Fill in the gaps using present continuous or present simple. John usually visits the park every Sunday. He meets his

Today, instead of visiting the park, John is at home helping his father. John and his father are cooking dinner for the entire family because it is John’s mother’s birthday and they are having a surprise birthday party for her.

We use the present continuous tense (is + verb-ing) to describe actions happening at the moment of speaking. In this case, the sentence «John is at home helping his father» tells us that the action of John helping his father is currently happening.

We use the present simple tense (verb) to describe habits or regular actions. In this case, the sentence «John usually visits the park every Sunday» tells us that it is John’s habit to go to the park on Sundays.

The sentence «He meets his friends there and they usually play football» also uses the present simple tense to describe John’s usual activities when he goes to the park.

In summary, John is not at the park today because it is a special day — his mother’s birthday. He is at home helping his father cook dinner for the surprise birthday party they are having.