We use the present simple because this is a fact or is generally true. Next month I plan to live in a different city. I used the present continuous because this situation is temporary. I plan to live in England for a long time and I don’t plan to change soon. We use the Present Simple for things that don’t change for a long time. It is a temporary action because in a moment I might start speaking in Spanish. We say I am speaking English because it refers to what I am doing now. We say I speak English, because it is a fact. Here are the sentences from the beginning of this lesson. Now let’s compare the two tenses together… NOTE: Sometimes the present continuous is called the present progressive in some workbooks or lessons. It refers to this moment of his life.)Ĭommon time expressions used with the present continuous are: (It doesn’t necessarily mean he is learning the language right now at a desk with all of his language books. Maybe they are at work right now or somewhere else. (It doesn’t necessarily mean they are at the hotel right at this moment. They are staying at a local hotel because the roof of their house was damaged during the storm.I have started reading this book and I haven’t finished it) (It doesn’t necessarily mean that I am reading a book right at this moment. This action is in progress and hasn’t finished. To talk about something that is happening AROUND the time of speaking but not necessarily at that exact moment. You can see that these actions are happening right now and they are temporary actions, normally for a short period of time.Ģ. (Yes, that is what is happening right now) When somebody is doing something right now or something is happening right now. An action happening right now at the moment of speaking. (when the day is in plural it refers to all Mondays, all Fridays)ġ. in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening, at night.then A and the time period, a month, a year, a century) (then the rest are four times, five times etc. once a day, twice a week, three times a month….(note the time word is in single form, day, not days.) always, often, generally, normally, usually, sometimes, never ….These are often daily routines and they happen always, often, generally, every week, etc.Ĭommon time expressions used with the present simple tense are: (This is a fact, just like the fact that water freezes at 0º Celsius)Ģ. (This is generally true, unfortunately some dogs have three legs or less) For facts or things that are always true or generally true. Let’s look at each one… PRESENT SIMPLE TENSEġ. When do we use the Present Simple and when do we use the Present Continuous? I am speaking English – is in the Present Continuous tense I speak English – is in the Present Simple tense
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