive) can not possess things that are alive:
We cant say the cars driver. We must say the driver of the car
Inanimate things normally cant possess other things
We cant say the cars door. We must say the door of the car.
Countries
And we believe people are more important than countries, so we say:
The people of the UK (not the UKs people)
The UK doesnt possess people. People come from the UK.
North, South, East and West
We also use of with North, South, East and West:
Scotland is in the north of the UK. (Not the UKs north)
Quantities
We also use of to talk about quantities of something:

To make English tea, you need a teaspoon of sugar and a drop of milk.
(Not a sugars teaspoon or a milks drop)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The
When to use The:
1- before singular and plural nouns when you are talking about specific things that both the
speaker and the listener know about, e.g.:

These are the books that I borrowed from the library. (We can see the books and we
know where the library is.)

2- when there is only one of something, e.g.:

The President will give a press conference later today. (A country has only one president)
Can you turn the computer off? (There is only one computer in the room).

3- before musical and scientific instruments, as well as inventions, e.g.:

My sister plays the piano.

Galileo invented the telescope in 1680.

4- before well-known groups of people when you are categorizing them, e.g.:

The Egyptians have an ancient civilization.

The poor suffer from so many problems.

5- with certain geographical locations or areas, like mountain ranges, groups of islands,
deserts, seas, oceans, rivers, hotels, museums, cinemas e.g.:

The Himalayas, The West Indies, The Sahara, The Red Sea, The Pacific, The River
Nile, The Grand Hotel, The Egyptian Museum, The Odeon

6- before places whose names contain a common noun like republic, state, union, kingdom
etc, e.g.:

The Arab Republic of Egypt, The State of Kuwait, The European Union, The Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia

7- with political parties and newspapers, e.g.:

The Labour party, The Cairo Times

8- before the names of days of the week and months when we are talking about specific days
or months, e.g.

I'll never forget the Sunday we met.

It was the April after we got married when we went to Syria.

9- with general expressions referring to the physical environment around us, e.g.:

I like living by the sea.

Do you prefer the city or the countryside?

10- with superlative adjectives, e.g.:

It was the best holiday I've ever had.

When not to use The

1- when making general statements about things, people and abstract ideas.

Books can really teach you a lot.

Listening to classical music is so relaxing.

2- with some common fixed expressions of place, time and movement, e.g.:

at school, at night, by car

3- with names of continents, countries, states, towns, streets, lakes and single mountains,
e.g.:

Africa, Algeria, Bahrain, Luxor, Oxford Street, Lake Michigan, Everest

4- before days of the week and months, e.g.:

Were going to the cinema on Sunday.

My birthday is in April.

5- when talking about people who have titles, e.g.:

Prince Gaber Al-Sobah had dinner with President Hosny Mubarak.

6- after both and between all and a number, e.g.:

Both parents care about educating their children.

All three sisters became famous writers.

Adverbs or Adjectives
Adjectives are used to describe nouns.

A big mosque
Black cats

And remember:
1.

Adjectives usually come immediately before the noun, but they can also come after the verb
'to be':

Large cities are often polluted.

That city is polluted.

2. Adjectives only have one form, i.e. they do not change when describing plural nouns.

One black cat

Two black cats (not blacks)

3. Adjectives do not need articles unless they are followed by a noun.

She is pretty.
She is a pretty girl.

Adverbs are used to describe verbs, adjectives, phrases or other adverbs.

She dances beautifully. (describes the verb and comes after it)
That's an extremely difficult question. (describes the adjective and comes before it)

She is doing astonishingly well. (describes another adverb and comes before it)

The car drove very slowly down the road. (describes a phrase and comes after the verb)

Irregular adverbs:
Not all adverbs follow the rule of ly, e.g.

well, late, hard, pretty

Glossary
polluted (adj.)
extremely (adv.)
astonishingly (adv.)

Frequency

What are they?

Adverbs of frequency tell us how often a verb is done (how often something happens).
They can be used in the past, present or future.

We often went to Alexandria when we were young.

We usually go to Felfela.

I will always do my homework.

The table below consists of adverbs of frequency, with the adverb which refers to things
that happen most often at the left of the table, and least often at the right of the
table.
The most commonly used adverbs of frequency are highlighted in bold.
100%

always

0%
usually
normally
mostly
generally
commonly
largely
regualry

often
frequently

sometimes
occasionally
sporadically
intermittently

rarely
hardly ever
infrequently
seldom

never

What do they mean?

I always wake up at 7 Oclock, even at the weekend. (everyday, every time)
I usually have a cup of tea with my breakfast. (most days)
I often get a B grade for my writing. (many times)
Sometimes I go to the gym. (on some occasions, but not all the time)
I occasionally go to Alex (on some occasions, but not all the time)
When I was at school, I rarely did my home work. (not often)
I hardly ever eat molokhaya. (almost never)
I have never been abroad. (not at any time or on any occasion)

When and where are they used in a sentence?

Position 1: Usually
Adverbs of frequency can be placed in different parts of a sentence. However, they
usually come before the main verb:

Ahmed sometimes takes the bus to work.

Amr usually plays football.

And in question forms:

Does Amr usually play football?

This is also the case when the sentence contains an auxiliary verb:

Amr doesnt usually play football.

Except when using have to, when the adverb comes before the auxiliary verb:

We often have to wait for the bus.

Sama doesnt usually play football.

Position 2: Emphasis
Sometimes the adverb can be placed at the beginning or the end of a sentence to add
emphasis:

Sometimes Ahmed takes the bus to school.

Ahmed takes the bus to school sometimes.

Placing it at the end, however, is not so common in English.

Remember: always cant be used at the beginning of a sentence.
Never, seldom and rarely cant be used at the end. They can only be used at the
beginning in a polemic sentence.

Position 3: The verb to be

When using the verb to be, the adverb usually comes after the verb:

Mohammed is always late for class.

Im never late for class.

But not in answers to questions:

Is Mohammed usually late for class?

Yes, he usually is.

Adverbs of Time Position

Focus on Action:
- Adverbs, or adverbial phrases, referring to a specific time like yesterday, the day before,
tomorrow, next month, etc. usually come at the end of a sentence.

We went to a really good party yesterday.

She is getting married tomorrow.
Where did you go at the weekend?
I visited Oman in 1999.

Focus on Time:
- If we think the time the action happened is more important, we can start the sentence with an
adverb of time.

Yesterday, we went to a really good party.

Tomorrow, she is getting married.
At the weekend, where did you go?
In 1999, I visited Oman.

More than on Adverb of Time:

- If the sentence has more than one adverb of time, we put the more specific expression of time
before the more general.

I went to Kuwait in April, 1990.

She called me at 2 oclock in the morning.
He was born at 5 oclock in the morning on June 12th, 2002.

Adverb Spelling

A lot of adverbs are formed by adding 'ly' to an adjective, e.g.

beautiful, beautifully

slow, slowly

interesting, interestingly

Spelling notes:
1. Adjectives ending in y: drop the final 'y' and add 'ily', e.g.

angry, angrily

2. Adjectives ending in le: drop the final e and add y, e.g.

terrible, terribly

3. Adjectives ending in 'ic': add 'ally', e.g.

fantastic, fantastically

Irregular adverbs:
Not all adverbs follow the rule of ly, e.g.

good, well

hard, hard,

fast, fast

Articles

The correct use of the articles (a / an / the) is one of the most difficult points in English grammar.
Although any sentence could be understandable even if no article is used whatsoever, it is
advisable that people should use them correctly. Here is a summary of some of the most
important rules.
A/An

The

* Refers to indefinite nouns.

* Refer to definite nouns.

e.g. Tom works in a factory.

( We dont know which
factory)

e.g. Jim plays the piano.

( It is a specific musical
instrument)

A/An and The

* They are not used before
most countries and towns.
e.g. Egypt, Cairo
(There are some exceptions, e.g. The
U.K, The U.S.A)

* Refers to something
mentioned for the first time.

* Refer to something.
mentioned for the second
time.

* They are not used with

abstract nouns.
e.g. Life is not always easy .

e.g. We saw a good film

last night .

e.g. It was the new film

by Tom Cruise.

*Refers to jobs or
characteristics.

* Refer to well-known things or

persons.

* They are not used with

materials in general .

e.g. Kate is an architect .

e.g. Peter is a fool !

e.g. Elizabeth Tailor married

Richard Burton, the actor

e.g. Gold is very expensive

at the moment .

* Refer to singular countable

nouns only .

* Refers to countable or
uncountable nouns.

* They are not used in generalization

plural
and uncountable nouns

e.g. We live in a small flat

near Cromwell Street .

e.g. The sun is bright today

e.g. music, nature ,poetry, etc.

as as
asas is used for comparing one thing with another.

She said her child's dirty face was as black as coal.

This way of comparing one thing to another using as as is called a simile.

We use the expression as + adjective/adverb + as when we want to say that two things are the
same in some way:

Do you think they are as fast as they say?

I'm just as good as you are - let me do it!

We can also use as + adjective/adverb + as after the word not in negative expressions:

They're not as fast as they say they are.

You're not as good as I am - let me do it!

Similes with as + adjective/adverb + as make up many "set" expressions commonly used by

native speakers when comparing things:

Some of these monuments are as old as the hills.

Little Jane's as quiet as a mouse. What do you think she's doing?

I feel as fresh as a daisy after that shower!

Glossary:
coal (n.)
simile (n.)
monument (n.)
hill (n.)
daisy (n.)

Body idioms

Here are 8 idioms connected with the body.

Idiom
Let your hair down

Explanation/use
Have fun and be more relaxed than
usual.
Equal/nearly equal in a race or
contest.
To pretend that something which is
important is not important by
ignoring it.

Example
I really let my hair down at
the party last night
Neck and neck
They were neck and neck in
the race.
Turn a blind eye (on
I noticed that the fridge
something)
wasnt working, but I turned a
blind eye on it. Now Im
suffering with food poisoning!
Breathe down someones neck Follow closely, with persistence;
My boss wont leave me
refuse to leave alone.
alone! He
s always
breathing down my neck to
try and get me to work
harder!
Have two left feet
To be bad at dancing
Im useless at dancing. Ive
got two left feet.
Give someone the cold
Unfriendly treatment of a person
My colleagues gave me the
shoulder
cold shoulder when I didnt
go to the Christmas party.
Get something off your chest
Tell something which is troubling you I talked to my friend for three
to someone so it doesnt bother you hours yesterday and was
anymore
finally able to get my
problems off my chest
Give someone a pat on the
To give someone praise
He was given a pat on the
back
back by his neighbours for
his efforts to save the forest
at the end of the road from
being burnt down.

Downloadable document Past tenses for narratives

One way(*) to tell a story effectively is to use past tenses to show which actions happened first or how one
action connects to another one.
The tenses used to do this are: past simple, past continuous and past perfect. The form of each of these is
shown below using the verb work as an example:
Tense
Past simple

Positive
I
You
He/She/It
We
They
Past continuous I
He/She/It
You
We
They
Past perfect
I
You
He/She/It
We
They

worked
was working

were working

had worked

Negative
I
You
He/She/It
We
They
I
He/She/It
You
We
They
I
You
He/She/It
We
They

Question
didnt work
wasnt working

werent working

hadnt work

I
you
(Where) Did he/she/it work?
we
they
(Where) was I

he/she/it
(Where) were you
working?

we

they
I
you
(Where) Had he/she/it worked?
we
they

Past simple
The past simple is used to talk about individual actions or states which follow one another in a story.
E.g. James parked the car and crossed the street. Something was wrong. He looked up to the 1st floor
window and tried to tell who was in there. He listened for the sound of voices and then went in through the
front door.
Regular verbs The positive forms of these are formed by adding ed to the infinitive, except
if the verb ends in e
...if the verb ends with one vowel + one consonant (but not y or w)
stopped)
if the verb ends in y
(e.g. studied)

Past continuous

> just add d (e.g. like/liked)

> double the last consonant (e.g.
> change the y to i and add ed

The past continuous often comes in sentences with the past simple. In sentences like this the past continuous
is used to set the scene for an action which comes in the middle of it.
E.g. The rain was pouring down and cars were speeding as when James left the building and started to
follow the suspect.

When telling a story it is important to give extra information about other things happening in a story in addition
to the main events. The past continuous gives this background and can refer to:
actions already in progress when another action happens
E.g. The man was wearing a grey suit when James first noticed him.
actions happening at a particular time in a story
E.g. At 6am the morning before James was having a conversation with one of his oldest friends.
situations and activities that happened during a period of the past in a story.
E.g. 10 years ago James was living in a little house in the country and working in a normal 9-5 job.

Past perfect
Past perfect means completed before another time or action in the past. It is used with the past to refer to an
action already completed before the verb in the past simple. In a story we are already talking about the past,
but we need to go back further to put parts of what happened into the correct order.
E.g. When James finally arrived at the bank he saw at once that his oldest friend had tricked him the
money had gone.

Linkers
As well as the correct use of tenses, linking words can be used to introduce changes in time, to sequence
events, to show one action led to another, to handle contrast, to add to the tension of a story, etc. Some of the
most important are: actually, in fact, in spite of, despite, although, even though, (un)fortunately, (un)luckily, as
a result, consequently, immediately, at once, next, then, to begin with, at first, of course, naturally, even better,
better still, after a while, some time later, (a few days) before, (a few days) previously, finally, eventually
* You might notice that published writers use many different approaches to tenses. In some books writers may
choose to use only present tenses or perhaps present tenses and present perfect. In a similar way jokes and
stories are often told using the same combinations.

Passive

Introduction
Compare these two examples:

1. 5 million people visit Dubai every year.

visit is the usual, active form because the subject (person/people doing the
action) is at the beginning of the sentence, before the verb.

2.

Dubai is visited by 5 million people every year.

Here, visit is in the passive form because the object (thing having the action
done to it) is at the beginning of the sentence before the verb, not the subject.

Reasons for using the passive form

When we use the passive, who or what causes the action is often unknown or
unimportant.
- A lot of money was stolen in the robbery.

Somebody stole the money but we dont know who and its not
important. Our focus is on the fact that the money was stolen, so we put
this (the money; the object) at the beginning of the sentence
to emphasize it.

We leave the subject out because we dont want/need to place any

emphasis on it.

Different practical uses

We use the passive form for newspaper reports, essays, scientific

reports and official documents

It is usually written and not used as much in speech

When we describe places or processes, or give facts and information we

often use the passive tense.

Formation of the passive

Object (thing having the action done to it) + be (is/are/was/were/ have been etc.) +
past participle
Present Simple Passive:
Object

the verb to
be

past participle

Dubai
is
million people every year.
Many languages
are
New York City.

(subject)
visited
spoken

by 5
in

Past Simple Passive:

We use this in the same way to describe a completed action. We form it the same
way, but by changing the verb to be into the correct form of the past simple tense.
Object

the verb to
be

Dubai
million people last year.
Many languages
Ancient Rome.

past participle
was
were

(subject)
visited
spoken

by 5
in

Object (thing having the action done to it) + be (is/are/was/were/ have been etc.) +
past participle
Present Simple Passive:

Object

the verb to
be

past participle

Dubai
is
million people every year.
Many languages
are
New York City.

(subject)
visited

by 5

spoken

in

Past Simple Passive:

We use this in the same way to describe a completed action. We form it the same
way, but by changing the verb to be into the correct form of the past simple tense.
Object

the verb to
be

Dubai
million people last year.
Many languages
Ancient Rome.

past participle
was

(subject)
visited

were

by 5

spoken

in

Comparative Adjectives

If we want to compare two things, people or concepts, we use comparative adjectives in English.

My grandparents house is bigger than ours.(They have 4 bedrooms, we only have 2

bedrooms)
Gamal is more intelligent than his brother Ali.(Gamal scored 90% in the test, Ali scored
60%)

This is how we form comparative adjectives:

-

One syllable adjectives add er to the adjective.

Adjectives that end in e only take r.

One syllable adjectives that end in a vowel and consonant, double the consonant and add
er.
Adjective

Comparative
Adjective

Adjective

Comparative
Adjective

cold

colder

brave

braver

bright

brighter

safe

safer

big

bigger

- We use than after the comparative adjective and before the second thing that you are
comparing. Look at these sentences:

The weather in Kuwait is hotter than in Egypt.

Egypt is hot, but Kuwait is hotter.

- Two syllable adjectives that end in y drop the y and add ier.
Adjective

Comparative
Adjective

Adjective

Comparative
Adjective

happy

happier

lucky

luckier

Two syllable adjectives that do not end in y do not change but we use more before them.

This is also the same for three syllable or more adjectives.

Adjective

Comparative
Adjective

Adjective

Comparative
Adjective

modern

more modern

beautiful

more beautiful

stupid

more stupid

expensive

more expensive

- Compound adjectives also use more.

Adjective

Comparative
Adjective

Adjective

Comparative
Adjective

easy-going

more easy-going

good-looking

more good-looking

- Irregular Comparative Adjectives:

Some adjectives do not follow any of the rules above and their comparative forms are irregular.
Adjective

Comparative

Adjective

Comparative

Adjective

Adjective

good

better

bad

worse

far

farther/further

little

less

Glossary:
compare (v.)
brave (adj.)
syllable (n.)
easy-going (adj.)
compound (adj.)

Comparative or Superlative

Comparative
If we want to compare two things, people or concepts, we use comparative adjectives in English.

My grandparents house is bigger than ours. (They have 4 bedrooms, we only have 2
bedrooms)
Gamal is more intelligent than his brother Ali. (Gamal scored 90% in the test, Ali scored
60%)

Superlative
If we want to compare one thing with other things that form part of the same group, we use
superlative adjectives.

My grandparents house is the biggest one in the village. (No other houses are bigger.)

Gamal is the most intelligent of all his brothers. (Gamal scored 90% in the test, Ahmed
scored 72% and Ali scored 60%)

How do we form comparative adjectives?

If you want to know how to form comparative adjectives, go to our unit on Comparative
Adjectives.

How do we form superlative adjectives?

If you want to know how to form superlative adjectives, go to our unit on Superlative Adjectives.
After you review both units, do another quiz.

Comparative and superlative adjectives

Forming comparatives (comparing two nouns)

S+

Vb to be +

An elephant

comparative adj + than

is

larger

than

object

a dog.

Forming superlatives
S

vb to be +

The elephant

One-syllable adjectives

is

superlative adj

the heaviest

Comparative adjective

+ object

animal in Africa.

Superlative

old

+-er
older

the + adj+ -est

the oldest

young

younger

the youngest

large

larger

the largest

One-syllable adjectives
with short vowels in the
middle

Comparative adjective
+-er

Superlative
the + adj+ -est

big

bigger

the biggest

fat

fatter

the fattest

Eg. A lion is bigger than a cat.

Two-syllable adjectives
ending in -y

Comparative adjective
+-er

Superlative
the + adj+ -est

friendly

friendlier

the friendliest

noisy

noisier

the noisiest

Eg. Thats the noisiest dog I have ever heard!

Other two-syllable
adjectives and longer
adjectives

Comparative adjective
(more + adj)

Superlative
the most + adjective

beautiful

more beautiful

the most beautiful

intelligent

more intelligent

the most intelligent

Eg. A bird is more beautiful than a snake.

Irregular adjectives

Comparative adjective

Superlative
the + superlative adjective

good

better

the best

bad

worse

the worst

far

further/farther

the furthest/farthest

Eg. Cats can hear better than humans.

Comparing large differences

-A lion is

much
a lot
far

bigger than
more dangerous than

a mouse.

Comparing small differences

-An elephant

is slightly
a little bit
a little

heavier than
more intelligent than

a hippopotamus.

Comparatives and superlatives

> Adjectives give information about nouns. They are normally used with the verb be and/or before the noun(s) they
describe.
E.g.
Shes tall.
He speaks three foreign languages.
> Adjectives do not change their form if the noun is plural. They remain in their base adjective form.
e.g. a good person > some good people ( - not some goods people)

> They also stay the same when we use (not) as.as to say two things are the same or different.
e.g.
My car is as big as yours.
Her hair isnt as long as mine.
> Adjectives do have a different form when we want to compare two or more nouns. To compare two nouns, use the
comparative form; for three or more nouns, use the superlative form.
> The way adjectives change in their comparative and superlative forms depends on the length of the base adjective.
The different changes are summarised in the table below:
Length of base adjective

Comparative form

Superlative form

1 syllable

Ends in er

Ends in est

e.g. old >>>

late >>>

older >>>
later >>>

the oldest
the latest

Notes for 1 syllable adjectives

(1) Spelling: If the last three letters of the base adjective are consonant + vowel + consonant,
double the last consonant e.g. big >>> bigger >>> the biggest
(2) Exceptions: There are three common exceptions
good >>>
bad >>>
far >>>

better >>>
worse >>>
further or farther >>>

the best
the worst
the furthest or farthest

2+ syllables ending in y

Ends in ier

Ends in iest

e.g. lucky >>>

friendly >>>

luckier >>>
friendlier >>>

the luckiest
the friendliest

Other long adjectives

Has more or less before the Has the most or the least
base adjective
before the base adjective

e.g. interesting >>>

expensive >>>

more interesting >>>

less expensive >>>

the most interesting

the least expensive

Comparatives
> In comparative sentences use than before the second noun.
E.g. London is more expensive than Madrid.
> To say how big or small the difference is between two nouns use:
a little

a lot

a bit
slightly

much
far

E.g. Today is a little / much / slightly / a lot warmer than yesterday.

Superlatives
> We generally use the before superlative forms because we are talking about one specific noun.
E.g. Everest is the highest mountain on Earth.
> Two common prepositions with superlatives are in (for places) and of (for periods of time).
e.g.

Hes the youngest teacher in the school.

Monday is the busiest day of the week.

Compound Nouns

Whats the hottest country in the world?

This is the happiest day of my life!

What is a compound noun?

Normally, we use adjectives to talk about nouns:
A difficult sport: sport is a noun, difficult is a an adjective
The beautiful game: game is a noun, beautiful is an adjective
But in English, its also possible to take two nouns and make a new noun: For
example: tennis racket or table tennis.
When were talking about places where we do sports, here are some common
examples:
football pitch
basketball court

cricket ground
tennis court
volleyball court golf course

sports centre

When were talking about sports equipment:

knee pads
track suit
tennis racket
water bottle

elbow pads
ski poles
golf club
rucksack (UK)

crash helmet
ski goggles
swimsuit
backpack (US)

padlock
ski suit

And of course there are all the nouns made with ing:
swimming pool hiking boots

diving tank

dancing shoes

How do we write compound nouns?

Some compound nouns are written with a space between the two words
(knee pads), some with no space (swimsuit). Unfortunately there are no rules
about this, so you will have to use a dictionary if you are in doubt. But be
warned, even dictionaries are not consistent about this!
How do we pronounce compound nouns?
There is a rule on how to pronounce compound nouns. We stress the first noun;
O
o
swimming pool
O o
swimsuit

Defining and Non-defining Relative Clauses

When we give information, spoken or written, some of it is necessary, and some of it is

extra.
Listen to these two mothers talking about their sons.

My son, who lives in Birmingham, is a dentist.

My son who lives in London is a Brain Doctor!

If native speakers read (or hear) these sentences, they will know that the first woman
has only one son, but the second woman has more than one son.
Why?
Look at the sentences again. In the first sentence, we can take out who lives in
Birmingham (because there are commas), but in the second one we cant.
In the second sentence there are no commas, so the information who lives in London is
essential. This means she is giving us information to help us recognise which son she is
talking about.
Compare
The man made a lot of money (This has no meaning. Which man?)
The man who invented the Internet made a lot of money. (This sentence is complete)
We have a definition of the man: This definition is the defining relative clause who
invented the Internet
Compare
Einstein, who was married, discovered E=mc2
Einstein discovered E=mc2
who was married is extra information. It is not necessary (or non-defining), and to show
this we put it between commas.

When we write we use commas to show if the information is extra or essential. When we
speak we use pauses to show commas.

Verb tenses used to describe current problems in the world

When talking or writing about recent developments and current situations in the world we
can use a mixture of the present simple, present perfect and present continuous.
It is not so much the formation of the verb tense which is difficult as knowing when to use the
right one. It takes years of constant practice to get it right each time, and even advanced
students find this problematic, but here are some basic guidelines for use of these verb tenses
when talking about current problems in the world.

Present perfect
The present perfect is used to link the past and the present together . It can:

describe a recent happening

talk about a period of time that continues from the past until now.

We use it with since, recently, yet , already , in the last few years/months

Recently, the use of computers has increased.

In the last 50 years, many animal species have become extinct
Many animal species have become extinct since the beginning of industrialisation / 1994 etc.
A large number of animal species have already become extinct.
An easy solution to the problem of climate change has yet to be found.

Present continuous
We use the present continuous tense to:

Describe a temporary, current situation

Describe a changing situation

When talking about controversial topics we often introduce this with phrases such as: nowadays,
at the moment, or currently:
-Nowadays, many animal species are becoming extinct
-Currently the use of computers is increasing
NB: We cannot use the present continuous with state verbs (those connected with the
senses or existence; those involving no action eg. know, be, believe, seem, have)
-Nowadays we are knowing that we are damaging our planets eco-balance by destroying
natures creatures and plants. x
-Nowadays we know that we are damaging our planet

Present simple
We use this to:

Describe a permanent situation/general fact

Describe a state

Talk about a habit eg. something which happens every day, year, sometimes, often
etc

- Many animal species become extinct every year.

-The use of computers increases every month.