Present Simple VS Present Continuous

The Simple Present 
The present tense is the base form of the verb: I work in London.
But the third person (she/he/it) adds an -s: She works in London.

Use

We use the present tense to talk about:
  • something that is true in the present:
I’m nineteen years old.
He lives in London.
I’m a student.

  • something that happens again and again in the present:
I play football every weekend.
We use words like sometimes, often. always, and never (adverbs of frequency) with the present tense:
I sometimes go to the cinema.
She never plays football.

  • something that is always true:
The adult human body contains 206 bones.
Light travels at almost 300,000 kilometres per second.
  
  • something that is fixed in the future.
The school term starts next week.
The train leaves at 1945 this evening.
We fly to Paris next week.

Questions:

Look at these questions:
Do you play the piano?
Where do you live?
Does Jack play football?
Where does he come from?
Do Rita and Angela live in Manchester?
Where do they work?
  • With the present tense, we use do and does to make questions. We use does for the third person (she/he/it) and we use do for the others.
 We use do and does with question words like where, what and why:
 But look at these questions with who:
Who lives in London?
Who plays football at the weekend?
Who works at Liverpool City Hospital?

Negatives:

Look at these sentences:
I like tennis, but I don’t like football. (don’t = do not)
I don’t live in London now.
I don’t play the piano, but I play the guitar.
They don’t work at the weekend.
John doesn’t live in Manchester. (doesn’t = does not)
Angela doesn’t drive to work. She goes by bus.

  • With the present tense we use do and does to make negatives. We use does not (doesn’t) for the third person (she/he/it) and we use do not (don’t) for the others.

Watch Video:
The Present Continuous

 The present continuous tense is formed from the present tense of the verb be and the present participle (-ing form) of a verb:

Use
1. We use the present continuous tense to talk about the present:
  • for something that is happening at the moment of speaking:

    • I’m just leaving work. I’ll be home in an hour.
    • Please be quiet. The children are sleeping.


  • for something which is happening before and after a given time:
    • At eight o’clock we are usually having breakfast.
    • When I get home the children are doing their homework.
  • for something which we think is temporary:
    • Michael is at university. He’s studying history.
    • I’m working in London for the next two weeks.

  • for something which is new and contrasts with a previous state:
    • These days most people are using email instead of writing letters.
    • What sort of clothes are teenagers wearing nowadays?
    • What sort of music are they listening to?
  • to show that something is changing, growing or developing:
    • The children are growing quickly.
    • The climate is changing rapidly.
    • Your English is improving.
  • for something which happens again and again:
    • It’s always raining in London.
    • They are always arguing.
    • George is great. He’s always laughing.

Note: Present Continuous = Present Progressive


Watch video:



Reinforces what was learned:

References:

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