Simple Present vs Present Continuous







Use the Simple Present to express the idea that an action is repeated or usual. The action can be a habit, a hobby, a daily event, a scheduled event or something that often happens. It can also be something a person often forgets or usually does not do.





Examples:

  ü  I play tennis.
  ü  She does not play tennis.
  ü  Does he play tennis?
  ü  The train leaves every morning at 8 AM.
  ü  The train does not leave at 9 AM.
  ü  When does the train usually leave?
  ü  She always forgets her purse.
  ü  He never forgets his wallet.
  ü  Every twelve months, the Earth circles the Sun.
  ü  Does the Sun circle the Earth?


The Simple Present can also indicate the speaker believes that a fact was true before, is true now, and will be true in the future. It is not important if the speaker is correct about the fact. It is also used to make generalizations about people or things.

Examples:

  ü  Cats like milk.
  ü  Birds do not like milk.
  ü  Do pigs like milk?
  ü  California is in America.
  ü  California is not in the United Kingdom.
  ü  Windows are made of glass.
  ü  Windows are not made of wood.
  ü  New York is a small city. It is not important that this fact is untrue.





Online exercises: 


References:



The Present Continuous is mainly used to express the idea that something is happening at the moment of speaking. The Present Continuous also describes activities generally in progress (not at the moment). Another use of the tense is to talk about temporary actions or future plans.


Use the Present Continuous with Normal Verbs to express the idea that something is happening now, at this very moment. It can also be used to show that something is not happening now.




Examples:

  ü  You are learning English now.
  ü  You are not swimming now.
  ü  Are you sleeping?
  ü  I am sitting.
  ü  I am not standing.
  ü  Is he sitting or standing?
  ü  They are reading their books.
  ü  They are not watching television.
  ü  What are you doing?
  ü  Why aren't you doing your homework?

No hay comentarios:

Publicar un comentario