Key Vocabulary
Let’s learn the key vocabulary words from this story, “The Morning Rush.”
Daniel’s alarm goes off at 6:45am, but he hits snooze. The verb snooze means to sleep lightly, but when we talk about “hitting snooze” on an alarm, it means you press a button that delays the alarm for a few more minutes so you can sleep a little longer.
When he finally opens his eyes, sunlight is streaming through the curtains. Streaming means flowing steadily; we often describe light or water or tears as streaming.
“Oh no,” he groans – to groan is to make a sound of displeasure, you’re not happy. Then he staggers to the bathroom – stagger is to walk unsteadily, like when you’re tired, weak, drunk, or injured.
He washes his face and combs his hair so he doesn’t look so disheveled – that means messy in appearance. Unfortunately his shirt is wrinkled, it is not smooth, it has little folds or lines in it. We can describe fabric or skin as being wrinkled. But there’s no time to iron it. To iron is to make clothes smooth using a heated device, which is also called an iron.
He checks his phone while the coffee is brewing. The verb brew means to prepare coffee or tea by mixing it with hot water and waiting. But there’s no time, he mutters – to mutter means to speak quietly, often in a complaining way. So he grabs his bag – to grab is to take something with your hand, often quickly – and rushes out the door.
The smell of bacon in the hallway makes Daniel’s stomach rumble. Rumbling is a deep continuous sound; we often use it to talk about the sound your stomach makes when you’re hungry, or about the sound of thunder.
Outside, cars are honking – that’s the noise it makes when you press the car’s horn. And it’s chilly, meaning a little cold, cold enough to need a sweater or jacket.
Daniel’s heart is pounding as he sprints towards the bus stop. To sprint is to run very fast for a short distance, and saying his heart is pounding means it’s beating very fast. This can happen from running, or from intense emotions like fear or excitement.
He tries to get the bus driver’s attention by waving his arms like a maniac – a maniac is a crazy or extremely energetic person. But the bus leaves, and he lets out a long sigh. To sigh means to let out a long breath, showing tiredness, frustration, or sometimes relief. In this case, it’s frustration.
“Perfect start to the week,” he quips – quip means to say something funny or clever quickly; in this case, Daniel is speaking sarcastically because he’s having the opposite of a perfect morning.
A woman appears, clutching a travel mug. To clutch means to hold something tightly, and a travel mug is a cup with a lid that’s made for carrying hot drinks. When she realizes she missed the bus, Daniel replies, “Join the club” – we say this little phrase to show that we are in the same situation as the other person. The woman chuckles, meaning she laughs lightly or softly.
Daniel says he’s running late – running late means something or someone is behind schedule, it is later than the planned or expected time.
The woman glances at her watch – glances means she looks quickly – and says she thinks Daniel can make it. Make it, in this context, means succeed in arriving on time. Daniel replies “fingers crossed,” which is what we say when we hope something will happen or go well.
The woman describes herself as chronically late – chronically means it happens repeatedly or continues over a long time. So she’s almost always late. But fortunately she doesn’t have any pressing deadlines. Something that is pressing is urgent, it needs immediate attention. As Daniel and the woman chat, the morning stress evaporates – evaporate is the verb we use for water turning into vapor, and in this case it means it disappears, Daniel’s stress disappears.
Grammar Focus
We see several examples of the present simple and the present continuous in this story. Here’s the basic difference:
| Present Simple | Present Continuous |
| Used for single actions, habits, routines, facts, and things that are always true. | Used for actions currently in progress, happening right now, or temporary situations. |
| Daniel takes the bus to work every morning. (habit) | His heart is pounding. (temporary situation) |
| “Wait!” he shouts. (single action) | People are walking their dogs in the cool morning air. (in progress, happening now) |
Present Simple in the Story:
We use the present simple to describe Daniel’s typical morning routine — things that happen regularly.
- He brushes his teeth and splashes water on his face.
- He pulls on the first shirt he can find.
- He grabs his bag and rushes out the door.
These are daily habits — they happen almost every day in the same way.
We also see the present simple used for single actions:
- He checks his phone.
- The woman glances at her watch.
- They smile.
| Subject | Verb – Positive | Verb – Negative |
| I / you / we / they | drink coffee rush out the door try to catch the bus | don’t drink coffee don’t rush out the door don’t try to catch the bus |
| he/ she / it | drinks coffee rushes out the door tries to catch the bus | doesn’t drink coffee doesn’t rush out the door doesn’t try to catch the bus |
Present Continuous in the Story:
We use the present continuous for actions that are in progress at the moment of speaking, or temporary actions happening “around now.”
- Sunlight is streaming through the curtains. (right now)
- The coffee is brewing. (it’s in progress)
- The city is waking up — cars are honking and people are walking dogs. (continuous actions happening now)
- I’m running late. (situation in progress at the moment of speaking)
| Subject | Verb | |
| I | am running late am walking my dog am brewing coffee | am not running late am not walking the dog am not brewing coffee Short form: I’m not running |
| you / we / they | are running late are walking my dog are brewing coffee | are not running late are not walking the dog are not brewing coffee Short forms: You’re not running / You aren’t running |
| he/ she / it | is running late is walking my dog is brewing coffee | is not running late is not walking the dog is not brewing coffee Short form: He’s not running / He isn’t running |